Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In the latter half of 18th century Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment the concept of "civil society" emerged as a key theoretical concept (Smith, Ferguson). This pasper identifies the main elements of the concept that were formulated at that time (comparing them critically to more current conceptions) and shows how they were related to specific elements of the social organization of Edinburgh as a local community at that time. In short, the theoretical concept of "civil society" arose out of and reflected the "civil society" of the Edinburgh community lived by these Scottish moralists(Schneider). (See James Buchan's recent popular book "Crowded with Genius").
Linking social conditions of a local community to social thought that emerges from it follows in the footsteps of a long logic of structural and cultural causation proposed by others such as Camic, Bourdieu, and Giddens. The constellation of local community conditions at three levels created both the concept and the reality of civil society -- the micro-interactional of pubs and clubs, the meso-institutional of church, law, and university, and the macro conditions of political economy and the "fractured state".

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines Kant’s Enlightenment project and explains how reflections on legitimacy and community emerged in this central eighteenth-century thinker’s political writings. The aim is to probe the liberal tradition in order to elucidate how what is called liberalism's 'disposition of necessity' is attenuated, perpetuated, resolved, diminished or obscured in Kant's political writings. The concept of 'critique' is of crucial significance here, for it played a central role in philosophical speculation in the eighteenth century. Critique introduced new perspectives on the person, politics, community, and science that are rightly endowed with the name 'Enlightenment' – indeed, a name that, tellingly, is usually capitalized – and a distinct interpretive-analytics with urgent political significance.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper theorizes that the success of European Integration thus far can largely be attributed to the ability of European political elites to limit the forces of democracy among the European citizenry; it further questions the likelihood that this ‘democratic deficit’ can continue to sustain.
Using Comparative Manifesto data from 1945 – 2003, this research explores two primary hypotheses. The first asserts that the expansion of the EU – in size and scope – from its original five members in 1952, to the core of fifteen members in 1995, largely resulted from the ability of political elites to limit the scope of EU deliberation at the domestic level. The second hypothesis explores the possibility that the motivation for support (opposition) of the EU among citizens of Western Europe (the EU15) may be shifting from a purely economic cost-benefit analysis to a cost-benefit analysis that increasingly intertwines considerations of economic well-being with those of cultural homogeneity, and argues that such a shift will limit the degree to which elites can continue to control the reigns of integration.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: While many view globalization as a process fundamentally reshaping the way individuals, communities, and nation-states interact, the emergent patterns of social and political order are unclear and often contradictory. Between the neo-Marxist critics

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The Energy Information Administration faces several challenges, including the following technical, legal, and administrative challenges:
(1)Establishing an ensuring compliance with standards;
(2)On-going evaluation of survey systems and practices to improve quality of data;
(3)Redesigning data collection forms for changing energy industry;
(4)Updating existing survey processing systems and developing new systems;
(5)Planning and implementing changes in survey operations to meet adverse conditions; and
(6)Knowledge transfer to new employees.

Survey documentation provides one way to meet these challenges. Survey documentation includes Survey Operations Manual, Survey User’s Guide, Survey System Programmer’s Guide, Forms and Instructions. For example, survey documentation provides orientation to new employees.

EIA, as a member of the federal statistical community, seeks to provide information that is accurate, timely, relevant, and reliable. In order to achieve this goal, EIA has established standards for survey collection, survey processing, and dissemination of information. To achieve continuous quality improvement, data collection forms and survey processing systems undergo critical examination. Changes in the energy industry provided incentive to redesign forms. Corresponding changes were made to the survey processing systems. By leveraging new applications for processing surveys, the agency intends to improve the accuracy and timeliness of data. Documentation and evaluation of survey procedures and practices will assist in reducing respondent burden, meeting customer demands, and initiating “best practices” for survey operations.

Following September 11th, EIA faced additional challenges. Survey respondents requested alternative communication venues. Information was removed from EIA’s website. EIA revised plans for Continuity of Operations (COOP), establishing plans for maintaining survey functions under adverse conditions.

After providing examples of how EIA documentation meets these challenges, I will offer suggestions regarding practices and procedures for developing and assessing survey documentation.