Suchergebnisse

Objective: To determine the effects of clergy attitudes on the willingness of congregations to seek public funding to provide social welfare. Methods: Survey data are drawn from a probability sample of clergy leading congregations in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A logistic regression model examines the effects of clergy attitudes on the potential pursuit of public funding by congregations. Results: Controlling for a set of congregation attributes, a positive attitude toward partnerships between congregations and secular groups and a fear of government entanglement with religion are the strongest attitudinal predictors of congregation willingness to pursue public funding. However, attributes, particularly the racial composition of members and denominational affiliation, also predict congregation willingness to seek public funding. Conclusions: Congregation willingness to pursue public funding is a function of clergy attitudes and congregation attributes, which has implications for politics and public policy. Tables, 3, References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives: Contrary to conventional wisdom, Census data show a substantial local role in providing health, housing, and public welfare services. I evaluate two models to explain local social welfare: an intergovernmental model, based on federal and state funds, and an interjurisdictional model, based on measures of local monopoly power. Methods: I estimate a panel data model of local redistributive expenditures from 1992-2002 to test between these alternative explanations for local redistribution. Results: I find that vertical arrangements tend to drive local redistributive spending. Conclusions: Intergovernmental factors drive local social welfare policy and suppress the local welfare race to the bottom. Tables, 3, References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives: We document and model health insurance coverage and health-care utilization of very young, U.S.-born Mexican-American children relative to their non-Hispanic white and black counterparts. Methods: We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and multivariate regression methods. Results: Based on descriptive and multivariate analyses, the findings show that compared to non-Hispanic white children, Mexican-American children have lower rates of health insurance coverage and less health-care utilization. Mexican-American children born in the United States to foreign-born mothers utilize health care the least and are much more likely to be fully uninsured compared to other children. Conclusion: The early health advantage of Mexican-origin children at birth runs the risk of being compromised by the time they reach age three as a result of poor access to healthcare. Greater health insurance coverage for Mexican-American children and, in particular, Mexican-American children of immigrants is needed. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this article is to examine a radically new phase in Irish popular politics in Glasgow during the 1860s. More precisely, the aim is to describe & explain how a secular notion of Irishness made a decisive impact on a key migrant community in Britain. Actively opposed by the local Catholic hierarchy, this secular Irishness nevertheless allowed for the emergence not only of Irish 'ward politicians' as elsewhere in Victorian Britain, but also, in the longer term, allowed for the emergence of John Ferguson & his 'fusion' of loyalties to both organised labour & Irish nationalism. 41 References. Adapted from the source document.

Objective-This article examines the factors that form voters' perceptions of the parties' chances of winning at both the national and the local levels. Method-We make use of the 1988 Canadian Election Study and we employ a HLM model to estimate the effect of individual-level and contextual-level variables. Results-It is shown that voters' expectations are affected by a combination of "objective" contextual information and personal preferences (projection effects). Conclusion-The basic contextual information that is utilized to ascertain local chances is the outcome of the previous election in the local constituency, whereas polls are crucial in the case of perceived national chances. We also find that the most politically aware are more strongly influenced by "objective" indicators. Tables, 7, References. Adapted from the source document.

Objective: The goal of this article is to analyze the relationship between religion, measured in terms of religious affiliation and religiosity, and public opinion about same-sex marriage, civil unions, and a federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage. Methods: We use logistic regression with calculated standardized coefficients to analyze data from a nationally representative survey of 1,610 respondents conducted in March-April 2004. Results: Religious variables perform better than demographic measures in models of attitudes about same-sex unions. Non-Protestants are much more likely to support same-sex unions than are Protestants, and individuals with conservative attitudes toward morality and secularism and (to a lesser extent) those who participate actively in religious life are more likely to oppose such unions. On the whole, religious variables play a weaker role in predicting support for a constitutional amendment to prevent gay marriage than they do in predicting attitudes toward same-sex unions. Conclusions: Religious variables play powerful roles in structuring attitudes about same-sex unions. Moreover, homosexuality appears to be a major component of the "moral values" discourse that is currently so popular in American politics. Tables, 4, References. Adapted from the source document.

Objectives: Although employment among welfare mothers increased substantially following the 1996 welfare reform, some former welfare recipients failed to find stable employment. We review the extent to which low-income mothers are without work and cash welfare for long periods of time and seek to understand the correlates of becoming chronically disconnected. Methods: We analyze data from a 1997-2003 panel study of single mothers who received cash welfare in an urban county in Michigan in February 1997. We develop a new measure of the extent to which former recipients are "chronically disconnected" from both employment and cash welfare and estimate regression models of the correlates of this economic outcome. Results: About 9 percent of respondents became chronically disconnected, defined as being without employment and cash welfare during at least one-quarter of the months during the 79-month study period. Important correlates of becoming chronically disconnected include having a physical limitation, having a learning disability, using illegal drugs or meeting the diagnostic screening criteria for alcohol dependence, and having no car or driver license. The chronically disconnected are more likely to have lost a job than to have lost welfare benefits and are more economically disadvantaged than those with regular sources of economic support. Conclusions: To reduce the number of women who fail to make a successful transition from welfare to work, more attention should be given to programs and policies that attempt to reconnect disconnected women to regular sources of economic support. Tables, Figures, 4, References. Adapted from the source document.

Interoperability across Modeling and Simulation (M&S) and Command and Control (C2) systems continues to be a significant problem for today's warfighters. M&S is well-established in military training, but it can be a valuable asset for planning and mission rehearsal if M&S and C2 systems were able to exchange information, plans, and orders more effectively. To better support the warfighter with M&S based capabilities, an open standards-based framework is needed that establishes operational and technical coherence between C2 and M&S systems.

Objective: We ask whether individual and local factors known to influence reliance on welfare continue to be important under the TANF program, and if such factors differentially affect exit from TANF for African Americans and whites. Methods: We use monthly administrative data on TANF recipients from October 1996 to July 2004 from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. These data are linked to local economic, social, and spatial characteristics to estimate discrete time hazard models of TANF exit. Results: Personal barriers to work (e.g., low education and children) and limited economic and social opportunities in communities reduce the likelihood of leaving TANF. The results show that African-American exits from TANF are more influenced by human capital and local economic, social, and spatial conditions than are whites' TANF exits. Conclusion: The work-first initiative under TANF is most viable where individual barriers to work are limited and economic opportunities and community support to become self-sufficient exist for all people. Tables, 2, References. Adapted from the source document.

The New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD), adopted in 2001 by the body now known as the African Union, offers a comprehensive and integrated strategic framework for addressing Africas development challenges. A major obstacle in moving NEPAD forward is the problem of capacity deficits. This article discusses Africas specific capacity deficits and offers suggestions for actions to be implemented to develop capacity, including effective partnerships among the major stakeholders. Adapted from source document

"Social science research in general is confronted with growing pressure to define parameters for research quality. This is especially the case in economic research. Publications in refereed journals have become an important parameter in this process. Consequently, for following up recent trends in economic research on China the paper first presents some 'bibliometric' insights derived from the relevant scientific citation indices. In the second part of the paper major research approaches are identified and necessary conditions for successful research discussed." (author's abstract)

Der Autor konstatiert zunächst, dass die BRD in den vergangenen anderthalb Jahrzehnten als Gesamtheit "ungleicher geworden ist und sich die politische Stimmung verschlechtert hat". Das hat Konsequenzen für das politische System der Bundesrepublik: Erstens wird der föderative Zusammenhalt der alten Bundesrepublik problematischer. Zweitens öffnet sich das Parteiensystem, das Wahlverhalten wird unberechenbarer. Drittens verlieren Volksparteien und Koalitionsmuster an Verbindlichkeit. Viertens lassen politische Zufriedenheit und Unterstützung der demokratischen Ordnung nach. Fünftens schließlich lässt die sprichwörtliche Konsensorientierung nach, und die (mediale) Konfrontation wächst. Der Autor deutet diese Entwicklung in der Weise, dass sich die Sozialstruktur "verwestlicht" hat, während die politischen Strukturen "östlicher" werden. "Veröstlichung" meint nicht Restauration der DDR oder eines gewendeten Realsozialismus, sondern lediglich, dass man in der politisch-sozialen Entwicklung der neuen Länder eher das Bild der künftigen Entwicklung Gesamtdeutschlands vor Augen hat als in der üblichen Vision einer Anpassung in umgekehrter Richtung. Das beinhaltet die gesamtdeutsche Relativierung jener spezifischen politisch-kulturellen Westbindung, die die Bonner Republik auszeichnete. Das Fazit des Autors lautet - in Übereinstimmung mit sozialwissenschaftliche Studien zur deutschen Einheit -, dass die öffentliche Rede von der "unvollendeten Einheit" und die unreflektierte Formel von der "Mauer in den Köpfen" überwunden werden müssen: "Sie leistet der Ethnisierung sozialer Konflikte Vorschub, während die soziologische Aufklärung auf die Beseitigung vermeidbarer Ungleichheit abzielt und, bei allem Differenzbewusstsein, die Überwindung sozialer Ungerechtigkeit in Deutschland (und darüber hinaus) postuliert". (ICA2)