Showing papers in "American Journal of Political Science in 1995"
TL;DR: In this article, a thermostatic model of American public preferences for spending on defense and a set of five social programs is developed and then tested using time series regression analysis, showing that changes in public preference for more spending reflect changes in both the preferred levels of spending and spending decisions themselves.
Abstract: Theory: Democratic accountability requires that the public be reasonably well-informed about what policymakers actually do. Such a public would adjust its preferences for "more" or "less" policy in response to policy outputs themselves. In effect, the public would behave like a thermostat; when the actual policy "temperature" differs from the preferred policy temperature, the public would send a signal to adjust policy accordingly, and once sufficiently adjusted, the signal would stop. Hypotheses: In domains where policy is clearly defined and salient to the public, changes in the public's preferences for more policy activity are negatively related to changes in policy. Methods: A thermostatic model of American public preferences for spending on defense and a set of five social programs is developed and then tested using time series regression analysis. Results: Changes in public preferences for more spending reflect changes in both the preferred levels of spending and spending decisions themselves. Most importantly, changes in preferences are negatively related to spending decisions, whereby the public adjusts its preferences for more spending downward (upward) when appropriations increase (decrease). Thus, consistent with the Eastonian model, policy outputs do "feed back" on public inputs, at least in the defense spending domain and across a set of social spending domains.
877Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a pooled cross-sectional time series analysis of 53 countries from 1948 to 1982 was conducted to investigate the relationship between political conflict and political repression, showing that three different aspects of political conflict (conflict frequency, strategic variety, and deviance from cultural norm) are statistically significant in their relationship to repression, supporting the multidimensional conception of domestic threats.
Abstract: Theory: Regimes respond to domestic threats with political repression. The precise nature of the domestic threat itself, however, is subject to discussion. Hypothesis: State repression is a function of either a unidimensional conception of domestic threats (i.e., where there is one attribute of political conflict considered by the regime) or one that is multidimensional in character (i.e., where there are several attributes considered), conditioned by certain political-economic characteristics: democracy, economic development, coercive capacity, dependency and lagged repression. Methods: A pooled cross-sectional time series analysis of 53 countries from 1948 to 1982. Results: Three different aspects of political conflict (conflict frequency, strategic variety, and deviance from cultural norm) are statistically significant in their relationship to repression, supporting the multidimensional conception of domestic threats. Additionally, the degree to which the government is democratic significantly alters the pattern of relationships between political conflict and repressive behavior.
540Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, a regression analysis of district-level data on election outcomes and federal assistance programs for the period 1984-90 was performed, showing that the number of Democratic voters is positively correlated with federal outlays, even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables.
Abstract: Theory: Several models of distributive politics predict a role for parties in determining the allocation of federal outlays. Hypotheses: The number of Democratic voters will be positively correlated with federal outlays, even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables. The degree to which a program will be skewed to Democrats will be a function of the amount of variation in program benefits across districts, whether the program is administered by formula, and the extent of one-party control when the program is initiated. Methods: Regression analysis of district-level data on election outcomes and federal assistance programs for the period 1984-90. Results: The number of Democratic voters is an important predictor of the amount of federal dollars flowing to a district. Programs with a greater amount of variation across districts are more heavily skewed to Democrats, as are programs administered by formula. Programs initiated in the latter half of the 1970s, a time of solid Democratic control, exhibit the greatest bias towards Democrats; programs started in the Reagan era show no such bias. Our results are consistent with a model in which parties in the United States play an important, but limited role in determining the distribution of federal dollars: given enough time, parties can target types of voters, but they cannot easily target specific districts.
512Â citations
TL;DR: This paper used social learning theory and demand, resource, and constraint analysis to explore whether policies that regulate morality and/or evoke strong moral reactions have significantly different patterns of adoption in the states than those policies whose impacts are primarily economic.
Abstract: Theory: Do policies that regulate morality and/or evoke strong moral reactions have significantly different patterns of adoption in the states than those policies whose impacts are primarily economic? We use social learning theory and demand, resource, and constraint analysis to explore this question. Hypothesis: Contrary to Lowi's thesis that policy determines politics, there should be many similarities in the politics of these very dissimilar types of policy. Methods: An evaluation of three dimensions of abortion regulation reform from 1966 to 1972 (diffusion, reinvention, and determination) is used to test this hypothesis. Event history, hazard rate, and correlation analyses are applied to aggregate state data. A Guttman scale of abortion regulation permissiveness is developed. Results: Our central conclusions are that even distinct policies (morality versus economically based policies) share similar politics, and the three dimensions of the adoption process can be influenced in different ways by the type of policy under consideration.
491Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of candidate strategy from social-choice principles and from the workings of open-list proportional representation is developed to explain the campaign behavior and the spatial patterns of vote distribution for candidates to the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies.
Abstract: Theory: This paper develops a theory of candidate strategy from social-choice principles and from the workings of open-list proportional representation. The theory is used to explain the campaign behavior and the spatial patterns of vote distribution for candidates to the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies. Hypotheses: Campaign strategy is evaluated with models that predict where deputies will offer budget amendments to benefit target municipalities whose votes they seek in subsequent elections. The choice of target municipalities is a function of the cost of erecting barriers to entry, the dominance of the deputy in the municipality, the spatial concentration of the deputy's statewide vote, the vulnerability of the municipality to invasion by outsiders, the weakness of the deputy in the last election, and the deputy's prior political career. Methods: Logistic regression of amendments to the Brazilian national budget in 1989 and 1990 and OLS regression of municipal-level electoral results for the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies in the 1990 elections. Results: Deputies seek secure bailiwicks, search for vulnerable municipalities, and strive to overcome their own electoral weakness by delivering pork. Candidates' tactics vary, partly because political backgrounds differ and partly because the differing demographic and economic contexts of Brazilian states reward some tactics and penalize others. Candidate behavior hinders voter control over deputies, increases incentives for pork seeking, and weakens party programs and discipline.
441Â citations
TL;DR: This article used the theory of presidential influence over agenda setting to predict the impact of presidential rhetoric over the public's agenda and found that the more attention presidents give to policy areas in their State of the Union Addresses, the more concerned the public becomes with those policy areas.
Abstract: Theory: The theory of presidential influence over agenda setting is used to predict the impact of presidential rhetoric over the public's agenda. Hypotheses: The more attention presidents give to policy areas in their State of the Union Addresses, the more concerned the public becomes with those policy areas. Methods: Time-series regression analysis of data collected from content analyses of presidents' State of the Union Addresses on the Gallup Poll's MostImportant Problem Series from 1953-89. Results: Increases in presidential attention to economic, foreign, and civil rights policy lead to increases in public concern with those policies. These results hold with controls for past public concern and objective conditions. Mere presidential mentions of a policy area seem to elicit a public response, thus, presidents do not have to resort to substantive arguments to sway public opinion. But popular presidents seem no more influential than unpopular ones and these presidential leadership effects decay within a year, except for foreign policy, which shows effects lasting across the year.
412Â citations
TL;DR: The authors used elaboration-likelihood models and insights from the recent core beliefs literature to show that conflicting core beliefs lead to ambivalence about policy choices about abortion and found that when core values conflict, respondents are more ambivalent in their policy responses and more difficult for their standard models to predict.
Abstract: Theory: Using elaboration-likelihood models and insights from the recent core beliefs literature, we show that conflicting core beliefs lead to ambivalence about policy choices. Hypotheses: Policy choices about abortion are heterogeneous. This heterogeneity across individuals is a function of the underlying conflict in their beliefs about the role of women and the sanctity of human life. Methods: A heteroskedastic probit model is developed to test the hypotheses. Results: Heterogeneity is observed for six of seven abortion policy choices; when core values conflict, respondents are more ambivalent in their policy responses and more difficult for our standard models to predict.
395Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the interaction of individual legislators with their institutional environment is explored in a study of how and why United States senators use bill sponsorship to help construct their legislative agendas, which suggests that current views of the Senate as a place that lacks structure and predictability in its operations may be overstated.
Abstract: Theory: The interaction of individual legislators with their institutional environment is explored in a study of how and why United States senators use bill sponsorship to help construct their legislative agendas. Hypothesis: A senator's use of bill sponsorship is a function of institutional and political variables including seniority, proximity of reelection, size of state economy, staff size, committee membership and committee positions. Methods: Regression analysis and interviews with Senate legislative staff are used to predict and explain the number of bills senators introduce. Results: Senators are constrained in their use of bill sponsorship by a combination of institutional and political forces. This research suggests that current views of the Senate as a place that lacks structure and predictability in its operations may be overstated.
339Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a theory of political communication is employed which stresses the importance of citizen discussion beyond the boundaries of cohesive groups for the dissemination of public opinion, and the analysis is undertaken with respect to opinion distributions in the larger environments (counties) where the respondents reside.
Abstract: Theory: A theory of political communication is employed which stresses the importance of citizen discussion beyond the boundaries of cohesive groups for the dissemination of public opinion. Hypotheses: If the social communication of political information is bounded by cohesive social groups and strong social ties, we should expect the social flow of political information to be independent from opinion distributions in the larger environment. In contrast, when social communication extends beyond socially cohesive groups, the flow of information should reflect these opinion distributions. Methods: We analyze a 1992 election survey which includes a battery of questions regarding the construction of respondents' social networks. The analysis is undertaken with respect to opinion distributions in the larger environments (counties) where the respondents reside. Results: Individuals are differentially exposed to larger environments of opinion depending on micro environmental patterns of social interaction and political communication. Hence, the construction of a citizen's social network serves as a filter on the macro environmental flow of political information. In this way, the consequences of the larger environment of opinion depend on the existence of micro environments which expose citizens to surrounding opinion distributions.
338Â citations
TL;DR: Theories of presidential elections (economic voting and spatial issue and ideology models) combined with the popular explanation of "angry voting" are used to account for voter choice in the 1992 presidential election as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Theory: Theories of presidential elections (economic voting and spatial issue and ideology models), combined with the popular explanation of "angry voting," are used to account for voter choice in the 1992 presidential election. Hypotheses: Voter choice in this three-candidate race is a function of economic perceptions, issue and ideological positions of voters and candidates, or voter anger. Methods: Multinomial probit analysis of 1992 National Election Studies data including individual-specific and alternative-specific variables. Simulations based on counterfactual scenarios of ideological positions of the candidates and of voter perceptions of the economy Results: The economy was the dominant factor in accounting for voter decisions in 1992, and Clinton, not Perot, was the beneficiary of economic discontent. While issues (mainly abortion) and ideology did play some role, Clinton was not perceived by the electorate as a New Democrat. We find little support for the hypothesis of angry voting. Last, Perot took more votes from Bush than from Clinton.
334Â citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed the impact of religious variables on attitudes toward environmental protection and found that conservative eschatology, religious tradition, and religious commitment all have strong bivariate associations with environmentalism.
Abstract: Theory: Conservative Christian theology contains a set of beliefs that run counter to the philosophy supporting environmentalism. Hypotheses: Conservative eschatology (Biblical literalism, End Times thinking), religious tradition, and religious commitment should be negatively related to support for environmental policy. Data: Using data from four national surveys of clergy, religious activists, political-party contributors, and the mass public, we analyze the impact of religious variables on attitudes toward environmental protection. Results: We find that conservative eschatology, religious tradition, and religious commitment all have strong bivariate associations with environmentalism. In multivariate analyses, however, conservative eschatology proves by far the strongest religious predictor of environmental perspectives, although other measures exert occasional influence.
TL;DR: This paper found that white voters were no more or less likely to vote for black or Hispanic candidates than for Anglo candidates, possibly because the advantages of being perceived as compassionate were offset by the disadvantages of being stereotyped as unable to manage major policy issues.
Abstract: Theory: Social psychological theories of in-group responses to members of outgroups are used to generate hypotheses about the willingness of white voters to vote for minority candidates. Hypotheses: Eight different hypotheses about the impact on voting decisions of the candidate's race or ethnicity and the candidate's and voter's issue positions. Methods: Analysis of variance of data from an experiment with 656 Anglo adults in which the candidate's race-ethnicity and issue positions were manipulated. Results: Minority status enhanced the perception that moderate and conservative candidates would be compassionate toward disadvantaged groups but created doubts about a candidate's competence. Voters were no more or less likely to vote for black or Hispanic candidates than for Anglo candidates, possibly because the advantages of being perceived as compassionate were offset by the disadvantages of being stereotyped as unable to manage major policy issues. These findings supported no single theoretical perspective unequivocally, but suggested, in line with an "assumed characteristics" perspective that evaluations ultimately depend on what traits specific racial or ethnic stereotypes suggest minority groups members should have, what traits they do have, and what evaluative significance is attached to these assumed and individuated traits, as influenced by their desirability and correspondence with expectancy.
TL;DR: For example, this article found that subjective risk of getting caught is more closely related to duty than to objective risk factors, and that citizens reporting greater commitment to obey tax laws systematically overestimate the expected penalty for noncompliance, thus the duty heuristic provides not only a direct motivation to comply but also influences behavior through cognitive processes that bias self-interested beliefs about the advantages of free-riding.
Abstract: Theory: The costs imposed by income tax and other citizenship duties provide powerful incentives to free ride, yet the likelihood of getting caught-the primary self-interested deterrent to free-riding-is unlikely to be known with much accuracy by most citizens. Thus the duty heuristic provides not only a direct motivation to comply, but also influences behavior through cognitive processes that bias self-interested beliefs about the advantages of free-riding. Hypothesis: Citizens' beliefs about their duty to obey laws of the state bias their information processing and judgements about the fear of getting caught and punished for disobedience, so citizens reporting greater commitment to obey tax laws systematically overestimate the expected penalty for noncompliance. Methods: Regression analysis of survey and tax-return data for 445 taxpayers. Results: Subjective risk of getting caught is more closely related to duty than to objective risk factors. Objective audit probabilities affect only taxpayers with greater temptation to cheat, but duty influences tempted taxpayers as much as ordinary taxpayers.
TL;DR: This paper found that poor state economy, increases in taxes, and lowered personal finances all contribute to votes against incumbent governors and their parties in the state election, and voters' personal financial situations all influence voting behavior in gubernatorial elections.
Abstract: Theory: States have sufficient autonomy in the policies they adopt that voters hold state officials partly responsible for the condition of the state economy. As the best known state official, elected by a statewide constituency, governors in particular are held accountable for the economic performance of their states. With respect to taxes, the clear locus of responsibility in state actions and the high visibility of certain taxes suggest that governors will also be held responsible for increased rates. Hypotheses: The performance of the state economy, tax increases, and voters' personal financial situations all influence voting behavior in gubernatorial elections. Methods: Logit equations, using 1986 ABC/Washington Post exit polls in 34 of 36 gubernatorial races, combined with economic and tax data from the states. Results: A poor state economy, increases in taxes, and lowered personal finances all contribute to votes against incumbent governors and their parties.
TL;DR: In this article, a regression analysis is used to analyze scores of congressional voting patterns from Southwest Voter Research Institute (SWVRI) relative to the ethnic background of representatives, and the percent of Latino constituents in House districts.
Abstract: Theory: This article poses and examines theories concerning substantive representation of Latinos in the US House of Representatives Hypothesis: With increasing numbers of Latinos in the United States and in the US House during the 1980s, an increase in direct (dyadic) substantive representation of Latinos might be anticipated Method: Regression analysis is used to analyze scores of congressional voting patterns from Southwest Voter Research Institute (SWVRI) relative to (a) the ethnic background of representatives, and (b) the percent of Latino constituents in House districts Results: As with previous studies of Representatives' voting patterns in the 1970s, this study finds little direct, substantive representation of Latinos Representatives who are of Latino origin have somewhat distinct voting patterns, and Latino constituencies have little impact on how representatives vote But during the period studied, legislation deemed salient to Latinos was enacted, indicating that collective or partisan substantive representation does occur The empirical and normative implications of these findings are considered
TL;DR: In this article, the theory of population ecology is used to predict the number of interest groups in the United States, and interest group density conforms to the predictions based on population ecology (constituents, government goods and services, and political stability), but not those based on economic theories of group mobilization.
Abstract: Theory: The theory of population ecology (in contrast to economic theories of groups) is used to predict the number of interest groups in the United States. Hypotheses: Interest-group density is a function of potential constituents, potential government goods and services, the stability of the political system, government age, and government size. Methods: Regression analysis of U.S. state data for interest groups in construction, agriculture, manufacturing, welfare, the environment, and local governments. Results: Interest group density conforms to the predictions based on population ecology (constituents, government goods and services, and political stability), but not those based on economic theories of group mobilization.
TL;DR: In this article, a pooled time series analysis for the 50 U.S. states from 1978 to 1990 shows that lower-class voting is associated with more generous state welfare policies, and that the importance of lower class mobilization for redistributive policy is enhanced by the liberalism and competitiveness of state Democratic parties.
Abstract: Theory: Political participation by lower class voters should create pressures for government to respond with supportive policies. Hypotheses: Lower class voting is associated with more generous state welfare policies. Political forces and institutions structure this relationship. Methods: A pooled time series analysis for the 50 U.S. states from 1978 to 1990. Results: We demonstrate an enduring relationship between the degree of mobilization of lower-class voters and the generosity of welfare benefits provided by state governments. This relationship can be vitiated by remarkable political and economic events such as the "new federalism" and the economic recession in the early 1980s. Finally, the importance of lower-class mobilization for redistributive policy is enhanced by the liberalism and competitiveness of state Democratic parties.
TL;DR: The European Court of Justice does not have an extensive store of good will among ordinary citizens of the European Union as mentioned in this paper, and there is, however, a moderately strong relationship between legitimacy and acceptance.
Abstract: Theory: We use competing propositions from the literature on institutional legitimacy and compliance to trace the sources of acceptance of, or the propensity to comply with, judicial decisions. Hypotheses: Generally, institutions with a store of legitimacy are more successful at evoking acquiescence to their decisions. We expect willingness to accept an unpopular decision to be most prevalent among those who are strongly committed to the institution itself, who perceive the Court as using fair procedures to make its decisions, who are strongly attached to the rule of law, and who are neutral about the issue on which the Court has made a decision. Methods: Regression analysis of items from a survey of the mass publics in the twelve member-states of the European Union in fall 1992. Results: The European Court of Justice does not have an extensive store of good will among ordinary citizens of the European Union. Few people are willing to accept a Court of Justice decision they find objectionable. There is, however, a moderately strong relationship between legitimacy-i.e., diffuse support-and acceptance. Perceptions of procedural justice play little role in the process, although basic legal values (e.g., attitudes toward the rule of law) contribute to acceptance within some countries. In general, our research demonstrates that legitimacy is important for acceptance and probably for compliance; and that the European Court of Justice must tend to what may be an emerging shortfall of legitimacy for the high bench of the European Union.
TL;DR: The authors found that the beginning and end of enduring rivalries are closely related to the timing of large political shocks in the form of world wars, territorial changes, alterations in the international power distribution, civil wars, and national independences.
Abstract: Theory: Breaking the stability of interstate conflictual relationships requires a dramatic change in the environment of those relationships. Hypotheses: The beginning and end of enduring rivalries are closely related to the timing of large political shocks in the form of world wars, territorial changes, alterations in the international power distribution, civil wars, and national independences. Methods: Descriptive statistics on timing of enduring rivalry-initiation and termination vis-a-vis political shocks, supplemented by event history analysis. Results: Political shocks were found to be a modest necessary condition for the initiation and termination of enduring rivalries with the strongest impact from world wars, civil wars, and national independences.
TL;DR: Theories of social-group behavior and issue salience are merged to introduce the idea of group-salient issues as mentioned in this paper, and women's voting for female Senate candidates in 1992 was related to issues affecting uniquely women's interests where women might be perceived as more competent than men.
Abstract: Theory: Theories of social-group behavior and issue salience are merged to introduce the idea of group-salient issues. Hypotheses: Certain women's issues in the 1992 Senate elections were salient only to women when voting in contests where one of the candidates was a woman. Methods: Logit analysis of voting for U.S. senator from the 1992 National Election Study and from Voter Research and Surveys state exit polls (VRS). Results: Women's voting for female Senate candidates in 1992 was related to issues affecting uniquely women's interests where women might be perceived as more competent than men.
TL;DR: In this paper, a pre-voting, nonpartisan adaptation of the Snyder/Groseclose theories implies that significant cosponsorship and discharge-petition behavior will be concentrated in the middle of the ideological spectrum, independent of legislators' partisan affiliations.
Abstract: Theory: A pre-voting, nonpartisan adaptation of Snyder's (1991) "vote-buying" and Groseclose's (1995) "favor-trading" theories implies that significant cosponsorship and discharge-petition behavior will be concentrated in the middle of the ideological spectrum, independent of legislators' partisan affiliations. Hypotheses: Bill cosponsorship should be a primarily preference-based phenomenon. Waffling-defined as bill cosponsorship but refusal to sign a discharge petition for the bill-should be negatively associated with preference extremity and unaffected, at the margin, by majority party membership. Methods: Probit analysis of individual-level data. Measures of legislators' preferences electoral margin, seniority, committee membership, and party are used to predict pattems of cosponsorship and waffling on the A to Z spending plan in the 103rd House of Representatives. Findings: Consistent with the adapted Snyder/Groseclose hypotheses, cosponsorship and waffling are explained primarily by preferences, somewhat by membership on money committees, and only slightly by partisanship.
TL;DR: In this article, the effect of macroeconomic factors on electoral support for incumbent parties is mitigated by the impact of the economy on turnout and the relative sensitivity of voters to recession and growth.
Abstract: Theory: Theories of economic voting are applied to competitive elections in the developing world. Hypotheses: The effect of the macroeconomy on electoral support for incumbent parties is mitigated by the impact of the economy on turnout and the relative sensitivity of voters to recession and growth. Method: Pooled time series data on aggregate electoral data for eight developing countries are analyzed using least squares with dummy variables (LSDV). Results: Economic decline imposes enormous electoral costs on governments, but economic growth provides no electoral benefits.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reformulated diversionary theory to take into account the effect of domestic structures on the propensity of leaders to use foreign policy to manipulate domestic politics and found that the structure of domestic political institutions and levels of policy resources condition the willingness of politicians to use conflict involvement to manipulatively manipulate domestic audiences.
Abstract: Theory: This paper reformulates diversionary theory to take into account the effect of domestic structures on the propensity of leaders to use foreign policy to manipulate domestic politics. Hypotheses: The structure of domestic political institutions and levels of policy resources condition the willingness of leaders to use conflict involvement to manipulate domestic audiences. Method: Probit analysis of 294 militarized interstate disputes during the period from 1955 to 1976. Results: Domestic structures have a significant effect on the propensity of leaders to use foreign policy as a vehicle of their personal political ambitions.
TL;DR: This article explored the relationship between incumbent quality and electoral choice in a series of OLS regression and logistic regression models, and found that incumbents' levels of integrity bring direct influence on both feeling thermometer scores and the vote choice.
Abstract: Theory: We argue that voters, as principals, evaluate congressional candidates in terms of whether those candidates will act as effective agents. Hypotheses: U.S. House incumbents' levels of competence and integrity influence both the individual-level vote choice and voters' evaluations of their representatives. Methods: Indicators of competence and integrity for representatives who entered the House between 1969 and 1981 are merged with the NES cumulative file, with data for the 1976-92 elections. The relationship between incumbent quality and electoral choice is explored in a series of OLS regression and logistic regression models. Results: Incumbents' levels of integrity bring direct influence on both feeling thermometer scores and the vote choice. Competence exerts an indirect effect on the vote by influencing the behavior of prospective challengers.
TL;DR: In this paper, multiple theories of bureaucratic behavior are integrated for the study of U.S. Forest Service planning decisions are a function of hierarchical controls, bureaucratic conservatism, the professional/policy orientation of agency officials, the strength of local constituency groups, and officals' alleged desire to maximize budgets.
Abstract: Theory: Multiple theories of bureaucratic behavior are integrated for this study. Hypotheses: Planning decisions made by the U.S. Forest Service are a function of hierarchical controls, bureaucratic conservatism, the professional/policy orientation of agency officials, the strength of local constituency groups, and officals' alleged desire to maximize budgets. Data: Output levels contained in a set of Forest-plan alternatives and a survey of the perceptions of approximately 1,090 agency officials involved in the planning process for a sample of 44 national forests. Results: Pressures for the status quo and the activities of local amenity coalitions were more important than hierarchical controls from Congress, OMB (Office of Management and Budget), and the national office of the U.S. Forest Service.
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of residential context-living in predominantly black or racially heterogeneous neighborhoods in the city or the suburbs-on feelings of racial solidarity among black Americans was considered.
Abstract: Theory: As the "structural linchpin" of American race relations, residential segregation has important implications for blacks' and whites' thinking about race. Considered here is the impact of residential context-living in predominantly black or racially heterogeneous neighborhoods in the city or the suburbs-on feelings of racial solidarity among black Americans. Hypotheses: The social density hypothesis predicts stronger racial solidarity among blacks who live in the city and in predominantly black neighborhoods. The social salience hypothesis predicts stronger solidarity among suburbanites and residents of racially mixed neighborhoods. The identity supremacy hypothesis predicts no relationship between residence and sense of racial solidarity. Methods: Regression analysis of survey data for a subsample of black urbanites and suburbanites in the Detroit metropolitan area. Results: The statistical results are most consistent with the social density hypothesis. The conclusion centers on the possible implications of black suburbanization and changing levels of racial solidarity among blacks.
TL;DR: In this article, the theory of overhead democracy is supplemented with theoretical insights from public administration to produce a more complete picture of bureaucratic decision making, and a series of multivariate transfer-function models are used to account for changes in EPA enforcement activity, total federal enforcement activity and the expression of agency values in water-pollution control.
Abstract: Theory: The theory of overhead democracy is supplemented with theoretical insights from public administration to produce a more complete picture of bureaucratic decision making. Hypotheses: Efforts at political control are less successful in altering agency goals, values, and the general direction of public policy than they are at altering bureaucratic outputs. Changes in bureaucratic activity over time depend upon external efforts at political control, agency resources, and the complexity and salience of the policy area. Methods: A series of multivariate transfer-function models is used to account for changes in EPA enforcement activity, total federal enforcement activity, and the expression of agency values in water-pollution control. Results: Executive and legislative efforts at political control did reduce enforcement activity. However, these efforts were ineffective at altering agency values, less effective at EPA than in most other agencies, and less effective in waterpollution control than in other areas of EPA enforcement. They also mobilized EPA clientele to produce lower levels of political control in the long run.