Violent disorder in Ciudad Juarez: a spatial analysis of homicide

This article considers the extent to which specific demographic and socioeconomic factors correlate with homicidal violence in the context of Mexico’s “war” on organized crime. We draw on Ciudad Juarez as a case study and social disorganization theory as an organizing framework. Social disorganization is expected to generate higher levels of homicidal violence. And while the evidence reveals several social disorganization factors associated with homicidal violence in Ciudad Juarez, not all relationships appear as predicted by the theory. Drawing on public census and crime data, our statistical assessment detects six significant variables (or risk factors) positively associated with homicidal violence in Ciudad Juarez between 2009 and 2010. Likewise, the assessment finds another six specific variables (or protective factors) that are negatively associated with above average homicide in the city between 2009 and 2010. The featured data and level of analysis do not conclusively demonstrate causation, nor was this the intent. Rather, we propose a baseline model for testing spatial-temporal dynamics of organized violence in multiple settings.     

The Making of Policy: Institutionalized or Not?

This article attempts to build bridges in the formal study of policymaking across polities of different degrees of institutional development. It explores the reasons why policymaking is fairly institutionalized in some polities but not in others. It suggests extending standard models of institutionalized policymaking to allow for a wider set of actions, including the threat of violence or of damage to the economy. It engages the discussion of institutions as rules and institutions as equilibria, delivering multiple equilibria with different degrees of institutionalization. The likelihood of institutionalized policymaking increases as the cost of alternative political actions increases, as the damage these alternatives cause decreases, and as the economy becomes wealthier. In cases in which the distribution of de jure political power is more asymmetric, it is more likely to observe use of alternative political technologies as well as low degrees of institutionalization.     

The Effect of “China Bashing” on Sino-American Relations

Many scholars argue that a sizable share of the news about China published in U.S. newspapers engages in ??China Bashing.?? This paper quantifies the extent of the bashing and examines its effect on Sino-American relations. To measure bashing, I develop an index based on the count of articles in major U.S. newspapers that are related to China and also touch on one or more of the following issues: human rights, Tibet, democracy, child labor, and repression. I repeat this process for newspapers from Australia and New Zealand to net out ??fundamental?? news. To examine the effect of the bashing on Sino-American relations, I use the China-US relations score of Yan et al. (Zhongwai guanxi dingliang yuce, [?????????????; Quantitative Forecasts of China??s Foreign Relations]. Beijing, China: Shijie heshi chubanshe, 2009, Zhongwai guanxi jianlan 1950-2005??Zhongguo yu daguo guanxi dingliang hengliang [??????????1950-2005???й???????????????; China??s Foreign Relations with Major Powers by the Numbers 1950-2005]. Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu chubanshe, 2010) and estimate a dynamic transfer model with the constructed bashing index, as well as other control variables. The results indicate that a one-standard-deviation shock in bashing leads to a 0.038 point decline in Yan??s Sino-American index after about four months. The results further imply that the cumulative long-run effect of persistent China bashing is equivalent to about 50?% of the decline in Sino-American relations that followed the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on May 7, 1999, the worst shock to Sino-American relations during the sample period, 1990 to 2010.     

The Cuban revolution and its acolytes

He has written widely on Cuba and Fidel Castro. Among his books are Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution; Cuba, Castro, and the Caribbean;and Secret Report on the Cuban Revolution (all published by Transaction).     

Psychiatric Morbidity Differences in Male and Female Adolescent Inpatients With Alcohol Use Disorders

Objective: To examine gender differences in demography, cooccurrence of Diagnostic Statistical Manual (third edition, revised; DSM-III-R) axis I disorders and axis II personality disorders, and self-reported psychological distress in adolescent psychiatric inpatients with alcohol use disorders. Method: A consecutive series of 61 adolescent inpatients (36 boys and 25 girls) with either alcohol abuse or dependence were reliably assessed with structured diagnostic interviews for DSM-III-R Axis I and Axis II personality disorders. Results: Boys and girls did not differ in age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, global functioning, age at first psychiatric contact, or number of hospitalizations. Girls were more likely to meet criteria for oppositional defiant disorder, eating disorders, and additional drug use disorders. Girls were also more likely than boys to meet criteria for at least one personality disorder and borderline personality Contrary to gender patterns in the general population, the proportion of girls and boys with affective disorders and conduct disorders did not differ significantly. Conclusions: Relatively few gender differences were found in adolescent inpatient alcohol abusers even where they would be expected, based on non substance-abuse general population gender patterns. When observed, gender differences were in the direction of greater psychiatric disturbance among girls. Some of the gender patterns observed among alcohol abusing adolescents are at odds with gender differences observed in non substance-abuse samples.     

A Partnership to Counter International Terrorism: The UN Security Council and the UN Member States

Following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolutions 1368 and 1373 and thereby created the basis of a global counterterrorism system. At the heart of this system lies a partnership between the Security Council and the UN member states—a partnership in which states have been given considerable, independent, operational responsibility. Unfortunately, this system has often been criticized and viewed pessimistically by scholars, who tend to focus primarily on UN bodies and offer little discussion of the key role of states. This article presents a different conceptualization of this counterterrorism system and suggests, through case studies, that it has attained some important objectives in the global struggle against terrorism.     

Understanding the Clayton Act of 1914: An Analysis of the Interest Group Hypothesis

The trusts issue culminated in the passage of the Clayton Act in1914, which conventional wisdom holds was a response to theperceived ineffectiveness of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.Using ordered and multinomial logit analysis, we were able todetect economic interest variables that explain the senators'votes. The empirical findings strongly support the wealth transferhypothesis, and the regression results clearly show that senatorsresponded to interest groups. While we also found some support forthe ideological perspective, it is clear that there was much moreto the vote than the conventional story would suggest.     

Support for Harsh Criminal Sanctions and Criminal Justice Beliefs: A Social Dominance Perspective

Much of the criminal justice literature indicates that people’s support for harsh criminal sanctions such as the death penalty is strongly related to their beliefs about deterrence and their beliefs about retribution. In this paper, using social dominance theory as our organizing framework, we expand upon this literature by showing that social dominance orientation (SDO) is also related to support for harsh criminal sanctions, as well as to deterrence and retribution beliefs. In addition, we show that the relationships between SDO, on the one hand, and support for various forms of severe criminal sanctions, on the other, are mediated by deterrence and retribution beliefs.