The Federal Formula and the Collapse of the USSR

A plan for the most ambitious political reform in Soviet historywas approved by the USSR's parliament in late 1988. As the reformunfolded, a key component came to be what Mikhail S. Gorbachevcalled "a renewed federal structure. "Reform proponents arguedthat only a renewed federalism could provide for the continuedintegrity of the Soviet state while assuring greater responsivenessto local demands. However, the attempt to breathe life intothe USSR's pseudo-federal structure unleashed long-suppressednationalist, territorial, and localist sentiments. Beginningin 1990, "refederalization" passed from mainly rhetorical discussionto a plan for a more loosely organized federation under theauspices of a Union Treaty. Following the attempted coup d'étatby Kremlin hard-liners in August 1991, pressures for decentralizationled, in the closing weeks of 1991, to the complete abandonmentof the "Great Soviet experiment." With the demise of the USSR,the plan for federal redesign was superseded by the rapid emergenceof independent states.     

Bringing home the votes: Electoral outcomes in state legislative races

This analysis assesses the effects of campaign activity, measured in terms of the campaign expenditures of candidates, on the outcomes of state legislative elections. The research utilizes election results from the 1978 elections for the state houses in California and Iowa. In addition, the investigation specifies the influence of partisan strength and incumbency on election outcomes. Two multiple regression models are estimated, one in which the partisan vote outcome is the dependent variable and one in which the vote of challengers is the dependent variable. Although the results of the inquiry underscore the partisan character of state legislative races, they also show that, akin to congressional contests, a challenger's campaign spending can sometimes have a greater effect on the voting outcome than the incumbent's spending. But these state legislative elections are largely partisan affairs in which bringing home the votes mainly involves support for political parties in the legislative districts and the intensity of campaign efforts represented by campaign expenditures.     

Germany and the new Europe

where he directs the Europe-America and Global Security Projects. He has been Director of Studies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and taught on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He served the first Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was staff member for Western Europe on the National Security Council. This article is a condensed version of his forthcoming book, America, Germany and the Future of Europe.     

Gender differences in self-consistency: Evidence from an investigation of self-concept structure

This study investigates the relationship between two primary motivational components of the self-concept: self-esteem and self-consistency. Past research has shown that high self-esteem is associated with greater consistency. Developed from theories of the self-concept, a structural model relating these two constructs was posited such that (1) self-esteem is causally prior to self-consistency, and (2) the effect of self-esteem is (at least partially) mediated by other components of the self-concept (self-consciousness, the tendency to fantasize, and the tendency to present a false front by hiding one's feelings). Utilizing a structural equation model with unobserved variables, an analysis of covariance structures was applied simultaneously but separately to data from a sample of boys and girls (ages 8–19). Results showed that the direct effect of self-esteem on self-consistency was stronger for boys than for girls. Further, the mediational properties of the other self-concept components also varied across gender. These differences are interpreted in light of theories of gender socialization.The research reported in this article was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 27747) to Morris Rosenberg. A version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, Illinois, August 17–21, 1987. Analysis was facilitated by the Computer Center, Brown University, and the Computer Science Center, University of Maryland.Received Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His major research interest include the self-concept of young children, fairness in social relationships, and impression management.     

THE PECULIAR TASKS OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT: TOWARD CONCEPTUAL DISCRIMINATION

Abstract: Recent contributions to AJPA have suggested new conceptual directions for public management in response to the stand-off between managerialists and their critics. In emphasising the inherent political dimensions of public management, this article seeks to build on these contributions. It does so by combining some of the insights of previous contributors with a simple matrix devised originally by American scholar James Q Wilson. The central proposition is that attempts to render public management more like private management have been too far-reaching, and do not adequately appreciate the intractable difficulties that stem from the types of task that are peculiar to public organisations. It is suggested that there should be less reliance on dubious metaphors borrowed from the business domain. Instead, a greater degree of theoretical eclecticism and conceptual discrimination should be used in understanding and developing public management.