No (Parliamentary) Gender Gap Please, We're British

Although the number of women MPs has increased in recent years, there continues to be a pronounced gender gap in the British House of Commons. Most attempts to close this gap have involved political parties selecting candidates on the basis of some form of electoral gender quota, but quotas are problematic, and more radical steps need to be taken if we are serious about women being equally represented in the Mother of Parliaments. This article proposes a possible solution that accords as far as possible with Britain's governing and representative traditions: the modification of current electoral arrangements so that voters in each constituency vote for and are represented by both a male and a female MP.     

Simulating Massachusetts Municipalities' Recession Readiness: Early Warning of a Perfect Storm?

We simulate effects of two recessions on Massachusetts municipalities in light of their relative dependence on state aid, capacity to increase property taxes under Proposition 2½ constraints, growth, and nondiscretionary costs. We also explore the efficacy of local government stabilization funds in light of current literature on stabilization funds, slack resources in general, and the state–local fiscal relationship. We found substantial variance in Massachusetts municipalities' recession readiness. Fifty‐five (16 percent) municipalities have insufficient resources to weather a severe recession scenario without significant sacrifice due to reliance on state grants‐in‐aid, low property tax revenue growth, erosion of property tax revenue increments by increases in nondiscretionary expenditures, and inadequate stabilization funds.     

EQUITY IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE:

This research examines the punishment decisions of 166 respondents, 36 of whom are employed in criminal justice occupations. Comparison of the decisions of criminal justice respondents and non-criminal justice respondents provides a test of two constructs in equity theory: inequity between offenders and victim and inequity between offender and accomplice. Results strongly, support the first construct and equivocally support the second.