Tanks, Tear Gas, and Taxes: Toward a Theory of Movement Repression

Despite the importance of research on repression to the study of social movements, few researchers have focused on developing a refined and powerful conceptualization of repression. To address the difficulties such theoretical inattention produces, three key dimensions of repression are outlined and crossed to produce a repression typology. The merit of this typology for researchers is shown by using the typology to: (1) reorganize major research findings on repression; (2) diagnose theoretical and empirical oversights and missteps in the study of repression; and (3) develop new hypotheses about explanatory factors related to repression and relationships between different forms of repression. Such a typology represents an important step toward creating richer theoretical explanations of repression.     

Demographic determinants of perceived well-being in eight European countries

This paper reports results of a harmonised study of subjective social indicators carried out in eight member countries of the European Community, sponsored, on an experimental basis, by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Luxembourg). Comparative data from nationwide representative samples from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark are presented for three key dependent measures of perceived well-being: Self-Assessed Health, Satisfaction with Housing and Life Satisfaction. The cross-cultural generalisability of the influence of demographic variables on these three measures in examined, using 4-way analysis of variance. The analyses revealed a remarkable consistency across nations in terms of the effects of certain demographic variables on some of the dependent measures; however, some inconsistencies were also revealed. Substantial discrepancies in mean scores of the same sub-groups in different countries were also observed. While further research would be required to determine whether these differences were due to objective circumstances or to cultural differences in subjective perceptions or response patterns, some tentative interpretations of the differences were put forth.     

Communicating future water needs to an at-risk population: lessons learned following defeat of the Applewhite Dam and Reservoir Project in San Antonio,Texas

San Antonio, Texas, the seventh largest city in the United States, has experienced steady population growth, since the “boom” of the 1960s. Projected water shortages due to this growth were realized as early as the 1970s by city leaders and south-central Texas regional development decision makers. To reduce dependence on the already over-taxed, Edwards aquifer, a solution, the Applewhite Dam and Reservoir Project, was developed with wide acceptance by federal, state, and city leaders who regarded the project as a necessary measure for regional growth and development. However, opposition by taxpayer and environmental groups led to referendums of 1991 and 1994 in which voters blocked construction of the dam and reservoir leaving the city with limited options for water provision. This case study investigated the factors which led to a clear mismatch in communication between decision makers—those who were aware of the actual and quantifiable risk to the region in terms of reduced water supplies—and the general public, a population that did not have complete and/or adequate knowledge of their actual risk regarding future water shortages, nor, of solutions being developed, such as the Applewhite project. The findings from this case study indicate that when municipal leadership fails to adequately communicate risk regarding resource shortage to an affected public, as well as, openly planned solutions, that voters are likely to underestimate future impacts of water shortages, heed last-minute opposition, and reject long-standing, publicly proposed projects. The intent of this research is not to support either side in the Applewhite controversy, but to shed perspective on the process of adequately and effectively communicating future water needs to an at-risk population. Decision makers in cities across the United States who are faced with solving problems of limited resources needed by a large populace may be informed by the results of this research.     

OPTIMAL SELECTION OF MATCHED PAIRS FROM LARGE DATA BASES

This paper considers the problem of selecting matched pairs of observations for the reduction of bias in statistical hypothesis testing. A Euclidean distance function is suggested for measuring the similarity between paired observations. The matching process is then formulated initially as an assignment problem. Alternative formulations of the problem that would reduce computational difficulty are considered.     

A LABORATORY STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL SEARCH PATTERNS IN A DECISION-MAKING SITUATION

This study investigates the effects of time and probability constraints on the search process in a decision-making situation. The setting was a behavioral laboratory in which subjects were asked to choose one art print from a selection of 260 prints. The prints were in sets of five for convenience in showing. In the nonconstraint condition, subjects were able to set their own pace in viewing prints and could obtain any print in the whole set that was desired. Under the constraint condition, the time and probability constraints were both operative. Under the time constraint, viewing additional sets required increasing amounts of time. Under the probability constraint, there was a constantly reducing probability—down to a minimum of ten percent—of obtaining an earlier print as more prints were viewed. In comparison to unconstrained subjects, constrained subjects viewed fewer prints and did more rechecking in total while the search was in process.     

Reflections on PSA

A personal reflection on the history of the Pacific Sociological Association in the USA and the Pacific Basin. Essay ends with suggestions for the PSA’s future.     

“We am a virtual community”

Conclusion In summary, we are present at the birth of something special. Sociologists have an opportunity to observe the self-creation of electronic, virtual communities. While the development of conventional communities occurred over a time period so vast that we are denied records of their origins, the pace of evolution among today’s virtual communities is so fast as to make “keeping up” almost impossible. Fortunately, it is occurring in a medium that supports easy documentation—witness the ease with which I could report on netiquette by copying materials directly off the net. I find it difficult to terminate an article on the Internet since the phenomenon is still unfolding as I type this sentence. My own experience of the net is far different now than it was when I began this article just a few weeks ago. It will be radically different by the time you read this. Anyone who feels the future evolution of the Internet is fairly predictable should meditate on the fact that it’s chief supporters in government appear to be Al Gore and Newt Gingrich, an electronic odd couple. He is also the author ofThe Practice of Social Research and other textbooks.