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Motivated by research showing that policy preferences are driven by social-interests rather than strict self-interest, this article examines if stereotypes of "the rich" shape Americans' tax policy preferences. For this project, an original free-response survey was designed asking respondents to describe "the rich." Respondents offered 1,570 unique descriptions, ranging from "hard working" and "job producer" to "selfish" and "inheritance." In the analysis, these stereotypes were modeled in three ways: (a) as affective stereotypes, (b) as discrete categories, and (c) as deservingness stereotypes. There are three main findings. First, political ideology and affective stereotypes have large and statistically indistinguishable effects on tax policy preferences. Second, deservingness stereotypes—in particular, whether the rich exhibit dispositional and prosocial characteristics—have particularly large effects on preferences for taxing the wealthy. And third, both affective and deservingness stereotypes have an interactive effect with personal ideology. For self-described liberals, preferences for taxing the wealthy are largely a function of ideological considerations. For conservatives, however, tax policy preferences are determined by a mix of ideology and stereotypes. In sum, the findings suggest that stereotypes affect policy preferences even when the target belongs to an advantaged group and the policy domain is nonracial.

When Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton died of prostate cancer at age sixty-one in August, the outpouring of grief was extraordinary. Thousands attended his funeral and lined the streets, wearing the orange colors of the social democratic party he led. Layton was granted a state funeral, his body lying in state for two days in Toronto. Such ceremonies are reserved for prime ministers, governor generals, and active members of the cabinet, not opposition leaders. Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper offered Layton's family the honor, however, sensing the public mood. Harper is nothing if not a shrewd politician, and he knew much of the country felt it had suffered a great loss.

When Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton died of prostate cancer at age sixty-one in August, the outpouring of grief was extraordinary. Thousands attended his funeral and lined the streets, wearing the orange colors of the social democratic party he led. Layton was granted a state funeral, his body lying in state for two days in Toronto. Such ceremonies are reserved for prime ministers, governor generals, and active members of the cabinet, not opposition leaders. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered Layton's family the honor, however, sensing the public mood. Harper is nothing if not a shrewd politician, and he knew much of the country felt it had suffered a great loss. The thousands who attended Layton's funeral were grieving for a man who passed away only four months after leading his party to unprecedented electoral success. The NDP had just thirteen seats when Layton took over as party leader in 2003, and when he died that figure stood at a hundred and three, the best in the party's history. But Layton's death eliminated the party's greatest asset. The future success of the New Democratic Party, both in the near and long-term, is now very much in doubt. Adapted from the source document.

When Michael Ignatieff resigned as leader of Canada's Liberals at a press conference in Toronto on May 3rd, members of his team were seen at the back of the room in tears. They were grieving not just for their party-which the previous day had suffered the worst defeat in its history, coming a first-ever third place in the federal election, behind not only their Conservative Party tormentors but also the left-wing New Democrats. They were grieving even more for the death of a dream, the sad end of a six-year experiment that they had once believed would conclude with a unique man, Ignatieff himself, pulling the sword of political governance out of the stone of political theory and coming to power in Canada as a contemporary philosopher-king. Adapted from the source document.

The first stage in the policy lifecycle—creation—has garnered significant attention while the final stage—repeal—has received scarcely any. To reconcile this imbalance, an extensive data set recording repeals to landmark laws enacted from 1951 to 2006 was complied. Event history analysis yields three significant results. First, the incidence of repeal exhibits a regular pattern characterized by an increasing hazard immediately after enactment followed by institutionalization and a monotonically declining hazard. Second, divided government has a complementary effect on the policy process, simultaneously constraining lawmakers from reversing enacted policies while effecting more durable legislation over the long term. Thus, the negative effects of divided government on policy production are offset by a decrease in policy repeal. Third, polarization has a curvilinear effect on the risk of repeal. Moderate polarization facilitates coalition formation when enacting repeals while polarized and depolarized periods have an attenuating effect.

Do ballot measures affect congressional voting behavior? Examining the issues of gay marriage, campaign finance, and minimum wage, we test if the results of statewide ballot initiatives inform congressional roll call votes on legislation occupying the same issue space. Theoretically, we expect signals from ballot measures-which provide precise information about the preferences of a member's voting constituency-reduce policy "shirking" by members. Our findings across the three issues indicate that ballot initiative outcomes alter the floor votes of members of the House, reducing legislative shirking, but we find that the educative effect of ballot measures is attenuated in the Senate due to institutional factors. We attribute the positive effect in House to the precise signal ballot measures provide members about the preferences of the median voter in their district. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright holder.]