Federal Preemption and State Regulation of Transportation and Telecommunications

Transportation and telecommunications are two of the most importantinfrastructural industries in the American economy. As theseindustries are so vital and because they exhibit characteristicsthat have frequently rendered them quasi-monopolistic, theirgrowth has been accompanied by state and federal regulation.We document how the imposition of regulation has led to continualconflicts over the extent to which federal regulation shouldtake precedence over state regulation. We illustrate how thejustifications for federal preemption have been applied notonly to the regulation, but also to the recent deregulation,of railroads, trucking, and telecommunications. We contend thatpolitical factors, such as congressional support, precedent-settingcourt rulings, and, most important, political pressure fromaffected interest groups that is related to the revenues stillgenerated within states by these industries, ultimately determinethe form of preemption that emerges from the Congress.     

The responsiveness of approval voting: Comments on Saari and Van Newenhizen

Saari and Van Newenhizen (1987) misinterpret their findings about the indeterminacy of voting systems: far from being a vice, indeterminacy is a virtue in allowing voters to be more responsive to, and robbing them of the incentive to misrepresent, their preferences. The responsiveness of approval voting, in particular, means that the cardinal utilities that voters have for candidates can be reflected in voters' strategy choices, which ultimately translate into better social choices. Empirical data from a recent election support these claims, showing, among other things, that the Borda system, a determinate voting system favored by Saari and Van Newenhizen, is highly vulnerable to manipulation by strategic voters.     

Reviews

Arms and the African: Military Influences on Africa's International Relations edited by William J. Foltz and Henry S. Bienen Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut), and London, 1985. xv plus 221 pp. including map, tables, appendix and index. $22,50.

Language, Society and Paleoculture: Essays by Edgar C. Polome Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1982. xiii plus 387 pp. including bibliography. $20,00.

Indigenous Agricultural Revolution: Ecology and Food Production in West Africa by Paul Richards Hutchinson, London, 1985. 192 pp. including figures, tables, illustrations, appendix, bibliography and index. $12,95.

Rural‐Urban Balance: Policy and Practice in Ten African Countries by T.J.D. Fair Africa Institute of South Africa, Pretoria, 1985. 37 pp. including tables, map and references. R4,00 paperback.

Hundert Jahre Afrika und die Deutschen edited by Wolfgang Höpker Günther Neske (for the Deutsche Afrika‐Stiftung), Pfullingen (West Germany), 1984. 178 pp. including map and illustrations. DM28,00.

Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity by Norman N. Miller Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), and Gower, London, 1984. x plus 180 pp. including map, illustrations, figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. £14,45.

Colonial Evangelism: A Socio‐Historical Study of An East African Mission at the Grassroots by T.O. Beidelman Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1982. xix plus 274 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $12,50 paperback.

Zimbabwe: A Revolution that Lost its Way? by André Astrow Zed Press, London, 1983. xv plus 254 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. R.20,75 paperback.

Where are the Ju/Wasi of Nyae Nyae?: Changes in a Bushman Society, 1958–1981 by John Marshall and Claire Ritchie Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, 1984. ix plus 187 pp. including diagrams, tables, maps, illustrations, appendices and references. R3,50 paperback.

South Africa in its International Context: Some Historical Reflections by F.H. Hinsley, Noel Garson and Sara Pienaar South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, October 1986 (Bradlow Series, No. 4). 14 pp. R10,00 paperback.

The Surplus People: Forced Removals in South Africa by Laurine Platzky and Cherryl Walker Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxxiii plus 446 pp. including maps, tables, illustrations, bibliography and index. R.14,95 paperback.

From Control to Confusion: The Changing Role of Administration Boards in South Africa, 1971–1983 by Simon Bekker and Richard Humphries Shuter and Shooter, Pietermaritzburg, 1985. 258 pp. including maps, tables, notes, appendices, bibliography and index. R20,00 paperback.

The Ambiguities of Dependence in South Africa: Class, Nationalism, and the State in Twentieth‐Century Natal by Shula Marks Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1986. ix plus 171 pp. including map, illustrations, appendix, notes and index. R.13,50 paperback.

Khoikhoi and the Founding of White South Africa by Richard Elphick Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxii plus 266 pp. including maps, references, bibliography and index. R14,95 paperback.

The Colonization of the Southern Tswana, 1870–1900 by Kevin Shillington Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxii plus 311 pp. including maps, tables, illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography and index. R18,00 paperback.

John Blades Currey, 1850 to 1900: Fifty Years in the Cape Colony edited by Phillida Brooke Simons Brenthurst Press, Johannesburg, 1986. 275 pp. including illustrations, notes, appendix, bibliography and index. R.195,00.

The World of Can Themba: Selected Writings edited by Essop Patel Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. 244 pp. R6,95 paperback.     

Veto Rhetoric and Legislative Riders

Riders to appropriations bills have long been a favorite congressional instrument for forcing presidents to accept unwanted policies. To resist unwanted riders, presidents have increasingly resorted to veto threats. Are such threats credible, and do they influence legislation? To answer these questions, we analyze the legislative histories of hundreds of threatened and unthreatened riders from 1985 through 2008. We find that threats are effective in bringing the final legislation closer to the president's preferences. Threats achieve their success, in large part, by interrupting the textbook legislative process in the Senate—spawning filibusters, prompting leaders to punt bills to conference, and encouraging the use of other “unorthodox” procedures. Unlike conventional models that regard veto threats as minimally effective, the findings presented here depict veto rhetoric as integral to identifying critical riders separating the legislative parties that must be resolved in order to avoid gridlock and pass annual appropriations legislation.     

Book reviews

Central Asia and the Caucasus After the Soviet Union: domestic and international dynamics Mohiaddin Mesbahi (Ed.) Gainsville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 1994, x, 353 pp, $49.95 cloth, $24.95 paper

Central Asia in Historical Perspective Beatrice F. Manz (Ed.) Boulder, Colorado and Oxford, UK: Westview Press, 1994, xii, 254 pp, $54.95/£40.95

The New Central Asia and its Neighbours Peter Ferdinand (Ed.) The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, Pinter Publishers, 1994, 120 pp, £9.99, paper

Central Asia. 130 Years of Russian Dominance, a Historical Overview Edward Allworth (editor) Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, London: Academic & University Publishers Group, 1994, 647 pp, illus., £25.50/£65

Commonwealth or Empire? Russia, Central Asia, and the Transcaucasus William E. Odom and Robert Dujarric Indianapolis, Indiana: Hudson Institute, 1995, 290 pp, $12.95 paperback

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Russia and the former Soviet Union Archie Brown, Michael Kaser and Gerald Smith (editors) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994, 604 pp, illus, index, £40

Kyrghyzes and Their Ancestors: untraditional overview on the history and modernity T. Koychuev, V. Mokrynin and V. Ploskih Kyrghyzy i ih predki: Netraditsionnyi vzglaid na istoriu i sovremennost.Bishkek: Kyrghyzskaia Ensiklopedia, 1994, 128 pp, ISBN 5–89750–058–6

Independent Kyrghyzstan: Third Approach T. Koychuev & A. Brudnyi Nezavisimyi Kyrghyzstan: Tretii put. Bishkek: Ilim, 1993. 143 pp

Russians in the Former Soviet Republics Paul Kolstoe London: Hurst & Company, 1995, 272 pp, biblio, index, £37 hardback

The Revenge of the Past. Nationalism, Revolution and the Collapse of the Soviet Union Ronald Grigor Suny Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press/Cambridge University Press, 1993, 200 pp, £10.95 paper

Black Sea Neal Ascherson London: Jonathan Cape, 1995, 306 pp, chronology, index, £17.99

Turkey in Post‐Soviet Central Asia Gareth Winrow London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995, 53 pp, £9.50

The Rise of the Indo‐Afghan Empire, c. 1710–1780 Jos J. L. Gommans Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994, 219 pp, appendices, index, biblio, $65.75

Revolutionary Horizons. Regional Policy in Post‐Khomeini Iran John Calabrese Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK: Macmillan Press, 1994, 221 pp, biblio, index, £40

The Cambridge History of China/Volume 6, Alien regimes and border states, 907–1368 Dennis Twitchett (Ed.) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994, xxix + 864 pp, £80

China Deconstructs. Politics, Trade and Regionalism David S. G. Goodman and Gerald Segal (Eds) London: Routledge, 364 pp, 1994, £40/£12.99 paperback     

A “meeting of the minds” — The greater illusion

Conclusion Despite a superficial similarity in circumstance, the dynamics of the judicial process of contract interpretation are not equivalent to the circumstances giving rise to the Primacy Dilemma. The Primacy Dilemma involves two parties; the judicial process involves a third: the court. This distinction is critical for while Wittgenstein's exposé of the Primacy Dilemma as illusion does not require that centuries of refinements to theories of contract interpretation be scrapped, it does require an abandonment of the ideal that courts do not and cannot make contracts; courts merely enforce agreements that the parties themselves have reached.Copyright ©1995 by Samuel C. Damren. All rights reserved.     

Party policy equilibrium for alternative spatial voting models: An application to the Norwegian storting

In recent years a lively debate has emerged concerning the empirical status of the traditional proximity spatial model versus a directional model of voter choice. The central reason for this scholarly interest concerns these models' contrasting implications for parties' policy positioning, with the directional model motivating parties to present extreme policies, but the proximity model promoting centrist positions. To this point, however, there exist no studies that compute parties' optimal strategies in historical elections, for these competing models. This article addresses this issue, by examining party policy strategies in a multiparty electorate for three different vote models: (a) the proximity model, (b) a directional model (c) a mixed model which combines proximity and directional components. Each model incorporates past voting history and the random effects of unmeasured variables. Using parameter estimates derived from analyses of survey data from the 1989 Norwegian Election Study we compute — for each of these vote models — the configuration of party policy positions that maximize each party's vote share in relation to those of the other parties. We find that for each model, such a vote–maximizing configuration exists, but — for the proximity model — represents an unrealistic, tightly clustered array. A mixed proximity–directional model, however, provides by far the most convincing account of parties' actual policy strategies with regard to dispersion and vote share.     

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.