bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Multiple Criteria To Evaluate Public Policies
Authors: Rossell Christine H.
Published: March 2007

This article suggests a framework by which to organize information and evaluate policy alternatives. In this framework, equity, efficiency, effectiveness, and political feasibility are criteria for choosing policy alternatives. In addition, the framework includes strategies—the policy formulation and the compliance structure—for achieving these values. Among the three major types of school desegregation policy alternatives implemented since Brown v. Board of Education —freedom of choice, mandatory reassignment, and magnet—voluntary—the magnet-voluntary alternative appears to achieve the greatest equity, efficiency, and effectiveness because it relies primarily on market-like incentives and an incremental decision-making approach.
Group Differences in Early Support for Military Action in the Gulf
Authors: Wilcox Clyde , Ferrara Joseph , Allsop Dee
Published: March 2007

The article reports significant group differences in early support for military action in the Persian Gulf. Although the literature has reported mixed results on gender differences in foreign policy, the authors find a large and consistent gender gap that withstands controls for demographic and political variables. They also find significant racial and ethnic differences, with blacks, Hispanics, Arab-Americans, and Jews all less supportive of military action than whites. The racial gap widened when President Bush vetoed the civil rights bill, suggesting that domestic political events can affect foreign policy attitudes. Finally, they find significant generational differences, but these differences are almost exactly the opposite of those generally predicted by generational theories of foreign policy attitudes. The Vietnam generation and the Cold War generation were the most supportive, whereas the World War II and Reagan-Bush generations were substantially less supportive. These results hint at a life-cycle explanation of foreign policy attitudes.
Political Action Committees and the Tragedy of the Commons
Authors: Conybeare John A.C. , Squire Peverill
Published: March 2007

Why did the receipts of political action committees (PACs) rise to a peak in the 1980s and then fall? Why were large numbers of PACs terminated in the middle of the 1980s? Focusing on nonconnected PACs, this dynamic path is explained as a result of a "tragedy of the commons" in which PACs faced a situation of rivalry in raising funds and an absence of mechanisms to restrict entry into their pool of resources. A model is specified and the optimal and tragedy levels of PAC receipts are deduced. These predictions are compared to the actual levels of PAC activity, and it is shown that the PACs did indeed expand to the point where they created for themselves a tragedy of the commons, suboptimal returns over the whole time period, and a contraction in activity.
Political Action and Social Integration
Authors: Anderson Christopher J.
Published: March 2007

The author examines the impact of social integration and the social environment on conventional and unconventional modes of political participation. Specifically, he examines the thesis that more social kinds of participation are more strongly affected by the social environment than are more individual kinds of political acts. The author finds that the ex ante categorization of participatory acts into social and individual ones is less helpful for understanding the effects of the social environment than the distinction between conventional, institutionalized acts on one hand and unconventional, uninstitutionalized acts on the other. Conventional activities are more strongly influenced by an individual's exposure to, interaction with, and integration into the community, whereas the social environment is a less important factor for stimulating unconventional political participation.
Research in Religion and Mass Political Behavior in the United States
Authors: Jelen Ted G.
Published: March 2007

This article attempts to assess the extent of "scientific progress" in the study of religion and political behavior in the United States. Using three models of scientific enterprise, I find that the empirical study of religion and politics has been quite successful in an inductive, cumulative sense and has been moderately successful in providing interpretive, verstehen explanations as well. In general, research in religion and politics has not produced much in the way of "covering laws," "paradigms," or "research programs," in which religious variables are central theoretical concepts. Rather, explanations using religious phenomena are typically special cases of more general theoretical perspectives. I suggest that the last characterization does not reflect intellectual failure on the part of researchers; rather, the phenomena of religious politics appears essentially decentralized, and our best theories of religious behavior help account for the lack of parsimonious explanations in this area.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH
Authors: Goldner Melinda
Published: March 2007

The summer issue of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the NIH Newsletter (Volume VII, Number 3) summarizes the activities of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The issue reviews current research on pain management, cancer, St. John's Wort and cardiovascular diseases and outlines the NCCAM Advisory Council five-year strategic plan.
Use of Complementary and Alternative Medical Services by HMO Members, 1995-1996
Authors: Whitlock Evelyn P.
Published: March 2007

We investigated HMO members' use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers outside the HMO in 1995-1996. A random 2% survey of Kaiser Permanente Northwest members addressed HMO service satisfaction, self-reported health status and behaviors, and HMO utilization. Among respondents, 15.7% (n = 380) used CAM providers (chiropractors, naturopaths, acupuncturists, others) in the prior 12 months, while 35% were ever users. Multivariate analysis found that those more likely to consult CAM providers were females, more educated, and more dissatisfied with the HMO. These results suggest that HMOs may wish to focus efforts to improve patient satisfaction among CAM service users.
A Typology of Training Design and Work Environment Factors Affecting Workplace Learning and Transfer
Authors: Russ-Eft Darlene
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this article is to develop a typology of elements involved in the design of training as well as in the work environment that affect work-place learning and transfer. This typology focuses on elements that can be manipulated by the human resource development (HRD) researcher and practitioner as part of the HRD implementation rather than on dispositional and personality characteristics of individuals participating in the intervention. It identifies elements within the work environment, as well as elements before, during, and after training. By presenting a typology, this article provides a first step in theory building or a “theory of the middle range. ” Furthermore, it leads to implications for future theoretical development, research, and practice.
Minority Employees in Majority Organizations: The Intersection of Individual and Organizational Racial Identity in the Workplace
Authors: Chrobot-Mason Donna , Thomas Kecia M.
Published: March 2007

This article proposes a novel multidisciplinary and multilevel approach to understanding the complexity of diversity in organizations. Drawing on counseling psychology, developmental psychology, and Black psychology as well as other fields, the authors propose that racial identity theory helps to explain the relationships that develop between minority employees and the White-owned and White-managed organizations that employ them. Specifically, the authors outline four different types of employee-employer relationships that develop depending on the racial identity levels of both the minority employee and the organization as a whole. Understanding these relationships can be a useful diagnostic tool for identifying barriers to effective diversity management and minority employee retention.
Factors Affecting Functional Outcome in Patients with Nontraumatic Spinal Cord Lesions After Inpatient Rehabilitation
Authors: van der Putten J.J.M.F. , Stevenson V.L. , Playford E.D. , Thompson A.J.
Published: March 2007

Objective: Patients with nontraumatic spinal cord lesions account for between one fourth and one half of all spinal cord injuries. In the management of this group of patients, an understanding of factors influencing functional improvement is essen tial to help define the most appropriate rehabilitation programme. Although it is pos sible to predict accurately the functional outcome for an individual patient with a com plete traumatic spinal cord injury, few studies have looked at prognostic factors in patients with nontraumatic spinal cord disease. The aim of this study was to determine which, and how well, factors assessed on admission to a rehabilitation unit relate to functional improvement in this group. Methods: The study sample consists of 100 patients with an incomplete nontraumatic spinal cord lesion who underwent inpatient neurorehabilitation. Possible prognostic factors were sought by identifying those vari ables with a significant difference in the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) motor change score above and below the median. A step-wise multiple regression analysis was then performed to determine which variables influenced functional out come. Results: Patients with larger functional gains had significantly lower disability scores on admission, a shorter time between symptom onset and rehabilitation, and a longer length of stay. They were more likely to have a cervical lesion and evidence of neurologic recovery. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the FIM motor score on admission and the time between symptom onset and rehabilitation predicted 54% of the variance of the FIM motor score gain. Conclusions: This finding suggests that early rehabilitation is an important factor in securing a good outcome. Key Words: Rehabilitation-Spinal cord lesion-Functional outcome.
Possible Role of Corticosteroids in Nervous System Plasticity: Improvement in Amblyopia After Optic Neuritis in the Fellow Eye Treated with Steroids
Authors: Constantinescu Cris S. , Gottlob Irene
Published: March 2007

Objective: Amblyopia consists of reduced visual function in the absence of or ganic disease, caused by deficient visual stimulation, most commonly due to squint or refractive error. Amblyopia is thought to be reversible up until the age of ∼8 years (critical period) and is usually treated with occlusion of the fellow eye. There is re cent evidence for visual system plasticity extending beyond the critical period, sup ported by reports of improvement in visual acuity in the amblyopic eye after loss of vision in the contralateral eye. This suggests that the adult visual system exhibits suf ficient plasticity to allow such improvement. We describe here improvement in vi sual acuity in three amblyopic patients after they received high-dose intravenous glu cocorticoids for optic neuritis in the contralateral eye. Methods: Clinical and neurological evaluation added. Results: In all cases, the improvement was sustained, even after the recovery from the optic neuritis. Conclusions: Because steroids affect neural plasticity, we hypothesize that they facilitate and enhance visual improvement in amblyopia, a quality that may be tested in future controlled trials. Key Words: Am biyopia—Steroids—Plasticity—Glucocorticoids—Optic neuritis.
Berg Balance Scale and Outcome Measures in Acquired Brain Injury
Authors: Feld Jody A. , Rabadi Meheroz H. , Blau Alan D. , Jordan Barry D.
Published: March 2007

Objective: To examine the relationship of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) to out come after acquired brain injury. Methods: Forty consecutive patients with acquired brain injury were admitted for multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Patients were assessed with the BBS. The BBS was originally designed as a quantitative measure of balance and risk for falls in community-dwelling elderly patients. The BBS comprises 14 dif ferent tasks graded on a 56-point scale. Community-dwelling elders with a BBS score of ≤42 have >90% risk for falls. Results: In our study, there were 27 patients with a low BBS score (≤42) and 13 patients with a high BBS score (≥43). The discharge total Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores were lower in the low BBS pa tients (96.4 ± 21.2) compared with the high BBS patients (111.5 ± 12.5) (p < 0.007). The length of stay (LOS) was significantly longer in the low BBS patients (38.9 ± 18.5 days) compared with the high BBS patients (14.2 ± 6.1 days; p < 0.000). Among the three patients that experienced falls during their hospitalization, all exhibited low BBS scores. The admission BBS score strongly correlated with admission total FIM scores (r = 0.86; p < 0.000) and moderately correlated with discharge total FIM scores (r = 0.56; p < 0.000) and LOS (r = -0.55; p < 0.000). Using a multiple regression analysis, the admission FIM score was found to be the better predictor of discharge FIM scores, and time admitted after injury was the better predictor of LOS. Conclusions: Prediction of rehabilitative outcome might be enhanced by the use of the BBS scores in combination with other clinical measures on admission to inpatient acute rehabil itation. Key Words: Functional Independence Measure—Berg Balance Scale—Ac quired brain injury.
An Overview of Treadmill Locomotor Training with Partial Body Weight Support: A Neurophysiologically Sound Approach Whose Time Has Come for Randomized Clinical Trials
Authors: Dobkin Bruce H.
Published: March 2007

Much of the rehabilitation team's effort during inpatient and outpatient therapy for disabling neurologic diseases aims to restore the ability to walk with as little human assistance as possible. Although the use of treadmill (TM) training with partial body weight support has a strong underpinning from basic and clinical neuroscience stud ies and small clinical trials, the technique still lacks the reproducible results that make for an evidence-based practice. Therapists will have to learn how to employ body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) so that they optimize the segmental sensory inputs that best facilitate spinal and supraspinal locomotor networks. Ran domized clinical trials must be undertaken using scientific expertmental designs that measure the impact of BSWTT on the lives of hemiparetic and paraparetic people. Outcomes specific to a locomotor intervention might include functional independence for walking and for mobility-related self-care and community activities, walking speed, endurance for walking distances, and the perceptions of subjects about health-related quality of life. Features of training and trial design are discussed in relation to reported basic and clinical research.
The Importance of Residence Time Analysis in Coextrusion Die Design
Authors: Perdikoulias J. , Tzoganakis C.
Published: March 2007

This paper emphasizes the importance of analyzing the residence time distribution of the polymer when designing extrusion systems and why this analysis is especially important for coextrusion systems. An analysis of the relationship between pressure drop and residence time for different die geome tries shows how the potential for problems to occur is higher for coextrusion dies. An example is presented of how changing the layer ratio of a coextrusion product can lead to long residence times which may result in poor product qual ity and possibly damage the system.
Investigation of Cast Film Machine Process Conditions and Physical Properties of Several Homopolymer and Copolymer Polypropylene Film Grades
Authors: Goins M.J. , Sun L. , Miller M.
Published: March 2007

Four polypropylene (PP) film grade resins—homopolymer and copolymer—were used to evaluate the effects of various processing factors on the physical properties of cast film. The results showed that copolymer film (PP with 3% ethylene) has less of an effect on the processing parameters of the phys ical properties than the homopolymer PP film. In most runs, the melt flow rate (MFR) was the dominant factor—followed by melt temperature; chilling roll temperature appeared to have the least effect.
Talc Anti-Blocks for Maximized Lldpe Blown Film Performance
Authors: Radosta Joseph A.
Published: March 2007

Evaluations were made of anti-blocking agents with two linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) films. Diatomaceous earth (D-E) was com pared to untreated talc and coated talc regarding effectiveness as an anti-block agent and their interaction with fluorocarbon elastomer processing aids (PPA). Data showed that treated talc was slightly more effective in providing anti- block properties than the D-E. Although both talcs required higher levels of PPA than D-E to prevent melt fracture, the same levels were required of a modified PPA with treated talc as the regular PPA with D-E.
Alpha-Tocopherol (Vitamin E)—the Natural Antioxidant for Polyolefins
Authors: Laermer S.F. , Zambetti P.F.
Published: March 2007

The antioxidant effect of alpha-tocopherol (ATP) in biological systems, where it is better known as vitamin E, has been well-documented. However, the potential use of ATP as a stabilizer in polymers had had only limited evaluation, so several studies were commissioned to obtain reliable and relevant data pertaining to the capability of ATP as a polymer additive.

Data showed that ATP offers several distinct advantages in polymer stabiliza tion. Besides its environmental safety, it is also an excellent processing stabi lizer and, in combination with synergistic additives, a superior color stabilizer. Thermal stability of the product is excellent, with no significant weight loss un til almost 300°C.

Migration into food product, a critical concern with most other additives, is negligible because of ATP's limited volatility and is also of little concern because of its GRAS (FDA's "generally recognized as safe") status. Furthermore, even the breakdown products (mostly tocopherol quinone compounds) are harmless.
Permeation of Ethyl Acetate Vapor Through Silica Deposited Polyethylene Terephthalate Film and Composite Structures
Authors: Sajiki Takashi , Giacin Jack R.
Published: March 2007

The effect of temperature and relative humidity on the permea tion of ethyl acetate vapor through silica deposited polyethylene terephthalate film (SiOx PET) and composite structures was studied by a quasi-isostatic proce dure. For comparison, the permeation of ethyl acetate vapor through an ethyl ene/vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), and an EVOH laminate structure was also determined. Permeability studies were carried out at 50, 65 and 76 ° C with a constant vapor concentration of 300 μg/cc (mass/volume).

Results of permeation studies at 65 ° C showed that the transmission profile curve of the EVOH film followed typical Fickian behavior, while the SiOx PET film exhibited atypical behavior during the initial transport period. For the first 24 hours, permeation through SiOx PET was not detectable. Following this initial induction period, a significant increase in the transmission rate was observed; and after 96 hours, mass transport was at steady state. At steady state, the rate of permeation through the SiOx PET was lower than that of the EVOH film.

SiOx PET film showed relatively high temperature dependence ( Ep = 22.1 kcal/mole) and a low transmission rate. PET also showed relatively high tem perature dependence (23.2 kcal/mole). Based on the activation energy, the EVOH film exhibited very significant temperature dependency ( Ep = 48.8 kcal/mole).

In over 500 hours of continuous testing, there was no measurable permeation of ethyl acetate vapor through the SiOx PET and EVOH films at 22°C, 56% RH. However, at 87% RH, the EVOH film exhibited a permeation rate of 3.14 x 10-11 kg/m 2·sec for ethyl acetate vapor, while the SiOx PET film was not influenced by sorbed water vapor and showed no measurable permeation of the organic permeant.

Analysis by optical microscopy on the SiOx surface showed no effect of temper ature on the structural integrity of the SiOx coating, as evidenced by the absence of cracks or crazing of the SiO x coating. While the functional role of the silica coating is not fully understood, the following mechanism is proposed. For the silica deposited PET film, the barrier properties of the structure are governed by defects, non-homogeneity of both the surface coating thickness and composition, or preferential diffusion paths-all of which can contribute to the observed permeability rates. The permeability of the polymer layers imme diately adjacent to the silica coating are thus critical in determining the effect of such defects.
Radiation Resistant Polypropylene- New Developments
Authors: Rolando Richard J.
Published: March 2007

For health care packaging applications, polypropylene (PP) has the advantages of being nontoxic and inert to liquids and drugs. Its low cost and the ease with which it can be extruded or shaped are also important. For medical purposes, it is necessary to sterilize these materials using gamma radiation to ensure total and reliable sterility. However, gamma-irradiated polypropylene is subject to degradation or embrittlement over time. Radiation causes degradation of the polymer by direct energy transfer and subsequent ox idation. The need for radiation sterilizable plastics which are resistant to this type of degradation is important because of the increased use of gamma irra diation as a preferred sterilization method. To retard degradation in polypro pylene, it is important to control these reaction kinetics. Methods to improve polypropylene's resistance to such degradation are focused on the relationships of morphology and radiation effects. New developments in this area are dis cussed regarding methods to make PP film radiation resistant.
Spaces and Places of Black Educational Desire: Rethinking Black Supplementary Schools as a New Social Movement
Authors: Mirza Heidi Safia , Reay Diane
Published: March 2007

Black supplementary schools, as organic grassroots organisations, are not simply a response to mainstream educational exclusion and poor provision, as they are so often described. They are far more radical and subversive than their quiet conformist exterior, indicating the presence of a covert social movement for educational change. In our small-scale, exploratory study of four black supplementary schools, we attempt to uncover their subjugated knowledges and hidden histories in order to illustrate the ways in which they generate Mueller's `oppositional meanings'. The narratives of the black women educators consistently decentre assumptions of mainstream schooling, as well as providing evidence of thriving black communities, social capital and complex, contradictory pedagogies within which childcentredness remains an important component. Supplementary schools provide a context in which whiteness is displaced as central and blackness is seen as normative. We conclude by arguing that, through their strategies of reworking notions of both community and blackness, their creation of new `types' of professional intellectuals and their commitment to social transformation, black supplementary schools represent the genesis of a new gendered social movement.
Critical Theory and Beyond: Further Perspectives on Emancipatory Education
Authors: Hart Mechthild
Published: March 2007

Although emancipatory education and a critical theory of education are only rarely addressed in adult education, they provide rich opportunities for discussing primary issues of adult education. The purpose of this analysis is to contribute to the debate on the issue of emancipatory education, especially as begun by Jack Mezirow with his critical concept of adult education. Although Mezirow borrows important distinctions from Juergen Habermas' critical theory, his use of these distinctions neglects the radical impetus behind Habermas' writings. In addition, both Mezirow's and Habermas' conceptual frameworks emerge as being too rationalist for a broader, more encompassing concept of emancipatory education.
Trends in Church Membership in the United States
Authors: Landis Benson Y.
Published: March 2007

American religious bodies—excepting the Church of Christ, Scientist—have officers who make public reports of the numbers of their adherents. During recent years the "latest information" available has appeared in the annual Yearbook of American Churches. Two hundred and fifty-one bodies reported 109,557,741 members, equal to 63 per cent of the estimated population in 1958, in the Yearbook for 1960. The figures from church headquarters are made public at irregular intervals and are not gathered by uniform methods. The Cen sus of Religious Bodies, which did gather figures by means of standard forms, has been discontinued. The average size of local congregations has increased 50 per cent since 1926, and church membership advances at a more rapid rate than the population. However, church statistics have many defects, and it is not known what effect the mobility of the population has had on church records and on record-keeping. Roman Catholic and Protestant bodies are reported to have now about the same numerical relation to one another as they had in the early 1900's, but since 1950 the Roman Catholics have reported the more rapid gains. One study indicates that the more conservative denominations report larger growth than those known as the more liberal. Many professional workers challenge the frequent use of extensive church statistics as evidence of the vitality of the institutions or of religious revival.
A Historical View of Americans Abroad
Authors: Dulles Foster Rhea
Published: March 2007

Americans have traveled abroad in increasing numbers ever since the formation of the Republic. Their num bers at first were very limited and largely confined to the well- to-do. Newly developed means of transportation, from the trans-Atlantic steamship to the modern jet airplane, have com bined with increasing prosperity and enhanced leisure to swell the annual visitation of the Old World by Americans from a few thousands in the early nineteenth century to more than a million in the 1960's. The expansion in this tourist travel has been particularly notable in the postwar years, and there has also been a tremendous increase in the number of Ameri cans living at least temporarily abroad—American military forces and their dependents, government officials, teachers, and students. Ever since its beginnings, business, education, travel for its own sake, and vacations have been the principal motives for the European journeying. "Americans have a special call to travel," a contributor to the North American Review wrote in 1856. "It is the peculiar privilege of their birth in the New World, that the Old World is left them to visit." This is still true today and would appear largely to account for the flood of tourists annually crossing the Atlantic. For a seg ment of society now including all salaried workers and even numbers of skilled wage earners, as well as businessmen, the professional classes, and others among the well-to-do, travel abroad has become a part of the American way of life.
Stabilization of Labor Relations?
Authors: Chamberlain Neil W.
Published: March 2007

The objective of stabilization of labor relations is one which, however desirable, is not likely to be achieved in the foreseeable future. Three major problems stand in its way. (1) The strike is becoming, increasingly, an unaccept able device for resolving labor disputes, due to the spread of collective bargaining to the public sector, where vital services have been interrupted, and due also to the fact that often the strike is simply an anachronistic device for settling issues. The obvious substitute for the strike, some form of compulsory arbitration, cannot be expected in the near term, however. (2) The issue of wage and price controls to avoid secular inflation is another which is not likely to be resolved very soon and will serve to keep the industrial relations pot boiling. Voluntary controls are unworkable, and centralized government controls are unpalatable. (3) Finally, as labor unions have won acceptance for themselves and gains for their members, a number have joined the ranks of defenders of the status quo. This leaves inadequately represented those who see a brighter future for themselves and society only through social and economic changes which are unsettling to the status quo. It is unlikely that these dissatisfied elements of the labor force will remain indefinitely unrepresented; one can anticipate the rise of a reform movement, challenging the AFL-CIO, analogous to the challenge of the AFL by the CIO in the 1930's. For at least these three reasons, stabilization of labor relations is only a distant dream.
Recent Changes in Chinese Society
Authors: Deglopper Donald R.
Published: March 2007

Changes in the structure of Chinese society in this century can be summarized in terms of a great increase in the size of productive units and a consequent decrease in the number of such units. Today, most Chinese are wage earners who live and work within the framework of large, bureaucratic organizations. Personal life is not only more secure than in the past, but more predictable and susceptible to rational planning. There are differences in income and and opportunities between organizations. An individual's standard of living and chances for mobility depend primarily on which organization he works for. Since the Cultural Revolution there has been a drive for increased equality and solidarity within organizations, along with pursuit of the goal of organizational self-reliance and self-sufficiency. If these goals are achieved, the result will be a society composed of autonomous cells. But problems of entrance into organizations and inequities among organizations and regions remain. These problems may be expected to generate further changes in the structure of Chinese society.
Higher Education in Comparative Perspective
Authors: Bereday George Z.F.
Published: March 2007

Higher education in global overview falls into two models. Most countries follow the elitist pattern of re cruitment, and their efforts on behalf of modernity are tem pered by nineteenth-century style. Their reforms reenact familiar historical precedents. Four countries: the United States, Canada, the USSR, and Japan, have moved to mass higher education. Europe, too, has recently begun making sig nificant steps in that direction. These countries are a target of parallel reform aspirations: demands f or expanded enroll ment, for more equitable social class distribution, and for up grading of non-university institutions to university ranks. Their universities are under pressure to participate in political life and local government, to streamline the structure of gov ernance, and to admit a measure of public control. The West ern European countries are in a somewhat special situation because their enrollments in postcompulsory education are a quarter of an age group less, and their reforms tend to be structural rather than, as in the others, curricular. Among mass-higher-education countries, the USSR and Japan are in many respects closer to Europe than to North America. They favor a guided method of reform from above, while those of North America grow and change in a grass roots fashion. The arrival of the mass of students makes authoritarian control difficult to maintain.
Some Micro—Economic Reflections on Income and Wealth Inequalities
Authors: Johnson Harry G.
Published: March 2007

Concern about inequality involves naive anthro pomorphism and the Judaic-Christian tradition. Both lead to anachronistic images of modern society and to concern with sharing its presumably effortlessly-acquired surplus. Ob served inequality in contemporary society is largely the by product of the success of that society in providing opportuni ties for self-fulfillment. As examples, consumption needs and income-earning capacity are poorly synchronized over time, implying cross-sectional inequalities between people at differ ent ages; people's consumption preferences also differ early and late in life. People differ in their preferences for either risky or safe occupations. The policy problem of inequality reform is to correct inequalities of opportunity without taxing socially useful exercises of choice and subsidizing socially undesirable ones. One of the major sources of difficulty is the role of the family in the transmission of material property, genetic char acteristics—good or bad—and attitudes towards work and life. Few, indeed, would be prepared to alter sufficiently the insti tution of the family to eliminate these family-transmitted sources of inequality.
Committee Conflict in the Congressional Arena
Authors: Brenner Philip
Published: March 2007

When congressmen engage in conflict can their behavior be explained by their objective interests as elite decision makers in our society? Congressional conflict can have the consequence of encouraging participation by outsiders, because conflict is contagious. As decision makers, congressmen eschew uncontrollable interference with their deliberations. Conflict can also arouse an interest which is antagonistic to the hierarchic structure of American society, and such arousal is resisted by congressmen. The nature of the conflict over the Higher Education Act of 1972 indicates that, although these considerations alone did not govern congressmen's behavior, they were significantly involved in structuring the conflict. In the first instance one finds that, while the interests at stake were not likely to generate mass arousal, some congressmen did attempt to curtail conflict in order to discourage the involvement of outsiders. In the second instance one finds that congressmen shaped the conflict in a particular way, seemingly, in order to avoid consideration of how education is used to buttress the structure of our society and, thus, to avoid the awakening of mass interests which they recognized were real, though unarticulated. The structure of the committee system significantly contributes to the legislators' abilities to control conflict in at least five ways. In considering reforms of the system, congressmen will take into account the extent to which the reforms alter the committees' role in structuring congressional, conflict.
Introductory Remarks
Authors: Wechsler Herbert
Published: March 2007

Two centuries of national existence surely call for the expressions of devotion they will be evoking throughout this year. This meeting focuses on the framing of the polity and government that have endured. In con sidering the Constitution, we have before us the rich record of the past with its glories and frustrations. We must learn from that record, concentrating on the present and future. To achieve the purpose of this convention, we must feel as free to criticize as to extol the constitutional positions examined. The delegates who signed the Constitution did not consider it perfect, but only hoped that the draft would surmount the weakness of its articles and lead to a "more perfect union." The amending clause represented a signifi cant advance in thought about the nature of organic law. The framers' plan was an innovation in support of adapta tion, stringent as its requirements may be.
Social Indicators and Congressional Needs for Information
Authors: Staats Elmer B.
Published: March 2007

The second edition of Social Indicators again presents valuable information on the social well-being of the nation. The Congress of the United States, in its appropriation, authorization, budgeting, and oversight functions, has a growing need for social statistics. These statistics are increasingly being used in program operations—in some cases triggering the beginning and end of programs and in other cases targeting funds under allocation formulas. Congressional needs also exist for social indicator information in the oversight functions. Social indicators can provide a data base for program evaluation and policy analysis of social programs, however they are only a part of the federal statistical system. The Congress is taking a closer look at that highly decentralized system in an attempt to specify statistical needs of government better, to establish priorities for statistics, and to consider improvements to the current system.
Livable Streets: Protected Neighborhoods?
Authors: Appleyard Donald
Published: March 2007

Streets have become dangerous, unlivable environments, yet most people live on them. Streets need to be redefined as sanctuaries; as livable places; as communities; as resident territory; as places for play, greenery, and local history. Neighborhoods should be protected, though not to the point of being exclusionary. The neighborhood unit, the environmental area and the Woonerf are examined as models for the protected neighborhood. The criteria for a protected neighborhood depend on acceptable speeds, volumes, noise levels, reduction of accidents, and rights-of-way for pedestrians.
Inflation, Economic Policy, and the Inner City
Authors: Curtis Lynn A.
Published: March 2007

This article describes the greater impact of inflation among the poor and minorities in American inner cities than among other population groups. Surveys show, however, that minorities are even more concerned over unemployment and racial discrimination than over inflation. There are indications that, especially today, crime and potential group disorder are affected by or influence inflation, unemployment, and discrimination in the inner city. With these interrelated factors in mind, present federal economic policy is reviewed, critiqued, and interpreted as basically consistent with Keynesian economic theory. Modifications of and alternatives to present policy are offered that fit both inner-city needs and the concerns of the rest of American society. These policies include targeted private sector neighborhood development and self-help, private sector productivity increases through workplace democracy, private—public sector codetermination of investment, private—public sector job guarantees, and public anti-inflation policy carefully targeted at the basic necessities of energy, food, housing, and health care—which have a disproportionate effect on inflation in the inner city, as well as the overall economy. Coalitions are suggested that could politically implement such policies.
The Effects of Inflation on the Arts
Authors: Mcfate Patricia A.
Published: March 2007

Although difficult to quantify, the effects of inflation on the arts are observable and increasingly negative. Arts institutions are people-intensive and energy-intensive, and certain of their essential expenses are increasing at a faster rate than inflation. Other items, most notably funding from city, state, and federal governments, are not keeping up with inflation. Furthermore, reductions in federal spending are imminent, and it is unlikely that corporate contributions will replace that funding. The arts are taking a number of steps— some of which have questionable future implications—to increase their income. Contributions from the three sources in the private section—individuals, foundations, and corporations—have been generous in the past 25 years; they are predicted to remain so during the 1980-84 period. The "mix" of contributions will shift, however, with the foundations being the least able to contribute, the corporations fluctuating in their contributions, and individual contributors assuming increasing importance. There is little doubt that inflation harms the arts, but it is reflective of a weak economy in which other factors, for example, harsh tax laws and weak stock and bond markets, cause distress to nonprofit institutions. Until there is a strengthening of the economy, the arts will have serious financial problems.
Obsolescence, Declining Productivity, and the American Defense Mobilization Infrastructure
Authors: Reed Leon S.
Published: March 2007

Numerous problems affect the mobilization capability of U.S. defense industry. These include legal requirements; the recent growth in lead times—perhaps the most meaningful indicator of defense industry responsiveness—and factors which determine this responsiveness, such as the adequacy of raw material supplies, investment in new processes and technologies, machine-tool industry capacity, availability of subcontractors, contractor productivity, and requirements imposed by socioeconomic policies. Mobilization capability is not a static phenomenon: it can either improve or deteriorate. Efforts to improve mobilization capability will also increase the efficiency of defense industry and its ability to meet near-term demands; failure to address these problems over the near term will result in continued deterioration of industry mobilization capability and responsiveness to short-term as well as long-range needs.
The Appropriability Theory of the Multinational Corporation
Authors: Magee Stephen P.
Published: March 2007

The appropriability theory of the multinational corporation emphasizes the conflict between innovators and emulators of new technologies. Appropriability is "high," and innovators can protect their profits more easily for sophisticated technologies and on breakthroughs that can be transmitted worldwide through the innovator's own subsidiaries. Conversely, appropriability is "low," and multinationals find it less profitable to create simple technologies and ideas that require market transfer. This theory explains the limited role multinationals have played in the development of simple products and simple production technologies, both of which are important to the developing countries. The appropriability theory also predicts that products in Vernon's product cycle will move to stage II when developed countries start successful emulation of the product and to stage III when developing countries start successful emulation. The profit-maximizing price strategy an innovating multinational should follow is to sell new products at below the monopoly price and slowly cut the price of the product as appropriability mechanisms erode. In the long run, the multinational will be forced to sell at the perfectly competitive price. If the multinational has no long-run profit advantage over other producers, its long-run market shares should approach zero as the perfectly competitive price is approached.
Natural Helping Networks in Alleviating Family Stress
Authors: WATSON EUNICE L. , COLLINS ALICE H.
Published: March 2007

As they have for generations, natural helping networks act as family support systems in many different social and cultural settings. The value of natural helping networks in assisting working parents with young children to find and maintain family day care has been documented. The resources these networks provide in alleviating or intervening in family stress that otherwise might lead to neglect and abuse is beginning to be recognized, explored, and utilized. We pioneered a method for professionals to identify and recruit natural helpers in these networks, to collaborate in the matching of needs and resources in neighborhoods, and to link with the formal agency system as needed. In this article, the method is described with mainland and Hawaiian applications. It is suggested that policymakers should recognize the value of natural helping networks as a financially feasible method of reaching parents in ways that prevent or ameliorate child abuse and neglect and that offer ongoing social support to families.
South Africa and Instability in Southern Africa
Authors: FRIEDLAND ELAINE A.
Published: March 2007

Terrorism and the political use of violence are not necessarily synonymous. Terrorism is the use of violence for the primary purpose of creating a general atmosphere of fear and alarm. Thus, a terrorist organization does not limit its tactical use of violence to military and other such strategic targets but will additionally direct its violent tactics against the public at large. If employed by a government, the objective of such a use of terror can be to create submission to a repressive status quo. If used by an anti-governmental group, the objective may be to create a situation of instability in order to facilitate the overthrow of the existing government. In southern Africa, anti-governmental organizations operating in Mozambique, Angola, and Zimbabwe depend on financial and military assistance from the South African regime which utilizes these organizations as one component of its strategy to destabilize the governments of the former countries. This article demonstrates that (1) these anti-governmental organizations, such as União Nacional de Indepêndencia Total de Angola (UNITA) and the Movimento de Resistência Nacional de Moçambique, by their tactics, conform to the definition of a terrorist organization; (2) these anti-governmental organizations could not survive without their linkages to the South African regime; and (3) the South African regime's objective in promoting these anti-governmental organizations is to attempt to continue the status quo inside South Africa.
The Exclusionary Effect of Growth Controls
Authors: FRIEDEN BERNARD J.
Published: March 2007

Local government regulation of land development and homebuilding has become more complicated and more demanding in recent years. Most of the new control techniques can be used either to manage growth in an orderly way or to limit and discourage growth. A review of experience in Northern California reveals many instances in which techniques such as utility moratoria, development fees, growth quotas, environmental impact reviews, and environmental lawsuits have been used in ways that increase the cost of new housing. Among the direct cost impacts of growth controls, the most important result from the rapidly increasing development charges levied by many communities, and from the stretch-out of development time caused by local review procedures. Many growth controls also generate a series of indirect impacts likely to lead to far greater increases in the sales prices of new homes. Four indirect impacts likely to have major effects on house prices are redesign of housing developments to make them more acceptable to local interest groups; restriction of the supply of land available for homebuilding; restriction of competition among homebuilders; and reduction in the ability of homebuilders to increase their output during cyclical increases in consumer demand.
The Competition Strategy for Medical Care
Authors: McCLURE WALTER
Published: March 2007

This article reviews the so-called competition strategy for medical care. It sets out the policy goals of the strategy and the problems in the present medical and insurance system that it seeks to address. It then describes several distinct formulations of the competition strategy, showing that it is not a single, rigid, monolithic approach, but rather a flexible combination of market-oriented approaches. Finally, it briefly discusses the technical and political problems and prospects of the strategy.
Health Maintenance Organizations as Medicaid Providers
Authors: ASHCRAFT MARIE L.F. , BERKI S. E.
Published: March 2007

Evolution of a one-door, one-class system of medicine for all Americans was the professed goal of the social legislation of the 1960s. The development of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) was seen to be a major mechanism for assuring access to care and at the same time reducing the costs of social health programs. This has currently been reinforced by procompetitive proposals, which predict great efficiency resulting from the envisaged competition among organized systems of care. This article argues that established HMOs have no incentives to enroll Medicaid beneficiaries and that under current arrangements Medicaid beneficiaries have no incentives to enroll in HMOs. As Medicaid programs across the states are cut, resulting in fewer benefits and more restricted physician payments, beneficiaries may have greater incentives to enroll in organized systems. Private physicians may also face greater incentives to develop HMOs to serve Medicaid beneficiaries. If that happens, however, a two-class system—one for the poor and one for others—will be institutionalized; and to assure minimum standards of care for the poor, more, not less, regulation will be required.