Variables influencing the dating adjustment of university students

The author wished to determine the effect of selected variables on dating adjustment. Questionnaires were administered to 200 males and 130 females in introductory social science classes at a midwestern university. The results of stepwise regression indicated that the variables of frequency, commitment, and age of initial dating were the strongest influences on the dating adjustment of both sexes. Social orientation was found to be significant for the dating adjustment of males but not of females.Received his Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University. Current interest is the sociology of adolescence, particularly dating and sexual relations.     

Federalism and low-maintenance constituencies: Territorial dimensions of economic reform in Argentina

How does the territorial distribution of political and economic resources within national polities influence politics and policy making? This article examines the electoral dynamics of market reform in Argentina between 1989 and 1995. It provides insights into the way that the distribution of economic and institutional resources in federal systems shapes policy making and coalition building options for reformist governments. The electoral viability of the governing Peronist Party during the economic reform period was facilitated by the regional phasing of the costs of market reform. Structural reforms were concentrated primarily on economically developed regions of the country, while public spending and patronage in economically marginal but politically overrepresented regions sustained support for the governing party. Statistical analyses contrast patterns of spending and public sector employment in “metropolitan” and “peripheral” regions of the country during the reform period, as well as the social bases of electoral support in those regions. A conceptual distinction between “high-maintenance” and “low-maintenance” constituencies is also introduced to shed light on the dynamics of patronage spending in contexts of market reform.     

The Savings and Loan Debacle and Erosion of the Dual System of Bank Regulation

The crisis in the banking and thrift industries is catalyzinga shift in the traditional system of dual state-federal bankregulation toward the federal government and away from the states.Erosion in this system has been evident for the past decadedue to actions of the Congress, federal regulators, and thejudiciary. The dual system has two sets of flaws. One is regulatorycompetition that encourages weak monitoring of financial institutionsby states. The other is created by the "moral hazard" of thecurrent system of federal deposit insurance. There are two pathsto reform. One is continued erosion of the power of the states.The alternative is to provide incentives that reinforce thedual system of regulation and deter the sources of "moral hazard."     

Adjustment,stabilisation and the structure of employment in Brazil

A significant change in the structure of employment in Brazil in the period 1988–95 took place. Industrial employment fell, especially in the most traditional sectors such as clothing, textiles and footwear. There has been a shift of workers from the industrial sector to the services sector and an increase in the share of self‐employed workers and informal wage earners. The quality of jobs being created in the services sector are not of the same ‘quality’ as those in the industrial sector, leading to a deterioration of employment conditions and of the labour market performance. Hence the rate of unemployment is not a very good measure of labour market conditions during adjustment. The creation of jobs in general might therefore not be an explicit target under adjustment. Rather the objective should be trying to change labour market institutions in order to improve the quality of the jobs and the quality of the labour relations.