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Argues that disputes arising from the FL vote in the 2000 presidential election should have been resolved by Congress rather than the Supreme Court. An analysis of Bush v. Gore maintains that the US Supreme Court's decision to remand the case & stay the recount indicates an inherent conflict of interest on the part of the justices that sets it apart from earlier election law cases reviewed by the Court. Charges of partisanship would have been avoided if the Court had left the matter to the political sphere. Claims that failure of the Court to intervene in the election would have caused a constitutional crisis are based on unfounded fears stemming from distrust of the political process. Not only is there no evidence that the political crisis would have damaged the institutions of governance, but it is likely that the dispute could have been resolved by state actors. If not, it is contended that the proper forum for determining the outcome was the US Congress, which has a framework for constraining opportunism & channeling deliberation. J. Lindroth

Evaluates the state of current legislative studies with an eye toward understanding the implications of the predominant focus on the contemporary Congress. This scholarly dominance is described before tracing the development of modern legislative studies. How the focus on Congress has influenced comparative studies is scrutinized, noting shifts in methodologies & theoretical arguments as models & thought have been successfully exported to other settings. Observations are offered on this phenomenon; eg, many applications of congressional research have occurred outside legislative studies. Such influence has also generated bias in how legislative scholars pose & address questions. The problem of emphasizing individual legislator behavior rather than policy outcomes is one example. Discussion turns to the theoretical template residing in the core rational-choice, institutional framework employed for Congressional research, noting the fixed nature of the institutional setting in such work. The problem with treating institutions as constants is demonstrated via examination of the origins of legislative structure & the impact of institutions on individual behavior & legislative outputs. In this light, it is seen that recent comparative research is transcending the biases inherent to a Congress-centered approach out of necessity. J. Zendejas

Driven by partisan politics & a highly influential interest group, the Republican Congress sought to expand & to codify the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba in 1995. A single deadly act by the Cuban government led President Bill Clinton to support the congressional initiative, but to the consternation of some members of Congress, he was able ultimately to circumvent some of the other restrictions on U.S. trade policy & contacts with Cuba. Opposition to parts of the law resulted in a split within the Republican Party.

Examines women's gains in the US Congress. The 2000 election results are reviewed, noting that a record number of women serve in the 107th Congress & that women have become increasingly successful in running their campaigns. However, despite growing federal-level political representation, women remain underrepresented in Congress relative to their proportion of the population; factors behind this are considered, eg, electoral structures & the social eligibility pool. Attention turns to the voting gender gap & women candidates' success with campaign finance. Implications of addressing women's congressional representation are discussed, eg, for democratic legitimacy, & it is seen that women stand a good chance to increase their presence in Congress. 6 Tables, 45 References. J. Zendejas

This examination of preference change in the U.S. Congress illuminates some of the possible causes of preference shifting. Rational choice models that are committed to fix preferences as explanatory objects exclude strategic endogeneity. To update the study of beliefs, a continuum of preference change is used. Examination of legislative behavior during the civil rights movement era indicates endogenous preference shifts accounted for some preference change during that period, but does not explain all the broad patterns. A true description of civil rights policy & politics requires some kind of pure preference change beyond replacement or other conversion mechanisms. Consideration of the endogenous preferences links the fact that Americans occasionally change the American creed to the many channels that legislatures use to update understanding of their constituencies. Tables, References. J. Harwell

Der Beitrag dokumentiert die Diskussion auf der "Author Meets Critic"-Veranstaltung zu John Urrys "Sociology Beyond Societies" auf dem 32. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (2004). Zunächst erläutert Urry den Grundgedanken seines Ansatzes, der auf eine Aufhebung der Trennung zwischen Naturwissenschaften und Gesellschaftswissenschaften hinausläuft. Unter dem Leitbild "Komplexität" wird die Analyse physischer und sozialer Welten integriert. Dabei werden auch Elemente von Hardt/Negris "Empire und Multitude"-Konzept aufgegriffen. Der Begriff der Globalen Komplexität steht auch im Mittelpunkt der Kommentare von Junge und Schwengel zu Urrys Buch. (ICE)

Considers whether congress has the right to renew the Voting Rights Act, VRA, despite cases such as South Carolina v. Katzenbach & due to cases such as City of Boerne v. Flores, which has attempted to limit congress' ability to supercede states' rights in voting regulations. Contends that racist voter practices are almost nonexistent or even implausible to practice now, leaving the VRA renewal unnecessary, while yet showing the possibility of renewal that still exists via recent machinations of the Supreme Court, etc., & then diagramming the history of the court cases contending or defending the VRA, the shift in thought within the changing faces in the Supreme Court, that body's restriction of some of congress' power under the Commerce Clause, & the need of the congress to created a powerful, pointed reason that it might seek renewal, as many of the reasons so far are mere proxies lacking true strength to convince. Advances & expands the argument of state rights versus federal intervention with the cases of Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs & Tennessee v. Lane. Shows changes in the preclearance standard & Beer test while considering other ways that congress might enforce preclearance. Figures, References. J. Fullmer

W. E. B. Du Bois's commitment to the Pan-African movement is argued to be linked to his commitment to eradicate racism, colonialism, & all structures of exploitation. Du Bois has been credited with founding the Pan-African movement in the 20th century, & his long involvement with movement organizations, coupled with his many written pieces on Pan-Africanism, make him a central figure in this movement. His consistent theme, from his attendance at the Pan-African Assoc's conference in 1900, through many Pan-African Congresses, was his commitment to democracy & self-rule. The growth of the Pan-African Congress from its beginnings in WWI through the period of decolonization is charted, with specific references to Du Bois's influence. George Padmore & Kwame Nkrumah are identified as the bearers of Du Bois's legacy to the momentous Fifth Pan-African Congress in 1945, & to Africa as new states were formed. H. von Rautenfeld

In the wake of the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the Republican-controlled Congress was able to use the International Monetary Fund's need for capital to press for major reforms within that organization. The debate became more complicated when antiabortion advocates attempted to add antiabortion language to appropriation bills. In a showdown between the executive & legislative branches, Congress ultimately dropped the abortion language, but the issue of linking funding to abortion policy continues to surface in budgetary debates concerning international organizations.

This article presents the Code of Professional Ethics of Sociologist adopted at the 5th Congress of the Sociological Association of Ukraine in May 2004.

In this chapter of Life after Reform: When Bipartisan Campaign Reform Meets Politics, the author traces the odyssey Congress traveled to produce the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) as an overview of the diverse policy views, & the difficulties of resolving the many substantive concerns of campaign finance reform. Diverse policy preferences & the debates are contextualized in the contentious political environment that limited coalition building due to tensions between differing perspectives on problem definition, partisan interests, constitutional imperatives & parliamentary procedure. The evolution of the partisan debate on soft monies & labor union spending issues surrounding the McCain Feingold bill are traced through the 106th & 107th Congresses & eventual signing by President Bush. The author concludes that debates about campaign finance reform remain because the debate originates in the various determinates of the behavior of political donors that lead to diverse policy preferences. 1 Table. J. Harwell

Describes the religious debate that took place within the Communist Party in the 1920s. Although today's Russian Federation is seeking its cultural roots in religion & national identity, both were condemned as ideological enemies during the Soviet period. The article focuses on the case of M. H. Sultan-Galiev, whom the 12th Congress accused of conspiracy & expelled from the Party in 1923 on the grounds of "Pan-Turkism" & "Pan-Islamism." Sultan-Galiev had recommended, among other things, that the Communist Party must reach a compromise with religion to be effective in Muslim areas. The religious debate continued with the 13th Congress; a resolution introduced by M. I. Kalinin recommended anti-religious propaganda rather than coercive measures, although Trotsky warned of the potential consequences. The Russian Orthodox Church has been politicized in recent years, & its future is uncertain. 31 References. J. R. Callahan