To Give or Not to Give: Modeling Individuals' Contribution Decisions

Employing data from a recent national survey on campaign finance, we examine the contribution behavior of individual citizens in the 2000 election. By disaggregating types of contributions, our model enables us to observe potential heterogeneity in the determinants of giving money to parties and candidates. We find that for both types of contributions, the effects of informational resources and solicitation on the decision to contribute outweigh those of financial resources. In addition, we propose both a theoretical and an empirical distinction between the selection effects of solicitation and the stimulus effects of solicitation. By distinguishing between these dual dimensions of solicitation, our analysis provides new insight into the causal linkages between income, solicitation, and contributions. We find that while solicitation increases the likelihood of contributing through selective targeting or rational prospecting, it also does so through a stimulus mechanism.     

Wrongful birth in New Zealand

Wrongful birth cases have been a feature of the common law. In this article the author examines wrongful birth cases against the background of the New Zealand accident compensation scheme. Initially cases were accepted under the scheme, but after major changes to the legislation in 1992, wrongful birth cases were declined cover. The author argues that this should continue to be the case, and that, as a result, New Zealand courts will have to make the same policy decisions in this area as those made by other Commonwealth courts.     

Maximizing order or harm? Arrests among a social network of people who inject drugs in a large urban city

Encountering the criminal justice system at the first point of entry---an arrest---is associated with heightened HIV and Hepatitis risk behavior among people who inject drugs (PWIDS). Intervening structurally through the criminal justice system impacts public health; therefore, determining arrest patterns is an important tool for risk reduction. Among a sample of 740 PWIDs, and their social network members recruited from predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Baltimore City, a third were recently arrested in the previous six months, and of those, the arrests were disproportionately African-American persons and characterized as nonviolent, i.e., drug possession/attempt to purchase (38%) and loitering (29%). Poisson regression models were built adjusted for age, sex, race, education level, homelessness, and monthly income after exploring bivariable characteristics of arrests using chi-squared tests. Active drug use was associated with a recent arrest (adjusted prevalence ratio: aPR 2.38 95% CI 1.6, 3.6), in addition to participants who recently reported attending a syringe exchange program (aPR 1.45 95% CI 1.1, 2.0). Our findings are suggestive of recent media coverage and burgeoning research revealing the prioritization of policing resources toward both communities of color and neighborhoods of intensified drug trafficking. Further research is warranted to contextualize the operationalization of criminal justice resources and the impact on community health.     

The changing geography of metropolitan opportunity: The segregation of the poor in U.S. metropolitan areas, 1970 to 1990

Abstract

This analysis uses census tract data to measure the segregation of the poor in U.S. metropolitan areas in 1970, 1980, and 1990. Two measures of segregation are used: the indices of dissimilarity and isolation.

In 1990 the mean dissimilarity of the poor in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas was 36.1, which is substantial but below the 60.6 dissimilarity of blacks. The 1990 isolation of the poor was 21.0. From 1970 to 1990, the dissimilarity of the poor increased by 11 percent, and the isolation of the poor rose by 9 percent; in contrast, racial segregation declined. Exploratory regression analyses reveal that income segregation in metropolitan areas was significantly greater in 1990 and increased more from 1970 to 1990 in the Northeast than in the South and West. Midwest areas generally were not significantly different from Northeast areas in 1990 segregation levels or in changes from 1970 to 1990.     

The Effect of Transparency on Trust in Government: A Cross‐National Comparative Experiment

Transparency is considered a key value for trustworthy governments. However, the effect of transparency on citizens’ trust across national cultures is overlooked in current research. This article compares the effect of transparency on trust in government in the Netherlands and South Korea. The effect is investigated in two similar series of three experiments. The authors hypothesize that the effect of transparency differs because the countries have different cultural values regarding power distance and short‐ and long‐term orientation. Results reveal similar patterns in both countries: transparency has a subdued and sometimes negative effect on trust in government. However, the negative effect in South Korea is much stronger. The difference in the magnitude of transparency's effect suggests that national cultural values play a significant role in how people perceive and appreciate government transparency.     

Controlled electrostatic methodology for imaging indentations in documents

The electrostatic process for imaging indentations on documents using the ESDA device is investigated under controlled experimental settings. An in-house modified commercial xerographic developer housing is used to control the uniformity and volume of toner deposition, allowing for reproducible image development. Along with this novel development tool, an electrostatic voltmeter and fixed environmental conditions facilitate an optimization process. Sample documents are preconditioned in a humidity cabinet with microprocessor control, and the significant benefit of humidification above 70% RH on image quality is verified. Improving on the subjective methods of previous studies, image quality analysis is carried out in an objective and reproducible manner using the PIAS-II. For the seven commercial paper types tested, the optimum ESDA operating point is found to be at an electric potential near -400V at the Mylar surface; however, for most paper types, the optimum operating regime is found to be quite broad, spanning relatively small electric potentials between -200 and -550V. At -400V, the film right above an indented area generally carries a voltage which is 30-50V less negative than the non-indented background. In contrast with Seward's findings [G.H. Seward, Model for electrostatic imaging of forensic evidence via discharge through Mylar-paper path, J. Appl. Phys. 83 (3) (1998) 1450-1456; G.H. Seward, Practical implications of the charge transport model for electrostatic detection apparatus (ESDA), J. Forensic Sci. 44 (4) (1999) 832-836], a period of charge decay before image development is not required when operating in this optimal regime. A brief investigation of the role played by paper-to-paper friction during the indentation process is conducted using our optimized development method.     

The US role in Korean democracy and security since cold war era

This paper traces the role that US played in the developmentof Korean democracy and maintaining peace and security in theKorean peninsula. First, it looks back into the US role in theKorean political transformation from 1950s through 1980s. Itexamines why the US introduced American style democracy in thedivided country and what was the role of the US in the criticaljunctures of regime changes and transformations. The UnitedStates had two contradictory objectives in South Korea: to buildup South Korea as ‘a showcase for democracy’ andas an anti-communist buffer state. The two objectives set ‘theAmerican boundary’ to South Korean democracy. The firstobjective acted upon as an enabling condition for incipientdemocracy, while the second acted upon as a confining conditionto development of democracy in South Korea. Second, it investigatesthe role that the US played in the outbreak of financial crisisin 1987 and in the ensuing comprehensive neoliberal restructuringof the economy by the Kim Dae Jung government after the crisis.Third, it analyzes three events that put US–Korean relationsunder stress since the inauguration of Bush administration:Anti-Americanism, perception gap on North Korea, and the newmilitary transformation initiative of US. Finally, it drawspolicy rationales for stronger Korea–US alliance in thefuture from the Korean perspective: Korea–US allianceas leverages against China and Japan, means of pursuing an effectiveengagement policy toward North Korea, a cornerstone to liftSouth Korea to a hub state in Northeast Asia, and geopoliticalbalancer and stabilizer in Northeast Asia after the unificationof Korea.     

Assessing the consequences of corporate discretion on regulatory compliance: the case of motor vehicle safety in Canada

What are the consequences of discretion when government shares the responsibility for regulatory compliance with the industry subject to regulation? Do differing underlying goals affect implementation? This article examines the implementation of Canada's Motor Vehicle Safety Act for fiscal years 1974–75 to 1981–82. Since the law creates opportunities for the exercise of discretion and those responsible for implementation (government versus industry) do not share the same underlying goals, one can expect that who implements the act will be of considerable importance. The data suggest that when incentives for compliance differ, discretion creates the opportunity for substantially different outcomes. Notable differences exist in the characteristics of recalls that manufacturers initiated and those that Transport Canada influenced.     

Environmental Protection and the New Federalism: A Longitudinal Analysis of State Perceptions

Surveys of the directors of state air and water quality programsin 1979, 1985, and 1990 are used to assess the directors' (and,indirectly, the states') reactions to the New Federalism ofthe 1980s and related federal efforts to increase the role ofthe states in environmental decisionmaking. Despite frequentclaims that the New Federalism led to significant improvementsin state-federal relations in the environmental arena, the surveydata suggest that these relations have changed little since1979.