Showing papers in "Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science in 1993"

The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and its Variants

Abstract: Post-1965 immigration to the United States has given rise to a vigorous literature focused on adult newcomers. There is, however, a growing new second generation whose prospects of adaptation cannot be gleaned from the experience of their parents or from that of children of European immigrants arriving at the turn of the century. We present data on the contemporary second generation and review the challenges that it confronts in seeking adaptation to American society. The concept of segmented assimilation is introduced to describe the diverse possible outcomes of this process of adaptation. The concept of modes of incorporation is used for developing a typology of vulnerability and resources affecting such outcomes. Empirical case studies illustrate the theory and highlight consequences of the different contextual situations facing today's second generation.

Movements and Media as Interacting Systems

Abstract: In this article, some organizing principles and hypotheses are offered concerning the ways in which social movements interact with the news media and the outcomes for both parties. The structural part of the analysis focuses attention on the power and dependency aspects of the relationship and the consequences of the asymmetries. The cultural part focuses attention on the more subtle contest over meaning. Hypotheses on how social movement characteristics affect media coverage focus on movement standing, preferred framing, and sympathy. The authors argue for the importance of organization, professionalism, and strategic planning and for the benefits of a division of labor among movement actors. Hypotheses on how media characteristics affect movement outcomes focus on leadership, action strategy, and framing strategy. The authors argue for audience size, emphasis on the visual, and emphasis on entertainment values as influencing movements.

The Cross-National Diffusion of Movement Ideas:

Abstract: Current theory and research on social movements continue to treat these movements as discrete entities, rather than to focus on the ways in which activists in one struggle borrow elements from other similar groups. With its emphasis on the spread of information or other cultural elements, the diffusion literature represents a potentially fruitful starting point for theorizing about the transfer of ideas or tactics from one movement to another. Drawing on this literature, the authors sketch a model of the cross-national diffusion of movement ideas that emphasizes (1) the role of direct relational ties in encouraging an initial identification of activist-adopters in one country with activist-transmitters in another and (2) the role of nonrelational channels as the principal means of information transmission once this initial identification is established. The authors then use the case of the American and German New Left to illustrate the utility of the approach for the study of cross-national diffusion.

Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure: A Necessary Ingredient

Abstract: Local communities are faced with increasing responsibilities to provide for their own well-being and development. With fewer resources, communities need more successful ways of uniting people and resources. Entrepreneurial social infrastructure (ESI) is a necessary ingredient for successfully linking physical resources and leadership for community development. ESI includes three elements: symbolic diversity, resource mobilization, and quality of networks. Instead of fostering perverse conflict or superficial harmony, symbolic diversity inspires communities to engage in constructive controversy to arrive at workable community decisions by focusing on community processes, depersonalization of politics, and broadening of community boundaries. Resource mobilization involves generating some surplus within the community beyond basic subsistence with relative equity in resource and risk distribution, investment by residents of their own private capital locally, and collective investment in the community (willing...

Supply-Side Explanations for Religious Change

Abstract: Traditional scholarship approaches religious history from the demand side, attributing developments to the shifting desires, perceptions, and circumstances of religious consumers. This article advocates an alternative, supply-side approach that emphasizes the opportunities and restrictions confronting religious organizations and their leaders. Supply shifts lie at the root of major religious changes in America. Colonial revivalists, Asian cult leaders, and contemporary televangelists all prospered when regulatory changes gave them freer access to America's religious marketplace. The article concludes with a discussion of recent judicial decisions that threaten to restrict the future supply of religious innovation in America.

Is Assimilation Dead

Abstract: This article considers the decline in the positive attitude toward the term “assimilation” as an ideal for immigrant and minority groups in the United States, and it explores the period between World War I and the mid-1920s, during which assimilation moved from an ideal to a forceful policy, under the name “Americanization.” During this period, attention was given almost exclusively to immigrants; blacks were totally ignored in the debate over assimilation and Americanization. Nevertheless, until the mid-1960s, the dominant black ideal for their future in the United States was assimilation. The failure of assimilation to work its effects on blacks as on immigrants, owing to the strength of American discriminatory and prejudiced attitudes and behavior toward blacks, has been responsible for throwing the entire assimilatory ideal and program into disrepute.

Social Movements, Political Parties, and Democratic Theory

Abstract: New left-libertarian social movements invoke an ancient communitarian democratic theory against the contemporary practice of competitive elite democracy. Two explanations for this phenomenon are explored. First, in a cyclical model, challenges to representative democracy are viewed as recurring expressions of dissatisfaction with representative institutions. Second, in a structural differentiation model, the practices of left-libertarian movements trigger a pluralization of political decision modes in advanced capitalist democracies, even if such participatory innovations fall short of the direct democratic ideal expressed by movement activists. Although the cyclical model has some merit, on the whole, the structural differentiation model provides an analytically more powerful explanation of recent social movement activity.

Social Movements and the Policy Process

Abstract: Social movements frequently fail to achieve the policy changes they seek, despite impressive demonstrations of widespread support. Yet movement participation has become increasingly popular as a form of political action. The authors seek to resolve this dilemma by distinguishing between three arenas of movement success: changing policy, gaining participation in the policy process, and changing social values. It is suggested that gaining access to the policy process is the most effective path for movement organizations to have an impact on policy outcomes, because authorities are often more willing to offer inclusion in the process than they are to accept movement demands for policy change. The authors' hypotheses are examined in light of the experience of the nuclear freeze movement, which sought and failed to achieve policy change, and the movement to control hazardous wastes, in which environmentalists are having an impact on policy by gaining participation in regulatory and implementation decisions.

American Religious Exceptionalism: A Reconsideration

Abstract: The first part of this article deals with religion in the United States in the context of American exceptionalism. At least since Tocqueville, observers have noted that a distinctive national characteristic of the United States is its religious vitality. In addition to commonly cited aspects of religious activism, it is also argued here that this exceptional vitality is reflected in the periodical mass or public renewals of the religious life and, stemming from Puritanism, in the diffusion of religious elements to other social contexts. A second theme presented in this article is that the three major religious orientations—Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism—not only fill an important niche as providers of social identity but also have found in the United States an exceptional historical setting.

Religion and Ethnicity in Late-Twentieth-Century America

Abstract: A tie to the old-country religion remains one of the ways by which ethnic group identity is expressed and maintained in America. Recent survey results suggest, however, that this relationship between religion and ethnicity is not as strong as it once may have been. Moreover, the degree of ethnic and religious identification, as well as the strength of their corelationship, varies from one ethnic group to another. After a presentation of these facts, we then discuss what they mean for ethnic assimilation and religious development in these waning years of the twentieth century.

The Churches and Social Change in Twentieth-Century America

Abstract: The twentieth century has witnessed a number of major social changes that have affected America's churches by virtue of the changes challenging traditional interpretations of scripture. Among these changes have been declines in anti-Semitism and racial prejudice and discrimination, and transformations in the role and status of women and in sexual practices and attitudes. In the past, scripture has been used to justify anti-Semitism, discrimination against Afro-Americans, women's being subordinate to men, and opposition to divorce, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality. Churches have responded to the social changes, sometimes by modifying scriptual interpretations to accommodate them, sometimes by standing fast against them. The differences in response prove to be highly associated with differences in church performance. They also have sharply varying implications for the churches' future, especially their ability to exercise moral authority.

Living Proof: Is Hawaii the Answer?

Abstract: Hawaii has often been heralded for its relatively harmonious race relations, which encompass a great diversity of Asian and Pacific cultures. As the national concern with respect to multi-culturalism escalates into a debate over the merits of ethnicity versus amalgamation into the American melting pot, an understanding of Hawaii's social and racial systems may demand greater scrutiny. The living proof that the islands' people offer is not racial bliss or perfect equality but an example of how the perpetuation of ethnic identities can actually enhance race relations within the limits of a social setting marked by (1) the historical development of diverse ethnic groups without the presence of a racial or cultural majority; (2) the adherence to the values of tolerance represented in the Polynesian concept of aloha kanaka, an open love for human beings; and (3) the integration of Pacific, Asian, European, and Anglo-American groups into a new local culture.

Citizen Groups and the Changing Nature of Interest Group Politics in America

Abstract: The rise of liberal citizen groups that began in the 1960s has had a strong impact on the evolution of interest group advocacy. The success of these liberal organizations was critical in catalyzing the broader explosion in the numbers of interest groups and in causing the collapse of many subgovernments. New means of resolving policy conflicts had to be established to allow for the participation of broader, more diverse policy communities. Citizen groups have been particularly important in pushing policymakers to create new means of structuring negotiations between large numbers of interest group actors. The greater participation of citizen groups, the increased numbers of all kinds of interest groups, and change in the way policy is made may be making the policymaking process more democratic.

Old Minorities, New Immigrants: Aspirations, Hopes, and Fears

Abstract: Contrary to the image attributed to American society—that it loves and welcomes immigrants—public opinion polls over the past 50-plus years show that the current cohort of immigrants, whoever they may be, is viewed with suspicion and distrust. Most Americans, even those of relatively recent immigrant origins, do not favor allowing more immigrants to enter, and a large plurality favor admitting fewer than the law permits. Historical analysis of the print media, political party platforms, and the Quota Acts beginning in the 1920s also reveals the United States' ambivalence about immigrants seeking admission at any time since the 1880s. In retrospect, those who came earlier are viewed as making important and positive contributions to our society and culture, but those who seek entry now, whenever “now” happens to be, are viewed, at best, with ambivalence and, more likely, with distrust and hostility.

Health and Spirituality as Contemporary Concerns

Abstract: One theme of particular importance in contemporary U.S. religion and quasi-religion is health and healing. Groups as diverse as Pentecostal Christians and New Age groups, women's spirituality groups and New Thought churches are promoting non-medical approaches to health and healing. Indeed, to many contemporary Americans, health and healing appear to be salient metaphors for salvation and holiness. Religious and quasi-religious attention to health is adamantly holistic in the belief that spiritual, emotional, social, and physical aspects of well-being are fundamentally interconnected. To understand the significance of this widespread focus on health and healing, we need to look beyond the religious groups themselves and appreciate some twentieth-century structural and cultural changes in the meanings of the body, the self, and the nature of well-being.

Multiculturalism: Battleground or Meeting Ground?

Abstract: Is multiculturalism a battleground or a meeting ground? To answer this question, Ronald Takaki identifies two emerging perspectives—particularism and pluralism. The culture war over the content of the curriculum is presented as a debate, a clash of ideas: Allan Bloom, Diane Ravitch, and Arthur Schlesinger versus Gerald Graff, Henry Louis Gates, and Takaki himself. The university should be a stimulating contested terrain where scholars of different viewpoints engage each other over the meaning and content of culture, but whether it can become such a place of intellectual encounters may be in doubt.

Transnational Regulation of the Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract: While the pharmaceutical industry arguably has the worst record of serious corporate crime of any industry, international law evasion rather than outright law violation has been the biggest problem in the industry. To understand how these problems can be and are being brought under control, a legal-pluralist analysis is needed that decenters criminal enforcement by the state. Consumer and professional activism and a variety of levels of self-regulation in combination with state, regional, and international regulation are all important to understanding how progress is possible. Creative work within this web of controls can actually transform lowest-common-denominator regulation into highest-common-factor regulation and self-regulation when actors are capable of thinking strategically in world-system terms.

Voluntary Immigration and Continuing Encounters between Blacks: The Post-Quincentenary Challenge

Abstract: The quincentenary of Columbus's 1492 visit to America provided opportunities for scholars to engage in critical observation and observance of the event The visit began the unended stream of voluntary crossings to the hemisphere and especially the United States Similar crossings by blacks have been downplayed in American history; they have been located within the context of the slave trade, imposed segregation, and restricted movement Even though, after emancipation, increasing numbers of persons immigrated to the United States from countries with predominantly black or racially mixed populations, their presence was less visible due to their relatively small numbers and their resemblance to and close association with the more numerous native-born black people Since 1965, liberal legislation has led to increasing entry and heightened visibility of black immigrants, especially in urban and industrial centers of the country There they bring greater ethnic diversification to the US black population The

Greenpeace U.S.A.: Something Old, New, Borrowed

Abstract: Greenpeace U.S.A. is unique among environmental organizations in the United States. While it is one of the wealthiest and largest membership groups in the environmental movement, its organization and political strategies are quite different from those employed by the more mainstream groups such as the Sierra Club or the National Wildlife Federation. Its status as a new social movement is evaluated on four dimensions: ideology, motivations to participate, organizational structure, and political structure. Greenpeace U.S.A. exhibits characteristics of both new and old social movements and is thus classified as an organizational hybrid. Today, the organization struggles with several challenges. In two decades, it has grown to become part of the largest worldwide environmental network. Greenpeace U.S.A. must decide on the proper mix of old and new methods to continue its mission into the next century.

The Rise and Fall of American Televangelism

Abstract: Religious broadcasting has been an integral part of American culture since the very beginning of radio. Over the decades, religious broadcasters have periodically generated considerable controversy as they have used the airwaves to transmit unorthodox spiritual and political messages. The decade of the 1980s has been the most tumultuous and political thus far in the history of religious broadcasting. Televangelists forged a coalition that provided critical electoral support for Ronald Reagan and George Bush while also playing a significant role in defining the social agenda of the decade. Toward the end of the decade, however, religious broadcasting appeared to self-destruct in the wake of financial and sexual scandals that rocked several major ministries. Still, religious broadcasting not only persists, but some ministries thrive and some televangelists continue to influence the American political scene. This article examines the rise and fall of televangelism and explores the prospects for the continuin...

Recrafting the Common Good: Immigration and Community

Abstract: Recent urban unrest has rekindled interest in the impacts of immigration on established U.S. communities. Yet little is known about the ways in which newcomers and established residents interact. Popular journalists emphasize only incidents of conflict and turmoil. This article examines the current portrayal of conflicts between immigrants and established residents. Immigrants and established residents live in social worlds divided institutionally and residentially. Although their separation maintains a degree of order, it creates pressures on those occasions when newcomers and established residents interact, including interactions in workplaces, stores, schools, and parks. The article also explores how both groups are working together to face common problems after two decades of profound economic restructuring. New demands on immigration and community policies must mobilize the voluntary sector to generate new resources and to articulate the values derived from their diverse communities. Voluntary organi...

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Corporate Crime: A Critique

Abstract: The author argues that when commissions do not include in their analyses major social and political forces that will affect the implementation of their recommendations, their work is incomplete. The U.S. Sentencing Commission first disregarded these forces and as a result had to redraft its recommendations drastically. After several twists and turns, it ended up with some creative responses to pressures by the business community. The commission tried to follow suggestions made on the basis of neoclassical economists; however, these proved to be impossible to implement and in conflict with basic values.

Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Law

Abstract: In recent years, policymakers in the United States and worldwide have paid great attention to the criminal sanction as a tool for reaching environmental objectives. This article offers several arguments for the application of this penalty to behaviors that degrade the natural environment. Some are based on its deterrent capacity; some are less practical, focusing on a moral imperative to punish those who threaten human health or destroy natural resources. But arguments against criminalizing environmental law are also numerous. They emphasize its high costs, procedural complexity, and potential overkill effects. Decisions about the appropriate applicability of criminal sanctions need to be based on an evaluation of their actual legal and organizational advantages and disadvantages and a knowledge of other promising ideas to foster compliance. Such ideas range from subsidizing the polluter to publicizing his or her good or ill deeds.

White-Collar Crime and the Study of Embezzlement

Abstract: The term “white-collar crime” has come to mean many things since Edwin Sutherland coined it more than fifty years ago. Many scholars, including Sutherland himself, referred to embezzlement as a white-collar crime. Upon close examination, however, this theft-after-trust offense is probably not a white-collar one in the original sense of the term. This article addresses the problems of data interpretation and behavioral explanation in the study of trust violation, especially in light of scholars' focus on it as a white-collar offense.

Fisher Kings and Public Places: The Old New Age in the 1990s

Abstract: The New Age is best seen as a new spirituality with pervasive ties to a large general American culture rather than as a narrowly defined movement with mostly theosophical roots. In fact, the New Age is an expression of American nature religion, intimately tied to a nineteenth-century past that blurred distinctions between spirit and matter. This nature religion carries considerable moral weight and, especially with its emphasis on healing as reconciliation, contains a social ethic. It also reveals ties to Protestant America by pointing toward evangelical ideas of disharmony and sin and by the ambiguities of its millennial preoccupation. Finally, its social ethic means a willingness to engage in public discourse on themes of environmentalism and related concerns. Thus the new spirituality demonstrates an ease in the “naked public square,” which Christianity and civil religion have not been able to inhabit comfortably in our time.

Another Look at New Religions

Abstract: Two decades of intensive study of nonconventional religion in North America has provided a large data base to examine some of the basic ideas about the new religious movements that have become so prominent in the last generation. Common ideas about the ephemeral nature, lack of historical context, and the role of charismatic leaders, derived from studies of rather small samples of new religions, are challenged in this article by a study of 836 new religions that have operated in North America this century. They are best viewed not as marginal cultural phenomena, that is, as cults, but as products of the massive diffusion of the world's religions globally. The number of new and nonconventional religions has grown steadily since the passing of new immigration laws in 1965 and will continue to grow in the light of even higher quotas for Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants passed in 1990.

Impact of Social Movements on European Party Systems

Abstract: The evolution of new social movements in Western Europe creates several problems for established political parties. New social movements demand programmatic changes, green parties attract voters who previously supported established parties, and movement activists prefer decentralized party organizations. This article analyzes the success of established parties in coping with these programmatic, electoral, and organizational challenges. The article concludes that while established parties increasingly meet the programmatic and electoral challenge, they are less successful in meeting the organizational demands of new social movements.

Toward the Year 2000: Reconstructions of Religious Space

Abstract: As we approach the year 2000, there will be much reflection about the nation's religious and spiritual condition. In this article, three domains of American life are singled out as examples of how religious space is being reconstructed by the large portion of the population known as baby boomers. The first is the new religious pluralism of the nation's inner cities, reflecting a global order. Hispanics, Asian immigrants, and people of color are creating new solidarities and forging new religious voices. The second is a shift in institutional alignments between family and religion. These changes have provoked new spiritual concerns arising out of changing family patterns. The third is the new spirituality, generally of the postwar generation, with its emphasis on personal choice, faith exploration, and more holistic ways of thinking. What happens in these spaces will greatly influence the religious trends of the 1990s and of the early years of the next century.

White-Collar Crime in the Savings and Loan Scandal:

Abstract: This article elaborates on the nature and scale of white-collar crime in the savings and loan crisis. It provides an overview of the thrift industry and the impact of deregulation on opportunities for fraud. Violations are then discussed under the general headings of “unlawful risk taking,”“collective embezzlement,” and “covering up,” and similarities are noted between criminal activities of thrift operators and those of persons associated with traditional organized crime. Government enforcement issues are discussed, focusing on both statutory changes and the law in action. Finally, the article argues that future policymaking, when considering changes in regulatory structure, must take into account the criminogenic environment produced by earlier legislation.

Sustainable Agriculture: A Twenty-First-Century System:

Abstract: U.S. agriculture has been very productive during the past fifty years. A number of unexpected consequences, however, are believed to be detrimental to the long-term interests of our nation's agriculture and natural resources. In response to this issue, the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 mandates that the U.S. Department of Agriculture conduct research and education programs on alternative agricultural systems. These must be productive, economically viable, and environmentally sound; they must conserve natural resources, make optional use of on-farm resources, and enhance the quality of life for farmers and ranchers, members of rural communities, and society as a whole. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program has evolved as an important initiative for development and promotion of alternative agricultural practices and production systems. This article describes sustainable agriculture and its role in the development of a philosophy for identification of resea...