Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1994, Vol 39(2), 225. Reviews the book, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John Zaller (1992). The author's commendable effort to specify a model of mass opinion formation offers readers an introduction to the prevailing vi

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.

Louis Wirth's classic description of the social and psychological effects of urbanism is organized into a model for the purpose of reviewing relevant theory and empirical research. Evidence on predicted structural effects (differentiation, formal integration and anomie) and individual effects (sensory overload, role mobility, isolation and deviance) is, at most, mixed. The best-supported predictions are of differentiation and deviance. Alternative models of urban life are explored, and, in the process of the review, research directions are suggested.

"Urbanism as a Way of Life" A Review and an Agenda

Scholars routinely make claims that presuppose the validity of the observations and measurements that operationalize their concepts. Yet, despite recent advances in political science methods, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to measurement validity. We address this gap by exploring four themes. First, we seek to establish a shared framework that allows quantitative and qualitative scholars to assess more effectively, and communicate about, issues of valid measurement. Second, we underscore the need to draw a clear distinction between measurement issues and disputes about concepts. Third, we discuss the contextual specificity of measurement claims, exploring a variety of measurement strategies that seek to combine generality and validity by devoting greater attention to context. Fourth, we address the proliferation of terms for alternative measurement validation procedures and offer an account of the three main types of validation most relevant to political scientists.

Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research

/pdf/measurement-validity-a-shared-standard-for-qualitative-and-2r00s4iydu.pdf

Economic development has consequences for many aspects of social life. Some of these social consequences, in turn, have an impact on a nation's political life. Studies of social mobilization, for example, have demonstrated that economic development is associated with sharp increases in the general level of political participation. These studies report strong relationships between aggregate socio-economic measures such as per capita income, median level of education, and percentage of the population in urban areas, on one hand, and aggregate measures of political participation, such as voting turnout, on the other. Simultaneously, scholars conducting surveys of individual political participation consistently have reported that an individual's social status, education, and organizational memberships strongly affect the likelihood of his engaging in various types of political activities.In spite of the consistency of both sets of findings across many studies and although the findings appear frequently in analysis of political stability, democracy, and even strategies of political growth, we know little about the connections between social structure and political participation. With few exceptions the literature on individual participation is notable for low level generalizations (the better educated citizen talks about politics more regularly), and the absence of systematic and comprehensive theory. While the literature on the growth of national political participation has been more elaborate theoretically, the dependence on aggregate measures has made it difficult to determine empirically how these macro social changes structure individuals' life experiences in ways which alter their political behavior.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003055400262278

Social Structure and Political Participation: Developmental Relationships, Part I

This study is based on data collected by the City Council Research Project, Stanford University. The project was concerned with decision making in small, natural-state legislative groups, legislative behavior within the city council, the kinds of people who become members of the city council, how they are chosen, how they learn their jobs, and the many problems they have to deal with.

The Recruitment of Political Leaders: A Study of Citizen-Politicians

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0003055400128928

Kenneth Prewitt

Papers

Social Structure and Political Participation: Developmental Relationships, Part I

The Recruitment of Political Leaders: A Study of Citizen-Politicians

Political Ambitions, Volunteerism, and Electoral Accountability

The ruling elites: elite theory, power, and American democracy

Legitimacy of Philanthropic Foundations: United States and European Perspectives