Do Candidates Matter? Constituency-specific Vote Changes for Incumbent MPs, 1983–1987

The assumption that candidates make a difference to electoral outcomes in British general elections is tested through a comparison of the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Incumbent's Constituency-specific Vote Change (ICVC) between the June 1983 and June 1987 British general elections is measured by subtracting the average regional vote change for the incumbent's party from the constituency vote change registered by the incumbent. Regression analysis finds ICVC to be most significantly influenced in both the Labour and Conservative parties by the incumbent's length of tenure, displayed especially in the higher ICVC registered by first-term incumbents than by more senior incumbents. Variables indicating the security or insecurity of the seat in electoral terms are significantly related to ICVC in the Conservative but not in the Labour case. The findings for Labour indicate ICVC to be greater where electoral security is greater. This finding might be explained by successful Conservative party concentration on constituencies in which Labour incumbents appear to be vulnerable.     

China’s environment: Foreign trade and investment and international organizations

Not only is China’s environment in decline, but China’s contribution to global environmental deterioration is significant. Because of the global implications of China’s environmental pollution, international action is needed. Foreign trade and investment should be encouraged to incorporate environmental concerns and technology transfer, especially in the area of energy efficiency. Continued and enhanced international cooperation as well as loans and investment through international and regional organizations should also contribute to improving China’s and the global environment. Finally, China should assist in this process by continuing domestic economic reform and the open door policy. Environmental and economic benefits will result from efforts in these three areas.     

Approach and avoidant coping: Implications for adolescent mental health

We conducted a short-term longitudinal study examining the structure of coping behavior and the relationship between coping style and depression during adolescence. The sample consisted of 603 adolescents in Grades 6–11 who were surveyed in the fall of 1989 and again in the fall of 1990. A two-dimensional model of coping was found using confirmatory factor analysis with the factors being approach and avoidant coping. Four cross-sectional and seven longitudinal coping groups were formed to explore group differences in depression. Approach copers reported the fewest symptoms of depression, while avoidant copers reported the most. Subjects who changed over time from approach to avoidant coping evidenced a significant increase in depressive symptoms, whereas subjects who switched from avoidant to approach coping displayed a significant decrease in depression over a one-year period. These findings imply that adolescents who are able to elicit social support, engage in problem solving, and cognitively restructure events within a positive light are more likely to successfully negotiate the challenges of adolescence.This research was supported by a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation (8912789), Anne C. Petersen, Principal Investigator. The writing of this article was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Research Training Grant 5 T32MH18387-06 in Child Mental Health/Primary Prevention.Received Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include adolescent mental health and community research.Received his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include adolescent mental health and research methodology.Received degree from the University of Chicago. Research interests are in biopsychosocial development in adolescence, with a focus on sex differences in mental health.     

Knowledge and attitudes about AIDS: A comparison of public high school students,incarcerated delinquents,and emotionally disturbed adolescents

This study compared AIDS knowledge and attitudes in public high school students (N=167), incarcerated delinquents (N=166), and emotionally disturbed (SED) adolescents (N=151). The response measure was a 50-item Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) questionnaire that was previously used by Bell et al., in their 1991 study of learning disabled adolescents. Although AIDS knowledge was moderately high in all three groups, widespread misunderstandings about disease transmission and awareness of high-risk groups and practices were noted. Knowledge scores were significantly higher in the public school sample than in the SED adolescents; moreover, they tended to be slightly higher (p<0.10) than the delinquent group as well. Teenagers with the severest emotional problems were by far the least informed. Age and race were also predictive of AIDS knowledge. Other results showed that delinquents were more permissive in their attitudes about sex, more inclined to disdain safe sex practices, and more likely to feel threatened by high-risk groups as well as powerless to protect themselves against AIDS. Generally speaking, the findings extend the work of other investigators on the needs for AIDS education in adolescents. The need is especially urgent in delinquent and emotionally disturbed youth who may require a more comprehensive intervention because of their greater knowledge deficits, propensity for high-risk practices, and tendency to deny or underestimate their own vulnerability.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Research interests include health behavior change and the treatment of anxiety and habit disorders. To whom correspondence should be addressed.Received M.A. degree in psychology from the University of the Pacific. Research interests include health behavior change and medical epidemiology.Received Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Research interests are in child and adolescent psychiatry and the delivery of mental health services.Received Ph.D. in biostatistics from the Medical College of Virginia. Research interests are in general linear models.     

The federal Employment Equity Act: goals vs. implementation

Abstract: Policy analysts have frequently noted the gap between the intentions of policy makers and the effects of a program of change. This paper questions the ability of the implementation process to achieve the objectives of the federal Employment Equity Act. It argues that organizations under the act have not progressed towards employment equity, not because they have failed to implement the policy according to its legal provisions, but because the act itself is fundamentally flawed. While collecting statistics from the workplace may be useful in identifying discriminatory practices and problem areas and in identifying weaknesses in the evaluative and corrective mechanisms in the act, the reliance on data collection as the sole measure of effective implementation is highly simplistic. The usefulness of the data is compromised by the extent to which they actually reflect decreased discrimination. Furthermore, it is erroneous to suppose that employers of their accord will sanction themselves when statistics reveal an unrepresentative internal workforce. Sommaire: Les analystes de politiques ont souvent noté l'éart entre les intentions de ceux qui définissent les politiques, d'une part, et les effets d'un programme porteur de changement, d'autre part. Cet article met en cause la capacité des processus de mise en oeuvre à réaliser les objectifs de la loi fédérale sur l'équité en matière d'emploi. Selon l'article, les organismes soumis à la Loi n'ont pas fait de progres vers l'eAquité en matière d'emploi, et ce, non pas parce qu'ils ont manqué d'appliquer la politique conformément à ses clauses légales, mais plutôt parce que la loi elle-même a des lacunes fondamentales. Recueillir des données statistiques sur les lieux de travail est peut-êre utile lorsqu'il s'agit d'identifier les pratiques discriminatoires et les faiblesses des mécanismes d'évaluation et de correction prévues par la loi, mais il serait par trop simpliste de se fier aux données comme indicateur unique d'une mise en oeuvre réussie. L'utilité des données est relative dans la mesure oh elles reflètent simplement une diminution de la discrimination. De plus, il est incorrect de supposer que les employeurs se sanctionneront deux-mêmes lorsque les données statistiques révèlent l'inobservation de la loi.     

The effects of cashing-out food stomps on household food use and the cost of issuing benefits

The recent report produced by Vice President Gore's committee on government efficiency highlights the importance of streamlining government operations. But often there are trade-offs between administrative streamlining and accomplishing substantive program objectives. This article examines these tradeoffs in the context of the Food Stamp Program, an important component of the United States' safety net for providing low-income assistance. We estimate impacts on both administrative costs and substantive outcomes (participant food expenditures) resulting from issuing program benefits in the form of checks rather than the usual food coupons. The findings, which are based on experimental tests of the cashout approach in parts of Alabama and California, suggest that significant cost savings can be attained through cashout but that these savings may be achieved at the cost of weakening the program's ability to achieve its substantive objective of encouraging food use.