Are Congressional Leaders Middlepersons or Extremists? Yes

Infuential theories of legislative organization predict that congressional leaders will be selected from the center of their parties. Yet previous research has generally rejected the “middleperson hypothesis,” finding leaders to be extremists. We challenged these findings by testing more‐appropriate null hypotheses via Monte Carlo simulation. We found that congressional leaders (and leadership candidates as a whole) tend to be closer to their party's median than would occur by chance, but leaders also tend to be selected from the left of the median for Democrats and to the right for Republicans. Compared to the pool of announced candidates for leadership positions, winners are not ideologically distinctive. This result suggests that factors affecting the ideology of leaders tend to operate more at the candidate emergence stage.     

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND DELINQUENCY *

Family interaction and attachment assume prominent roles in social control theories of delinquency. However, the degree of conceptualization and the measurement strategies generally employed arguably are inadequate to capture the real dynamic quality of such relationships and to specify their effects on delinquency involvement. The purpose of this research is to distinguish more precisely those family interaction mechanisms which are associated with delinquency. The analysis, based on a sample of 824 adolescents, leads to the specification of seven distinct family interaction dimensions: control and supervision, identity support, caring and trust, intimate communication, instrumental communication, parental disapproval of peers, and conflict. Compared with research based on a single attached-unattached dimension, this multidimensional model gives a much more complete and precise sense of the kind of relationships which exist between parents and their more or less delinquent children. In addition, the analysis shows that the family interaction variables have similar effects on delinquency in both-parent, mother-only, and mother/stepfather homes. The analysis by race, sex, and race-sex subgroups suggests, however, that while there is a core of family attachment dimensions that is important for all adolescents, there are several important subgroup differences.     

CHARGING FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES: A COHERENT PHILOSOPHY

This article reviews and critically appraises the alternative rationales and methodologies for local authority charging practice which have been proposed in the past. It goes on to advocate a charging rationale based on customized value-added services. This is argued to be a coherent charging philosophy which can realistically fit into the evolving policy, management and decision-making framework of local government. It allows for individual choices within a wider framework of collective choice and provision of services. It is capable of blending efficiency and equity criteria within a system of practical charging policies for local government services. Whilst retaining consistency of rationale, the proposal can be moulded to suit both the objectives and the particular characteristics of individual services. Practical examples are given, specific criticisms addressed and implementation is considered. The essential point is that it is compatible with the institutional framework within which it is applied.     

GENERAL MANAGEMENT IN THE NHS: THE INITIAL IMPACT 1983–88

The Griffiths report of 1983 resulted in radical changes (to which the label 'general management' has been applied) to the formalities of organization and management in the national health service. We report the findings of a major study (involving more than 300 interviews) of the impact of these changes up to 1988. Although general management has been widely accepted in the service, and seems to have resulted in some improvements to management processes, there has been no substantial change in organizational culture. We conclude that the impact of the Griffiths model of management has been limited in comparison with the continued influence of medical autonomy and financial limitations.