Political socialization,political gender gaps and the intergenerational transmission of left-right ideology

While left and right are the main terms to distinguish political views in Western Europe, the family socialization of citizens has mainly been studied in terms of partisan preferences rather than identification with these ideological blocks. Therefore, this study investigates the intergenerational transmission of left-right ideological positions in two European multiparty systems. To investigate expectations regarding gendered patterns in political socialization, ideological transmission between mothers, fathers, daughters and sons are analyzed, making use of German and Swiss household data. The results underline the relevance of the family in the transmission of political ideology in multiparty systems, showing high contemporary parent–child concordance in ideological positioning in line with classic work in political socialization. Moreover, the study demonstrates how the gender-generation gap in political ideology is consequential for this process. Young women consistently place themselves on the left of men across all combinations of parental ideology, which indicates that the gender-generation gap trumps other gendered patterns in intergenerational transmission. Consequently, daughters are less likely than sons to take over their parents’ rightist positions, while parent–son transmission is equally large on the left and the right. This also means that left-leaning parents have a general advantage over right-leaning parents in having their ideological identification reproduced by their daughters. The study highlights the importance of differentiating between the transmission of left- and right-wing ideology in political socialization processes. Moreover, it demonstrates that the distinction by offspring gender is imperative when studying the intergenerational transmission of traits that display gender differences within and between parental and offspring generations. The findings point at the active role of especially female offspring in the political socialization process, as they seem to be more strongly impacted by influences outside the family that sustain generational processes of further gender realignment.     

DETERRENCE EFFECTIVENESS MEASUREMENT

Abstract The controversy of statistical evaluation of effectiveness of the present criminal justice system and of specific programs or changes implemented in the existing system has in part centered around the value of crime-incidence data. The relationships between victimization and UCR or police-blotter data pertinent to their use in evaluation are first described. An example is presented using an empirical-stochastic model developed solely from UCR data to illustrate an approach to evaluation of system effectiveness. Here an ad hoc procedure is displayed which quantifies variation in and/or shifts in crime patterns after an intervention in the system.     

Dominant players and minimum size coalitions

Abstract. In this paper we present a result about Peleg's theory of coalition formation in dominated simple games (Peleg 1981). Further, a connection between Peleg's theory and Riker's minimum size theory (Riker 1962, Riker and Ordeshook 1973) is established. This connection leads to a new theory of coalition formation in simple games.     

What's New and Useful in Law Analysis Technology?*

Abstract
Decision-aiding software is probably the most important technological innovation from the perspective of lawyer decision-making, as contrasted to efficient office management. That kind of technological breakthrough can be helpful to lawyers in negotiating settlements favorable to their clients without expensive litigation. The technology makes use of benefit-cost analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis, spreadsheet software, and especially super-optimizing analysis whereby plaintiffs, defendants, and other parties can all come out ahead of their best initial expectations simultaneously. Decision-aiding software can also be helpful to lawyers in evaluating alternative precedents, statutes, regulations, and other legal policies to arrive at versions favorable to their clients without an expensive adoption campaign.     

Method, Morality and the Impossibility of Legal Positivism

Abstract. The dispute between Legal Positivists (eg, Hart) and Natural Lawyers (e.g., Finnis) concerns the existence or otherwise of a necessary (conceptual) connection between law and morality. Legal Positivists such as Hart deny this connection and assert the merely contingent relationship of law and morals. However, it can be demonstrated that implicit in the valid sociological method of concept formation of post-Austinian Positivists are interpretative or ideal-typical models of the practical rationality of the legal enterprise which are not, and cannot possibly be, value-neutral. With particular attention to the work of John Finnis and his incorporation of Weberian and Aristotelian methodological principles, this paper exposes, if not the truth of Natural Law Theory, the impossibility of Legal Positivism.     

Correction

For some reason, the only corrections received in the last Quarterconcern the United Nations in its various forms. General Daubentonwrites to point out that the study of kwashiorkor, referredto on p. 3, 1. 19, of the present volume, was undertaken bythe World Health Organisation, as well as by the Food and AgriculturalOrganisation. A learned letter from Mr. F. R. Bray, of the InternationalLabour Office, points out the connections between the legendThe Deeds of Bokari, printed on p. 61, and the Polynesian legendof Mauitikitiki. This connection exists, but not in the originalversion, only in the mind of the teller, E. Bankole Timothy.Finally, Dr. Chalmers Wright complains of the reference to theUnited Nations publication on inquiries into household standardsof living, made in the Shorter Notices on p. 172, pointing tothe 40 columns of material provided for the inquirer. I shouldhave thought that this might have been surmised from the precedingsentence in the notice, which refers to a list of most of thefield investigation in the past decade or two. The criticismof the actual content of the notice still remains, in my opinion,valid.      

THE URGENCY OF LAND AND AGRARIAN REFORM IN RWANDA

The challenges which lie ahead for post-genocide Rwanda's economic,social and political development are closely related throughthe issue of land. The pressure from a high rate of populationgrowth, added to the paucity of economic opportunities outsidethe agricultural sector, is forcing people off the land andinto poverty. Society is under extreme stress. Over the lastdecade the fabric of Rwandan society has been torn, resultingin ethnic and social divisions which culminpted in the eventsof 1994. Since then, new groups have entered the competitionfor land. Decisions concerning land and agrarian reform willunavoidably benefit some groups within this fragmented societywhile disadvantaging others. This article approaches the landproblem from two perspectives: first, by situating its socio-economicdimension in a deeper historical context and second, by consideringit as a specifically contemporary socio-political problem. Thearticle discusses the latest proposals for land and agrarianreform. While pressure on land has, over time, weakened socialbonds, it remains doubtful whether the government has the politicalstrength—in the present unstable national and regionalpolitical climate—to carry out the necessary reinforcementof communal bonds which economic development appears to require.     

Notes on the empirical analysis of cyclical processes

Abstract. This short note discusses a few general data-related problems which occur in analyses of cyclical processes, and offers a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches and techniques that can be employed. The conclusion is that one should be flexible in approach; it is always possible to model data in more than one way. A prudent strategy will always include the specification and testing of various models.