Linking Accounting and Budget Data: A Discourse

Although the federal government has long been required to provide a reliable linkage between its accounting and budget data, it has only recently developed tools that can provide a consistent, government‐wide solution. This article analyzes these tools by a discussion of the criteria necessary for linkage and by providing examples of certain key budget linkages. In addition, the history of the development of these linkage tools is discussed. This article was developed from ideas presented by the authors while participating on a Linking Accounting and Budget panel at the Fall 2001 American Association for Budget and Program Analysis (AABPA) Symposium.     

SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION OUTSIDE THE METROPOLIS: AN ANALYSIS OF RURAL YOUTH VIOLENCE*

In order to extend the study of community social disorganization and crime beyond its exclusive focus on large urban centers, we present an analysis of structural correlates of arrest rates for juvenile violence in 264 nonmetropolitan counties of four states. Findings support the generality of social disorganization theory: Juvenile violence was associated with rates of residential instability, family disruption, and ethnic heterogeneity. Though rates of poverty were not related to juvenile violence, this is also in accord with social disorganization theory because, unlike urban settings, poverty was negatively related to residential instability. Rates of juvenile violence varied markedly with population size through a curvilinear relationship in which counties with the smallest juvenile populations had exceptionally low arrest rates. Analyses used negative binomial regression (a variation of Poisson regression) because the small number of arrests in many counties meant that arrest rates would be ill suited to least‐squares regression.     

My First Chinese Wedding

The blushing young bride is a surgeon who works the night shift at a local hospital. Her strikingly handsome groom is also a doctor and surgeon at the same hospital. It is quite evident that they are deeply in love. The young professionals join hands as they enter the     

Mind-Bending Mandarin

To me, a 46-year-old laowai from the United States, learning Mandarin is actually four times harder than learning English.     

Tracing connections between comparative politics and globalisation

This article focuses on connections between globalisation and comparative political analysis. Traditionally the latter is concerned with domestic political actors, especially states. Globalisation, on the other hand, emphasises the variable significance of a variety of border-crossing, including transnational, actors. I argue that since the end of the Cold War five key developments—a large number of new countries; widespread political changes, especially in the Third World; global entrenchment of capitalism; increasing regional economic integration; and the growth of transnational civil society—collectively underline the importance of globalisation for comparative political analysis. It is now difficult plausibly to argue that what goes on politically within countries is unaffected by globalisation. The article is structured as follows. First, I trace the traditional (domestic) concerns of comparative political analysis and argue that, because it neglects the impact of globalisation, it is analytically inadequate. Second, I examine four key aspects of globalisation: technological, political, economic and cultural globalisation, and suggest how they influence comparative political analysis. Third, to assess differing views of how globalisation affects domestic politicalÐeconomic terrains, I examine competing arguments of the hyper-globalisationist, globalisation sceptic and structural dependency approaches.     

IN SEARCH OF A DEPENDENT VARIABLE: COMMENT ON AVAKAME, 1998*

In a previous Criminology article, Avakame (1998) applies hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques to Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) to disentangle individual‐ and aggregate‐level factors associated with offending. A close reading of his analysis reveals serious flaws in the dependent variable, which renders the results meaningless. Although it is ambiguous whether Avakame intended to model homicide “risk” or “frequency,” either is problematic. “Homicide frequency” has no logical connection to the individual‐level predictors; “homicide risk” is constant in SHR data, which makes the analysis impossible. In detailing these problems, we spell out the logical data requirements and offer sound empirical examples for an HLM analysis.     

ARREST FOR DOMESTIC AND OTHER ASSAULTS*

We use the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine whether a suspect's relationship to an assault victim affects whether the police make an arrest. The results indicate that in cases of minor assaults the police are less likely to make an arrest when the suspect is an intimate partner of the victim than when the suspect is an identifiable stranger. However, the police are not as lenient when the suspect is an intimate partner as they are when the suspect is someone else the victim knows. Intimate partner suspects avoid arrest in part because they are less likely to commit their crimes in front of witnesses. In addition, victims who know the suspect in any way are reluctant to sign complaints, and this reluctance inhibits arrest. Men are less likely than women to sign complaints, particularly when the suspect is a partner.