A Political Science of Punishment: Francis Lieber and the Discipline of American Prisons

This article examines the history of political science in relation to the history of the prison. It considers how theories of the state in political science have assumed that proper states should punish with prisons, and traces these ideas to the work of Francis Lieber, the first academic political scientist in the USA. Because his ideas about prison reform were central to his conceptualization of the discipline as a science of punishment, his theory of the state is an understudied part of the history of mass incarceration. Lieber argued that the state had a moral duty to punish its citizens with the prison, and an obligation to manage the risks of democracy through the prison's principles of scientific certainty, less eligibility, and disciplinary solitude. By examining the life and work of Francis Lieber, this article offers new ways of thinking about political science's past, and its status as part of the history of the American prison.     

Affordability and mortgage design: Permanent buydowns and buyups

Abstract

A simulation model that mirrors the actual practices of lenders in setting qualification requirements for mortgage loans is used to assess the impact of permanent buydowns and buyups on the maximum sale price that buyers can afford. Buydowns are reductions in the coupon rate traded off against higher discount points; buyups are the reverse. Although buydowns have little effect on afford ability, buyups can have significant effects. Their potential is largely unrealized, however, because of the call risk to lenders of loans carrying premiums. The authors propose a “discount recovery” provision, which would be similar to a prepayment penalty except that the payment upon prepayment would be tied to the amount of the discount foregone by the lender. This would protect lenders against call risk, giving them every reason to offer buyups as a way of expanding demand.     

Would a Value‐Added System of Retention Improve the Distribution of Teacher Quality? A Simulation of Alternative Policies

In this paper, we consider several features of teacher‐retention policies based on value‐added measures of effectiveness under a variety of empirically grounded rules and parameters. We consider the effects of policy design by varying the standard above which satisfactory teachers are expected to perform. We simulate recently adopted policies that remove teachers based on consecutive unsatisfactory performance and compare these to policies that remove teachers based on poor performance on average over a multiyear period. We also consider the precision of the performance measure and the underlying variation in teacher quality on policy effects. Finally, the simulation makes a step forward by incorporating recent empirical findings of a relationship between teacher quality and natural attrition from the profession. Our results indicate that deselection policies based on value‐added measures have the potential to improve teacher quality, although understanding the role of policy design, self‐selected exits, and the underlying variation in teacher quality is essential for determining policy effects.     

The Effects of Uncontested Elections on Legislator Performance

Political competition lies at the core of representative democracy. Yet, uncompetitive elections and uncontested races are widespread in the United States, particularly at the state level. In this article, we analyze the consequences of uncontested elections on lawmaking activity. Our primary hypothesis is that legislators who run unopposed are less active lawmakers than those who were selected through competitive elections. Studying roll‐call vote participation and bill introduction and enactment for most of the U.S. states for 1999–2000, we find that state legislators elected in unopposed elections perform more poorly compared to their colleagues elected in competitive contests.     

Die Tugend des Staatsmanns. Eine pragmatische Dimension in Kants politischer Philosophie

Der vorliegende Artikel sucht die Dimension konkreter Politik in Kants Philosophie und fragt anhand des Verhältnisses von Staatsoberhaupt und Untertan danach, wann eine Republik mehr ist als nur ein Wort auf einem Blatt Papier. Hierzu wird das Verhältnis zwischen Kants Ethik und seiner Pädagogik heranzuziehen sein. Weder kann die Lösung allein durch die Individualethik erbracht werden, noch befriedigt allein eine geschichtsphilosophische Hoffnung. Denn dadurch wird das Selbstdenken als zentrale Forderung der Aufklärung konterkarriert. Die realhistorischen Ereignisse in Frankreich und ihre systematische Erläuterung durch Kant weisen auf dasselbe Problem hin, wenn er die Abschaffung der Adelselite befürwortet. Die Institution des Adels genügt nämlich ebenfalls nicht dem Kriterium der Menschenrechte. Daraus ergibt sich für die Republikanisierung, damit sie für den Untertan nachvollziehbar wird, die Bildung eines politischen Bewusstseins. Hierzu antizipiert Kant dasjenige, was heute unter dem Begriff des Sozialkapitals diskutiert wird.