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211. The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts

Author:
Casey A. Klofstad
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Over the past half-century, Americans have withdrawn from numerous forms of civic participation, from voting, to voluntarism, and everything else in between. A standard explanation for this phenomenon is generational replacement; each generation since the World War II “Greatest Generation” has been less civically active. Henry Milner enters this dialogue by examining the coming-of-age “Internet Generation.” Using data sources from different countries, Milner argues that this generation is woefully inactive in politics. He worries that this high frequency of “political dropouts” leaves the Internet Generation unprepared to battle the political challenges they will face over their lifetimes.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
America

212. The Legislative Legacy of Congressional Campaigns

Author:
Eric McGhee
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
The question of representation has long been central to research on the U.S. Congress. Do members of Congress effectively represent their constituents? Does Congress effectively represent the United States as a whole? How do we define good representation, and how do we know it when we see it? Most of the research on these questions examines roll call votes and election returns. Tracy Sulkin's book, The Legislative Legacy of Congressional Campaigns , focuses instead on how legislators choose to spend their time and effort, as measured by bill introductions and cosponsorships. Sulkin connects these activities to the issues that were mentioned in campaign advertisements, to see how often legislators keep their promises and work on issues they said they would.
Political Geography:
United States

213. The Luck of the Draw: The Role of Lotteries in Decision Making

Author:
Stephen Broomell
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Most people are familiar with making decisions based on the flip of a coin or the roll of a die, random processes that work as examples for Peter Stone's definition of a lottery. The curious paradox about lotteries is that most people can agree to their usefulness in many everyday circumstances, but nevertheless find applying them to similar contexts that involve economically or politically important goods (or positions) to be unsettling. Stone drives right to the heart of this issue to provide a precise definition of what lotteries have to offer for public decision making. This argument takes us beyond the feeling that lotteries are absurd when making critically important decisions by making a distinction between good and bad reasons for making a choice. Stone identifies certain circumstances, for example which patient receives an organ transplant, in which it benefits society as a whole for bias (or bad reasons) to be eliminated after all good reasons have been exhausted. Stone provides a variety of these situations that are more or less ideal for lottery usage. The inherent value of a lottery is in the unpredictable nature of the decision and that the decision is made with no reasons at all. This principle is easily applied to many circumstances, and the ethical, practical, and moral dilemmas that Stone illuminates help guide the reader through his discussion of a concept of lotteries that reveals a myriad of philosophical complexities.
Topic:
Disaster Relief

214. One Nation Under Surveillance: A New Social Contract to Defend Freedom Without Sacrificing Liberty

Author:
Priscilla M. Regan
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
The debate about the balance between privacy and security has intrigued scholars for decades and has become of increased relevance in our post-September 11 era. Simon Chesterman approaches this issue from a perspective yielding some very interesting insights. He argues that the traditional distinction between foreign and domestic intelligence has eroded due to the nature of terrorist threats, globalization, and innovations in communications and information technologies. The focus of Chesterman's analysis is on domestic intelligence activities, especially those of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Britain's Security Service (MI5). His conclusion is that in democratic societies, a new "social contract" is emerging by which individuals give government and private institutions information in exchange for security and convenience. Chesterman's analysis of the changes in domestic surveillance activities is carefully researched, thoughtfully organized, and well-supported; however, his conclusions regarding this new social contract need to be more fully developed.
Topic:
Globalization
Political Geography:
United States and United Nations

215. Scandalous Politics: Child Welfare Policy in the States

Author:
Mary Elizabeth Collins
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
To the detriment of the field of child welfare, there have been few serious treatments of the political aspects of policymaking in this area. Unlike welfare policy, health care policy, and aging policy, which all receive substantial attention from scholars utilizing various theoretical models and a range of methodological approaches, child welfare policy has lacked this same level of serious analytical sophistication. Scandalous Politics, therefore, is a particularly welcome addition to an understanding of the politics of child welfare policy. In the tradition of Barbara Nelson's Making an Issue of Child Abuse, Juliet Gainsborough successfully applies an analytical lens to the heavily value-laden domain of policymaking for abused and neglected children.
Topic:
Health

216. Challenges of Ordinary Democracy: A Case Study in Deliberation and Dissent

Author:
Albert W. Dzur
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
This close-range study of democratic decision making focuses on school board meetings in Boulder, Colorado. "Ordinary democracy" refers to the kind of speech that occurs in such meetings as citizens and officials talk with each other. Karen Tracy's perceptive analysis stays at the ground level; "ordinary" means "local" and "observable" speech that reflects routine concerns—speech that aims to do a solid day's work in the public world. Though more than a few of her observations and analyses are relevant to normative political theory, she explicitly steers clear of ongoing debates in political theory between liberalism and critical theory, for example, or between deliberative and participatory democratic theory. Her central goal is simply to describe and make sense of the ordinary democratic talk of local government, something as understudied as it is celebrated in political theory.
Topic:
Political Theory
Political Geography:
New Zealand

217. Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism

Author:
Melissa Labonte
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
At first glance, pairing a study of global humanitarianism with the concept of empire may seem an unlikely strategy for advancing knowledge. Hardly so. Not only is it an honest and forthright approach, it is also a much-needed corrective to enhance our understandings of the humanitarian system and the way in which its key actors understand both themselves and the impact that their actions have on others.
Political Geography:
Kosovo and Somalia

218. Feminist Policymaking in Chile

Author:
Gwynn Thomas
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Chile provides a puzzle for scholars of public policy. While Chile possesses a number of factors identified as providing a positive political climate for feminist policymaking (a large women's movement, a supportive center-left government, and strong women's policy machinery) and has passed important legislation improving women's status, Chile has also often lagged behind its neighbors in passing laws designed to foster women's equality (abortion remains illegal, divorce was legalized in 2004, and electoral quotas have been rejected). Liesl Haas thus turns to the Chilean case to examine the factors that either promote or hinder the passage of legislation designed to promote gender equality. Haas argues that to understand the complexity of Chile's mixed record on gender equality legislation, we must pay attention to the dynamic nature of all policymaking, and particularly the role of key actors. On the basis of 10 years of research, Haas convincingly documents the fundamental importance of the role of political learning by key political activists in understanding how, why, and when feminist policymaking succeeds or fails. Through an in-depth case study of the legislative process around the attempts to reform the laws governing domestic violence, abortion, and divorce, Haas shows how feminist activists both inside and outside of the state learned to navigate the complex interactions of actors, ideas, and institutions within a context of democratization and consolidation.

219. Immigration and Citizenship in Japan

Author:
Deborah J. Milly
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
This book will become a classic on the politics of citizenship in Japan. It is a meticulous study that demonstrates how Korean residents whose families immigrated before the end of World War II have negotiated citizenship in Japan, especially at the local level. Erin Aeran Chung reaches the paradoxical conclusion that their decision not to take Japanese nationality has been a strategic choice to achieve visible citizenship. The author further traces how Koreans' movements have had a profound impact on other foreign residents in Japan.
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
Japan, South Korea, and Korea

220. Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East

Author:
Elena Mastors
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Democracy will save the Middle East. This perspective was promulgated for eight years by the administration of George W. Bush, and because of it, the United States became embroiled in two long-term conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia, spent billions of dollars on the war on terrorism, restructured the intelligence and homeland security communities, and passed legislation at home that many believe negatively impacted our civil liberties. Because of this, we want to believe that it was worth the lives lost and the flagrant spending that had a significant impact on our economic situation today. In her scholarly book, Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East,Katerina Dalacoura asks whether "a convincing case can be made that Islamist terrorism in the Middle East has political causes stemming from non-democratic or authoritarian structures" (p. 23). The author presents a convincing argument that political causes are not the strongest explanation for Islamist terrorism.
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, and Middle East