Towards a historical sociology of constitutional legitimacy

This article has two primary objectives. First, it sets out the methodological argument that the conventional antinomy between normative and sociological approaches to questions of state legitimacy depends on a series of false constructions, and that normative and sociological – or specifically historical–sociological – analyses of states and the processes by which they obtain legitimacy can be (and ought to be) mutually reinforcing. This argument hinges on the claim that historical sociology should renounce some of its common presuppositions regarding the coercive functions of state power and reformulate itself as a normative social science, identifying and promoting models of statehood likely to obtain legitimacy in modern differentiated societies. Second, it sets out the more substantive argument that the legitimization of states can be observed both as an evolutionary or adaptive dimension of state formation and as a process of theoretical self-reflection in which the societies where states are located construct and refine the most adequate form for the transmission of the power they designate as political. In this respect, the article questions common assumptions about politics and legitimacy and makes a case for a change of paradigm in the analysis of these concepts. Through this change of paradigm, politics itself and the methods used for securing legitimacy for politics are constructed as abstracted articulations of a society’s own needs and exigencies. The article borrows elements from the systemic-functionalist sociology of Niklas Luhmann to develop the argument. In this context, the article also uses historical case studies to outline a theory of constitutions and constitutional rights. This theory explains how constitutions and constitutional rights help to generate legitimacy for states by enabling modern political systems, both normatively and functionally, to reflect and stabilize their position in society, to control the volume of politics in a society, and to elaborate socially adequate techniques for applying and restricting political power. The article concludes by suggesting that historical–sociological analyses of the functions of rights and constitutions can provide a key to proposing both normatively and sociologically founded models of legitimate statehood.

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Workplace discrimination and cancer

Data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Integrated Mission System database were analyzed with specific reference to allegations of workplace discrimination filed by individuals with cancer under ADA Title One. These 6,832 allegations, filed between July 27, 1992 and September 30, 2003, were compared to 167,798 allegations from a general disability population on the following dimensions: type of workplace discrimination; demographic characteristics of the charging parties (CPs); the industry designation, location, and size of employers; and the outcome or resolution of EEOC investigations. Results showed allegations derived from CPs with cancer were more likely than those in the general disability population to include issues involving discharge, terms and conditions of employment, lay-off, wages, and demotion. Compared to the general disability group, CPs with cancer were more likely to be female, older, and White. Allegations derived from CPs with cancer were also more likely to be filed against smaller employers (15-100 workers) or those in service industries. Finally, the resolution of allegations by CPs with cancer were more likely to be meritorious than those filed from the general disability population; that is, actual discrimination is more likely to have occurred.     

Gender as a differential indicator of the employment discrimination experiences of Americans with multiple sclerosis

Information from the Integrated Mission System of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was used to investigate the employment discrimination experiences of women and men with multiple sclerosis (MS). Spanning the years 1992 to 2003, the EEOC database included 3,663 allegations of discrimination filed by 2,167 adults with MS. With respect to women and men with MS, the researchers examined the comparability of a) demographic characteristics; b) industry designations, locations, and size of employers; c) the nature of discrimination alleged; and d) the legal outcome or resolution of those allegations. On average, women and men with MS were in their early forties, with the majority of both groups being Caucasian. Both women and men were most likely to allege discrimination related to discharge and reasonable accommodations, although women were more likely to file harassment charges than men. Men with MS were more likely to allege discrimination regarding hiring and reinstatement. Women with MS were more likely to file allegations against employers in the service industries, and men were more likely to file allegations against employers in the construction, manufacturing, and wholesale industries. No gender differences were found in the geographic distribution of allegations. Both groups had comparable rates of merit closures (23% vs. 27%) as a result of the EEOC's investigatory process. Implications for rehabilitation counseling and employer-oriented interventions are discussed.     

Does Democracy Matter? A Transatlantic Research Design on Democratic Performance and Special Purpose Governments

The next big step in public management research is to move beyondthe question of whether management matters to answer the question:does democracy matter? The public management discipline haslargely ignored the impact of democratic structure on performance,partly because of limited variation in the constitutional designof public service organizations. Recent growth in the numberand types of special purpose governments offers an organizationalpopulation with a wider distribution on the democratic structureparameter. Conceptual and methodological advances in delimitingand measuring "democratic performance" as a function of formalstructures and informal practices provide an intellectual infrastructurefor scholars. Hypotheses are derived in which democratic performanceis either a dependent or independent variable. Differences incontextual variables in the United Kingdom and the United Statesmake transatlantic comparative research a worthwhile proposition.A research strategy for generating knowledge on "does democracymatter?" is set out.     

Private Passions, the Public Good and Public Service Reform

There has been considerable recent discussion of the impact of public service reforms on the work ethics and motivations of public service workers. In this article we draw upon recent research on the ethical dilemmas facing regeneration workers in order to look more closely at the role of values in the working lives of public service professionals. Focusing on the commitment to social justice, we argue that such values find expression in two interlinked ways, as something workers have and as a process of giving value to different goods. Our research reveals that while both aspects of values are rooted in people's life experiences the second dimension is more contingent and relational. While public service reforms appear to have less impact upon workers’ pregiven values, they can and do have an impact on the way in which these values find expression in attachment to different goods. To understand the effect of such reform processes on workers’ motivations we therefore need a more complex conceptual framework than that provided by either simple public sector ethos/private sector ethos distinctions or by models of economic individualism offered by writers such as Julian Le Grand.     

Canadian Non-Profits in Crisis: The Need for Reform

This paper examines recent changes in the relationship between the Canadian state, at both federal and provincial levels, and those non-profit organizations concerned with social welfare. The 1995 federal budget marked a turning point for Canadian non-profit organizations as the federal transfer payments to the provinces were simultaneously restructured and reduced. This, in turn, meant that provincial funds flowing to non-profit organizations would also be cut, or terminated, and restructured as service contracts continued to replace grants. This followed a review of government funding to non-profit agencies initiated the previous year and came on top of a growing critique of non-profits as unaccountable, unrepresentative, professionalized, "special-interest" groups, who used public funds largely to sustain themselves, and pursued causes that should not be subsidized by government. At the same time non-profit organizations were increasingly expected to provide core social welfare services not only on the basis of "more for less" but also through charging for their services and increased corporate and individual fund-raising. All of these events took place in the context of the election to government, in 1993, of the Liberal Party, that had previously been strongly identified with the advance of a Canadian social agenda but now chose to adopt its conservative predecessor’s deficit reduction strategy through public expenditure cuts. For many Canadian commentators, such events have thrown non-profit organizations into crisis and during the past two years there have been attempts to bring together the diverse interests within the sector and build a stronger sense of identity and voice. However, there is also a strong argument to suggest that the vulnerability of such non-profit organizations has resulted, in part, from their over-dependence on government during the previous twenty-five years and the absence of a strong popular base. This paper explores the changing relationships between the Canadian state and non-profit organizations, and highlights what could be very similar dilemmas for their UK counterparts as government increasingly looks to non-profits to fulfil what has during the postwar period been its service-providing role.     

Conflict Patterns and Family of Origin Conflict in Newly Initiated Remarriages

ABSTRACT

The poor marriage material hypothesis explains the high divorce rate in remarriages as a function of the qualities of people who have previously been divorced. This study sought to test whether conflict in the family of origin and in the present marriage could substantiate the poor marriage material hypothesis by discriminating between couples in their first marriage versus those in a marriage with a history of divorce. A sample of 66 newlywed married couples, half in first marriages and half in remarriages, were recruited through marriage licenses and student referrals. Family of origin conflict discriminated between first and remarried couples. Namely, wives' exposure to interparental conflict significantly increased the odds that they were presently married to a husband who had previously been divorced. Differences between first and remarried couples' own conflict patterns were largely unremarkable with the exception of remarried couples seeing their partners as being more compliant and unassertive relative to those in first marriages.