The Continued Relevance of Local Parties in Representative Democracies

This article assesses the value of local parties. It asks why political parties value their local sections. It also considers the ways in which local parties can benefit society. Local parties act as a democratic training ground for party members, are a conduit for political communication and provide parties with a range of resources. They also act as problem solving agencies; they ensure that policy is responsive to local needs; they provide an additional channel of communication and accountability; and they link citizens with the state. The article ends with an appeal to party scholars to refocus their attention towards local parties.     

C: reviews: short review articles

DESERT SONGS: WESTERN IMAGES OF MOROCCO AND MOROCCAN IMAGES OF THE WEST. By John Maier. Albany New York, State University of New York Press, 1996.

PURITANS IN BABYLON: THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST AND AMERICAN INTELLECTUAL LIFE 1880–1930. By Bruce Kuklick. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1996.

THE ISLAMIC BATHS OF PALESTINE. By Martin Dow. Oxford, Published for the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem by the Oxford University Press, 1996. 128 pp. (hb).

ISLAM AND ISRAEL. MUSLIM RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS AND THE JEWISH STATE. By Michael Dumper. Washington, DC, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1994. 192 pp. (hb).

ISLAMIC POLITICS IN PALESTINE. By Beverley Milton‐Edwards. London and New York, Tauris Academic Studies, 1996. 256 pp., £39.50 (hb).

CHRISTIANS IN THE HOLY LAND. Edited by Michael Prior and William Taylor. London, World of Islam Festival Trust, 1994. 235 pp.

THE CHRISTIAN HERITAGE IN THE HOLY LAND. Edited by Antony O'Mahony with Goran Gunner and Kevork Hintlian. London, Scorpion Cavendish, 1995. 320 pp., including 15 pp. of illustrations and 1 map.

POLITICS WITHOUT PROCESS: ADMINISTERING DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARAB WORLD. By Jamil E. Jreisat. Boulder, Lynie Rienner Publishers, 1997. 259 pp.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Childhood Adversity on Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults

While researchers have provided evidence that recent stressors in adulthood and single traumatic events in childhood predict psychological disorder, few have examined the cumulative impact of childhood adversity on later well-being. Using a sample of 649 college students from New England, this research examines whether cumulative trauma in childhood and adolescence is related to depressive symptoms in young adults, and explores the mediating factors that operate in this association. Results indicate clear differences in cumulative trauma by sociodemographic characteristics, with males, nonwhites, and those with less than college-educated parents, reporting significantly greater levels of adversity. We also find that higher trauma is associated with both early onset of depressive disorder and later depressive symptoms. Path analyses reveal that, while some of the association between childhood adversity and depression in young adults is direct, most is explained by the mediating effects of later stress, low self-esteem, and early onset of disorder.