Restructuring Local Government in Hampshire: A Case of Mistaken Community Identity?

This article examines the impact of the idea of community identity upon the Local Government Review in England. It considers the extent to which the notion of community identity was built into the Local Government Review nationally and, moreover, locally in Hampshire, and the extent to which it shaped the outcomes of the Local Government Review. Three conceptions of community identity are examined - affective, effective and deliberative community identity - and their interplay assessed in shaping the process of restructuring local government. The article argues that the issue of community identity figured prominently in the early stages of the Local Government Review, but faded away as it got caught up with the political machinations of central government, local authorities and political parties.     

The Hired Gun as Facilitator: Lawyers and the Suppression of Business Disputes in Silicon Valley

This article draws on interview data from California's Silicon Valley to explore the role of local business attorneys in shaping the market for high-technology start-up financing. Far from exerting a disruptive or disputatious influence on business relations, Silicon Valley lawyers actively facilitate the functioning of the region's venture capital sector. In particular, attorneys intervene in the start-up process to absorb, suppress, and avert crucial uncertainties that might otherwise elevate transaction costs, imperil economic activity, and foster interorganizational discord. Local law firms moderate the hazards of new-company financing in at least three distinct ways: (1) by directly absorbing economic uncertainties in individual transactions; (2) by constructing, preserving, and reproducing normative and cognitive understandings within the community as a whole; and (3) by incorporating these local practices into the external legal regime.     

Guns,Southernness, and gun control

Southerners have been found to have higher levels of gun ownership than persons who reside elsewhere. This may be due to cultural factors peculiar to the Southern region. If so, this would have interesting implications for gun control initiatives. Although the differential in gun ownership has been linked to varying support or opposition to gun control, the relationship between this variable and specific types of gun control has not been examined. With this in mind, we investigate how specific types of gun ownership interact with Southernness, controlling for the effects of other variables, to determine preferences for three different types of gun control. We use 1975 data collected by DMI on a stratified random sample of 1538 noninstitutionalized adults in the United States. An analysis of several logistic regression equations indicates that a cultural component, related to Southernness, affects attitudes toward gun control. Southerners, in general, were the most opposed to permits and handgun bans. Southern shotgun owners, in particular, were found to be the most opposed to gun registration. These findings point to the need to consider region, culture, and gun type when addressing the issue of gun control.We would be happy to supply the interested reader with an electronic copy of the data set.     

Crime and safety-related concerns in a small community

This research utilizes social context and personal characteristics as determinants of both perceptions and satisfaction with safety in the local neighborhood. Using survey data obtained from residents of a small town, this analysis examines the impact of satisfaction with the environment, victimization, and social integration on attitudes concerning safety. Consistent with past research, results indicate that victimization and satisfaction with the local area are both significant predictors of perceptions of safety. They also share a significant relationship with satisfaction with safety. Two indicators of social integration yielded differing results. Participation in local organizations and associations played a more significant role in attitudes concerning safety than did the number of friends a respondent has in the neighborhood. When controlling for personal characteristics, participation in organizations was a more significant predictor of perceptions of safety than of satisfaction with safety. This project was funded by Midway College and a grant from the Association of American Colleges to the University of Louisville. An earlier version of this research was presented to the American Sociological Association. The authors would like to acknowledge the suggestions of Susan Bennett.     

Limited Liability in California 1928-31: It's the Lawyers

Only in 1931 was the California Corporate Code revised to providefor limited liability. In earlier work I found that this movehad no detectable effect on shareholder wealth. In this articleI examine the potential beneficiaries of this change with aneye toward finding out who wanted this change. Using this historicalexample we can shed light on a number of issues including: (1)the economic impact of limited liability; (2) the role of lawyers,especially lawyers of high prestige, in determining the law;and (3) the competition or lack thereof among states in designingtheir corporate codes.     

Factors moderating physical and psychological symptoms of battered women

Physical and psychological symptoms of battered women were investigated based on the theory that their ongoing victimization would produce stress-related symptoms. It was hypothesized that moderating variables (e.g., frequency and severity of abuse, predictability and controllability of abuse, social support networks) would influence the effects of abuse. Battered women (N = 234) were interviewed according to a structured format which allowed for behavioral indices of the data and categorization of the women's responses. Results indicated that frequency of abuse was a strong predictor of the number and severity of symptoms. Those women who could predict abuse experienced more symptoms. Severity of physical and psychological symptoms was predicted by a model including women with more injuries requiring medical attention, women adhering to traditional sex role values, and the presence of one type of emotional abuse. Battered women perceived their physical and emotional health as deteriorating during the relationship and during the abuse, but as getting healthier after the abuse ended. Future research needs to replicate these findings with a representative group of battered women who are still in the battering relationship.     

Systematic Procedures for Operational Code Analysis: Measuring and Modeling Jimmy Carter's Operational Code

In this article we introduce a new scoring system for doing operational code analysis and test its reliability and validity by measuring and modeling President Jimmy Carter's operational code. Using speeches from the public record, we construct indices for the elements of the operational code construct. Based upon the valences and scaled intensities of verbs uttered in the speeches, President Jimmy Carter's views of the political universe and approaches to political action in different issue areas are identified and compared. The results of the analysis provide reasonable support for the face, construct, and content validity of the operational code indices. We find that Carter's view of the political universe and approach to political action were consistent across issue areas during the first three years of his term as president. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan President Carter's support for human rights remained steadfast. Statistically significant shifts occurred in his views of the Soviet Union and others in the political universe and in his approach to political action regarding the conduct of U.S.-Soviet relations and other issues.