“Modern” death qualification

We report on the results of a comprehensive statewide survey of death penalty attitudes in which respondents were categorized in terms of their death-qualified or excludable status under several different Supreme Court doctrines governing the death-qualification process. We found that although changes in public opinion with respect to the death penalty in general have altered the relative sizes of the death-qualified and excludable groups, significant differences remain between them on a number of attitudinal dimensions, no matter which doctrines are employed to define these groups. We discuss the implications of these recent data, especially with respect to the Supreme Court's continued reference to the death-qualified jury as an index of community standards with respect to the death penalty itself.     

Allocating scarce resources for endangered species recovery

This article examines the relationship between fiscal year 1990 Fish and Wildlife Service spending on endangered species recovery and the priority ranking assigned by the Fish and Wildlife Service to particular species. The focus of the analysis is on the extent to which resources were allocated to species assigned higher priority rankings. The major conclusions are: species' recovery priority rank is not related to funding decisions by the Fish and Wildlife Service; some of the individual factors that make up the overall priority ranking—recovery potential and conflict with development—are correlated to funding decisions; and the likelihood of receiving some Fish and Wildlife Service recovery funding was greater for mammals, birds, and fish.     

State government purchases in a federalist economy

This paper empirically examines the impact of state government purchasing preference laws on expenditures and revenue of individual states. Purchasing preferences allow firms located within a state to win state contracts without being the low bidder. We find that states with purchasing preference laws spend 3% more in real terms per capita than other states. Evidence is found indicating that the preferences require revenue increases to fund them (the tax base does not rise sufficiently), and that there is some apparent taxpayer resistance to these preferences. This evidence is consistent with a coalition model of state government behavior because it indicates there is significant redistribution of income between groups within the state.We thank the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston for financial support. This paper benefitted by comments received from Gordon Tullock and an anonymous referee.