THIS ARTICLE DEFINES POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AS THE COMMUNICATION OF CITIZEN PREFERENCES TO PUBLIC OFFICEHOLDERS. THE AUTHORS ANALYZE DATA TO SHOW THAT AGGREGATE SENTENCING DECISIONS OF CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURTS CHANGED TO REFLECT MORE CLOSELY PREVAILING PUBLIC OPINION AFTER A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE EXPRESSED PREFERENCES ON A MARIJUANA ISSUE.
This essay evaluates the scientific quality of two studies of campus diversity. Both gained prominence prior to the Supreme Court's 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger & Gratz v. Bollinger decisions. Using different data & different research designs, the studies reached contrary conclusions about the efficacy of campus diversity. The evaluation centers on conception formation, the reliability of measures, nested data & level of analysis, the demonstration of cause & effect, & the appropriateness of certain types of survey questions. One study generally fares better than the other in terms of these scientific considerations, although many interesting & formidable challenges to the study of campus diversity remain. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.
Finds racial prejudice to be higher in the South than elsewhere, particularly among White men; based on data from surveys designed to prevent calculated responses; US.
This paper looks at representativeness in terms of policy dimensions. As previous studies also have demonstrated, the analysis provides evidence that the level of policy agreement varies across policy domains. The policy linkage is weak on questions of taxation and government administration. Only on contemporary liberalism does the level of policy agreement begin to meet the standards of representational theory. The occurrence of elections is found to be a particularly important determinant of legislative voting vis-à-vis constituency preferences. California senators, elected for four-year terms, are undeniably unrepresentative to direct opinion during the first three years of their terms; representativeness increases dramatically during the final year. Senators facing the possibility of having their reelection fortunes adversely affected by a presidential campaign are particularly attuned to district opinion during the final year of their terms. Assemblymen, who are elected for two-year terms, are attuned to the wishes of their constituencies throughout their terms. As the Founding Fathers believed, the frequency of elections conditions representatives' loyalty to the preferences of the represented.
