Links Between Adolescents’ Expected Parental Reactions and Prosocial Behavioral Tendencies: The Mediating Role of Prosocial Values

The purpose of the present study was to examine relations between adolescents’ social cognitions regarding parenting practices and adolescents’ prosocial behavioral tendencies. A mediation model was tested whereby the degree to which adolescents perceived their parents as responding appropriately to their prosocial and antisocial behaviors was hypothesized to predict adolescents’ tendencies toward prosocial behavior indirectly by way of adolescents’ prosocial values. Adolescents (N = 140; M age = 16.76 years, SD = .80; 64% girls; 91% European Americans) completed measures of prosocial values and of the appropriateness with which they expected their parents to react to their prosocial and antisocial behaviors. In addition, teachers and parents rated the adolescents’ tendencies for prosocial behaviors. A structural equation model test showed that the degree to which adolescents expected their parents to respond appropriately to their prosocial behaviors was related positively to their prosocial values, which in turn was positively associated with their tendencies to engage in prosocial behaviors (as reported by parents and teachers). The findings provide evidence for the central role of adolescents’ evaluations and expectancies of parental behaviors and of the role of values in predicting prosocial tendencies. Discussion focuses on the implications for moral socialization theories and on the practical implications of these findings in understanding adolescents’ prosocial development.     

Attachment to Parents,Social Anxiety,and Close Relationships of Female Students over the Transition to College

The current study examined the process by which attachment to parents influences satisfaction with and ease in forming friendships at college. One hundred seventy-two female college freshmen completed a measure of parental attachment security the summer before their first semester of college (July 2006) and measures to assess satisfaction with and ease in forming close relationships at the end of their first semester (December 2006). Students ranged in age from 18 to 20 years (M = 18.09, SD = 0.33) and were diverse in their racial makeup (30% racial minority). Consistent with predictions derived from attachment theory, secure attachment to parents was positively associated with ease in forming friendships among racial minority and white participants and satisfaction with friendships among minority participants. Moreover, indirect effects of parental attachment security on relationship outcomes through social anxiety were significant for minority participants but not for white participants. Findings may be useful in the development of retention programs targeted at incoming university freshmen, particularly minority students.     

Not All Housing GSEs Are Alike: An Analysis of the Federal Home Loan Bank System and the Foreclosure Crisis

While the financial crisis of 2008 ultimately affected the range of U.S. financial institutions, it began with practices in home ownership finance. The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) System was the first instrumentality created by the U.S. government, in 1932, to sustain affordable home ownership finance. In this article, the authors ask what role, if any, the FHLBanks played in the subprime lending and securitization practices that precipitated the current crisis. The authors analyze publicly available FHLBank financial data in terms of a framework focused on the System's assets: advances; mortgage loans acquired from members; and investments, particularly in mortgage-backed-securities. They conclude that the FHLBanks did not contribute significantly to problematic practices. Nonetheless, they recommend consideration of three reforms to the FHLBanks to ensure a return to effective regulation and responsible, affordable home ownership finance.     

Which Networks Matter in Education Governance? A Reply to Ball's 'New Philanthropy, New Networks and New Governance in Education'

Stephen Ball's recent article offers an intriguing perspective on the education policy process by engaging with the political science literature on policy networks and governance. Ball opens up the possibility of a fruitful dialogue between political scientists and education researchers by introducing some challenging interpretations of recent developments in the governance of education. In this reply, I suggest that a sustained focus on understanding power in the governance process could help to build on Ball's work. I argue that understanding power is crucial to deciding which networks matter and to building explanations of the effects of networks on policy outcomes. Without a focus on power, I claim, policy studies risk conflating the existence of networks with the existence of network governance.     

Delimiting Democratic Accountability

This article discusses the concept of accountability in relation to those holding public office in democratic states. It argues that the concept of accountability requires careful specification and that it is frequently distorted when put to the service of theoretical models and normative principles. The article develops a definition of accountability and a range of distinctions between forms of accountability, asks what forms of accountability might be appropriate to modern democratic systems and argues that some combinations of democracy and accountability can have serious negative consequences for politics. The article concludes by discussing the types of accountability that are pertinent to recent claims that international institutions should be made more democratically accountable. In each case, the common tendency to inflate the concept of accountability is associated with demands for accountability that threaten both democratic consolidation and the distinctive character of accountability itself.     

Agency Problems, the 17th Amendment, and Representation in the Senate

A prominent change in American electoral institutions occurred when the 17th Amendment to the Constitution established direct election of U.S. Senators as of 1914. How did this change the political agency relationship between the mass electorate and U.S. Senators? We develop theoretical expectations about the representational effects of direct election by a relatively inexpert mass electorate and indirect election by a relatively expert political intermediary, based on principal‐agent theory. The chief predictions are that the representative will be more responsive to the mass electorate under direct election, but will also have more discretion to pursue his or her own ends. We use the 17th Amendment as a quasi‐experiment to test the predictions of the theory. Statistical models show strong support for both predictions. Moreover, the 17th Amendment is not associated with similar changes in the U.S. House of Representatives—as expected, since the amendment did not change House electoral institutions.     

Local Institutions and the Politics of Urban Growth

This article uses a political market framework to analyze how the structure of local political institutions affects the relative political influence of development and environmental interests in the context of urban growth. Using panel data from 406 Florida cities from 1998 to 2003, the empirical analysis finds important interaction effects between the structure of city executive branch institutions and interest group variables. The economic and political forces driving urban growth do not operate identically in all cities—they vary as a function of institutional context. Institutional structure helps determine which interest groups have their preferences reflected in local land-use changes and development patterns. The resulting patterns suggest a "sustainability paradox" wherein richer, environmental interests push for the preservation of environmental amenities while at the same time accelerating the number of residential units built in a community.