Conclusion: prospects for analysing committees in comparative perspective

ABSTRACT

While theories of committees in the U.S. Congress can continue to play a central role in the still-growing comparative study of committees, they require careful, frequent modification. Moreover, more fruitful study of committees may require a wider framework, recognising more fully that committees are institutions embedded in wider social structures.     

Extent and characteristics of woman batterers among federal inmates

Efforts to identify men who batter women in clinical settings have increased in recent years, but batterer research in United States federal prisons is lacking; low security federal prisons are logical places to consider batterer screening and treatment given the number of men, the domestic violence "risk markers" associated with these men and the likelihood they will be released and return to female partners. This study examined intake assessment data for 115 low security federal inmates. The inmates evidenced high levels of risk markers for woman battering, one in three (33%) acknowledged recent physical violence against women partners, 1 in 10 (13%) admitted severe violence, and the self-identified batterers showed more substance use and personality problems than other inmates. The findings suggest that batterer screening and treatment may be needed in federal prisons and that more research is warranted with a burgeoning male population that ultimately returns to society.     

13 STR loci frequency data from a Scottish population

A total of 13 STR loci were typed from over 200 Caucasians from the Strathclyde region in the west of Scotland.     

Mojave mirages: gender and performance in Las Vegas

The article explores the permeable boundaries between image, perception, experience, and realities through a series of personal observations on gender and performance in Las Vegas. The author'observations on this resort destination in the middle of the Mojave Desert are mingled with the narratives of women who came to the area during and after World War II. Lucrative jobs in wartime industries followed by the post-war tourist economy gave women opportunities to earn more money than they could ‘back home.’ A work in progress, the article explores why women came to Las Vegas and stayed and how they, like many visitors to the city, play out their fantasies in its public theater.     

When Trust Matters: The Case of Gun Control

Political Behavior - Declining trust in government is often cited as the cause of declining support for policies that require ideological sacrifices. Yet pivotal to the effect of trust is the...     

A bouncy house? UK select committee newsworthiness, 2005–18

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, legislative committees have been regarded as quite unimportant in the UK. Some scholars contend that recent reforms have substantially increased the powers of select committees, rendering them genuinely important to policy and the scrutiny of government; others see little sign of change. We examine House of Commons select committees in regard to exactly one indicator of significance, their newspaper coverage. We detect significant gains in salience of some committees, as compared to the period just before the Wright reforms (2005–10). But committees vary dramatically in coverage levels and trends, and it is unclear if their newspaper profiles continue to grow.