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AbstractSouth Africa is the most economically unequal country in the world. Moreover, research shows that inequality has only risen since advent of multi‐party democracy in 1994. In this article, I review research that documents how economic inequality has formed over the past century, and the relationship between these structural conditions and contemporary social stratification. The literature shows that since the end of apartheid racial inequality has declined somewhat, but increases in inequality within race have more than offset this. Despite momentous political change and formal legal equality, economic equality remains elusive for most South Africans. Research on South Africa shows that accounting for the historical construction of institutions that shape inequality is crucial not only for understanding stratification within the country, but for explaining it in any contemporary industrial society.

In this article, I explore the utility of effectively maintained inequality theory in examining educational inequality in South Africa at the end of the apartheid era. As an obviously unequal country, South Africa provides an excellent opportunity to test the claim that even with large quantitative differences in achievement, qualitative differences will matter. Using data from the early 1990s, I find that there were extensive quantitative differences in secondary school transitions across respondents in different racial categories. The minority White population was consistently able to achieve both more and better education. At the same time, though, qualitative distinctions mattered. For the majority of the population, particularly Africans, the quality of education attained varied across parental background. These outcomes are important not only for examining the veracity of effectively maintained inequality, both in terms of racial and class differences but also because they illustrate how educational differences have served to perpetuate inequality over time in a society that no longer allows for the explicit denial of opportunity by race.

"Income Inequality and Economic Development" published on by Oxford University Press.

Regional institutions increasingly shape economic and political development in Southern Africa. In this review, I discuss the historical background of this region and examine the major regional institutions that address key common concerns of economic development, trade, regional migration, and shared natural resources. I also discuss the challenges for, and to, regional integration, including competition among different regional organizations, poverty, war, political instability, and the developing HIV/AIDS pandemic. This research can be understood as illustrative of general research on regions. In particular, it shows how political leaders have created new sets of institutions to deal with important regional concerns, how regional institutions have affected economic development, and how the development of regional organizations is the outcome of regional politics as well as the interaction of national-level decisions.

Focuses on the 1997 mayoral election in Houston, TX, to explore political changes resulting from increasing diversity; disparities between Hispanic demographic numbers & political strength; & factors that impact the ability to translate electoral power into political power. It is argued that the 1997 election of Lee Brown as Houston's first African American mayor was not an indication of a successful African American-led political coalition, but rather, a reflection of Lee's ability to connect with an increasingly diverse city. An overview of Houston's ethnic history & political traditions emphasizes the city's reputation as a "consensus city" relatively free of conflict in which elites have effectively managed interethnic relations. A detailed description of the citizens' voting behavior in the 1997 election illustrates the importance of minority politics in urban elections, especially the ability of a candidate to structure campaign themes around the common interests of all minorities, instead of focusing on the specific interests of any one group. Implications of the Houston mayoral election for urban interethnic political relations are discussed. 8 Tables, 29 References. J. Lindroth

Focuses on the 1997 mayoral election in Houston, TX, to explore political changes resulting from increasing diversity; disparities between Hispanic demographic numbers & political strength; & factors that impact the ability to translate electoral power into political power. It is argued that the 1997 election of Lee Brown as Houston's first African American mayor was not an indication of a successful African American-led political coalition, but rather, a reflection of Lee's ability to connect with an increasingly diverse city. An overview of Houston's ethnic history & political traditions emphasizes the city's reputation as a "consensus city" relatively free of conflict in which elites have effectively managed interethnic relations. A detailed description of the citizens' voting behavior in the 1997 election illustrates the importance of minority politics in urban elections, especially the ability of a candidate to structure campaign themes around the common interests of all minorities, instead of focusing on the specific interests of any one group. Implications of the Houston mayoral election for urban interethnic political relations are discussed. 8 Tables, 29 References. J. Lindroth

Objective. Changes in labor force participation and returns may have lessened divorce's traditionally severe economic consequences for women. Method. We use recent data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) to analyze the economic well‐being of women whose marriages ended between the first and second waves of data collection. Results. Comparing pre‐ and postmarital median per capita income shows that marital disruption now has much more modest economic consequences for women than in years gone by. A multivariate analysis suggests that their higher postdivorce incomes can be primarily attributed to labor force participation and human capital. Conclusions. These findings suggest better life chances for divorcèes and their children.

Changes in labor force participation & returns may have lessened divorce's traditionally severe economic consequences for women. We use recent data from the National Survey of Families & Households (NSFH) to analyze the economic well being of women whose marriages ended between the first & second waves of data collection. Comparing pre- & postmarital median per capita income shows that marital disruption now has much more modest economic consequences for women than in years gone by. A multivariate analysis suggests that their higher postdivorce incomes can be primarily attributed to labor force participation & human capital. In conclusion these findings suggest better life chances for divorcees & their children. 4 Tables, 37 References. Adapted from the source document.

The complex variety of experiences that characterize the current wave of immigration have prompted revisions in the classic model of straight‐line assimilation; the most important alternative theory is based on the concept of "segmented" assimilation. This paper assesses the validity of these two perspectives with data on three generations of Hispanic immigrants in Houston. Contrary to the standard assimilation model, third‐generation Hispanics are not staying in school longer, nor are they earning higher wages than members of the second generation. But contrary to the segmented‐assimilation model, third‐generation Hispanics also give no evidence at all of having assimilated into an "adversarial" culture that rejects mainstream American values and is presumably responsible for restricting their upward mobility. The data reaffirm the pivotal role of education in determining occupational mobility, and they point to the importance of identifying the external societal factors that account for the stalled progress in educational achievement among third‐generation Hispanic Americans.

An attempt is made to clarify reasons for the inconsistent relationships reported in previous research between measures of environmental concern & standard demographic predictors, highlighting the specific trade-offs & implicit comparisons associated with the different ways environmental issues are framed in questionnaire items. Combining data from 4 biennial surveys across TX, 8 demographic variables are regressed on each of 21 repeated measures of environmental attitudes. Reliable relationships across the different ways of measuring environmental concern are found for education & age. This is much less true for gender, religiosity, & ethnicity. Income, size of town, & self-identified political ideology have quite specific & delimited effects. It is concluded that the determinants of environmental concern vary in predictable ways, depending on the trade-offs reflected in the questionnaire items. 6 Tables, 38 References. Adapted from the source document.