Nice to Know You? Testing Contact,Cultural, and Group Threat Theories of Anti‐Black and Anti‐Hispanic Stereotypes*

Objective. Many racial/ethnic policies in the United States—from desegregation to affirmative action policies—presume that contact improves racial/ethnic relations. Most research, however, tests related theories in isolation from one another and focuses on black‐white contact. This article tests contact, cultural, and group threat theories to learn how contact in different interactive settings affects whites' stereotypes of blacks and Hispanics, now the largest minority group in the country. Method. We use multi‐level modeling on 2000 General Social Survey data linked to Census 2000 metropolitan statistical area/county‐level data. Results. Net of the mixed effects of regional culture and racial/ethnic composition, contact in certain interactive settings ameliorates anti‐black and anti‐Hispanic stereotypes. Conclusions. Cultural and group threat theories better explain anti‐black stereotypes than anti‐Hispanic stereotypes, but as contact theory suggests, stereotypes can be overcome with relatively superficial contact under the right conditions. Results provide qualified justification for the preservation of desegregation and affirmative action policies.     

Measuring Anti‐Americanism in Editorial Cartoons*

Objective. Anti‐Americanism has been subjected to minimal statistical analysis. Further, scant attention is paid to what constitutes anti‐Americanism for Americans. The objective of this article is to measure Americans' perceptions of anti‐Americanism. Methods. Using a range of quantitative methods, including Pearson's correlation coefficient, Shannon's entropy measure, and Cohen's d statistics, we measure students' evaluations of editorial cartoons after 9/11. Twin measures of message and equity, along with participant and cartoon variables, are used to calibrate anti‐Americanism in Spanish and U.S. editorial cartoons. Results. Our results indicate that message ratings, that is, anti‐ or pro‐American, were more dependent on the nature of the cartoons than of the participants. White males rated these editorial cartoons as more equitable than other participants. The study shows that Spanish cartoons were rated significantly more anti‐American. Conclusion. The article concludes that the use of U.S. icons is key to seeing anti‐Americanism, along with gender, race, and origin of cartoon.     

Explaining Self‐Employment Success and Failure: Wal‐Mart Versus Starbucks,or Schumpeter Versus Putnam*

Objectives. Two powerful socioeconomic innovations are sweeping the nation, led by Wal‐Mart Stores, Inc. and Starbucks Corp. These innovations both affect and are driven by profound labor market changes, but exactly how they affect self‐employment or entrepreneurship has not been investigated. We examine the independent effects of these phenomena on the returns to self‐employment, which is itself an underresearched topic in labor economics. Methods. We apply spatial econometric analysis to data from more than 3,000 U.S. counties to analyze how big‐boxes and drinking places that facilitate social networking affect self‐employment earnings. Findings. The presence of Wal‐Mart stores is associated with higher returns to self‐employment, whereas the results for coffee shops and drinking places are mixed. A negative interaction effect on earnings emerges when Wal‐Mart stores and drinking places exist in the same county. Conclusions. We confirm both Schumpeter's and Putnam's assertions about the importance of creative destruction and social networking in raising the productivity of entrepreneurs, although the latter effect is not as clear‐cut as the former.     

Middle‐Class Political Activism and Middle‐Class Advantage in Relation to Public Services: A Realist Synthesis of the Evidence Base

Since the late 1960s social policy scholarship has been concerned with the distribution of the resources or benefits across social gradients. This article presents a review of the literature on one mechanism by which inequity might be produced – activism by middle‐class service‐users enabling them to capture a disproportionate share of resources. The review used the methodology of realist synthesis to bring together evidence from the UK, the USA and Scandinavian countries over the past 30 years. The aim was to construct a ‘middle‐theory’ to understand how and in which contexts collective and individual activity by middle‐class service‐users might produce inequitable resource allocation or rationing decisions that disproportionately benefit middle‐class service‐users. The article identifies four causal theories which nuance the view that it is the ‘sharp elbows’ of the middle‐classes which confer advantage on this group. It shows how advantage accrues via the interplay between service‐users, providers and the broader policy and social context.     

Anti‐Poverty Family Policies in China: A Critical Evaluation

Despite its rapid economic growth, China remains a developing country facing serious challenges of poverty and inequality. This article examines the development and effectiveness of China's primary anti‐poverty family policy, the Minimum Living Standard Assurance (MLSA, or Dibao). Using rich administrative data and building on the existing literature, this article provides a critical evaluation of MLSA's benefit generosity, coverage, targeting, and anti‐poverty effectiveness. To help reinforce MLSA's anti‐poverty impacts, local governments in recent years have implemented a series of supplementary policies and programs, including health, education, housing, and work support programs. This article also provides an assessment of these supplementary policies and programs and draws policy implications for the ongoing expansion of the Chinese government's anti‐poverty efforts.     

Scale of Operations and Locus of Control in Market‐ Versus Mission‐Oriented Charter Schools*

Objective. The objective of this article is to investigate two distinct strands in the charter school movement: one that emphasizes school‐based management and another that emphasizes market efficiency. We were interested in whether charter schools that were founded or co‐founded by for‐profit education management organizations (EMOs) tend to pursue economies of scale and are less likely than others to implement school‐level decision making in key areas. Methods. The analysis uses data drawn from a survey we conducted of the population of charter schools in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. Results. We find that charter schools that were founded or co‐founded by EMOs tend to be larger and are less likely to exhibit decision‐making control at the school level. Conclusions. Our analysis underscores the importance of disaggregating the charter school phenomenon into its distinct constituent parts in order to draw meaningful lessons from this evolving and significant experiment in alternative education delivery mode.     

Faction in Movement: The Impact of Inclusivity on the Anti‐Globalization Movement*

Objectives. This research examines and evaluates the reasons why the anti‐globalization movement has yet to make significant progress in achieving its primary goals of democratizing international trade negotiation processes. Methods. Data on anti‐globalization protest cycles were collected from news sources for a time period of up to one month that encapsulated the protest events. From these, I constructed brief case narratives of the major events in Seattle, Washington, DC, Prague, Quebec City, Genoa, and Doha to illustrate my argument. Results. I find that the democratic master frame employed by the movement results in two important limitations: (1) the movement cannot exclude participants without undermining its legitimacy, and (2) its lack of a centralized organizational framework makes it impossible to police the actions of participants during major protests. Recognizing these limitations, states hosting global economic summits have demonstrated increasingly a willingness to utilize repressive measures against the movement thereby undermining the movement's ability to achieve its goals. Conclusion. I conclude that the inability of the anti‐globalization movement to exclude violent participants will continue to limit its effectiveness given states' increasing willingness to employ repressive tactics indiscriminately.     

What Do African Donor‐sponsored Anti‐corruption Programmes Teach Us about International Development in Africa?

Donor‐sponsored anti‐corruption programmes represent an increasingly large segment of international development assistance to Africa. While the ostensible objective of these programmes is to reduce African corruption, the generality of them suggests that other factors appear to motivate their design and implementation. This paper attempts to assess the generality of these programmes by looking at the specificity, relevance and fit of proposed anti‐corruption activities. The malleability of these programmes suggests that programme design draws from a mix of broader discursive fields and the genuine attempt to improve project performance and decrease corruption.     

Response to Elder‐Vass: “Seven Ways to be A Realist about Language”

Given that explicitly realist perspectives are currently quite unfashionable in applied linguistics, we very much welcome your thorough and careful discussion of the various forms they might take. We find the various categories you identify quite persuasive, and we find much to agree with in your characterisation of several of the positions you outline, particularly in the earlier part of the paper. However, we do take issue with aspects of your characterisation of both “social” and “linguistic systems” realism, and with some of the arguments you adduce particularly against the latter and in favour of your seventh way (“linguistic norm circles realism”). Our response, then, concentrates particularly on the challenges arising from these parts of your paper, and addresses: (1) the ways in which we may define language itself, for the purposes of this debate; (2) the distinction between social and linguistic norms; (3) the properties of language; (4) the role of empirical evidence; and (5) the methodological problems we find with the norm circle approach.     

Anti‐Muslim hate speech and displacement narratives: Case studies from Sri Lanka and Australia

Muslim communities have frequently been the victim of vilification and discrimination in Australia and the broader Asian region. This article discusses and compares the narratives around Muslim vilification in Australia and Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that these two nations are vastly different in size, demographics and cultural history, I will argue that there are remarkable similarities in how Muslims are subject to attack in both nations. The hate speech occasioned against Muslims in Sri Lanka and Australia is shaped by almost identical narrative structures and is cultivated in similar online environments. In both cases, anti‐Muslim animus is fuelled by a fear of displacement and perceived contamination of what nativists regard as ethnically sovereign territory. I will argue that the underlying sub‐text in both cases is owed to a repulsion to the physical presence of Muslims which can be understood in terms of Mary Douglas' concept of the moral pollutant.     

Mobilized by Direct Democracy: Short‐Term Versus Long‐Term Effects and the Geography of Turnout in Ballot Measure Elections*

Objectives. A number of recent studies find that direct democracy increases voter turnout. In this article, we ask: Who does direct democracy mobilize to vote and how are they mobilized? We distinguish between long‐term and short‐term effects on voter turnout, noting that much of the current literature has focused on participatory theory. Methods. Our research design harnesses the power of geographic information systems and examines turnout in special initiative‐only elections using registered voter lists. Our model draws on individual and Census tract data, incorporated using a hierarchical generalized linear model. Results. The findings demonstrate how partisan context mitigates the potential for direct democracy to mobilize from the middle, and clarifies the dominance of short‐term as opposed to long‐term effects in increasing voter participation in ballot initiative elections. Conclusion. Mobilization via direct legislation occurs mostly because voters are actively mobilized by partisan campaigns, not because of an increase in participatory fervor.     

Rolling Out Anti‐social Behaviour Families Projects in England and Scotland: Analysing the Rhetoric and Practice of Policy Transfer

In both Scotland and England, reducing anti‐social behaviour (ASB) and building a culture of respect are key central government priorities. Accordingly, since 1997 both jurisdictions have seen the introduction of a raft of punitive legislation. Over recent years, however, there have been signs that the official ASB agenda has shifted away from a reliance on ‘enforcement measures’ towards a more balanced approach incorporating measures to address the underlying causes of problem behaviour. With their emphasis on ‘whole family’ approaches and parenting interventions, ASB family projects, pioneered by the Dundee Families Project (DFP), are seen to respond to official concerns about social exclusion and have been promoted as an effective and sustainable response to ASB. In both Scottish and English jurisdictions official endorsement of the DFP model has been marked by government‐funded programmes to ‘roll out’ this concept more widely. Drawing on findings from a recent evaluation of ASB family projects operating in Scotland combined with scrutiny of evidence from a number of English studies, this article explores, in a comparative manner, the differences and similarities in the policy discourses and models of practice employed by Scottish and English projects. More specifically, we critically appraise the role played by sanctions in evoking service user engagement.