《廊桥遗梦》：生态文苑的一枝奇葩

《廊桥遗梦》是美国作家罗伯特.沃勒的一部爱情畅销小说,然而从生态主义视角重审这部经典作品,却发现它实则反映了作家深刻的生态主义思想。沃勒对小说时代背景的铺设体现了他向往传统,回归自然的生态主张;乡野背景的述写表达了他对人文世界与自然世界和谐相融的生态渴望;＂最后的牛仔＂-罗伯特.金凯则是作家保护动物、反对战争、回归自然生态思想的代言人和践行者。     

多元主义:对美国《联邦宪法》的解读与评析

美国《联邦宪法》构筑在其起草者詹姆斯.麦迪逊的多元主义政治哲学的基础之上。而分权制衡的政治体制和利益集团机制既是多元主义的两大机制,也是美国宪政体系下实现国家良治的保证,它们按各自的逻辑运作,又相互作用。其中,分化的政府治理权为各利益集团提供了利益表达的制度化渠道;同时,利益集团又是分权制衡政治体制得以有效运行的社会力量。该宪法构建的宪政体系为美国的经济与社会繁荣提供了制度保证,但在资本主义生产方式的模铸下,美国宪政体系和民主现状中存在的诸多问题,永远无法得以根治。     

从马伯里诉麦迪逊案看美国的横向分权体制

文章通过分析马伯里诉麦迪逊案件中的权力之争来透析美国宪政体制中横向权力分配和制约机制,并客观描述了美国国家三种权力之间的冲突、互动、制约和监督。虽然美国的横向分权体制在现代成为许多国家宪政体制的范本,但是它已经产生了诸多弊病,需要理性对待分权理论指导下形成的这种分权体制。     

行政国家的危机治理——9·11恐怖袭击和2008年金融危机

9·11恐怖袭击和2008年金融危机中,美国政府的危机治理和危机立法有相似的表现:宽泛的政治过程而非宪法上的限制等因素在两次事件中都发挥着作用,产生了相似的危机治理模式;在这一模式中,国会向行政部门赋予强大的新的权力。这一模式通过卡尔·施密特关于立法的理论得到更好的解释,更优于麦迪逊理论。但在危机政治的广泛制约因素中,布什政府在9·11之后比在金融危机中对其权力的攫取更加激进。这一方面是因为布什政府在2001—2008年间逐步丧失了其公信力和群众的拥护,另一方面也是由于金融监管体制的分裂局面。     

Some cross-population comparisons of family bias in the effects of schooling on occupational status

It is a truism of research on social stratification that the effects of socioeconomic or family background on educational attainment and adult success lead to biases in the simple regressions of occupational status (or other putative outcomes of schooling) on educational attainment. The present analysis compares findings of family bias in the effects of schooling on occupational status across samples of siblings drawn from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and from Olneck's sample of brothers from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The comparative analysis shows that family bias in the effect of schooling on occupational status may be much less than is commonly believed and that very large samples may be needed to measure it reliably. Moreover, the analysis suggests that estimates of family bias are very sensitive to the specification of response variability in schooling. The analysis also illustrates some useful methods for cross-population comparison of structural equation models.     

Consumer evaluation of community treatment

Development of community programs for offenders requires innovation in program design and evaluation. The Complex Offender Project (COP) provided intensive community treatment, and its clients' opinions were used as a component of its evaluation. Treated clients perceived the same needs for services as did other offenders, but more of them reported receiving the services. Compared to probation, COP was perceived to be more helpful in resolving problems, more continuously helpful, and of helping more to learn useful skills and achieve meaningful goals. The Complex Offender Project provides a model for program development, and the techniques of consumer evaluation are recommended as a means of evaluating such programs.     

Job-shift differences between men and women in the workplace

Until now causal analyses of male-female career differences have been based on the standard attainment model and have focused on differences in career outcomes, namely status and earnings. This paper departs from this practice by using the career life-cycle model of achievement as a framework for the analysis of sex differences in the job mobility experiences of management personnel of a large corporation. The paper focuses not on sexual differences in the level of career rewards, but on differences in the rate of job shifts as the career unfolds. The models are based on the mean-value function of a Poisson arrival process. The principal findings are: (1) Male and female job-shift regimes are similar in form and described by the mean-value function of a nonstationary and heterogeneous Poisson arrival process; (2) the parameters governing male and female job-shift regimes are significantly different; (3) parameter differences indicate sexual inequities with respect to the rate of return to productive resources, but not with respect to structural opportunities to shift; (4) for men and women alike, schooling increases the rate of job shift, while labor force experience prior to being hired and entry-level achievement decrease the rate of shift.     

Converting education into earnings: The patterns among Hispanic origin men

We evaluate the functional form of the relationship between education and earnings for Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men to determine whether the payoffs to education vary with level of schooling, and whether credential effects can be discerned. Results indicate that for all groups the usual linear specification, while offering the advantage of parsimony, fits the data less well than more complex models. The levels model best predicts the earnings of Puerto Rican and other Spanish origin workers, while the credential model is best suited for Mexican, Central/South American, and non-Hispanic white men. Credential effects accrue to all groups, except the other Spanish, but Central/South Americans only receive added income bonuses for the completion of a college degree, whereas Mexican, Puerto Rican, and non-Hispanic white men also receive a bonus for a high school diploma.