Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The U.S. Census Bureau has been developing the American Community Survey, which is designed to replace the decennial census long form and is scheduled to go into full production in 2004. The American Community Survey collects data using three modes for each monthly sample, mail the first month, telephone the next month, and personal visit the third month. Part of the survey development process was a test in the spring of 2003 of the effects on the survey if response was voluntary instead of mandatory. We tested two types of mandatory mail packages: the current package and one designed to be more user-friendly, and two types of voluntary mail packages: a package with �standard� letters and one that featured the voluntary message more prominently. This paper compares mail, telephone, and personal visit cooperation rates and telephone and personal visit refusal rates between the treatments. The paper also analyzes the effects on response and refusal rates of the survey changing to voluntary for the telephone and personal visit modes. This is possible since all field operations became voluntary on the same date, during the data collection period for two of the panels. For one panel, the survey became voluntary at the personal visit stage, while for another, it became voluntary at the telephone stage. This analysis will help demonstrate how much respondents remember about prior communications when they are contacted by an interviewer and how much those communications influence their willingness to respond.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Political power structure research has questioned what role, if any, outside actors play in policymaking for over a century, with three main competing perspectives emerging: state-centered theory, pluralism, and elite-power theory. The debates between these three perspectives remain largely unresolved because much of the work in this area has focused on the question of outsider unity rather than outsider influence, and/or relied heavily on specific policy cases rather than policymaking more generally. In this paper, I look at day-to-day policymaking over a two-year period to test the predictions of these theories. Analytically, I use relational analyses to examine the relationship between PAC campaign contributions and roll call voting in the 104th U.S. Congress (1995-96), attempting to address the issue of causality in this relationship. I find that PAC contributions, in general, have a significant positive effect on roll call voting. I also find, examining specific types of PAC contributions, that capitalist PAC contributions have a significant positive effect on roll call voting while labor PAC contributions do not. My findings thus support the predictions of elite-power theory, but fail to support the predictions of state-centered theory or pluralism.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Having moved beyond imperial despotism, the Western world has spent recent centuries developing a self-satisfied embrace of democracy: the rule of the many, acting in our own individual interests. Democracy's evangelical demeanor means spreading this hyper-individualism around the world, often tied to economic and political relationships and imperial ventures.But there is great human alienation and dwindling communitarianism that come from the rising political, economic and social focus on immediate self interest, the obsessive pursuit of efficiency, marketization and short-sighted zero-sum competitiveness. These trends manifest in reduced political efficacy and human participation in all things political. Our democracies must be places where we think seven generations ahead, holistically, symbiotically, ecologically and with a focus on tending to the fabric of society itself. They are failing at this for many reasons, including hyper-individualism, the impaired state of the free press and de-humanized technology. Neil Postman's prescient 1985 Amusing Ourselves to Death explores the disturbing rise of edutainment and soft news that anesthetizes citizens. Postman's 1993 Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology examines the triumph of efficiency over thought and reflection. Even Al Gore's latest book, The Assault on Reason, examines the decay of authentic civic discourse in "the world's greatest democracy"�(tm).But how do we develop a society that has sufficient communitarian spirit to actually exercise civic behaviour that is more selfless than our current selfish-centered state? While the idea of polity is typically a synonym for citizenry, Aristotle's notion of polity was the rule of many, acting for the collective good. Polity is a tonic to heal the social dislocation of democracy. John Rawls' work on the veil of ignorance, a means of designing public policy without the bias of self-interest can re-invigorate collective governance. Further, Erin Kelly's work on collective liability helps us see how our interconnected social fabric binds our moral responsibilities to each other's well-being.As we attempt to export freedom and democracy throughout the world through nefarious or altruistic means, we need to examine what governance model we are promoting. A democracy that glorifies self-centeredness erodes society and democracy itself. A polity that supports community can lead to a vibrant, robust society.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Discussion of the economic meltdown and various aspects of the stimulus package with an emphasis on the tax provisions

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The proliferation of specialized/niche television markets broadens the number of venues for group representation, but narrows the focus of any given station. The literature has not yet explored the degree to which television advertising mirrors this effect or its possible implications. Additionally, the recent discussion of �a la cart� cable television options has niche stations debating the potential impact of increasingly selective viewing. Minority targeted stations are doubly-concerned about not only the potential of losing valuable audience and resources, but also the potential loss of a positive minority presence in the overall media landscape. This concern assumes that niche stations matter and that they influence the way that minority groups are presented. This article analyzes the impact of niche markets on minority representations by reporting on a content analysis of television commercials (n = 434) aired during prime-time on both the general networks and an African American niche market (BET) in 2002. In-group/out-group representations are explored in relation to depictions of agency and domestic/romantic fulfillment. The findings reveal that although the majority of characters were white males, the niche market did provide a venue for alternative minority representations. Specifically, characters in the African American niche were more likely to be portrayed as respected and as sex-objects. Although the niche market represents a venue for minority voices, it also has the potential for negative ramifications suggesting that the loss of these niche outlets could have a complicated impact on the number and quality of images of minorities in the media.