bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Computing Hydrostatic Potential Vorticity in Terrain-Following Coordinates
Authors: Cao Jie , Xu Qin
Published: June 2011

The hydrostatic potential vorticity (HPV) formulated in terrain-following coordinates is reviewed and shown to be equivalent to the widely used HPV formulations in the height, pressure, and isentropic coordinates in the sense that they all represent the same HPV substance and retain the same conservation property. The HPV formulation in terrain-following coordinates can be applied directly to model-simulated velocity and thermodynamic fields on the model’s original terrain-following grid to avoid coordinate transformation and eliminate grid interpolation error. This advantage and its significance are demonstrated by a numerical example.
Crime and U.S. Cities: Recent Patterns and Implications
Authors: Ellen Ingrid Gould , O'Regan Katherine
Published: June 2011

Crime fell substantially in the United States between the early 1990s and 2005. This article examines the size and nature of crime reductions that occurred in cities and their surrounding suburbs and identifies the characteristics of cities experiencing greater declines. The authors then explore two questions: how these changes altered existing disparities in safety (or exposure to crime) among particular groups and the extent to which these reductions increased the relative attractiveness of cities and ultimately led to city growth. The authors find that reductions in crime contributed to the ability of cities to retain households that might otherwise have moved to the suburbs, although the measurable impact on overall city growth is modest at best. Additionally, reductions in crime clearly changed the geography of crime and dramatically reshaped differential exposure to crime among demographic groups. At the city and neighborhood level, the authors find that the distribution of crime reductions was highly “progressive,” disproportionately benefiting historically disadvantaged groups.
The Changing Bases of Segregation in the United States
Authors: Massey Douglas S. , Rothwell Jonathan , Domina Thurston
Published: June 2011

The nature and organization of segregation shifted profoundly in the United States over the course of the twentieth century. During the first two-thirds of the century, segregation was defined by the spatial separation of whites and blacks. What changed over time was the level at which this racial separation occurred, as macro-level segregation between states and counties gave way steadily to micro-level segregation between cities and neighborhoods. During the last third of the twentieth century, the United States moved toward a new regime of residential segregation characterized by moderating racial-ethnic segregation and rising class segregation, yielding a world in which the spatial organization of cities and the location of groups and people within them will increasingly be determined by an interaction of race and class and in which segregation will stem less from overt prejudice and discrimination than from political decisions about land use, such as density zoning.
Downtown in the “New American City”
Authors: Birch Eugénie L.
Published: June 2011

The “new American city” is composed of many parts, including downtowns of primary cities whose contents have changed over the past fifty years as a new paradigm about their functions has emerged. Housing has increasingly played an important role, as seen in earlier studies documenting the rise of this phenomenon. A contextual explanation for increases in downtown residential populations and updated data on current levels help assess the effects of this change on the area.
The New Urbanity: The Rise of a New America
Authors: Nelson Arthur C.
Published: June 2011

The period from 2010 to 2030 will see as sweeping a change to America’s metropolitan landscape as the half century after World War II. During the baby boom era, 1946 through 1964, about half of American households were raising children; in 2030, only about a quarter will be. Between 2010 and 2030, the increase in the number of single-person households will be more than double the increase in the number of households with children. A major reason is the aging of the boomers: in 2010, 13 percent of the population will be age sixty-five or over; but by 2030, 19 percent of the population will be. There will be changes in the kind of housing and neighborhoods that households prefer. More than half of all households will prefer housing in neighborhoods that comprise such “urbanity” attributes as transit accessibility; proximity to shopping and restaurants; mixed uses including mixed housing choices; and mixed incomes, ages, and ethnicities. Moving toward this new urbanity will require reconsideration of several policies with roots dating from the baby boom era.
Urban Growth and Housing Affordability: The Conflict
Authors: Voith Richard P. , Wachter Susan M.
Published: June 2011

This article addresses the potential conflict between urban growth and housing affordability. The pervasive urban decline of the past, in which two-thirds of America’s thirty largest cities as of 1970 declined in population, has been replaced with urban growth. Two-thirds of these same cities have since resumed growing, but affordability challenges arise in many newly growing cities. The authors address the forces, both internal and external, driving urban “turnarounds” and the potential consequences for housing affordability.
Academic Outcomes and Texas’s Top Ten Percent Law
Authors: Furstenberg Eric
Published: June 2011

In this article, the author estimates the causal effect of attending a selective college on a student’s academic performance. The results differ from previous studies because the author estimates a local effect, identified only for students who enroll in a selective college but would not have been able to do so without the guaranteed admissions granted to them by Texas’s Top Ten Percent Law. Differing from many previous studies, the author finds significant negative effects of attending a selective college on the following measures: first- and sixth-semester grade point average, probability of completing the sixth semester, and graduation probability.
Parable of Two Agencies, One of Which Randomizes
Authors: Pearson Dominic , Torgerson David , McDougall Cynthia , Bowles Roger
Published: June 2011

This article examines the design of evaluations in settings where there is a choice as to how an intervention is to be introduced and evaluated. It uses data from a supervision program for offenders on probation in the UK (Bruce and Hollin forthcoming) that had been indicated by a pilot evaluation in one probation area to merit wider-scale implementation and evaluation. For the remaining two probation areas in the region, a randomized controlled allocation of participants to conditions was recommended. One of the areas adopted a stepped wedge design, in which probation offices were randomly allocated sequentially to the program. The second area opted to launch the program across the whole area simultaneously, with a retrospective sample as control group. The article compares the results of implementation in each probation area and seeks to draw wider inferences about the management of program implementation and the randomized controlled designs appropriate for similar field studies.
Democracy, Governance, and Randomized Development Assistance
Authors: Moehler Devra C.
Published: June 2011

Can field experiments be productively employed to study the impact of development assistance on democracy and governance (DG) outcomes? A small but growing number of practitioners and scholars, often working in partnership, are inventing a new research domain at the intersection of evaluation and political science. The article reviews recent and ongoing DG field experiments, and it offers lessons about the prospects and obstacles to the future development of a useful body of experimental evidence on the political economy of development.
Translating Experiments into Policy
Authors: Stoker Gerry
Published: June 2011

It is in their potential policy relevance that experiments may make their strongest contribution to innovation and progress in political science. Yet there are good grounds for thinking that the policy world has in place a number of barriers that can limit the impact of experimental evidence. Moreover, some experimenters seem to approach the business of influencing policy with spectacular naivety. In modern democratic societies, engaging with the policy process is a complex and demanding activity. In order to make advances in this quarter, experimenters will need to develop their methods and practices in field experiments and extend their strategies to deal with the demands of a complex policy world.
The Promising Integration of Qualitative Methods and Field Experiments
Authors: Levy Paluck Elizabeth
Published: June 2011

Randomized field experiments should take a more central place in qualitative research. Although field experimentation is often considered a quantitative enterprise, this paper illustrates the compatibility of field experimentation with various types of qualitative measurement tools and research questions. Integrating qualitative and quantitative data within field experiments allows investigators to move past simple average treatment effects and explore mechanisms of the identified causal effect. A more novel proposal is to use field experimentation as the organizing methodological framework for archival, ethnographic, or interpretive work, and to use ethnographic methods as the primary source of measurement in “experimental ethnography.” Sustained research and theoretical specificity can address some of the seemingly incompatible features of qualitative and field experimental methods. For example, small sample sizes are acceptable as part of a research program, and some theories of historical patterns or rare events could be disaggregated into smaller cause-and-effect linkages to test with field experiments in theoretically relevant contexts.
Why Can’t a Student Be More Like an Average Person?: Sampling and Attrition Effects in Social Science Field and Laboratory Experiments
Authors: Hooghe Marc , Stolle Dietlind , Mahéo Valérie-Anne , Vissers Sara
Published: June 2011

In the social sciences, the use of experimental research has expanded greatly in recent years. For various reasons, most experiments rely on convenience samples of undergraduate university students. This practice, however, might endanger the validity of experimental findings, as we can assume that students will react differently to experimental conditions than the general population. We therefore urge experimental researchers to broaden their pool of participants, despite the obvious practical difficulties this might entail with regard to recruitment and motivation of the participants. We report on an experiment comparing the reactions of student and non-student participants, showing clear and significant differences. A related problem is that differential attrition rates might endanger the effects found in long-term research. We argue that experimental researchers should pay more attention to the characteristics of participants in their experimental design.
Theory, External Validity, and Experimental Inference: Some Conjectures
Authors: Martel Garcia Fernando , Wantchekon Leonard
Published: June 2011

It is often argued that experiments are strong on causal identification (internal validity) but weak on generalizability (external validity). One widely accepted way to limit threats to external validity is to incorporate as much variation in the background conditions and in the covariates as possible through replication. Another strategy is to make the theoretical foundations of the experiment more explicit. The latter requires that we develop trajectories of experiments that are consistent with a theoretical argument. In other words, new experiments should not simply consist of changing the context of old ones, but do so in ways that explicitly test various aspects of a theory in a coherent way.
Help Me Help You: Conducting Field Experiments with Political Elites
Authors: Loewen Peter John , Rubenson Daniel , Wantchekon Leonard
Published: June 2011

Field experiments can teach important facts about the political world to both political scientists and political elites, whose shared interest in how that world actually works should encourage greater collaboration between the two. Nonetheless, for political scientists, conducting field experiments with elites can seem prohibitively challenging. Drawing on four field experiments with political elites, two in Benin and two in Canada, we outline key lessons on negotiating and conducting field experiments with political elites. Specifically, we outline how ethical concerns can be addressed and overcome. We discuss how the expectations and timelines of campaigns and elites can be managed, particularly when they (appear to conflict) with academic timing and process. Finally, we outline several general concerns about implementation of field experiments and provide some unique solutions.
Enough Already about “Black Box” Experiments: Studying Mediation Is More Difficult than Most Scholars Suppose
Authors: Green Donald P. , Ha Shang E. , Bullock John G.
Published: June 2011

The question of how causal effects are transmitted is fascinating and inevitably arises whenever experiments are presented. Social scientists cannot be faulted for taking a lively interest in “mediation,” the process by which causal influences are transmitted. However, social scientists frequently underestimate the difficulty of establishing causal pathways in a rigorous empirical manner. We argue that the statistical methods currently used to study mediation are flawed and that even sophisticated experimental designs cannot speak to questions of mediation without the aid of strong assumptions. The study of mediation is more demanding than most social scientists suppose and requires not one experimental study but rather an extensive program of experimental research.
The Repertoire of Infidelity among Low-Income Men: Doubt, Duty, and Destiny
Authors: Fosse Nathan Edward
Published: June 2011

In an effort to explain the rise of unwed parenthood in the inner city over the past several decades, a large body of research has attributed the phenomenon in part to low-income men’s unwillingness to commit to long-term, monogamous relationships. A major limitation of these studies, however, is that virtually none attempt to understand relationship dissolution by comparing low-income inner-city men in monogamous and nonmonogamous long-term heterosexual relationships. Drawing from a convenience sample of thirty-eight low-income monogamous and nonmonogamous men, this article develops a typology of three cultural logics of action used by respondents to motivate behavior in relationships: doubt, duty, and destiny. These cultural logics help to explain how poverty influences sexual action; nevertheless, this typology supports an emerging literature demonstrating the ways in which the sexual “culture of poverty” is contingent, contradictory, indeterminate, and multivocal.
Dignity through Discourse: Poverty and the Culture of Deliberation in Indian Village Democracies
Authors: Rao Vijayendra , Sanyal Paromita
Published: June 2011

Employing a view of culture as a communicative phenomenon involving discursive engagement, the authors argue that the struggle to break free of poverty is as much a cultural process as it is political and economic. The authors analyze public meetings in Indian village democracies, gram sabhas, where villagers are constitutionally empowered to make decisions regarding budgetary allocations for village development and beneficiary selection for antipoverty programs. They examine 290 transcripts of gram sabhas from South India, looking at how they create a culture of civic/political engagement and how the definition of poverty is understood within them. They highlight how gram sabhas impart discursive skills and civic agency and illustrate how the poor deploy these skills in a resource-scarce and socially stratified environment. The intersection of poverty, culture, and deliberative democracy sheds light on cultural processes that can be influenced by public action in a manner that helps improve the voice and agency of the poor.
Why Both Social Structure and Culture Matter in a Holistic Analysis of Inner-City Poverty
Authors: Wilson William Julius
Published: June 2011

A complex web of racialist and nonracialist structural forces, along with cultural forces, have adversely impacted life in inner-city black neighborhoods. Yet a number of studies have raised questions about the real effects of living in such neighborhoods, including the widely cited studies on the Moving to Opportunity experiment. The author highlights studies that provide compelling evidence for considering the cumulative effects of residing in poor segregated neighborhoods. While some of these are structural, others are cultural, such as the effects of prolonged exposure to cultural traits that originate from or are the products of racial exclusion. Advancing the argument that structural conditions provide the context within which cultural responses to chronic economic and racial subordination are developed, the author suggests a holistic public policy perspective whereby the complex web of structural and cultural factors that create and reinforce racial inequality is recognized and appreciated. To illustrate this perspective, he highlights the Harlem Children’s Zone, which President Obama has identified as a model for the creation of a national program of “promised neighborhoods” to address chronic racial and economic subordination.
Beyond Deservingness: Congressional Discourse on Poverty, 1964—1996
Authors: Guetzkow Joshua
Published: June 2011

Much of the research explaining the generosity of antipoverty programs has focused on the perceived deservingness of the poor. While the notion of deservingness is useful in explaining the scope and general outlines of policy, it does not help us understand the development and change of the specific policy instruments that constitute antipoverty policies. The author argues that to better understand the development of antipoverty policy tools aimed at changing the behavior of the poor, we need to analyze how policy elites frame both the causes of poverty and the nature of the poor. He illustrates the utility of this approach by analyzing congressional antipoverty discourse in two periods, comparing the “Great Society” period of 1964 to 1968 and the “neoliberal” era of 1981 to 1996, and shows how policymakers’ frames about the causes of poverty and about the capacities and desires of the poor shaped the specific antipoverty policies adopted in each period.
A Test of Sincerity: How Black and Latino Service Workers Make Decisions about Making Referrals
Authors: Smith Sandra Susan
Published: June 2011

The author draws from in-depth interviews with thirty-nine black and Latino custodial and food service workers at the University of California, Berkeley, to determine how workers make decisions about making job referrals. Interviews were revelatory. Drawing from widely available and institutionalized scripts about what makes a good worker, jobholders assessed jobseekers’ orientation toward work as well as what effect this orientation might have on their own reputations on the job to determine whom to help and how much to do so. Because of ethno-racial differences in how unemployment was interpreted, Latinos were more likely than their black counterparts to help and to do so proactively. These findings suggest that theories of social capital mobilization must take into consideration individuals’ access to and deployment of cultural resources to fully understand the circumstances under which actors are mobilized for instrumental action.
New World Orders: Continuities and Changes in Latin American Migration
Authors: Durand Jorge , Massey Douglas S.
Published: June 2011

Although migration from Mexico to the United States is more than a century old, until recently most other countries in Latin America did not send out significant numbers of migrants to foreign destinations. Over the past thirty years, however, emigration has emerged as an important demographic force throughout the region. This article outlines trends in the volume and composition of the migrant outflows emanating from various countries in Latin America, highlighting their diversity with respect to country of destination; multiplicity of destinations; legal auspices of entry; gender and class composition; racial, ethnic, and national origins; and the mode of insertion into the receiving society. The review underscores the broadening of international migration away from unidirectional flows toward the United States to new streams going to Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as to other countries in Latin America itself.
U.S. Migration from Latin America: Gendered Patterns and Shifts
Authors: Donato Katharine M.
Published: June 2011

Since the second half of the twentieth century, studies have documented the presence of women and men among migrants to and from Latin America. This study analyzes gendered patterns of U.S. migration from a variety of nations south of the border and examines how the probabilities of migrating on a first U.S. trip shift over the life course and by legal status. Using life history data from the Mexican and Latin American Migration Projects (MMP and LAMP), the author estimates the conditional likelihoods that male and female household heads and spouses of a given age migrate with or without documents on a first U.S. trip from four nations (Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) and from Puerto Rico. On the whole, findings suggest that the male-led process of undocumented migration from Mexico differs sharply from the female-led process of documented migration from the Dominican Republic and that the gendered patterns of U.S. migration from Nicaragua and Costa Rica fall somewhere in between. In contrast, Puerto Rico—U.S. mainland migration does not vary sharply by gender. These diverse gendered migration systems have implications for our understanding of migration in the Americas.
Gender Differences between Mexican Migration to the United States and Paraguayan Migration to Argentina
Authors: Cerrutti Marcela , Gaudio Magalí
Published: June 2011

This article deals with the issue of gender and migration in a comparative manner. It aims at identifying factors that affect the gender composition of migratory streams, including family formation and children. It compares two contrasting streams: Mexican migration to the United States, which has traditionally been male-dominated; and Paraguayan migration to Argentina, which comprises a larger proportion of women with patterns of migration relatively similar to those of their male counterparts. Using quantitative information from the Mexican Migration Project and the Paraguayan Migration Survey, and qualitative in-depth interviews, the authors examine differences in patterns of migration and the factors associated with them. The article concludes that differences are due mainly to historical traits in the initiation of the flows, the economic and social role of women in each sending country, migration policies and border controls, and the contexts of reception (resource opportunities).
Transition Shocks and Emigration Profiles in Latin America
Authors: Hiskey Jonathan , Orces Diana
Published: June 2011

Scholars have long recognized the impact transformative political events have had on migration patterns in individual countries, but few have extended these ideas to the current period of political transition taking place across Latin America. Through analysis of data from the Latin American Migration Project (LAMP) and the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) from across Peru, Nicaragua, and the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, the authors offer cross-national and subnational evidence of the role political “shocks” play in determining the demographic and socioeconomic profiles of migrants from these areas over the past twenty years. The results suggest that even in times of democratic opening, citizens’ migration decisions are in part driven by political considerations.
To Send or Not to Send: Migrant Remittances in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico
Authors: Duany Jorge
Published: June 2011

Despite their high out-migration rate, Puerto Ricans in the United States send less money than Dominicans and Mexicans to their relatives back home. One explanation for the low level of private transfers of Puerto Ricans is that public disbursements, especially for nutritional assistance, housing subsidies, and educational grants, may well be the safety net in Puerto Rico that remittances serve in other countries. In addition, most Puerto Ricans are covered by unemployment and disability insurance, and many have earned benefits such as Social Security, Medicare, and veterans pensions. Finally, Puerto Rico’s higher standard of living, compared to other Latin American countries, may mean that many migrants do not feel as obliged to send money to their country of origin as Mexicans or Dominicans do. The broader implications of remittances for understanding the transnational ties between Puerto Ricans on and off the island are examined and compared with the other two groups.
Migration, Remittances, and Children’s Schooling in Haiti
Authors: Amuedo-Dorantes Catalina , Georges Annie , Pozo Susan
Published: June 2011

The authors examine the impact of remittances on the schooling of children in various Haitian communities with a high incidence of out-migration. After addressing the endogeneity of remittance receipt, they find that, in some communities, remittances raise school attendance for all children regardless of whether they have household members abroad. However, in other communities, this effect is observed only among children living in households that do not experience any family out-migration. Hence, while the receipt of remittances by the household lifts budget constraints and raises the children’s likelihood of being schooled, the disruptive effect of household out-migration imposes an economic burden on the remaining household members and reduces children’s school attendance. As such, remittances ameliorate the negative disruptive effect of household out-migration on children’s schooling in some migrating communities in Haiti and, therefore, contribute to the accumulation of human capital in the midst of extreme poverty.
Policy Shocks: On the Legal Auspices of Latin American Migration to the United States
Authors: Riosmena Fernando
Published: June 2011

This article compares the transition into legal permanent residence (LPR) of Mexicans, Dominicans, and Nicaraguans. Dominicans had the highest likelihood of obtaining such residence, mostly sponsored by parents and spouses. Mexicans had the lowest LPR transition rates and presented sharp gender differentials in modes: women were found to be mostly legalized through husbands, while men were sponsored by their parents or through provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Nicaraguans stood in between, presenting few gender differences in rates and modes of transition and a heavy dependence on asylum and special provisions in immigration legislation. These patterns are found to stem from the interplay of conditions favoring the emigration of, and the specific immigration policy context faced by, migrant pioneers; the influence of social networks in reproducing the legal character of flows; and differences in the actual use of kinship ties as sponsors. The implications of these trends on the observed gendered patterns of migration from Latin America are discussed.
Occupational Mobility among Returned Migrants in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Cobo Salvador D. , Giorguli Silvia E. , Alba Francisco
Published: June 2011

This article draws on data from the Mexican Migration Project and the Latin American Migration Project to study patterns of occupational mobility among male migrant household heads who have returned from the United States to Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Puerto Rico. In general, migration to the United States increases the likelihood of upward mobility relative to nonmigrants if it begins at a relatively young age (before twenty-five), particularly in Costa Rica and Guatemala, where mobility is generally more fluid. In all countries, but especially Mexico, mobility prospects depend on a migrant’s own characteristics and the characteristics of the U.S. trip, as well the context of return. Education generally enhances occupational achievement upon return, as does greater U.S. experience and the holding of a nonmanual U.S. job, but taking more trips and having legal U.S. documents are generally associated with lower odds of occupational achievement at home.
The Census and the Federal Statistical System: Historical Perspectives
Authors: Anderson Margo
Published: June 2011

This article provides an overview of one major platform of the federal statistical system, the census. It briefly describes the origin and structure of the current diverse and decentralized federal statistical system and then describes the place of the census and the Census Bureau in the system. It treats the census in the context of the demographic and political history of the nation and discusses how the demographic and political history of the nation both has fostered and complicated the development of the system.
Principles and Practices for the Federal Statistical System: The View from the Committee on National Statistics
Authors: Eddy William F. , Citro Constance F. , Cork Daniel L.
Published: June 2011

The Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) was established in 1972 to improve the statistical methods and information upon which public policy decisions are based, thereby furthering the ability of the highly decentralized federal statistical system to deliver relevent, timely, and cost-effective information. While CNSTAT’s original mandate was to provide an independent and objective resource for evaluating and improving the work of the system, its work expanded over the years to include undertaking studies from a broad range of research and program agencies of the U.S. government. For these and other reasons, CNSTAT occupies a unique position at the intersection of statistics and public policy.
The Structure and Activities of the U.S. Federal Statistical System: History and Recurrent Challenges
Authors: Groves Robert M.
Published: June 2011

This article examines the statistical system of the United States—featuring fourteen principal statistical agencies and sixty to seventy units in other federal agencies— focusing on the system’s highly decentralized nature and the ways in which the agencies attempt to evaluate the status of issues relevant to the mission of their departments and to provide information helpful in the creation of new policy. The history and challenges of the various agencies are examined, with the article showing that these challenges are inevitably tied to the cabinet departments to which they are attached. The article also examines recurrent issues facing the U.S. federal statistical system, including functional separation of statistical activities from regulatory activities, centralization versus decentralization, hiring structure of directors, data confidentiality versus access, policy relevance versus policy-making involvement, and contracting out statistical activities versus agency-conducted statistical activities.
Designing a New Architecture for the U.S. National Accounts
Authors: Jorgenson Dale W.
Published: June 2011

The key elements of a new architecture for the U.S. national accounts have been developed in a prototype system constructed by Dale W. Jorgenson and J. Steven Landefeld, director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce. As the U.S. economy emerges from the most severe contraction since the Second World War, the focus of policy will shift toward enhancing the economy’s potential for growth. A second motivation for the new architecture is to integrate the different components of the decentralized U.S. statistical system and make them consistent.
The Government Accountability Office and Congressional Uses of Federal Statistics
Authors: Kingsbury Nancy
Published: June 2011

This article examines the ways in which the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) provides the U.S. Congress with information that is timely, objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, nonideological, fair, and balanced. It shows how over many decades, GAO’s work has led to laws that have improved government operations and saved the government and the taxpayers billions of dollars. The article reinforces the GAO Strategic Plan 2010—2015 (GAO forthcoming), indicating that the federal government must work closely with other governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector, both domestically and internationally, to reassess federal missions and strategies and the entire mix of policy tools available to address national objectives. GAO’s role should be to help government leaders increase their capacity to succeed at strategic planning, address management challenges and high-risk issues, use integrated approaches, and enhance their agencies’ orientation toward achieving results.
Afrocentricity and the Argument for Civic Commitment: Ideology and Citizenship in a United States of Africa
Authors: Asante Molefi Kete
Published: June 2011

This article discusses an ideological framework, that is, a superstructure for continental civic commitment to African nationalism based on the perceived and practical relationships of Africans with each other. In an attempt to minimize the threats of regional, religious, or ethnic obstacles to continental integration and civic commitment to the continent, the author proposes both intellectual and pragmatic steps for continental integration. Using concrete examples, as well as generative source philosophies, myths, and traditional proverbs as fundamentals for the creation of a new ethic of politics, this article seeks to advance a deeper perspective on continental citizenship.
Debating Darfur in the World
Authors: Abusharaf Rogaia Mustafa
Published: June 2011

This article compares the debates and demonstrations about Darfur that have taken place in the Sudan, the United States, and Qatar and illuminates how political violence is apprehended and cultural identities are constructed. The rallies that occurred among Sudanese inside and outside the Sudan following the 2009 indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) are particularly revealing. Examining what has been represented worldwide as the first genocide of the twenty-first century brings to light the ideologies that are expressed in impassioned political positions. Ideology, which implicitly undergirds the mixed emotions with which the ICC warrant was received, has been fundamental to the Darfur story from the start of the crisis in 2003. Describing Darfur in three distinct sociopolitical arenas, one sees various scenarios that are akin to a play with multiple actors and scenes, each of which is contextually mediated and expertly produced. The disconnections, ruptures, and shifts in the flow of this narration point to the disparities in the situational, local, regional, and transnational forces at work.
Black Africans in World War II: The Soldiers’ Stories
Authors: Morrow John H.
Published: June 2011

This article discusses the often forgotten contributions of black African infantry to the French and British war efforts from Europe to Asia during the Second World War. It traces the relationship between black African soldiers and their imperial rulers as it evolved over the course of two global conflicts from 1914 to 1945. The article points out how racist preconceptions about the “inferior” abilities and intelligence of Africans paralleled white Americans’ prejudices against African-Americans and how the British and French attempted to systematically omit, diminish, or discredit the achievements of African soldiers.
The Ogaden War and the Demise of Détente
Authors: Jackson Donna R.
Published: June 2011

The failure of détente has been a popular theme among historians of American foreign policy, with opinions divided as to where the responsibility for this failure lies. A commonality among all points of view, however, is the importance of events in the third world, particularly in the “Arc of Crisis.” One such event—the Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia— prompted Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s national security advisor, to comment that détente was “buried” in the Ogaden. His point was that Carter’s new approach to the cold war was put to the test during the Ogaden War, and there the policy’s untenability was proven. The policy’s failure, in turn, encouraged Soviet adventurism, which further alienated the American public from Carter’s attempt to fight the cold war. Carter’s policy eventually led to the withdrawal of the SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) Treaty and, as Brzezinski claimed, the collapse of détente. This article discusses Carter’s foreign policy toward the Ogaden War, considers the accuracy of Brzezinski’s claim, and reaches conclusions regarding the role of the Carter administration in the demise of détente.
The United States of Africa: A Revisit
Authors: Ayittey George B. N.
Published: June 2011

Pan-Africanism was developed over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to combat the political subjugation of black people and the vestiges of slavery. Its founding belief is that black peoples share common cultures, problems, and objectives. It was, therefore, imperative for blacks to unite to achieve their objectives. On the African continent, Pan-Africanism became the rallying cry for the struggle for independence from colonial rule. In 1963, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was established to advance the cause of Pan-Africanism. However, the organization steadily lost credibility and relevance. It was eventually dissolved in 2001. Its replacement, the African Union (AU), is scarcely better. It became hobbled by political intrigues, inflated egos, and personality clashes among its leaders. Nonetheless, the rationale for a united Africa remains strong today. A much better approach lies in configuring a larger African polity in consonance with Africa’s own indigenous heritage. As such, a Confederation of African States (CAS) or an African Confederation would be a better configuration.
A Historical Context for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Authors: Fass Paula S.
Published: June 2011

The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was a by-product of international commitments to human rights, but its history lies in the complex and contradictory developments of the twentieth century, when elevated expectations regarding the welfare of children confronted the realities of war. In the late nineteenth century, material conditions and reform efforts redefined the lives of children in the Western world and created new sentiments about childhood and investments in children’s progress. World Wars I and II exposed children’s acute vulnerability and the myth of inevitable progress. After each of these wars, defining what was owed to children and how best to meet their needs was part of larger international negotiations regarding power and prestige. Throughout this period, the involvement of women, a new Swedish presence in international diplomacy, and the growing role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) affected what would become a rearticulation of child welfare and protection and a more active commitment to children’s rights.
American Sixteen- and Seventeen-Year-Olds Are Ready to Vote
Authors: Hart Daniel , Atkins Robert
Published: June 2011

American 16- and 17-year-olds ought to be allowed to vote in state and national elections. This claim rests upon a line of argument that begins with an exegesis of legal and philosophical notions of citizenship that identify core qualities of citizenship: membership, concern for rights, and participation in society. Each of these qualities is present in rudimentary form in childhood and adolescence. Analyses of national survey data demonstrate that by 16 years of age—but not before— American adolescents manifest levels of development in each quality of citizenship that are approximately the same as those apparent in young American adults who are allowed to vote. The lack of relevant differences in capacities for citizenship between 16- and 17-year-olds and those legally enfranchised makes current laws arbitrary, denying those younger than age 18 the right to vote. Awarding voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds is important, given the changing age demographics in the country, which have resulted in the growing block of older voters displacing the interests of younger Americans in the political arena. Finally, the authors critically examine claims that adolescents are neither neurologically nor socially mature enough to vote responsibly and conclude that empirical evidence and fairness suggest that 16- and 17-year-olds ought to be awarded the vote.
Public Policies and Child Rights: Entering the Third Decade of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Authors: Maurás Marta
Published: June 2011

After 20 years of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it is increasingly clear that states bear the responsibility to promote, guarantee, respect, and fulfill the realization of children’s rights by all members of the national and international communities. An initial emphasis on legal reforms to adapt national law to the CRC—absolutely necessary but not sufficient—needs to give space to changes in other important areas of public action: economic policy and financing; social policy and administration; and public participation, including that of children. Enforcement and justiciability of rights need to be addressed today to face questions about public policy, systems, and institutions in the long term. The evolution of social policies in Latin America and the Caribbean, from neoliberal policies to systems of social protection, illustrates that only a comprehensive and equity-based view of social and economic policy, underpinned by the four principles of children’s rights (nondiscrimination, best interests of the child, survival and development, and the right to be heard), will satisfy the requirements for implementation of the CRC.
Multigenerational Citizenship: The Importance of Recognizing Children as National and International Citizens
Authors: Van Bueren Geraldine
Published: June 2011

This article discusses the author’s concept of multigenerational citizenship, arguing that for citizenship to be relevant for children, there needs to be a more flexible and relational approach to citizenship. Tom Paine’s theories are expanded upon, by examining the increasing acceptance, by both international and regional fora in both political and human rights, of a child’s autonomy in bringing complaints to a human rights body. The article examines the recent developments in the move toward establishing a complaints mechanism under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and argues that this is an important element of international child citizenship. The article also examines the progress made in national courts toward child citizenship, which has helped to change the international consensus on providing an international remedy for breaches of child citizenship rights. The article compares the growing acceptance of children as international citizens by the European Court of Human Rights and under the specially designed African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child’s complaints mechanism. Because of all these developments, the author rejects the assumption that regeneration is needed to reenergize the international social movement for children as citizens, arguing that such pessimism is an oversimplification of both the achievements and failures of the CRC.
Children: From Rights to Citizenship
Authors: Earls Felton
Published: June 2011

This article introduces the themes of children’s rights and citizenship and surveys the authors’ contributions to this volume of The Annals. The volume marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As the most widely ratified of all human rights covenants, adoption of the CRC represents a landmark achievement in the history of childhood. Yet there remains a noticeable gap in its implementation. The United States has not ratified the CRC. The contributions to this volume take the CRC as a starting point along the path of achieving functional citizenship for children. Issues of child protection, political maturity, deliberative democracy, and intergenerational nondomination are covered. Several examples of empirical research on children’s participation in social and political matters are provided. Recommendations are made to advance the case of child citizenship over the near term. This includes the need to urge the United States to ratify the CRC.
To Be (Come) or Not to Be (Come): Understanding Children’s Citizenship
Authors: James Allison
Published: June 2011

This article explores notions of the “child as citizen” and “children’s citizenship” in the context of possibilities and promises for the rights of children that are laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It poses the question, Can “children’s citizenship” ever be fully accomplished for and/or by children? The article begins with an examination of contemporary theories of citizenship and considers the grounds for children’s citizenship in the light of the ways in which “childhood” is culturally, socially, economically, and politically constructed in different societies. It suggests that in social investment states, such as the United Kingdom, the contemporary cultural politics of childhood mean that children’s citizenship remains ambiguous. What is needed, the article suggests, is a greater understanding at the local level of how children’s experiences as members of society unfold. Thus, taking England as a case study, and drawing on some empirical research with children’s experiences in children’s hospitals, the article illustrates the ways in which adults’ ideas about childhood limit children’s agency and actions, thereby denying them status as citizens.
Adolescents as Deliberative Citizens: Building Health Competence in Local Communities
Authors: Carlson Mary , Earls Felton
Published: June 2011

Given the host of tragic events that children experience, it is often compelling for well-intended adults to respond in a protective and charitable fashion. The child rights approach asks for more. Building on their collective experiences in the developmental and social sciences, the authors present in roughly chronological fashion a synopsis of the theoretical explorations and scientific evaluation that completes a framework to advance the status of children as citizens. The recognition of the agency and capability of a child and the dynamic and enduring source of socialization from and social integration within the community are fundamental to this project. The participatory rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child serve as an impetus and inspiration to this project, the Young Citizens Program. What began with small-scale deliberative groups in Chicago matured into a cluster randomized controlled trial in northern Tanzania.