The automation of trading markets has given rise to a variety of regulatory concerns. We briefly review the regulatory approach used by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in dealing with automation of equity markets and the growth of proprietary trade execution systems in these markets....

This paper examines the framing of social welfare programs in the opinion pages of two major elite newspapers that research shows are widely read by U.S. policymakers. In particular, it focuses on level of attention (salience) and level of support. The data consist of all editorials, op-ed...

Curbside recycling programs grew fivefold betweeen 1988 and 1995, yet recycling as practical activity is contested on both ecological and economic criteria. This paper develops arguments at the intersection of organizational and social movements analysis to develop understanding of how broader...

In "descriptive representation," representatives are in some sense typical of the larger class of persons to which they belong. When substantive interest representation is the aim, descriptive representation may accomplish those goals better than other forms in three contexts: 1)communication...

Democracy, according to most accounts, is supposed to involve policymakers paying attention to ordinary citizens. One way that policy elites might be expected to demonstrate their attention to the public is by explicitly acknowledging, mentioning, and discussing public opinion. In this paper we...

Lake Parc Place is an innovative mixed-income housing project administered by the Chicago Housing Authority. The central component of the project is the fifty-fifty composition of low-income and working-class residents. This paper examines the success of the program in terms of the recruitment...

This study investigated the agenda-setting influences on gubernatorial clemency decisions in four Illinois death penalty cases. It found that press coverage of the cases had a limited impact on the discretionary exercise of clemency power, even when a journalistic campaign for clemency mobilized...

In 1993, citizens in conservative Williamson County, Texas, debated whether to grant tax breaks to attract Apple Computer Company, even though Apple maintained an unpopular policy of extending health care benefits to the unmarried domestic partners of employees. We visited Williamson County to...

The experience of Washington State provides a natural setting to examine the effects of the unemployment insurance payroll tax on layoffs, employment, and wages. During the 13-year period from 1972 through 1984, all employers in Washington paid the same unemployment insurance (UI) tax rate....

Attitudes toward providing welfare assistance for the poor were predicted to be rooted in two important social values, communalism and the work ethic. Communalism was hypothesized to underlie favorable welfare attitudes, and the work ethic to underlie unfavorable welfare attitudes. To test these...