Polity 

About: Polity is an academic journal published by University of Chicago Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Politics & Political philosophy. It has an ISSN identifier of 0032-3497. Over the lifetime, 1570 publications have been published receiving 17273 citations.

The Internet and Political Transformation: Populism, Community, and Accelerated Pluralism

Abstract: The swift development of the Internet has inspired two sorts of claims that large-scale transformations in the structure of political influence in the U.S. are under way: the populist claim that the Internet will erode the influence of organized groups and political elites, and the community-building claim that the Internet will cause a restructuring of the nature of community and the foundations of social order. These claims are significant because they address not only the currently fashionable subject of the Internet but also fundamental questions about the causal role of communication in public life. A close evaluation of both claims suggests that the assumptions underlying them are improbable at best. I suggest an alternative model of "accelerated pluralism" in which the Internet contributes to the on-going fragmentation of the present system of interest-based group politics and a shift toward a more fluid, issue-based group politics with less institutional coherence.

Congressional Elections: The Case of the Vanishing Marginals

Abstract: Party gains and losses in House seats constitute one instrument, however imperfect, for voter influence on the national government, Mayhew suggests. But the data indicate that "the House seat swing is a phenomenon of fast declining amplitude and therefore of fast declining significance." In the 1956-72 period the number of districts with close House elections dropped precipitously; a similar, if slow, long-range decline has been occurring. We don't really know the causes, but Mayhew indicates possible causes and asks us to ponder the consequences. The piece is replete with numbers, but clearly they are handmaiden to an inquiry into politics. The paper was originally presented at the Spring, 1973 New England Political Science Association meetings.

The Advantage of Incumbency in Congressional Elections

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of incumbency on the vote division in elections for the United States House of Representatives. It is commonly assumed that being an incumbent offers a considerable advantage to the congressional candidate. The incumbent candidate can use his office to do favors for individual constituents, increase his visibility among the general public, and generate additional financial support for future campaigns. Presumably this leverage of incumbency offers an electoral advantage sufficiently large to make it quite difficult for an incumbent to be defeated in a general election.' Evidence of an incumbency advantage in House elections can be drawn from studies by Milton Cummings and indirectly from studies by Donald Stokes and Warren Miller and by Charles 0. Jones. Cummings, analyzing data from each Presidential election year over a forty-four year period, compared the success rate of incumbent candidates and nonincumbent candidates when the district presidential vote is held constant as a control for partisan loyalties. He found that incumbents are much more likely to win elections than their counterpart nonincumbents from districts with similar presidential voting.2 Stokes and Miller's survey demonstrates that incumbents are more frequently recognized by their constituents than nonincumbents are, and that voters are more likely to support a congressional candidate whose name they recognize. Inferentially, then, the increased visibility of the incumbent appears to give the incumbent an advantage at the polls.3 Jones' data, based on four congressional elections, indicates that

What Makes a Concept Good? A Criterial Framework for Understanding Concept Formation in the Social Sciences

Abstract: Nowhere in the broad and heterogeneous work on concept formation has the question of conceptual utility been satisfactorily addressed. Goodness in concept formation, I argue, cannot be reduced to 'clarity,' to empirical or theoretical relevance, to a set of rules, or to the methodology particular to a given study. Rather, I argue that conceptual adequacy should be perceived as an attempt to respond to a standard set of criteria, whose demands are felt in the formation and use of all social science concepts: (1) familiarity, (2) resonance, (3) parsimony, (4) coherence, (5) differentiation, (6) depth, (7) theoretical utility, and (8) field utility. The significance of this study is to be found not simply in answering this important question, but also in providing a complete and reasonably concise framework for explaining the process of concept formation within the social sciences. Rather than conceiving of concept formation as a method (with a fixed set of rules and a definite outcome), I view it as a highl...

Regulatory Issue Networks in a Federal System

Abstract: Regulatory politics are said to vary systematically across issue areas, depending on the salience and complexity of issues. In this article, Professor Gormley identifies four patterns that appear to be especially common. These are board room politics, hearing room politics, street-level politics, and operating room politics. Each involves a distinctive configuration of participants, criteria for choice, and pathologies.