Unchanging child support orders in the face of unstable earnings

The underlying theory behind child support guidelines implies that child support orders should change when the incomes of noncustodial parents change. This paper documents changes in noncustodial fathers' earnings over a five‐year period and examines the relationship between the changes in earnings and modifications in child support orders. Using detailed longitudinal administrative data from Wisconsin, the authors examine the history of orders and earnings for fathers in couples who had their first child support ordered in 2000. A substantial proportion of fathers experience large changes in earnings, but relatively few of the associated child support orders are modified. Using discrete‐time multinomial event history models that consider time‐varying variables and control for censored observations, we find some evidence of changes in earnings being associated with changes in orders, all else equal, but the relationship is relatively weak and order changes are not proportional to earnings changes. The findings highlight the challenges and importance of developing policies that result in child support orders being more responsive to changes in fathers' incomes. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Development of a Pencil Drawn Paper-based Analytical Device to Detect Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)*†

The need for agile and proper identification of drugs of abuse has encouraged the scientific community to improve and to develop new methodologies. The drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is still widely used due to its hallucinogenic effects. The use of voltammetric methods to analyze narcotics has increased in recent years, and the possibility of miniaturizing the electrochemical equipment allows these methods to be applied outside the laboratory; for example, in crime scenes. In addition to portability, the search for affordable and sustainable materials for use in electroanalytical research has grown in recent decades. In this context, employing paper substrate, graphite pencil, and silver paint to construct paper-based electrodes is a great alternative. Here, a paper-based device comprising three electrodes was drawn on 300 g/m² watercolor paper with 8B pencils, and its efficiency was compared to the efficiency of a commercially available screen-printed carbon electrode. Square wave voltammetry was used for LSD analysis in aqueous medium containing 0.05 mol/L LiClO₄. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.38 and 1.27 μmol/L, respectively. Both electrodes exhibited a similar voltammetric response, which was also confirmed during analysis of a seized LSD sample, with recovery of less than 10%. The seized samples were previously analyzed by GCMS technique, employing the full scan spectra against the software spectral library. The electrode selectivity was also tested against 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and methamphetamine. It was possible to differentiate these compounds from LSD, indicating that the developed paper-based device has potential application in forensic chemistry analyses.     

Welfare and child support: Complements,not substitutes

In most states, child support paid on behalf of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants is used to offset TANF and child support administrative expenditures; this policy primarily benefits taxpayers. In contrast, Wisconsin allowed most custodial parents to keep all support paid on their behalf. This policy, which treats welfare and child support as complements, was evaluated through an experimental design. This paper reports the key results of the experimental evaluation, using state administrative data to examine the effects on child support outcomes and governmental cost. We find that when custodial mothers keep all child support paid on their behalf, paternity establishment occurs more quickly, noncustodial fathers are more likely to pay support, and custodial families receive more support. These outcomes are achieved at no significant governmental cost. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The Issue of Abortion in Contemporary Brazil: An Analysis of Feminist Litigation in the Supreme Court

Feminist Legal Studies - This article discusses the issue of abortion in the context of the dispute between progressive and neoconservative political forces in Brazil. The article analyses ADPF...     

The Geography of Repression and Opposition to Autocracy

State repression is a prominent feature of nondemocracies, but its effectiveness in quieting dissent and fostering regime survival remains unclear. We exploit the location of military bases before the coup that brought Augusto Pinochet to power in Chile in 1973, which is uncorrelated to precoup electoral outcomes, and show that counties near these bases experienced more killings and forced disappearances at the hands of the government during the dictatorship. Our main result is that residents of counties close to military bases both registered to vote and voted “No” to Pinochet's continuation in power at higher rates in the crucial 1988 plebiscite that bolstered the democratic transition. Potential mechanisms include informational frictions on the intensity of repression in counties far from bases and shifts in preferences caused by increased proximity to the events. Election outcomes after democratization show no lasting change in political preferences.     

Too Many or Too Few? The Increase in Federal Ministerial Advisers 1972–1999

This paper examines recently published figures that show the increase in ministerial staff between 1972 and 1996 (Dunn 1997). A careful examination of the table in Dunn's book reveals it gives a misleading impression of the number of ministerial staff; the number of advisory staff to ministers; and the growth in advisory resources over the Hawke–Keating period. By re-analysing the figures the paper reveals the reality of the growth in advisory staff to ministers in 1972–1999. It provides an account of the number of staff providing policy and political advice to ministers in ministerial offices, rather than total staff numbers. It reveals advisory resources to ministers have grown significantly since the introduction of ministerial advisers in 1972. However, the growth in adviser numbers over the Hawke–Keating period was more modest than is suggested by Dunn's table. The paper provides the base data needed for a discussion of the increase in ministerial staff and whether there are too few or too many federal ministerial advisers.     

The Impact of Marital Aggression on Women's Psychological and Marital Functioning in a Newlywed Sample

The impact of husband-to-wife physical aggression on changes in wives' personal and marital well-being was examined in a representative sample of newlywed couples. The sample consisted of couples who completed baseline (time of marriage) and first anniversary assessments as part of the Buffalo Newlywed Study (n = 543). After controlling for sociodemographic variables, initial relationship satisfaction, and verbal aggression, wives who experienced physical aggression from their husbands during the first year of marriage reported increased stress and lower marital satisfaction at the first anniversary. Further, they were more likely to report separation from husbands due to marital problems during the first year of marriage. Experiences of partner physical aggression during the premarital period were associated with greater frequency of heavy drinking episodes among wives, although they were not associated with changes in average daily volume of ethanol consumed. Results suggest that among a community sample, experiences of husband-to-wife physical aggression have negative consequences for both women's psychological well-being and marital functioning.     

Population data of 10 Y-chromosomal STR Loci in Cebu province, Central Visayas (Philippines)

Population: 103 unrelated male individuals from Cebu province, Central Visayas region of the Philippines.     

Behold the shut-eyed sentry!

Whistleblowers, employees of conscience who report on wrongdoing, integrate into their socially useful role one of exposing institutional torpor and bureaucratic incompetence in those official structures responsible for the investigation and correction of wrongdoing. This paper reports on the finding from Australia's largest study into whistleblowers. It shows a crisis of competence in the official capacity of government structures to respond effectively to disclosures made in the public interest.