bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Positive Spin: Senate Campaigning on the Web
Authors: Klotz Robert
Published: May 2006

“I'm extremely excited to have a prescene [sic] on the Web.”

The perpetual greeting from the campaign home page of Senator Carl Levin (1996) shows that as with the adoption of any new technology, Internet use by political candidates will undergo some early rough spots. The early stages of a technology also tend to prompt divergent claims about the merits of the new technology. Thus, while political scientist David Canon has praised campaign sites as a “positive development” for allowing the transmission of extensive information, Ted Becker, another political scientist, has been highly critical of the sites calling them “cyberfluff” (Skiba 1995). By systematically studying the content of 1996 Senate candidate home pages, this article offers some hope for reconciling the divergent claims about Internet campaigning.
Observations on the Transformation of the Political Science Community in Post-Soviet Russia
Authors: Shestopal Helen
Published: May 2006

For at least the past decade, the international political science community has been debating the state of the discipline, the level of its maturity, and the challenges to it from realpolitik (Goodin and Klingemann 1996, chap. 1). One of the most serious challenges came from the implosion of the USSR and subsequent transformation of political systems in Russia and Eastern Europe. Political scientists appeared unable to predict these global changes or to elaborate explanatory models of current processes. Applications of classic models to the new democracies has proven insufficient. This puts a problem of universality versus national specificity of political science on the agenda (Lecca 1997).

For Russian political scientists, this problem has some specific implications. First, the practice of political science is determined by its object—politics. It is well-known that perestroika, which started more than ten years ago, had no clear aims but was guided by the intuitive desire of Russia's political elite to modernize the country. Russian leaders wished to modernize the country by remaking the government in the model of a Western democratic system. But neither in the late 1980s nor now have political scientists or politicians worked out any clear means for achieving such a transition.
Sex, Politics, and Public Opinion: What Political Scientists Really Learned From the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal
Authors: Miller Arthur H.
Published: May 2006

William Jefferson Clinton is only the second president to have been impeached by the House of Representatives. While he was not removed from office, roughly half of the Senate chamber voted him guilty on the perjury and obstruction of justice charges that the House formulated as articles of impeachment in early February 1999. Although Clinton remains in office, numerous politicians, political pundits, and media commentators continue to condemn his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky while she was a White House intern as immoral and reprehensible.

Many outspoken Republicans have raised questions about how the American people could continue to have confidence in their political leaders, government institutions, or the rule of law when a president who lied to the public, lied under oath, and obstructed justice remains in office. Others ask how they can explain this immoral behavior and thwarting of the law to their children, especially in light of all the salacious details that were made public in Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr's report on the Clinton-Lewinsky affair.

News of a possible extramarital affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky during the 1995–96 period surfaced in January 1998, coming to light in the course of investigations related to Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against the president. Tapes Linda Tripp made of her conversations with Monica Lewinsky and turned over to Starr's office confirmed the allegations. What followed was a year-long exposé as details of the affair gradually tumbled into the public domain. The year ended with the House voting for impeachment on December 19, 1998, and the new year began with the Senate voting not to remove Clinton on February 12, 1999.
Northern Bourbons: A Preliminary Report on the National Voter Registration Act
Authors: Piven Frances Fox , Cloward Richard A.
Published: May 2006

Since January 1995, when the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) went into effect, people have been registering or updating their voting addresses at the rate of nearly one million per month in 42 states. Based on early figures, we expect that the rolls will rise by 20 million before the 1996 election and 20 million more by the 1998 midterm election when the full four-year drivers' license renewal cycle will be completed. The resulting increase would be far and away the largest among already eligible voters (as contrasted with the enfranchising of new groups, such as women and 18-year-olds) since the personal voter registration system was introduced in the closing decades of the nineteenth century.

The NVRA requires that states offer to register people to vote when they get or renew drivers' licenses (called “motor voter”), or when they apply for AFDC, Food Stamps, Medicaid, WIC, and disability services (called “agency-based” voter registration). Roughly eight million enrolled or updated their voting addresses in the first nine months—four million of them in drivers' license agencies, one million in public assistance agencies, and three million by mail.
The Politics of SimCity
Authors: Kolson Kenneth
Published: May 2006

Years ago, when Robert Caro's magisterial biography of Robert Moses was first published, I remember reading it with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it reinforced every lesson I tried to convey in my course on urban politics. On the other hand, it taught those lessons in a way that was so vivid, and so engaging, that it made my conventional textbooks and lectures seem hopelessly abstract and lifeless. There was only one thing to do: throw out the old texts and make The Power Broker (Caro 1975) the centerpiece of the course. I redesigned everything from scratch.

Recently, one of the students in my course on the history of city planning (offered in the University Honors Program at the University of Maryland at College Park) ambled up after class. “Have you ever played sin city?” I thought I heard him ask. He set me straight—“SimCity” he said, enunciating carefully—and then offered a demonstration, during which I was reminded of Caro's book. Here we go again, I though to myself as I purchased the Windows version of the simulation.
Arab Democratization: A Poor Cousin?
Authors: Korany Bahgat
Published: May 2006

If only two important features may be singled out to characterize the “New World Order,” they are the collapse of communism and the globalization of the demand for democracy. We have thus reached “the end of history.” Western democracy can travel across the globe without any entry visa and is welcome wherever it lands.

Contrary to this “endism,” the view adopted in this short paper assumes that the democratization process in the Arab countries will be both long and costly. The contagion effect might transform governments' piecemeal concessions into substantive democracy, but this is less probable than a situation of democratic breakdowns and incumbent governments presenting formal pluralism and controlled multipar-tism as the real thing. The literature's overoptimism reflects the nascent state of research on Arab democratization. In fact, multiple published volumes bringing together worldwide and sophisticated research on democratization (Diamund, et al. 1988, 1989; O'Donnel & Schmitter 1986) do not analyze a single Arab case, or explain such absence.
The Russian Elections: Back to Square One?
Authors: Clark Terry D.
Published: May 2006

In the fall of 1993 President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the Russian legislature and called for elections to a new assembly in the hope of getting a more pro-reform parliament. That parliament in turn would consolidate his position in the struggle with the republics and regions over the issues of autonomy and the distribution of power between Moscow and the provinces. Instead, the December 1993 elections to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, were a clear defeat for both him and the pro-reform forces.

Much attention has been devoted to considering the extent of the defeat and its implications. Particular focus has been placed on ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky's strong showing. Despite the electoral gains registered by Zhirinovsky and his party, the organizational activity of the Duma since the elections strongly argues that it was the communists and not he who won the contest for the lower house. Even so, focusing on the State Duma is as misplaced as focusing on Zhirinovsky if one is to fully appraise the results and likely fallout from the December elections. Having virtually swept the races to seats in the new upper house (the Federation Council), provincial elites are once again in a position to press Yeltsin on the issue of regional autonomy. Hence, Yeltsin is faced with much the same situation as before the decision to assault the Russian parliament building, the White House.
Political Consultants and the Extension of Party Goals
Authors: Kolodny Robin , Logan Angela
Published: May 2006

Political consultants are seen as influential actors in American politics who may effect policy long after their service on an election has concluded. Many observers of the consulting industry (see, for example, Shea 1996; Sabato 1981) have suggested that the use of political consultants has been especially bad for political parties, contributing to their decline. Proponents of the party decline thesis maintain that consultants weaken parties by giving candidates independent support bases for conducting their campaigns, creating a campaign climate where individual candidates take the voting public's focus away from party platforms. But consultants have become prominent because the parties cannot always offer up-to-date technical services and close attention to local situations. Some political scientists suggest that political consultants can assist parties in attaining their goals by providing the highly professional and technical services to party candidates that party organizations themselves cannot (Luntz 1988). Further, political consultants tend to work in concert with political parties because they depend on the parties for a supply of clients (Sabato 1981; Luntz 1988). Here we explore another dimension of the consultant-political party relationship: the role political parties play in training political consultants. We hypothesize that contemporary political consultants are likely to have had close links (such as prior employment) with a political party since the 1970s, when parties began adopting new technologies and training their employees to use them.

Consultant background vis-a-vis political parties can lead to two very different notions of the effect of consultant activity on our politics.
Health Care and the Hill: Why Is This Year Different From All Others?
Authors: Peterson Mark A.
Published: May 2006

Before us is the question of whether or not the 103rd Congress will manage to do what no other U.S. Congress has ever accomplished: the enactment of a comprehensive reform of the way in which health care services are financed in the United States. Does a social science perspective give us a reason to believe that 1994 will be a legislative year that is different from all others? Conventional wisdom might well suggest a simple answer: “no.” Given what we know about the complexity of the issue, the enormous stakes in the system possessed by some of the most powerful private interests, the fragmentation of our governing institutions, the paralysis produced by deficit politics, and the general presumed enthusiasm in our system for caution and incrementalism, a large-scale transformation of health care financing by a legislature best known for parochialism, timidity, and gridlock would seem implausible at best. Can the institution that stimulated scholarly and popular assessments from Congress: The Electoral Connection (Mayhew 1974) to Hill Rat: Blowing the Lid off Congress (Jackley 1992) really overcome the well-known and thoroughly studied barriers to major policy change, especially in the wake of a health care reform proposal from President Bill Clinton that could legitimately prompt the estate of Rube Goldberg to sue for plagiarism (S 1757, HR 3600)?

Rather than “no,” however, the answer really is that we simply do not know. President Clinton's proposed Health Security Act is typically introduced in the media as the most ambitious social policy initiative since the New Deal and social security.
Oh Monsieur Pasteur, We Hardly Knew You!
Authors: Hauck Robert J-P.
Published: May 2006

The September PS symposium addresses the uses and abuses of political science data, and the rules or standards, if any, the profession should adopt to preserve the integrity of political science research and to advance knowledge. The ability to verify research findings by reanalyzing original data or to replicate findings by analyzing new, independently collected data has been the focus of debate among political scientists since Gary King distributed his initial version of “Replication, Replication” in 1992. The PS verification/replication symposium is the latest but most public round of the ongoing debate.
Reflection, Reflection: A Comment and Modest Proposal
Authors: Stone Walter J.
Published: May 2006

Several important areas of agreement in the King-Herrnson debate suggest that a broad consensus exists on the desirability of changing disciplinary practice and norms governing the collection and release of original data. After reading both essays, I am convinced that both Gary King and Paul Herrnson would agree that (1) Collecting and organizing political science data is often a costly enterprise that requires a substantial commitment of valued resources, including money, time, and expertise.
Comment
Authors: Portis Edward B. , Bond Jon R.
Published: May 2006

Having discussed this issue at three meetings of our editorial board, we were already familiar with most of the arguments presented in the thoughtful essays by Gary King and Paul Herrnson. We can confirm Herrnson's supposition that the proposed policy is controversial, and that the chief difficulty has to do with the relinquishing of what might be called intellectual property before its creators have fully exploited it. Although we have decided to wait until a thorough discussion of the issue is conducted under the auspices of the APSA before finally deciding on a policy, any statement we might require of authors as a condition of publication in The Journal of Politics is likely to fall considerably short of what King recommends.
What to Gain from Technical Sophistication?
Authors: Shi Yuhang
Published: May 2006

In a recent article in this journal, James McGregor (1993) criticizes political scientists for practicing regression analysis without recognizing the limitations in the regression technique. McGregor argues that the technique is inappropriate for political science research in many cases and suggests that we pay close attention to both the substantive (e.g., linearity and additivity) and statistical aspects of the technique.

While acknowledging that many of us have not done enough to meet the statistical assumptions of regression analysis, George Krause (1994) argues that McGregor has underestimated the value of the technique to political science research. To support his argument, Krause directs our attention to a number of complicated regression models, including those designed for situations in which the dependent measure is a discrete variable (logit, probit, ordered probit, multinomial logit, Poisson, negative binomial and generalized event count) or the independent effects on the dependent variable are lagged distributed (polynomial distributed lag). He also mentions the recent developments related to event history regression, bootstrapping (a nonparametric approach to statistical inference), and vector autoregression (VAR, a creative use of OLS in simultaneous time series data). Krause deserves credit for his attempt to show us that the scope of the regression technique is not as narrow as McGregor might have assumed.

However, in rejecting McGregor's pessimism, Krause does not realize that McGregor's major concern with regression analysis, as he illuminates by applying OLS to certain laws of nature, is not about the type of dependent variable but about relationships.
Understanding Electoral Systems: Beyond Plurality versus PR
Authors: Monroe Burt L.
Published: May 2006

Although we often plead with our colleagues and students to be more “systematic,” we may not always be clear about what we mean. In biology, systematics is the “scientific study of the kinds and diversity of organisms and of any and all relationships among them” (Simpson 1961), the most important aspect of which is taxonomy, “the theory and practice of classifying organisms into groups on the basis of their relationships” (Mayr 1969). In political science, our organisms are political institutions. This article is a call for research in political systematics with suggestions for how the taxonomy of electoral systems might be developed.

Institutional taxonomy can play many roles in comparative politics. It can provide an appreciation of the existing and theoretical diversity of political institutions, provide the information necessary to construct a theory of institutional development, systematize the variables that affect and constrain political interactions, and provide the starting point for informed discussions of institutional reform. Current attempts to develop large standardized data sets in comparative politics (Rosenstone 1994), for instance, require institutional taxonomy if the effort is to be effective. Of course, this discussion would be moot if institutional taxonomy were already well established (with or without the term).
A More Representative United States House of Representatives?
Authors: Zimmerman Joseph F. , Rule Wilma
Published: May 2006

The unrepresentativeness of the U.S. House of Representatives–in terms of ethnicity, gender, race, and socioeconomic status—and its nearly closed system for election have generated questions about the legitimacy and authority of the House as an institution which “represents’ citizens and whether the membership of the House should reflect the citizenry at-large. The articles collected for this symposium offer answers to some of these questions.
Dead Law: The Federal Election Finance Regulations, 1974–1996
Authors: Wilcox Clyde , Joe Wesley
Published: May 2006

In the aftermath of the 1996 election campaigns, scholars, journalists, policymakers, and campaign finance professionals alike declared the House election financing system “broken” and “out of control.” That cycle saw party officials raising unprecedented amounts of “soft money” and directing it into specific federal campaigns. Coalitions of interest groups spent tens of millions of dollars attacking or defending candidates in “issue advocacy” campaigns, and disclosed neither their spending nor the sources of their funds to the Federal Election Commission. Groups like the Christian Coalition distributed tens of millions of “non-partisan” voter guides with thinly-disguised endorsements of candidates, again without disclosing their activity.
Building a Representative House in Scotland and the Role of Women in the Developmental Process
Authors: Brown Alice
Published: May 2006

Nineteen ninety-seven will be remembered as the year when a large majority of the people in Scotland voted in a two question referendum to establish a Scottish parliament (74.3%) with tax-varying powers (63.5%) (Jones 1997). Elections will take place in 1999, with the first Scottish parliament being fully operational by the year 2000.
The New Challenges Facing European Studies
Authors: Worcester Kenton W. , Tarrow Sidney
Published: May 2006

These should be bracing times for students and scholars of European studies. The tumultuous events of the past five years—from the collapse of the Soviet empire and the unification of Germany, to the problematic consolidation of the European Community, and the resurgence of ethnic and religious nationalism—have recast the region's boundaries and have called into question many of the concepts and theories developed by area specialists in the postwar period.

It was with these issues in mind that the Social Science Research Council and the German Marshall Fund of the United States commissioned Sidney Tarrow to produce a report that would identify trends and raise issues of importance to the future of European Studies in the universities and among funders and other concerned organizations. Tarrow's report, Rebirth or Stagnation? European Studies after 1989, was published in June 1993 and has circulated widely among scholars, foundation officers, and university administrators working on the region.

The report finds that Europe's geo-political earthquakes pose fresh challenges for the way we think about and teach international and comparative politics. The transformation of Europe's social, economic, and political terrain has important implications not only for the region but for the international environment as a whole. Recent developments are also significant from the standpoint of university centers and funding organizations attempting to effectively intervene in an era of multiple demands and fiscal retrenchment. Virtually every institution of higher education in this country is trying to do more with fewer resources, and interdisciplinary programs—such as centers of European studies—may offer unusually inviting targets for budget-cutting administrators. As a result of these pressures, the support structure necessary for effective training and research is experiencing considerable strains.
Drivers Wanted: Motor Voter and the Election of 1996
Authors: Knack Stephen
Published: May 2006

The cartoon below, which I first saw printed on the cover of PS in March 1994, has unfortunately proved prophetic. Voter turnout has steadily declined from its 1960 peak of 63%, and the presidential election of 1996 was the first in the lifetime of most Americans in which a minority of the voting-age population cast ballots. Turnout dropped in every state between 1992 and 1996.

That only 49% of eligible voters went to the polls in 1996 was especially disappointing for advocates of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). The most dramatic liberalization of voter registration procedures in American history coincided with not only the lowest level of turnout since 1924, but with the largest single four-year decline since 1920. The theory that registration barriers are the chief cause of the gap between turnout rates of the U.S. and other developed democracies suffered a devastating blow, as turnout in North Dakota—where voters aren't even required to register—was a mere 56% of the voting-age population in 1996.

Moreover, the turnout decline was heavily concentrated among “electorally disadvantaged” groups, particularly the young and residentially mobile, the very groups that reform activists expected would be the primary beneficiaries of easier registration. In fact, registration of licensed drivers—the key “motor voter” provision of NVRA—was originally conceived in 1975 by Michigan's then-secretary of state, Richard Austin, as a means of facilitating registration for the young and recent movers.
U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke and Governor L. Douglas Wilder Tell Political Scientists How Blacks Can Win High-Profile Statewide Office
Authors: Jeffries Judson L.
Published: May 2006

The number of black elected officials has increased steadily since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Prior to that time, less than 150 blacks had been elected to public office. By 1993, there were over 8,000 black elected officials. Of these 8,000, over 300 were mayors (Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies 1993). By contrast, blacks have not experienced the same kind of success at the state level. The number of blacks who have been elected to statewide office is a mere one-tenth of the number elected to mayorships. The number of black high-profile statewide office holders, those being governors and U.S. senators, is even smaller. Only three blacks have been elected to these offices since Reconstruction.

Holding high-profile statewide office is important for a number of reasons. First, issues such as funding for education, health care, housing, and social services are decided at the state level and these resources have traditionally been distributed disproportionately. Second, blacks elected to high-profile statewide offices would have the ability to bring other blacks into government through appointments and hiring. Third, blacks holding these positions would serve as symbols and role models for all of a states' citizens. It is important that whites see blacks as capable of governing and making intelligent decisions that affect white people's lives. It is equally important for young blacks to see people with faces like their own in positions of power. Finally, holding a high-profile statewide office is an important step on the career path of those wishing to occupy a national office. Candidates who are fortunate enough to win their party's nomination for president are usually former governors or U.S. senators, as are many vice presidents (Schlesinger 1966, 1991).
What is Happening in History
Authors: Singer Max
Published: May 2006

We usually think of description and prediction as two different things, but are they really so disconnected? Suppose I report that the temperature now is 65 degrees—that is description without prediction. But if I say that it is noon on a Spring day and the temperature is 65 degrees—that is still description, but haven't I really also made some predictions? Aren't I, in effect, predicting that during the next 12 hours the temperature will fall, but that three months from now the temperature will be higher?

When I predict that the temperature will fall during the next 12 hours it is not based on a trend, or a statistical analysis, it is because I understand that the sun causes the temperature, and that because the Earth revolves on its axis every day, 12 hours from now we will be in the shade and therefore cooler. Because I know what is happening, I know how the present is related to the past and I can predict the future. If you can't predict anything of the future it is because you don't understand the present.

Take another example: Suppose we have a group of four animals whose average weight is 85 pounds and average age is 22 years—is any prediction possible? Not much. But suppose that the description includes that the four animals are people, two children, age 9 and 11, and their mother and father, age 31 and 33.
Zog for Albania, Edward for Estonia, and Monarchs for All the Rest? The Royal Road to Prosperity, Democracy, and World Peace
Authors: Mayer Jeremy D. , Sigelman Lee
Published: May 2006

Monarchy has been the predominant form of governance throughout recorded history, and its hegemony extended well into the twentieth century. On the eve of World War I, only four nations in Europe, and none of any consequence (France, Portugal, San Marino, and Switzerland), were not monarchies. Today, however, democracy reigns, and monarchs are widely seen, in the words of the American writer Austin O'Malley, as “a vermiform appendix: useless when quiet; when obtrusive, in danger of removal” (quoted in Esar 1962, 140), or even as the capstone of a sinister conspiracy. “The Royal Family stands at the pinnacle of the class system, and its wealth is linked to the creation of poverty and need,” charges British Marxist Mark Kirby (1998, 37). For antimonarchists, the crown is not only a symbol but also a source of centuries-old class domination, social injustice, and imperialism, a wasteful frippery at best (Came 1998) and a malignant atavism at worst (Nairn 1994).

Thus, the forces of blond egalitarianism have humbled the Nordic royalty by replacing their horse-drawn carriages with bicycles, and the British have reduced their nobility to guiding hordes of T-shirted, gumsnapping American tourists through their ancestral homes in order to make ends meet. In Australia, “progressive” forces have succeeded in scheduling a referendum in 1999 on whether the current head of state, Queen Elizabeth, should be replaced by an illustrious Australian—if one can be found.

Though an endangered species, monarchs are by no means extinct.
Leaving Office Feet First: Death in Congress
Authors: Maltzman Forrest , Sigelman Lee , Binder Sarah
Published: May 2006

Charlie Wilson (D-TX) described his decision to retire from the U.S. House of Representatives as the best of the three options open to him: “To get defeated, to get carried out feet first, or to … start another life” (Gerhart and Groer 1995). Although much research has been undertaken on electoral defeat (Collie 1981; Ferejohn 1977; Jacobson 1992; Mann 1978) and voluntary retirement (Gilmour and Rothstein 1996; Groseclose and Krehbiel 1994; Hall and Van Houweling 1995; Hibbing 1982; Kieweit and Zeng 1993; Schansberg 1994), research on death is still in its infancy. Indeed, rather than staring death in the face, political scientists have buried the issue. In one recent study, for example, mortality is treated as a form of retirement:

Members of the House leave for a number of reasons, most prominent among them being electoral defeat and retirement. Other avenues of departure include death and expulsion. … Simplifying somewhat, we categorize all departures as either the result of electoral defeat or the result of ‘retirement’ (Gilmour and Rothstein 1996, 56).

Of course, some deaths—suicides—are voluntary. However, although many members of Congress die in office, suicide is extremely rare. Accordingly, we caution against treating death as a form of retirement. Otherwise, members of Congress must be presumed to engage in such implausible calculations as the following: “Let's see now. How shall I spend the next few years? I suppose I'll run for re-election. But maybe I should retire so I can spend more time playing golf. Or, since I'm thinking of retiring, why don't I just shuffle off this mortal coil, cross over Jordan's bank to the Stygian shore, pay my debt to nature, and join the choir invisible?”
Who Runs for Congress?
Authors: Fowler Linda L.
Published: May 2006

The United States has more elections than any other democracy. Voters not only fill positions that are typically appointive in other countries, such as judges, but they also select officials for many more layers of government, from the town or county to the federal level. Voters even select nominees for the ballot through primaries, instead of relying on party organizations to designate candidates. With the briefest intervals separating the close of one election cycle in November and the onset of another in February or March, Americans are never far from some candidate's plea: “Vote for me.”

Among the thousands of candidates who compete for elected office each year, those who run for Congress occupy a special place. The Congress is the crossroads of local and national politics, where representatives of state and district interests forge a national consensus on a staggering array of issues. Given this task, it is logical that most members of the House of Representatives and Senate begin their political careers in local and state government. In the House, for example, more than fifty percent of the members use the state legislature as a stepping stone to Capitol Hill. The House, in turn, serves as a proving ground for many who aspire to the Senate or a governorship, while the Senate fosters the ambitions of numerous presidential candidates. Thus, the Congress provides a useful vantage point for examining the experiences and goals of the men and women who become candidates in the United States.
Urban Political Machines: Taking Stock
Authors: Stone Clarence N.
Published: May 2006

Big city political machines hold an important place in the nation's political lore. They gave us interesting characters with colorful names—John “Bathhouse” Coughlin, “Red Mike” Hylan, Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna, “Slippery Dick” Connolly, “Old King Cole” (Boss Cole), “King” James McManes, “Iz” Durham (the “dying boss” who confessed to Lincoln Steffens), George Washington Plunkitt, James Michael Curley (“Mayor of the Poor”), and many more. Long before television, they gave us memorable sound-bites—“I seen my opportunities and I took 'em,” “reformers [are] only mornin' glories,” “we don't want nobody nobody sent,” “honest graft,” “don't make no waves, don't back no losers” and “study human nature and act accordin’” along with many others.

In their prime the urban machines were often condemned as the weakest link in American democracy, but they came later to be viewed nostalgically as a humanizing and benevolent force that had taken the rough edges off the experiences of immigrants as they settled into a newly industrializing America. After Edwin O'Connor (1956) romanticized the urban machine in his novel, The Last Hurrah, it was inevitable that the movie version feature a lovable Spencer Tracy as Sheffington, the fictional boss.
Voter Turnout in U.S. Presidential Elections: An Historical View and Some Speculation
Authors: Nardulli Peter F. , Dalager Jon K. , Greco Donald E.
Published: May 2006

An examination of presidential voting patterns between 1828 and 1992 for all counties and most large cities in the continental U.S. (approximately 135,000 cases altogether) confirms that there has been a decline in turnout rates since 1960, as most commentators have suggested. For the nation as a whole, turnout in presidential elections dropped 20% from 64% in 1960 to 51% in 1988. Turnout rebounded slightly in 1992 to 55%, due perhaps in large part to the interest generated by Ross Perot.

As striking as these data appear, they must be put in historical perspective to be properly understood. Graph 1 displays the turnout rate for every presidential election between 1828 and 1992 (See Table 1 for a listing of the actual rates). It shows that while turnout in the presidential election of 1988 was the third lowest since 1828, surpassed only in 1920 and 1924 (with turnout rates of 44% in each election), the 1960–1988 decline is not unprecedented in U.S. electoral history. In an earlier 28-year period (1896–1924), turnout rates in presidential elections declined from 72% to 44%. This is a 39% decline in turnout almost double that experienced between 1960 and 1988.

Graph 1 also shows that while most commentators use the 1960 election as a basis for gauging changes in turnout, it is a somewhat misleading baseline. Turnout in 1960 was 64%, which was the highest turnout rate for U.S. presidential elections since 1900. The 1960 election capped a 36-year rise in turnout rates, and represented a 45% increase over the low points registered in 1920 and 1924. Indeed, with the exception of 1944 and 1948, when the nation was preoccupied with World War II and its aftermath, the period between 1928 and 1968 shows a steady increase in presidential turnout rates.
The Impact of Service Learning on Democratic and Civic Values
Authors: Hunter Susan , Brisbin Richard A.
Published: May 2006

Throughout the twentieth century, American scholars and political pundits have argued that the survival of democratic political institutions and an ethic of concern for the welfare of others in the political community depended on ensuring all citizens received a high-quality civic education. Despite repeated efforts to act on this concern, empirical evidence suggests that a substantial number of Americans continue to be ignorant of how best to express their political demands, lack essential factual knowledge about political institutions and policies, and fail to acquire more information about politics and policy (Barber and Battistoni 1993, 235; Battistoni 1985).

Recently, service learning has been put forward as a means for increasing students' limited knowledge about democratic politics and general sense of civic responsibility. Service learning is a form of experiential education that combines structured opportunities for learning academic skills, reflection on the normative dimensions of civic life, and experiential activity that addresses community needs or assists individuals, families, and communities in need (Eyler and Giles 1999, 3-5; Gray et al. 1999, 4-5, 7-8; Jacoby 1996, 5-10). Many proponents of service learning argue that it provides experiences that can change students' frame of reference for or perspective on people and their problems; leads students to see links between theory and practice; teaches students social problem-solving techniques, interpersonal skills, and critical thinking; provides students with education in citizenship; engages the school as well as the student in democratic governance; and involves schools “sympathetically and productively” with the communities they serve (Eyler and Giles 1999, 7-19, 23-163; Gray et al. 1999, 1-2).
Theorizing Citizenship and Evaluating Public Achievement
Authors: Hildreth R.W.
Published: May 2006

Researcher (R): How has doing Public Achievement (PA) changed the way you think about yourself?

Casey (pseudonym for an elementary school student): I am less lonely now that I have done Public Achievement.

R: Really, that's interesting, what is it in PA makes you less lonely?

Casey: Well, people used to think that I am kinda weird here, and I am different. I like playing in the woods and stuff by myself and doing my own kind of stuff.

R: And people think of you as less weird when you do PA?

Casey: Yeah, they even give awards to kids like me in PA.

R: Wow! It sounds like you are a leader in PA.

Casey: Yeah, I really like doing PA.

R: Let me see if I am hearing you right, before PA people thought that you were weird, and now that you have done PA, people look at you differently?

Casey: Yeah.

R: How do you think they look at you differently now?

Casey: They look at me as a citizen.

R: As a citizen, what does it mean for them to look at you as a citizen?

Casey: Like I am more of an equal, they listen to what I have to say.

This dialogue, filled with civic promise, is typical of the many conversations I have had with young participants in reflecting upon their experiences in Public Achievement.
Social Capital and Service Learning
Authors: Campbell David E.
Published: May 2006

Trends in the political engagement of America's high school students present a paradox. At the same time that an unprecedented number of opportunities exist for American adolescents to get involved in activities with a political flavor like student governments, model United Nations, model Congress, Young Republicans and Young Democrats, and debate clubs, both interest and participation in political activities among high school students is low and declining. This is not unlike what has been observed among adults in the general population. A proliferation of advocacy groups has not resulted in more Americans getting involved in politics. Nor has a never-ending supply of political news on TV and radio, in print, and online led to an increase in the nation's attention to political matters.

It would be too presumptuous for me to claim that there is a direct causal connection between an increasing supply of opportunities for extracurricular political activities among young people and their declining rates of civic engagement. A more modest claim does seem plausible, however: politics has increasingly become a niche activity, pursued by that relatively small slice of the population who are, as Robert Dahl (1961) famously put it, “homo politicus,” i.e., “political junkies.” Television channels provide a telling analogy. Whereas once, events like national political conventions and presidential press conferences would preempt all network programming, they are increasingly shunted off to all-news cable channels and C-SPAN. Ironically, a greater supply of political news has meant that it is easier for people who are not pre-disposed to seek out politically-oriented programming to avoid it.
The Service/Politics Split: Rethinking Service to Teach Political Engagement
Authors: Walker Tobi
Published: May 2006

Over the past few years, I have experimented with a classroom exercise that encourages students to think about how they perceive service and politics. I ask the students to create lists of service activities and political activities in which they and their friends and families engage. The service list typically includes such activities as working in a soup kitchen, delivering meals to the homebound, tutoring in the school system, and cleaning up parks. The list of political activities usually includes things like voting, protesting, raising money, lobbying, letter writing, and running for office.

Turning students' attention to the list of community service activities, I ask them to give some adjectives that people might use to describe the listed projects. The students usually offer such descriptors as altruistic, caring, helping, selfless, and giving, as well as individualistic and one-on-one. Often, the students will also add the words selfish or insincere to describe those students who engage in community service to enhance their resume or earn academic credit.

Asked for adjectives that describe politics, the words come fast and furious—dirty, corrupt, ambitious, crooked, dishonest, compromising, slow. After the initial rush of negative descriptors and with little prompting on my part, students will also talk about politics as a means to affect social change and make a difference for groups of people.

I have used this exercise with audiences ranging from young women uninterested in politics, to young people planning careers in politics and policy making, to foundation officials.
Political Science and Political Philosophy: Ontological Not Normative
Authors: Mayhew David R.
Published: May 2006

What is the utility of classical political theory and modern writing about it for current-day positive (that is, explanatory) political science? By “classical,” I mean works from Plato through at least Weber.

In modern American political science, the conventional answer to this question has been that classical theory offers normative illumination. It helps out with certain “should” questions—that is, recommendations about how political systems should be constructed or how individuals acting as political beings should behave. Important as this line of thinking may be in its own terms, I believe that it has worked to marginalize or trivialize classical theory for many writers and teachers in the positive sectors. It has allowed the kind of dismissal that Ayer (1948), writing at the high tide of logical positivism, gave to normative concerns. Classical theory scholars made a tactical mistake a few generations back, if they had any choice in the matter, to let themselves become labeled “normative.”

It is much better to see classical theory as a source of ontological illumination—that is, as a window to the nature of political reality. What is the nature of the political reality that political scientists should be studying? If we members of the profession possessed a clear, singular answer to this question, we might not feel the need to keep classical theory alive. But we do not possess a clear, singular answer, or at least we do not agree on any.
Biochemical evidence for the presence of mixed membrane topologies of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus envelope protein expressed in mammalian cells
Authors: Yuan Q. , Liao Y. , Torres J. , Tam J.P. , Liu D.X.
Published: May 2006

Coronavirus envelope (E) protein is a small integral membrane protein with multi‐functions in virion assembly, morphogenesis and virus–host interaction. Different coronavirus E proteins share striking similarities in biochemical properties and biological functions, but seem to adopt distinct membrane topology. In this report, we study the membrane topology of the SARS‐CoV E protein by immunofluorescent staining of cells differentially permeabilized with detergents and proteinase K protection assay. It was revealed that both the N‐ and C‐termini of the SARS‐CoV E protein are exposed to the cytoplasmic side of the membranes (NcytoCcyto). In contrast, parallel experiments showed that the E protein from infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) spanned the membranes once, with the N‐terminus exposed luminally and the C‐terminus exposed cytoplasmically (Nexo(lum)Ccyto). Intriguingly, a minor proportion of the SARS‐CoV E protein was found to be modified by N‐linked glycosylation on Asn 66 and inserted into the membranes once with the C‐terminus exposed to the luminal side. The presence of two distinct membrane topologies of the SARS‐CoV E protein may provide a useful clue to the pathogenesis of SARS‐CoV.
Nonlinear stability of a charged electrified viscous liquid sheet under the action of a horizontal electric field
Authors: Ozen O. , Papageorgiou D. T. , Petropoulos P. G.
Published: May 2006

In a recent paper [D. T. Papageorgiou and P. G. Petropoulos, J. Eng. Math. 50, 223 (2004)] we considered the linear stability of a two-dimensional incompressible leaky dielectric viscous liquid sheet surrounded by a hydrodynamically passive conducting medium, when an electric field is applied parallel to the initially flat bounding fluid interfaces. It was established that for order-one Reynolds numbers and when the dielectric permittivity ratio, εp=εin∕εout, and the electric conductivity ratio, σR=σout∕σin, satisfy εpσR>1, the flow is linearly stable in the absence of an electric field. When a field is present a band of unstable long waves emerges whose size increases as the field increases (the band remains finite, that is short waves are stable, for large fields). In the present study we consider the nonlinear dynamics in the vicinity of the zero electric field bifurcation. The scalings determined from the linear stability calculations are used to derive canonical strongly nonlinear evolution equations for the leading order shape of the sheet and the corresponding horizontal velocity. Numerical simulations indicate that for a wide class of initial conditions, a quasisteady state is reached in the long time when the layer organizes into a number of lobes connected by slowly draining threads whose height vanishes asymptotically in time. The number of lobes and their volumes depend on initial conditions. Using this insight, we construct an ordinary differential equation which describes the shape of the sheet in the limit t→∞.
Wake of a spherical bubble or a solid sphere set fixed in a turbulent environment
Authors: Legendre Dominique , Merle Axel , Magnaudet Jacques
Published: May 2006

The wake of a clean spherical bubble and that of a solid sphere set fixed on the axis of a turbulent pipe flow are studied using large-eddy simulation. Wake characteristics are analyzed for particle Reynolds numbers ReP=500 and 200 (based on the particle diameter and centerline velocity in the pipe) and bulk Reynolds numbers Re=6000 and 20 000 (based on the pipe diameter and bulk velocity). The centerline velocity defect is found to decrease as x−2, which is faster than in a laminar wake or in a turbulent axisymmetric wake in a quiescent environment. The half-width of the wake evolves as αx, where α is an increasing function of the external turbulence intensity.