EDUCATION AND POLITICAL TOLERANCE: TESTING THE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE SOPHISTICATION AND TARGET GROUP AFFECT

This paper examines the effects of education and cognitive sophisticationon willingness to extend civil liberties to nonconformist groups.We conducted secondary analysis of the 1984 General SocietySurvey data. The results show that there is a strong tolerancedimension that cuts across groups and types of actions. We foundstrong positive effects of education on a multiple target grouptolerance scale that included both left-wing and right-winggroups. A substantial fraction of the education effect on toleranceis mediated by cognitive sophistication. The effects of educationon tolerance are strong even when a person has negative feelingstoward the target group. This paper helps identify why and when(e.g., cognitive sophistication and dislike of a target group)education enhances political tolerance. We discuss the implicationsof the research for debates on the education-tolerance relationship.     

CAMPAIGN ADVERTISEMENTS VERSUS TELEVISION NEWS AS SOURCES OF POLITICAL ISSUE INFORMATION

Relative contributions of television news and campaign advertisingto U.S. voters' knowledge about candidate issue differencesare compared. Empirical comparisons are based on interview datafrom six campaign surveys of voters, in various election settingsfrom 1984 to 1992. In hierarchical regression analyses, aftercontrols for demographic and political interest variables, measuresof attention to television news consistently account for a significantincrement of slightly more than 2 percent of variance in issueknowledge. Parallel measures representing attention to candidates'televised advertisements produce a much more variable patternin terms of variance explained in knowledge. Usually the effectsof advertisements are less than those of news, and sometimesthey are nonsignificant; but in one hotly contested ideologicalrace the informative effect attributable to advertisements exceedsthat of TV news. These patterns hold up after further controlsfor other media use variables, including newspaper reading.     

THE PRESENTATION OF POLITICAL SELF:

This article asks how the cultural environment shapes activist claims making. Using data from a grassroots antitoxics/anti-incinerator movement field study, I show how activists modify their political claims as they shift their discussion from the interpersonal level (back region) to the wider public (front region). Each region has distinct constraints and opportunities that shape the construction and potency of activists' claims.
I begin by describing the interrelations between movement frames and the cultural environment; I then argue that the concept of "cultural resonance" captures these interrelations. Next, I describe the front region and back region collective action frames that activists constructed. Despite their denial, they presented claims that differed between regions. I use the ideas of region and cultural resonance to argue that distinct region specific conventions shaped activist frames into conventional styles, forms, and themes. I conclude by discussing processes of intramovement solidarity, and prospects for intermovement cooperation.     

DISARMING THE OPPOSITION: THE PRESIDENT, THE PUBLIC, AND THE INF TREATY

Data from a nationwide opinion survey are used to test the propositionthat President Reagan's sponsorship of the INF treaty effectivelydisarmed the opposition that hard-liners would normally haveregistered against the treaty. The data are consistent withthis interpretation. That is, the president's endorsement ofthe treaty had only a modest impact on those who perceived theSoviets as relatively nonthreatening, but it had a much morepronounced impact on those who viewed the Soviets as threatening.These results shed new light on the extent to which and theconditions under which Americans are willing to set aside theirown policy predilections and follow along behind presidentialinitiatives in the international arena.     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMICS OF THE ARAB SPRING

There were large differences in the responses of Arab dictators to the Arab Spring protests. To understand these differences, I present a stylized model of how a dictator responds to mass protests for democratization in a polarized country with two ethnic or religious groups. In this model, the dictator's response crucially depends on oil revenues and his affiliation to either the majority or the minority group. I document that the model's predictions are consistent with the observed differences in the Arab dictators' responses. Hence, ethnic politics and religious divides may play an important role in political transitions and regime changes. (JEL D72, D74)     

THE POLITICAL UNCONSCIOUS OF THE HUMAN SCIENCES

The relationship between knowledge, society, and power has been considerably rethought recently. Few defend the idea that knowledges such as the human sciences are merely representational practices. Instead, knowledge is approached as a social power to be analyzed for its social productivity. Assuming a tight link between knowledge and power, this paper aims to sketch a non-Whiggish framework for narrating the development of human sciences. I underscore how the scientization of social knowledge has, on the one hand, produced subaltern interpretative communities and, on the other hand, how these communities–as the repressed unconscious of the human sciences—have continued to shape and trouble the epistemic and social claims to authority by the human sciences.     

POLITICAL IDENTITIES AND POLITICAL LANDSCAPES:

This article presents case studies of two men who have a history of political activism on "women's' issues. The aim of my analysis is to describe the interpretive practice (Gubrium and Holstein 1994) through which the respondents construct individual political identities that make sense of their activism. The analysis treats identity as a narrative construction and also demonstrates that the context of this identity work is itself a construction. When respondents talk about their involvement in women's issues, they simultaneously construct an image of the political landscape, their own identities, and a relationship between the two.
In their narratives, the two men constructed very different images of the political landscape and identities in relation to it. One man interpreted the autobiography he constructed in terms of socialization and social learning in an effort to demonstrate an ongoing engagement with feminist concerns. The other man invoked a folk theory, consistent with feminist standpoint epistemology (Harding 1990), that used his gender to "define him out' of activism on women's issues.
I argue that these cases (1) demonstrate that narrative operates as a site at which men negotiate their relationship to gendered politics and women's issues and (2) represent a previously unrecognized dynamic of interpretive practice (Gubrium and Holstein 1995) in which actors assume discretion over the narrative construction of both their identities and the context in which that identity is to be understood.     

PRESSURE POLITICS AND CONSUMER INTERESTS: THE SUGAR ISSUE

The perpetual "Battle of the Sugar Bowl", as it enters a newphase in its relation to national defense policies, continuesto affect consumer interests. The April 1938 issue of the QUARTERLYpresented an analysis of "Sugar and Public Opinion" by JohnE. Dalton. Currently, Mr. Baldwin presents his analysis of thecontending groups and the issues at stake. He first became interestedin this problem during the fight over the sugar schedule ofthe Hawley-Smoot Tariff. He has worked in the interest of, amongothers, the American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages and theHershey Corporation, an American company producing and refiningcane sugar in Cuba, and is a member of the Cuban Committee ofthe National Foreign Trade Council.     

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS AND THE KNOWLEDGE-GAP HYPOTHESIS

The knowledge-gap hypothesis suggests that a sudden infusionof information into a social setting serves to increase, ratherthan decrease, the gap in knowledge between high- and low-statusvoters. Political campaigns represent an especially appropriatesetting to test this hypothesis, because of (1) the increasedinformation that generally characterizes campaigns and (2) theimportant political consequences to lower status voters if thehypothesis is correct. A two-wave panel survey during the 1978New Hampshire gubernatorial campaign finds that on one issuethe knowledge gap increased during the campaign, while on another,perhaps less complex issue, the gap remained constant. Thesedifferences are hypothesized to be a function of different diffusioncurves of the high- and low-status voters, with implicationsfor the varying lengths of time states allow for campaigns betweenthe primary and general elections.     

POLITICAL INFLUENCE AND REGULATORY POLICY: THE 1984 DRUG LEGISLATION

This paper applies a positive theory of legislation to explain the development of the 1984 Drug Price Competition Act and the Patent Term Restoration Act. Specifically, it examines why regulatory reforms prior to 1984 were stalemated, and why the 1984 legislation was enacted. Results show that prior to 1984, members of the key congressional committees had preferences in which the proposed bills could not beat the status quo. However, changes in subcommittee membership in the House combined with a change in the majority party in the Senate created a situation in which the 1984 legislation could defeat the status quo.     

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN THE FEDERALIST SYSTEM: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF NPDES INSPECTIONS

This paper examines the consequences of the delegation of regulatory authority to local officials. The study evaluates three hypotheses of the role delegation plays in the implementation of regulatory policy: (1) the federal case, which predicts that delegation has no effect, (2) the state/local model predicts that delegation is, in fact, abdication, and (3) the full impact model predicts that both interests determine how environmental policy is implemented. The results provide evidence that while delegation does not completely remove national policy maker's ability to alter regulatory policy, it does allow local interests to alter national standards. (JEL L51, Q28)     

DISTANCE EDUCATION PROVISION BY UNIVERSITIES: HOW INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTS AFFECT CHOICES

Decisions about distance education are made too often without adequately considering the broader institutional context. This paper explores how a better understanding of 'macro' contexts can lead to more successful choices at the 'micro' level of designing and developing specific programmes. Six models derived from distance learning practices are examined. Analyses of these experiences highlight three primary institutional and political characteristics that have a critical influence on distance education outcomes: private or public emphasis; degree of dedication to distance learning; and holistic or incremental strategy. Three secondary dimensions are also discussed: technology mix; financial and production models; and target markets.     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INTERGENERATIONAL INCOME MOBILITY

The intergenerational elasticity of income is considered one of the best measures of the degree to which a society gives equal opportunity to its members. While much research has been devoted to measuring this reduced‐form parameter, less is known about its underlying structural determinants. Using a model with exogenous talent endowments, endogenous parental investment in children, and endogenous redistributive institutions, we identify the structural parameters that govern the intergenerational elasticity of income. The model clarifies how the interaction between private and collective decisions determines the equilibrium level of social mobility. Two societies with similar economic and biological fundamentals may have vastly different degrees of intergenerational mobility depending on their political institutions. We offer empirical evidence in line with the predictions of the model. We conclude that international comparisons of intergenerational elasticity of income are not particularly informative about fairness without taking into account differences in politico‐economic institutions. (JEL E24, J62, J68, P16)     

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MINIMUM WAGE LEGISLATION

Two questions are addressed in this paper. (A) Why do labor unions and certain employer organizations respectively promote and impede minimum wage legislation? (B) Do these groups have significant impacts on minimum wages? Question (A) is examined in the context of models that identify the economic self-interest of unionized skilled workers and capitalists in legal wage floors. Question (B) is approached by a median legislator utility maximization model that leads to Tobit estimation of the relationship between state minimum wage rates and measures of statewide organized labor and capital and average hourly earnings.     

THE DETERMINANTS OF RELATIVE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES

This paper develops and tests a model of relative political campaign spending in an election formulated within a capital theory framework. Probability of election is treated as a function of the relative political capital stocks of the candidates, and campaign expenditure is viewed as the mechanism by which candidates optimally adjust their political capital stocks. If contributors are risk-neutral, then all factors that increase a candidate's initial political capital stock tend to decrease his relative campaign expenditures, while all factors that increase the value of the office to the candidate tend to increase his relative campaign expenditures. However, if contributors are risk-averse, then the former effect is theoretically indeterminate. Empirically, a candidate is more likely to outspend his opponent if he is an incumbent, a member of the weaker political party, and the younger candidate.     

RACE AND TRUST IN GOVERNMENT: TESTING THE POLITICAL REALITY MODEL

Ever since the Institute for Social Research began measuringpolitical trust more than twenty years ago, racial differenceshave been noted. Since 1968 blacks have been notably less trustingthan whites. The explanation most commonly offered is the politicalreality model. This note directly tests the political realitymodel by comparing the relationship of race to trust in twosettings. One is the nation in 1984 and the second is a citywhere a black mayor and black administration had been in officefor eight years. If the political reality model is correct,the relationship of being black to trust should be positivein the local setting, precisely the opposite of the negativedirection in national samples. The political reality model performedwell under this direct comparison. As others have found, theCPS trust questions measure in large part one's evaluation ofincumbents. These incumbent evaluations are part of the politicalreality that blacks respond to in answering the trust questions.