摘要:

The level of concentration of minorities needed to provide a reasonable chance for them to elect candidates of their race has been hotly debated. Previous research has provided either a snapshot for a single point in time or data from elections over time but for a variety of offices. This paper presents the first longitudinal examination for two legislative chambers. The results show that while the threshold at which blacks are initially elected has declined, the cutoff point at which whites are elected or the point beyond which only blacks are successful is less clear. While some evidence supports a 65 percent rule for districts which African Americans can win, the justification for such a threshold has weakened over time with the most severe blow to that standard being dealt in 1992. Only in 1992, however, do blacks hold more than half the districts with black concentration in the 55 to 60 percent range.

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00100.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Since the New Deal, the American presidency has been the focal point of demands made upon the central government by all segments of society. Franklin Roosevelt's successors have found themselves in the difficult position of living up to his progressive example. They have found it difficult to serve the multitude of interests in American society through a government naturally bound by a scarcity of resources. As a result, according to some scholars, a successful presidency is now less likely. Contemporary presidents, however, have shown themselves to be unable or unwilling to confront directly the transformation of the presidency effected by FDR. In this article, I investigate the nature of that transformation by comparing the presidencies of Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Through this comparison, we see the distinctiveness of what I call the “Caesarean” leadership style adopted by Roosevelt and advocated by his progressive forebe

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00101.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Sandra Day O'Connor's recent disagreements with conservatives on the Supreme Court, most notably in the areas of abortion, free speech and religious freedom, have led scholars to reassess her ideological position on the Court. O'Connor's dissents and concurrences have split the Court's conservative majority and led Court watchers to redefine her as a “moderate.” Using O'Connor's influence relationships, this paper argues that she has not moderated her ideology but instead is a restraintist conservative who is unwilling to support conservative judicial activism. The paper concludes that O'Connor remains committed to judicial restraint and is influenced neither by the Court's conservatives nor liber

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00102.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Using the budgets of 47 states, the budget preparation instructions from governors' budget offices to agencies of 45 states, and telephone interviews of governors' budget office personnel of a random sample of 20 states, this article explores the degree to which analysis is used in the formulation of state governors' budgets. Applying even relaxed definitions of analysis, the authors find that the application of analytical tools has not been as widespread as some descriptions suggest. And, while microcomputers are being used, their analytical capabilities are largely ignored. Even in the minority of states where ambitious attempts at rational‐comprehensive budgeting are being made, budgetary rigidities leave little room for analysis. Governors' politically‐determined programs, not the results of analysis, dominate what little maneuvering room is l

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00103.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article examines ideological thinking about local political issues. An intensive analysis, using Q‐technique, of how a small sample of citizens and government officials evaluated thirty‐six local issues revealed four different perspectives on local politics. No single liberal‐conservative bipolar continuum along which local issues could be arrayed emerged from the analysis. Instead subjects revealed points of views on local issues that seemed to mix conventional ideological perspec

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00104.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The Supreme Court's decisions regarding the Religion Clauses seem to be pleasing more and more Americans less and less. The justices themselves acknowledge this problem. This essay argues that much of the inconsistency and confusion characterizing contemporary Religion Clauses jurisprudence is the result of a modern misconception about the way the Framers used the word “religion” in the First Amendment. The following discussion utilizes historical writings, and an exegesis of the First Congress's Religion Clauses debate to show that the First Amendment's “religion” designates what moderns understand as religious faith. When “religion” is understood as religious faith—not religious institutions—a new principle emerges that can assuage a significant portion of the jurisprud

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00105.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Modern Republican gains in the South culminating in the 1994 GOP congressional landslide have sparked renewed interest in the possibility that we are in a realigning era. Statewide opinion polls from a key southern state over a sixteen‐year time frame illustrate considerable change in the public's partisan identifications, especially among white conservatives. Republican gains may also be prompted by positive public reactions to GOP presidents and a governor and negative reactions to their Democratic counterparts. Yet adroit actions by pragmatic white Democratic officeholders and emerging Republican factionalism have hindered further GOP gains in state offices, illustrating the continuing relevance of dealignment as people vote for the candidate instead of the part

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00106.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In 1994 the Republicans won a majority of the southern seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. Republican success in southern House elections occurred after the 1990 redisricting in which southern states were required to concentrate minority voters in an effort to elect the maximum possible number of minority representatives. This article argues that while redistricting was a factor in Republican gains in southern House elections, the nationalization of southern House elections was also a boon to Republicans. Presidential and House elections converged as a large majority of conservative southern districts elected Republican representatives. In 1994 Republican House candidates received the same large majority of the southern white vote that the GOP's presidential candidates have won in recent elections.

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00107.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Conventional wisdom suggests that high‐profile congressional hearings and investigations into executive branch corruption or mismanagement will have a negative effect on presidential popularity. This relationship is explored by measuring changes in public approval ratings for the Truman through the Bush presidencies in response to such congressional probes. Statistical and regression analyses found only the most minor and statistically insignificant popularity losses associated with such probes, although significant effects were found in certain narrowly defined subcategories of congressional investigation

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00108.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Book reviewed in this article:Daniel M. Shea.Transforming Democracy: Legislative Campaign Committees and Political Parties.Dennis P. Hupchick.Conflict and Chaos in Eastern Europe.C. Roe Goddard, John T. Passe‐Smith, and John G. Conklin, eds.International Political EconomyDon E. Eberly, ed.Building a Community of CitizensJillian Schwedler, ed.Toward Civil Society in the Middle East: A Prime

ISSN:0730-2177    

DOI:10.1111/j.1747-1346.1996.tb00109.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY