Is Timing Everything? Retirement and Seat Maintenance in the U.S. House of Representatives

Literature on open‐seat elections has focused on the individual attributes of a candidate and/or institutional arrangements. When a seat becomes an open contest could be a significant indicator as to how likely the incumbent party is able to maintain the seat. Examining data on open U.S. House seats from 1996 to 2008, we use OLS regression and logistic regression analysis, finding that time is a significant predictor for incumbent party fund‐raising and seat maintenance. We conclude that political parties have an interest in encouraging members of Congress to announce their retirement early in the election cycle.     

INTERFACING INDICATORS AND CONSTRUCTS IN CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH: A NOTE ON THE COMPARABILITY OF SELF-REPORT VIOLENCE DATA FOR RACE AND SEX GROUPS

This paper examines issues in using self-reports of involvement in violent acts to measure a latent construct (propensity toward violence). Three issues are addressed. First, the meaning of latent variables and the factor-analytic approach to modeling latent constructs are discussed. Second, the comparability of self-report violence measures across race and sex groups is assessed. Third, the consequences are discussed of estimating factor analytic models on pooled samples of data where the measurement component of the model does not apply equally for different subsets of the sample.     

ADDICTED WOMEN AND CRIME*

The relationship between women's narcotics use and crime is examined among Anglo and Chicana methadone maintenance clients. Three types of analyses are employed: (1) the temporal ordering between narcotics involvement and criminal activities: (2) comparisons of crime levels before and after critical events in the addiction career including narcotic initiation, addiction, last daily use, first treatment entry, and first treatment discharge; and (3) crime levels as a function of increasing narcotics use. Women in this study demonstrate extensive criminal involvement and some also engage in dealing and/or prostitution. Property crime activities precede the addiction career for many women but, once addicted, the amount of property crime committed appears to be generally regulated by narcotics use levels. After the addiction career, property crime decreases substantially. Chicanas, in general, display higher baseline pretreatment criminal activity and show fewer changes in crime levels than Anglo women in reaction to events such as treatment or termination of addiction career.     

Electoral Registration: Time for Change

Electoral registration is the key building block for the administration of elections. It is the gateway to voting: people cannot vote at elections in the UK if their name is not on the register. In recent times there has been much debate in media and Westminster circles about current arrangements for electoral registration and the related issue of the future of postal voting.
This article presents new research published by the Electoral Commission in September 2005 investigating non-registration and its causes. It reviews the case for reform, considers the current policy debate and outlines some of the challenges involved in maximising registration rates. It summarises the Commission's policy recommendations and the reasoning behind them, focusing in particular on the suggested move from the current household-based system of registration to a system of individual registration     

The Implementation and Utilization of Stabilization Funds by Local Governments in Massachusetts

This paper examines the management of stabilization funds by local governments in Massachusetts. It assesses the implementation and funding of stabilization funds and explores how they were utilized to respond to a midyear reduction in state aid. We find that stabilization funds correlate weakly with unreserved general fund balances. We also construct multiple regression models to predict stabilization and general fund balances. We surmise that communities have either implicit or explicit financial management strategies in which slack resources play more than countercyclical roles. Further research is needed to determine the role of stabilization funds in local government financial management strategies.