Search results

"During the 1980s and 1990s, European economies went through a period of slowing economic growth and high unemployment, what some economists described as "secular decline." On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States enjoyed a robust recovery during those years by reducing taxes, eliminating regulations on business, and tightening monetary policy. Now, after two decades of subpar growth, the question is whether or not the American economy has entered into its own era of secular decline. This Broadside examines this troubling development, recognizing that there are no easy solutions to the problem. Lacking workable solutions, Americans will have to adjust to a future of slow economic growth, with all that implies for inter-generational progress, American strength abroad and political conflict at home."

A study confirming & enlarging upon a partial explanation of the dominance of lawyers in US politics: that lawyers are advantaged by having legal skills which give them a monopoly over one important route of advancement -- the cluster of offices related to the judicial system. Using data from interviews conducted in 1957 with 504 state legislators from the states of Tenn, Ohio, NJ, & Calif & original data on the interviewees' subsequent political careers it was found that: (1) lawyers move from the state legislature to other offices at a much greater rate than nonlawyers, & the difference is the result of their ability to advance to "lawyers-only" positions; (2) a major reason for the "overpresentation" of laywers in US state legislatures is that legislative service has a greater political career value for lawyers than for nonlawyers; (3) lawyers who move from the state legislature to a "lawyers-only" position tend to stay there; (4) lawyers do not invest appreciably more time in their political careers than nonlawyers; but (5) lawyers are much more likely than nonlawyers to achieve their political career goals. 3 Tables. Modified HA.

Recent research into the structure of public attitudes suggests that levels of "constraint" in the mass public increased substantially between 1956 & 1972, largely in response to the ideological nature of the 1964 presidential election. The validity of this interpretation is examined, & it is suggested that constraint in the mass public probably did not increase very much, but that reported changes were due instead to changes in the survey items used to measure constraint. Implications of this view are considered. 6 Tables. HA.