The Fates of Challengers in U.S. House Elections: The Role of Extended Party Networks in Supporting Candidates and Shaping Electoral Outcomes

Extended party network (EPN) theory characterizes political parties in the United States as dynamic networks of interest groups that collaboratively support favored candidates for office. Electoral predictions derived from EPN theory have yet to be tested on a large sample of races. We operationalize EPNs in the context of organized interest contributions to U.S. House campaigns. We deduce that support by a partisan community of interests signals the ideological credibility and appeal of a candidate. EPN integration overcomes voter ambiguity surrounding challengers’ ideological preferences, and resources provided by these coordinating interest groups promote a consistent message about the candidate. Using data from the 1994–2010 cycles, we apply network analysis to detect EPN support of challengers and find that EPN integration substantially improves the electoral prospects of challengers. The effect of EPN integration is distinct from that of campaign resources. The findings provide support for EPN theory, as applied to congressional elections.     

A smugglers paradise: Cocaine trafficking through the Bahamas

During the last two decades The Bahamas have come to assume a central role in the transhipment of illicit drugs into the United States. This has occurred concomitantly with the dramatic development and escalation of the War on Drugs by the U.S. government. The author investigates the reasons why the United States has done so little to curb the blatant participation of this tiny island nation in these drug activities, while going so far as to invade Panama in order to remove Manuel Noriega from power, allegedly over his drug-related actions. The answers may be found, it is argued, in traditional fears of communist expansion in the Western Hemisphere, leading to the militarization of the region in the name of the War on Drugs.     

Policing in small town America: Dogs, drunks, disorder, and dysfunction

A handful of researchers examined the activities of law enforcement in rural areas. Much of the research on rural policing activities involved well-constructed ethnographic methodologies including observational studies, case studies, and in-depth interviews. These studies demonstrated that rural police officers faced a number of problems that their urban counterparts did not. Building on this past research, this article reports the results of a content analysis of law enforcement activity in one rural community over a two-year timeframe. In all, 948 police calls as described in one community's published media crime reports were analyzed. Results of the analysis suggested that rural policing requires officers who are trained as generalists and able to respond to an assortment of departmental and social/community needs. Implications are provided.     

What Ever Happened to Economic Liberalism?

This article challenges conventional portrayals of the status of economic liberalism within the contemporary British and American intellectual Right. Specifically, it seeks to correct two misconceptions. First, that within the intellectual Right economic liberalism is the dominant ideological component; and second, that it is a wholly confident and triumphalist ideology, with economic liberals unambiguously committed to an assertive individualist creed. In fact, many are far more pessimistic, defensive and insecure than is frequently acknowledged.     

State of Indiana V. Ford Motor Company revisited

In 1980, a jury returned “not guilty” verdicts on three counts of reckless homicide against the Ford Motor Company. The company was indicted when three girls were killed after their Ford Pinto burst into flames following a rear impact collision. This paper re-examines the consequences of this landmark case involving corporate wrongdoing from the perspectives of the participants 20 years later. Interviews were conducted with 22 individuals directly involved with the litigation, as well as with insightful observers and experts. The lasting impact of this case is demonstrated through its influence on the development of corporate liability, even though the company was found “not guilty.”     

US tax treatment of foreign grantor trust during the year of the Grantor's death

This article, specifically, addresses the US tax treatment ofa foreign trust that changes from a foreign grantor trust toa foreign non-grantor trust when the grantor (settlor) diesduring the year and how the trust accounts for its distributednet income and undistributed net income in the year of death.¹