Luxembourg's Foreign Policy: Does Small Size Help or Hinder?

As a very small state, Luxembourg would not appear to qualify as an influential foreign policy actor either in Europe or the world. Yet the country's international influence has long belied its reputation as a small state. This article reviews the literature on small-state foreign policy and finds that it offers numerous contradictory conclusions. As a case study it then addresses Luxembourg in the 1990s, with particular attention to two themes: its active participation in the European Union (EU) and its policies directed at maintaining economic prosperity. The paper goes on to explain Luxembourgish foreign policy behaviour through three levels of analysis and assesses to what extent smallness is a benefit or a hindrance to Luxembourg's success in meeting its international goals.     

Review Essay: On the Trail of Tribal Sociology

Sociological Forum -     

ON THE MACROFOUNDATIONS OF MICROSOCIOLOGY:

Just as Collins (1981) demonstrates that microsociological presuppositions elucidate macrosociology, the reverse holds as well. Fundamental axioms are the existence of (1) a set of constraints that channel individual action and expectations and (2) obdurate, exterior realities of supraindividual entities. Expanding on these presuppositions this article proposes a set of issues that collectively help provide a macrosociological basis for interpretive microsociology: the physical limits of the built environment, temporal and spatial effects, institutional linkages, the obdurate reality of tradition, and beliefs in organizational primacy. These underline the often unrecognized centrality and legitimacy of macrosociological analysis for the development of microsociology.     

Why do French women have more children than German women? Family policies and attitudes towards child care outside the home

French mothers are still more often economically active than their German counterparts and birth rates in France remain higher than in West Germany. By comparing two countries with many similarities in their family policies, I try to demonstrate that the differences between state policies per se should not be overestimated in explaining the persistent gap in their fertility level. As far as women's attitudes towards child care outside of the home are concerned, there is a strong divide between France and West Germany. In the Old Länder in Germany there is some congruence between attitudes and beliefs towards child care and the shortage of child care provision, especially for toddlers. As a product of the interaction between shortage of child care provision, women's attitudes regarding child care and mothers' low labour force participation rate, German family policy reinforces these attitudes. Conversely, there is slow impetus for policy makers to really develop a comprehensive public child care system. Against this cultural and institutional background, an increasing number of women give priority to their job or to their career. In France, by contrast, norms in respect of education of toddlers and young children have evolved in tandem with the change in attitudes of women towards employment. A majority of French women feel legitimised to be in employment on a full-time basis and to have their children cared for outside the home. Their attitudes are in tune with the premises of family policy which has integrated the model of 'the employed mother'. Les Francaises continuent àavoir plus d'enfants que les Allemandes de l'Ouest alors que les différences entre les taux d'activité des mères se sont progressivement atténuées. La proportion de femmes qui n'ont pas d'enfants, en particulier, est beaucoup plus importante en Allemagne de l'Ouest. En comparant deux pays dont les politiques sociales et familiales présentent des similarités, on se propose d'aller au delà des explications les plus couramment admises. En France, contrairement à l'Allemagne de l'Ouest, les normes régissant l'éducation des jeunes enfants ont évolué en phase avec les changements qui ont affectéles comportements des femmes sur le marché du travail. Il est devenu légitime socialement pour les Francaises de travailler à plein temps tout en faisant garder son enfant à l'extérieur du domicile. Les Allemandes de l'Ouest, par contre, intériorisent toujours fortement la norme selon laquelle l'éducation d'un jeune enfant nécessite la présence permanente de sa mère. Mais de plus en plus éduquées, elles sont amenées à accorder la priorité à leur maintien dans l'emploi et à renoncer à la maternité. Pour mieux comprendre les différences de fácondité entre les deux pays, il semble donc fructueux de se focaliser sur les interactions à l'aeuvre entre leurs politiques familiales, les valeurs auxquelles adhèrent la majorité des couples concernant l'éducation des jeunes enfants et les attitudes des femmes face au travail rémunéré.     

Premarital Cohabitation and Housework: Couples in Cross‐National Perspective

The authors examine the effect of premarital cohabitation on the division of household labor in 22 countries. First, women do more routine housework than men in all countries. Second, married couples that cohabited before marriage have a more equal division of housework. Third, national cohabitation rates have equalizing effects on couples regardless of their own cohabitation experience. However, the influence of cohabitation rates is only observed in countries with higher levels of overall gender equality. The authors conclude that the trend toward increasing cohabitation may be part of a broader social trend toward a more egalitarian division of housework.     

A simple estimator for a shared frailty regression model

Summary. We propose a simple estimation procedure for a proportional hazards frailty regression model for clustered survival data in which the dependence is generated by a positive stable distribution. Inferences for the frailty parameter can be obtained by using output from Cox regression analyses. The computational burden is substantially less than that of the other approaches to estimation. The large sample behaviour of the estimator is studied and simulations show that the approximations are appropriate for use with realistic sample sizes. The methods are motivated by studies of familial associations in the natural history of diseases. Their practical utility is illustrated with sib pair data from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.     

Time use satisfaction of wives: Home,farm, and labor force workload

Factors related to time spent in work roles are investigated for a sample of 685 wives living on family farms in seven southern and midwestern states. Data were collected in a comprehensive mail survey. Results show that variables reflecting management are the most important predictors of wife's time use satisfaction. Wife's satisfaction is also significantly related to her education and nonfarm employment. Conclusions indicate that, although wives on family farms experience work-role overload relative to their husbands, they are satisfied with their time contributions to the home/farm situation.Jeanne L. Hafstrom is Associate Professor, Consumer Sciences Division, University of Illinois, 161 Bevier Hall, 905 So. Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Her current research interests include economic well-being and the quality of life.MaryAnn Paynter is Assistant Professor and Family Economics Extension Specialist, Consumer Sciences Division, University of Illinois, 547 Bevier Hall, 905 So. Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. Her current research interests include family resource management strategies.This study was part of S-191 Regional Research Project Farm Wife's External Employment, Family Economic Productivity and Family Functioning, and Project No. 60-0366 supported by the Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.     

Financial management: Development of scales

This study is a contribution to the development of family resource management scales, specifically financial management scales. Principal axis factor analysis, with varimax rotation, is used to assess underlying relationships in 23 family resource management variables related to time and money resources. Reliability and content, construct, and criterion-related validity of the scales are assessed. Two scales that are reliable and have some degree of validity are developed: frequency of financial problems and frequency of financial management. The scales could be used in future research, teaching, or counseling to organize financial management concepts.Preparation of this research was supported in part by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. Data were collected in conjunction with the cooperative regional research project NC-182, Family Resource Utilization as a Factor in Determining Economic Well-Being of Rural Families. Cooperating states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Minnesota.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; her current research interests include gender roles, family financial management, and economic well-being.Her current research interests include family financial management and consumer bankruptcy. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.Her current research interests include the economic well-being of various family forms. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Her research interests are economic well-being and quality of life.     

Factors associated with expectation of household's future financial condition

Path analysis is used to examine the causal relationships among selected objective and subjective factors associated with a household's expectation of future financial condition. Results indicate that respondents who perceive the effect of changes in the external environment on their own household's financial condition as positive are younger, have higher net worth, perceive more internal control over their situation, and report that most of the changes in the external environment are positive. Respondents who are younger, have higher income, perceive more internal control over their situation, and believe the effect of changes in the external environment on their household's financial condition are positive are more likely to be optimistic about their financial future. It is important that educators and financial advisors recognize the significant role perception of being in control plays in determining expectations of future financial condition.Journal Paper No. J-15256 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Project No. 2809. Data were collected in conjunction with the cooperative regional research project NC-182, Family Resource Utilization as a Factor in Determining Economic Well-Being of Rural Families. Cooperating states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, and Minnesota.Her current research interests include family financial management and consumer bankruptcy; she received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois; her current research interests include gender roles, family financial management, and economic well-being.She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Her research interests are economic well-being and quality of life.Her current research interests include the economic well-being of various family forms. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.     

Social Constructionism and Supervision: Experiences of AAMFT Supervisors and Supervised Therapists

A phenomenological research process was used to investigate the supervision experience for supervisors and therapists when supervisors use a social constructionist perspective. Participants of the one‐to‐one interviews were six AAMFT Approved Supervisors and six therapists providing counseling to individuals, couples and families. The findings suggest supervisors were committed to their self‐identified supervision philosophy and intentionally sought out congruence between epistemology and practice. The shared experience of therapists indicates they associated desirable supervision experiences with their supervisors’ social constructionist perspective. Our findings also indicated that supervisors’ and therapists’ understanding of social constructionism included the more controversial concepts of agency and extra‐discursiveness. This research has taken an empirical step in the direction of understanding what the social constructionist supervision experience is like for supervisors and therapists. Our findings suggest a linkage between epistemology and supervision practice and a satisfaction with the supervision process.