bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Can the Rational Choice Framework Cope with Culture?
Authors: Shapiro Ian 
Published: May 2006

Editor's Note: This essay is drawn from a 1997 APSA Annual Meeting roundtable entitled “Can the Rational Choice Framework Cope with Culture?” It was presented by the Comparative Politics Division, chaired by Nancy Bermeo of Princeton University, and included, in addition to Ian Shapiro, Robert H. Bates of Harvard University, Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michigan, and Ian Lustick of the University of Pennsylvania.I do not believe it is fruitful to try to answer the question, “Can the rational choice framework cope with culture?” Asking it implies that the rational choice approach founders due to its inattention to cultural variables, and (depending on how dire one takes the diagnosis to be), that this defect would be remedied if the rational choice framework was replaced, modified, or supplemented by what might be thought of as a “culturalist” one. Consider each of these prescriptions.
From Social Security to Health Security? Opinion and Rhetoric in U.S. Social Policy Making
Authors: Skocpol Theda 
Published: May 2006

How does public opinion in American democracy relate to policy making, particularly in Washington, D.C.? This question has a special pertinence right now, and not just for political scientists. As I write, it is a little over a month after President Bill Clinton delivered a major televised address on the health care crisis, and only a few days after he and Hillary Rodham Clinton went up to Capitol Hill to introduce a 1,342 page “Health Security bill” into Congress. Clearly, Clinton is staking his presidency—not to mention the immediate prospects of the Democratic Party—on an attempt to respond to a certain reading of public opinion. By wading into a policy arena already staked out by many resourceful vested interests, Clinton is undertaking to mobilize and influence broad public support for what is arguably the most ambitious federal social policy initiative since the Social Security Act of 1935.Consideration of various aspects of the relationship of public opinion to the current round of health insurance policy making in Washington, D.C., can, in my view, underline the value of a historically grounded and institutionally mediated analysis of the roots and effects of public opinion. The approach I shall illustrate builds upon Lawrence Jacobs's (1993) recent book, The Health of Nations: Public Opinion and the Making of American and British Health Policy. One major undertaking of that work is to make sense of the role of U.S. public opinion in the enactment of Medicare in 1965.
Henry Jones Ford: The Political Science of Forecasting
Authors: Pious Richard M. 
Published: May 2006

Henry Jones Ford published The Rise and Growth of American Politics in 1898, and in it he looked back into the eighteenth century to find meaning in the developments of the nineteenth and provide material for his forecasts of the twentieth. So, too, do we look back for meaning in our own era, and use what we find to forecast about things to come. It is worthwhile, then, to reexamine the final section of Ford's work, “Tendencies and Prospects of American Politics,” because doing so helps us to understand the opportunities and pitfalls awaiting political scientists who forecast.Ford began his prophesying venture with the bold statement that there are no new ideas. In America, he claimed, we seem to be bound by the Whig theory of governance: with us, it is all separation of powers and checks and balances. We tinker with them, and we bind the constitutional fabric ever tighter to prevent abuses of power by vile politicos. “The belief that the Constitution could be tinkered into some sort of mechanical excellence” hampered British thinkers and ours as well (1898, 355). In the late eighteenth century, the British concentrated on institutional reforms, but nothing could help, because men entered politics in order to gain wealth and position.
A Brief History of the Political Science of AIDS Activism
Authors: Siplon Patricia 
Published: May 2006

In the early stages of my study of the political movements surrounding the advent of AIDS and HIV, my first concern was not maintaining, or even achieving, objectivity. Rather, I found myself exploring many of the same questions as other scholars who focused on the human side of the emerging pandemic. Many of us puzzled over why AIDS had been such a strong mobilizing force. An intriguing political science question was why certain subgroups of AIDS activists enjoyed such success once the larger affected communities mobilized. Many of the people at the forefront of AIDS activism seemed to have been remarkably successful both in having their policy demands met and in incorporating themselves into the decision-making bodies that would formulate future policies. These successes seemed all the more amazing when one considered that a majority of Americans associated the epidemic with groups of people they perceived as, at best, marginally parts of American society—the diseased (hemophiliacs), the unwelcome (Haitian immigrants), and, most especially, the morally suspect (gay men and injection drug users).This paradox of unprecedented success for disempowered actors has spawned a vast literature spanning a variety of disciplines. Early books on the subject, beginning with Randy Shilts's unequaled classic, And the Band Played On, focused on the manifold obstacles facing early activists and government officials attempting to deal with the impending crisis.
Death, Where Is Thy Sting? The Senate as a Ponce (de Leon) Scheme
Authors: Wuffle A , Brunell Thomas , Koetzle William 
Published: May 2006

Maltzman, Sigelman and Binder (1996), in what we regard as monumental work, have reinvigorated the study of death in office. But their data analysis is incomplete. First, they fail to project realistically the trends in actual and expected congressional deaths illustrated in Figure 1 of their paper. Second, like many congressional scholars, they do not pay sufficient attention to the Senate. We provide new evidence that the U.S. Senate may offer the solution to mankind's oldest quest, the fountain of youth (Gilgamesh n.d.; de Leon 1460–1521).Table 1 presents data on the proportion of U.S. Senators who died in office, by decade, from 1910 to 1990 (CQ 1995).We plotted the senatorial mortality rate data reported in Table 1 versus year (for data grouped by decade) as shown in Figure 1.The r2 for the regression of mortality rates on time is an astonishingly large .87. Rarely have we seen such a clear time trend. Senators are increasingly not dying in office.However, as our colleague, Bernard Grofman, pointed out to us (personal communication, April 2, 1995), projecting this equation past 1990 would give us negative estimates of mortality rates as early as the year 2000. Given the strength of our empirical results and the scholarly commitment we share with Gelman and King (1990) to investigating incumbency effects without a priori bias, we do not reject the idea of revenants out of hand.
Rational Choice and Biopolitics: A (Darwinian) Tale of Two Theories
Authors: Somit Albert , Peterson Steven A. 
Published: May 2006

In a recent paper (Somit and Peterson 1998), we discussed the relative successes and failures of “biopolitics” since it emerged as an identifiable subfield within political science during the mid-1960s (see also Degler 1991). Toward that end, we addressed two questions. First, we assessed the extent to which biopolitics has established itself organizationally as a field within the parent discipline. Second, and substantively surely more important, we measured the extent to which evolutionary concepts and the methods and research questions of the biological sciences have been incorporated within mainstream political science.Although obviously interrelated, these are clearly quite distinct issues. The resulting balance sheet, we reluctantly concluded, makes at best bittersweet reading.
Vote For Me: Politics in America
Authors: Stekler Paul 
Published: May 2006

Just what do you have to do to successfully run for public office in the United States?• In her first try at public office, a North Carolina musician and television personality with no prior political experience is steeling herself for the morning's round of “money calls” to potential contributors to her congressional congressional campaign, none of whom she's ever met.• On the streets of Honolulu, savvy candidates for governor on down, know that the best way to reach their voters is to put on a colorful lei, grab as big a sign as they can carry, and stake out the corner with the busiest rush hour traffic passing by, to “sign wave.” If they don't do it, they'll never get elected.• On the Crow Indian reservation in Montana—where one candidate for tribal leader describes local politics as cutthroat, “just like Mayor Daley's Chicago”—winning may be determined by which candidate throws the best venison feast or has the largest extended family of voters. And 80% of eligible voters will turn out on election day at the one polling place for 1700 square miles.
Black Power in 1996 and the Demonization of African Americans
Authors: Dawson Michael C. 
Published: May 2006

The cry of “Black Power” shook American society three decades ago. “Black Power” was a slogan that energized a generation of young African Americans, troubled their elders such as Dr. King (who agreed with many of the goals, but saw the slogan itself as divisive), and appalled the great majority of whites. As seriously as the slogan divided blacks, the intra-racial gap was small compared to the inter-racial gap as Aberbach and Walker documented in the pages of the APSR decades ago (1970). Blacks and whites understood black power to represent very different concepts. Where blacks understood the concept to mean either fairness or black unity, whites saw the slogan as representing blacks' demand that white supremacy be replaced with black supremacy.It has been nearly thirty years since our colleague Charles V. Hamilton co-authored the extremely influential Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America with Stokely Charmichael (1967). They forcibly argued that “before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks.” (Charmichael and Hamilton 1967, 44, emphasis in original). However, blacks generally rejected nationalist programs and opted as they had in the past for what many such as Guinier have labeled a civil rights agenda (Guinier 1994). Instead of rejecting traditional politics, black empowerment strategies embraced during the 1970s by both integrationist and nationalist forces concentrated on the electoral arena. Black power moved from confrontations in the streets and on college campuses into the electoral arena during this period. This “New Black Politics” was celebrated by many blacks and whites inside the academy. The “new” electoral successes were heralded as representing true black power, the institutionalization of the mass movement, the exercise of power in the real policy forums of the nation.
The Political Power of Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals
Authors: Sherrill Kenneth 
Published: May 2006

In the United States, as in most of the world, lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are outnumbered and despised. Unlike most other potentially political groups, gay people are further disempowered by virtue of being born as if into a diaspora—probably randomly distributed about the population at birth. Their quest for political power is disadvantaged by barriers to the formation of political community as well as by lack of access to significant power resources. The relative political powerlessness of gay people stands in a contradistinction to their depiction by advocates of “traditional values” as a powerful movement advancing a “gay agenda” in American politics.Similarly, the attention paid to the occasional electoral victories of openly lesbian and gay candidates distorts the reality that fewer than one tenth of 1% of all elected officials in the United States are openly lesbian, gay, or bisexual. With only two exceptions—Wisconsin and Minnesota—every state that has passed legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is either on the Atlantic Coast or on the Pacific Coast (including Hawaii). Political scientists long have understood that rare local victories—whether they be the enactment of nondiscrimination legislation or the election to office of a member of a group—do not translate into national political power for the group.In the pages that follow, I will attempt to measure the access gay people have to meaningful political resources and to discuss how differential access to these resources disadvantages gay people in the political process.
Political Science and Political Philosophy: Return to the Classics—No, Not Those!
Authors: McCormick John P. 
Published: May 2006

Political philosophy as we know it blossomed with the arrival of European immigrants like Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss, and Eric Vogelin after World War II. These refugee scholars challenged their American colleagues in at least three important ways. They dared political scientists to be more morally conscientious, to focus on matters of real importance, and to develop a more refined historical sensibility.These authors suggested that the fact/value distinction at the center of the social scientific enterprise was indicative of a moral decay at the center of Western civilization. This decay paved the way for Nazism in the twenties and thirties, and possibly would contribute to Soviet victory in the Cold War if changes were not made. Less Cassandra-like was their charge that political scientists were primarily interested in refining the study of the insignificant. What they could measure through their dominant methods—public opinion, voting patterns, etc.—was trivial in comparison to the classical analysis of regime types, or the nature of man, or the purpose of the common life.As a result, these philosophers offered history, unabashedly Western history, as a resource for studying these timeless questions of political inquiry. To their minds, questioning the nature of tyranny, or the status of authority, was still worthwhile; fundamental, in fact. They encouraged other political scientists to incorporate these themes into their practice. Indeed, Steven Smith's contribution to this colloquy represents a renewed effort in this vein.
Using Statistical Sampling to Estimate the U.S. Population: The Methodological and Political Debate over Census 2000
Authors: Brunell Thomas L. 
Published: May 2006

One of the most hotly debated issues of the past four years has been the method to be used to count the population in Census 2000. Broadly, the debate is over whether to incorporate statistical sampling in the decennial census for the purposes of enumerating the population. Each of the previous 21 U.S. censuses has failed to count all persons. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were certain that the state population totals tallied for the first census in 1790 were wrong (Skerry 1992). To make matters worse, the census must do more than simply tally the number of people in the country; it must also report exactly where each of these people live. By any metric, this is a Herculean task. Indeed, enumerating and fixing geographically 100% of the population without some error is impossible.In this article I outline the plan for Census 2000, define the political debate, and offer an assessment of the plan itself. I argue that deciding how to conduct the census has been, and will continue to be, an inherently political process, and that there are reasonable, scientific arguments against adjusting the census. I became interested in this issue during my tenure as an APSA Congressional Fellow, when I staffed the Subcommittee on the Census in the House of Representatives. Before I began my fellowship on Capitol Hill, I was suspicious of the argument against adjusting the census statistically. How could anyone possibly be against adjusting the census with statistical methods?
External quality assurance of molecular analysis of haemochromatosis gene mutations
Authors: Hertzberg M , Neville S , McDonald D 
Published: May 2006

Background:The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs has conducted an external quality assurance programme for the testing of the haemochromatosis gene (HFE) mutationsC282YandH63D.Methods:A total of 10 surveys have been undertaken over a period of 6 years from 2000 to 2005.Results:Of the 3016 responses received, the overall success rate was found to be 99.47% (3000/3016). A total of 16 errors were found, 6 forC282Yand 10 forH63D. Only one sample was associated with more than one error, in which 2 of 23 respondents classified a normal sample as heterozygotic forH63D. Overall performance was observed to vary minimally between surveys, from a low of 91.3% correct (21/23 responses) for a normal sample to 100% correct in most (85/100) samples. Of the 10 complete surveys, four returned a 0% error rate. In one survey in 2004, seven incorrect responses were returned by one laboratory, all of which were secondary to transcriptional errors. Overall success rates per assay were 99.61% (1532/1538) forC282Yand 99.32% (1468/1478) forH63D. Over a period of 6 years from 2000 to 2005, the proportion of respondents using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction enzyme analysis fell from 85% to around 30%, whereas the proportion of laboratories using real-time PCR rose from 5% to around 55%, as indicated by the questionnaire surveys of methods used by participants.Discussion:Encouraging levels of testing proficiency for two common genetic mutations are indicated by these data, but they also confirm the need for participation of molecular diagnostic laboratories in external quality assurance programmes to ensure the ongoing provision of high-quality genetic testing services.
Towards an Appropriate Privacy Regime for Medical Data Research
Authors: Ploem  
Published: May 2006

AbstractIn this article, first the relevant human rights and their main implications for privacy regulations within the field of medical data research will be outlined. Hereafter, an overview of the international privacy rules that apply to the use of medical data for research purposes is given, followed by an impression of possible problems in research practice which can be related to or associated with the legal framework. In the subsequent section, the legal status of encoded (research) data is analyzed, since this issue is of particular relevance when a privacy regime for using medical data for research purposes is to be discussed. Finally, in the author addresses the main theme of this article: 'an appropriate privacy regime' for medical data research.
Evaluation of pulse-oximetry oxygen saturation taken through skin protective covering
Authors: James Jyotsna , Tiwari Lokesh , Upadhyay Pramod , Sreenivas Vishnubhatla , Bhambhani Vikas , Puliyel Jacob M 
Published: May 2006

Abstract

Background
The hard edges of adult finger clip probes of the pulse oximetry oxygen saturation (POOS) monitor can cause skin damage if used for prolonged periods in a neonate. Covering the skin under the probe with Micropore surgical tape or a gauze piece might prevent such injury. The study was done to see if the protective covering would affect the accuracy of the readings.

Methods
POOS was studied in 50 full-term neonates in the first week of life. After obtaining consent from their parents the neonates had POOS readings taken directly (standard technique) and through the protective covering. Bland-Altman plots were used to compare the new method with the standard technique. A test of repeatability for each method was also performed.

Results
The Bland-Altman plots suggest that there is no significant loss of accuracy when readings are taken through the protective covering. The mean difference was 0.06 (SD of 1.39) and 0.04 (SD 1.3) with Micropore and gauze respectively compared to the standard method. The mean difference was 0.22 (SD 0.23) on testing repeatability with the standard method.

Conclusion
Interposing Micropore or gauze does not significantly affect the accuracy of the POOS reading. The difference between the standard method and the new method was less than the difference seen on testing repeatability of the standard method.
Recent Political Developments: Progress or Change?
Authors: Garfield Harry A. 
Published: May 2006

It used to be said by a certain learned professor opposed to departure from old and familiar paths, “Gentlemen, all progress is change, but not all change is progress.”In every department of human affairs, in every quarter of the civilized world, the contrast between conditions in the late eighties and the present time is amazing—not conditions only but the difference in attitudes, in beliefs, in human relations. We may well ask ourselves, Whither? Certainly it is incumbent upon us to consider the character of these changes—whether they are making for progress—and what steps we are taking or can take to meet them. I ask you to consider with me two aspects of this question, one affecting industrial and the other international relations. In each case the proposals heretofore offered to meet the situation appear to fall into one of two categories, the first mechanistic, the second educative; the first, an attempt to meet a new situation by introducing new devices of control; the second by a process of education to modify or change men's attitude and belief.
Constitutional Law in 1922–1923: The Constitutional Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in the October Term, 1922
Authors: Corwin Edward S. 
Published: May 2006

The opening paragraph of Section 8 of Article 1 of the Constitution reads as follows: “Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes‥‥ to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.” For what purposes may Congress, in light of this phraseology, spend money raised by national taxation? Hamilton answered, for any purposes which Congress itself found to be promotive of the general welfare. Madison, on the contrary, held the power thus granted to be only instrumental—Congress might spend money only as a means of carrying into effect its other granted powers. So far as the practice of Congress is concerned, Hamilton's view has long since prevailed, but the Supreme Court has never had occasion so far to develop its theory on the subject. Its failure, therefore, to seize the opportunity proferred it in the Maternity Act cases is somewhat disappointing.By the Maternity Act of November 23, 1921 Congress extends financial aid, in the work of reducing maternal and infant mortality, and protecting the health of mothers and infants, to such states as shall accept and comply with the provisions of the act. The act was attacked on two grounds; first, that the appropriations voted were “for purposes not national, but local to the states,” and secondly, that the acceptance by a state of the terms of the act would constitute a surrender by it of its reserved powers.