Earthquakes and Aftershocks: Race, Direct Democracy, and Partisan Change

Although dramatic partisan change among the electorate is infrequent, the issue agendas of parties may produce large shifts. A major cause of such change is the politics of race. In a political environment charged with racially oriented issues, racial groups often align themselves with different parties (as witnessed most recently in the American South). Yet, if racial appeals violate norms of equality, these appeals may rebound on the party using them. Consequently, members of the (white) racial majority and racially targeted minority may both move away from the offending party. Using data from the California Field Poll, we find that racially charged ballot propositions sponsored by the Republican party during the 1990s in California reversed the trend among Latinos and Anglos toward identifying as Republican, ceteris paribus, by shifting party attachments toward the Democratic party. Our results raise serious questions about the long-term efficacy of racially divisive strategies for electoral gain.     

The Political Environment and Ballot Proposition Awareness

Studies that examine whether voters make informed decisions on direct legislation and whether direct legislation enhances civic engagement presume a basic awareness of ballot propositions, yet little is known about why some ballot propositions are more widely known than others. Despite the fact that research on awareness of ballot propositions and political awareness focus on individual factors, the political environment plays a vital role. This study seeks to advance our understanding of environmental factors in explaining awareness of ballot propositions. Using data on California ballot elections between the years 1956 and 2000, I find that the political environment has a substantial effect on voter awareness. Specifically, I find that the electoral cycle, media coverage, campaign spending, voter fatigue, the number of days before an election, and issues that concern morality, civil liberties, and civil rights contribute to ballot proposition awareness.     

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Obesity During the Transition to Adulthood: The Contingent and Nonlinear Impact of Neighborhood Disadvantage

Neighborhood disadvantage in early adolescence may help explain racial and ethnic disparities in obesity during the transition to adulthood; however the processes may work differently for males and females and for minority groups compared to Whites. The present study examines the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and young adult obesity and the extent to which it contributes to racial/ethnic disparities among males and females. Data are from waves I and III of The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative sample of adolescents administered between 1994 and 2002. The final sample of 5,759 adolescents was 54% female, 63% White, 21% African American, 16% Hispanic, and 14 years of age, on average, at wave I. Using hierarchical logit models and controlling for prior obesity status, findings indicate that, for females, adolescent neighborhood disadvantage partially explains racial/ethnic disparities in young adult obesity. Further, neighborhood disadvantage increases the odds of becoming obese for adolescent females in a curvilinear form, and this relationship significantly varies between Whites and Hispanics. Neighborhood disadvantage does not increase the risk of obesity for males, regardless of race/ethnicity. Implications for obesity prevention are discussed.     

Will More Black Cops Matter? Officer Race and Police‐Involved Homicides of Black Citizens

In response to police‐involved homicides of black citizens in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere, some have suggested that more black police officers could reduce the number of these events. The authors offer an empirical test of this assertion. The literature offers conflicting expectations: some studies suggest that increased representation reduces discrimination, while others suggest that it increases discrimination. The authors reconcile these perspectives using the concept of critical mass, which leads to the expectation that an increase in black officers will reduce the number of black citizens killed in encounters with police, but only once the proportion of black officers is sufficiently large. We test this expectation in analyses of recently compiled data on police‐involved homicides in 2014 and 2015 in large U.S. cities.     

What are the Future Prospects for the European Social Model?An Analysis of EU Equal Opportunities and Employment Policy

The aim of our article is to examine the future prospects of the European Social Model (ESM). First, the article defines the ESM as a mixture of hard law, soft law and underlying norms and values. Second, the article analyses the ESM on a more detailed level in the case of the law of equal opportunities and employment through a historical account and the legal dynamics of integration. The results of the analysis indicate a growing integration capacity of the ESM. Yet, this runs counter to the current neoliberal preferences of the Barroso Commission which has moved from a strategy of combining economic growth and social cohesion, to one in which economic growth creates social cohesion.     

Domains of competency to stand trial

Attempts to improve the clinical rigor of competency to stand trial evaluations have resulted in the development of several psycholegal measures. Among the most widely used of these measures are the Competency Screening Test (CST), the Fitness Interview Test (FIT), and the Georgia Court Competency Test—Mississippi State Hospital Revision (GCCT-MSH). To examine the theoretical domains of the competency construct as assessed by these measures, a series of exploratory factor analyses were performed combining previously reported data on the FIT and GCCT-MSH with a new outpatient sample of 353 court referrals. For the CST, data from a previous sample were compared to the original validation study. Of the three measures, only the GCCT-MSH showed evidence of stable, independent factors. A comparison of the GCCT-MSH to theDusky standard suggested a need to further develop empirical measures to better represent underlying constructs related to the defendant-attorney relationship and defendant's participation in his or her defense.     

Research-informed teaching: a clinical approach

In a bid to attract students amidst increasing competition within the sector, many universities claim that their teaching is “research-informed”. However, there is some disagreement amongst academics about what actually counts as research-informed teaching and therefore how it should be developed and delivered. Furthermore, whilst academic reputation is a key factor for prospective university applicants, the primary objective of the majority is to enhance employability. Institutions must therefore be careful to ensure that research-informed teaching is developed in a way that is perceived to help rather than hinder this fundamental objective. This article seeks to define research-informed teaching and then considers whether clinical approaches to both teaching and research can offer more widely applicable strategies for effective integration of the two. Two case studies are considered: first, the writer’s own experience as a solicitor in private practice; and secondly, Hallam Law, Sheffield Hallam University’s pro bono law clinic. It is submitted that by adopting a clinical approach to the research and teaching on more orthodox, academic modules, it may be possible to develop and deliver research-informed teaching in a way that enhances employability and therefore appeals to prospective law students.