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Legislators often rely on cues from colleagues to inform their actions. Several studies identify the boardinghouse effect, cue-taking among U.S. legislators who lived together in the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, there remains reason for skepticism, as legislators likely selected residences for reasons including political similarity. We analyze U.S. House members' residences from 1801 to 1861, decades more than previously studied, and show not only that legislators tended to live with similar colleagues but also that coresidents with divergent politics were more likely to move apart. Therefore, we deploy improved identification strategies. First, using weighting, we estimate that coresidence increased voting agreement, but at only half of previously reported levels. Consistent with theoretical expectations, we find larger effects for weaker ties and those involving new members. Second, we study legislators who died in office, estimating that deaths increased ideological distance between survivors and deceased coresidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Highly caffeinated energy drinks (EDs) are popular with adolescents and young adults, but longitudinal consumption patterns are poorly understood especially in relation to other substance use.Methods: ED and other substance use were assessed annually (modal ages 21-25) among a sample (n=1099) who were originally recruited as first-year college students (modal age 18). Trajectory groups were derived based on probability of past-year use during ages 21-24, and compared for possible differences in substance use outcomes at age 25, holding constant demographics, sensation-seeking, other caffeine consumption, and age 21 substance use.Results: From age 21-25, ED consumption declined in both annual prevalence [62.5%wt to 49.1%wt (wt=weighted)] and frequency of use among consumers (35.2-26.3 days/year). Yet individuals exhibiting a Persistent trajectory (51.4%) of consumption outnumbered those with Non-Use (20.6%), Intermediate (17.4%), or Desisting (10.6%) trajectories. Age 25 cocaine use, nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS), and alcohol use disorder (AUD) risk were significantly associated with trajectory group membership, with Persistent and Intermediate groups exhibiting the highest risk for such outcomes, even accounting for prior substance use and other risk factors. Neither marijuana nor tobacco use were associated with group membership.Conclusions: The typical pattern of ED consumption among this sample was sustained use throughout young adulthood. Such individuals appear to be at high risk for adverse substance use outcomes, and results suggest possible specificity regarding cocaine use and NPS, and AUD risk. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the connection between ED and substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sales of energy drinks have increased rapidly since their introduction to the marketplace in the 1990s. Despite the health concerns raised about these beverages, which are often highly caffeinated, surprisingly little data are available to estimate the prevalence of their use. This review presents the results of secondary data analyses of a nationally representative data set of schoolchildren in the United States and reviews the available research on the association between energy drink use and risk-taking behaviors. Approximately one-third of the students surveyed were recent users of energy drinks, with substantial variation by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Among the health and safety concerns related to energy drinks and their consumption is the possible potentiation of risk-taking behaviors. The review of available research reveals that, although there does appear to be a strong and consistent positive association between the use of energy drinks and risk-taking behavior, all but one of the available studies used cross-sectional designs, thereby limiting the ability to make inferences about the temporal nature of the association. Thus, more research is needed to understand the nature of this association and how energy drinks, particularly those containing caffeine, might impact adolescent health and safety, especially given the high prevalence of their use among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background It is well known that using false identification ( ID) is a common method by which underage youth in the United States obtain alcohol. While false ID use is associated with high-risk drinking patterns, its association with alcohol use disorder ( AUD), independent of other risk factors, has not been firmly established. Methods Participants were 1,015 college students recruited from 1 university and assessed annually during their first 4 years of college. Latent variable growth curve modeling was used to identify significant predictors of false ID use and test the hypothesis that false ID use increased the risk for AUD, by increasing the frequency and/or quantity of alcohol use. Several other hypothesized risk factors for AUD were accounted for, including demographics (sex, race, living situation, religiosity, socioeconomic status), individual characteristics (childhood conduct problems, sensation-seeking, age at first drink), high school behaviors (high school drinking frequency, drug use), family factors (parental monitoring, parental alcohol problems), perception of peer drinking norms, and other factors related to false ID use. Results False IDs were used by almost two-thirds (66.1%) of the sample. False ID use frequency was positively associated with baseline quantity and frequency of alcohol use, independent of all other factors tested. False ID use was not directly related to AUD risk, but indirectly predicted increases in AUD risk over time through its association with greater increases in alcohol use frequency over time. Several predictors of false ID use frequency were also identified. Conclusions False ID use may contribute to AUD risk by facilitating more frequent drinking. If replicated, these findings highlight the potential public health significance of policies that enforce sanctions against false ID use. Students who use false IDs represent an important target population for alcohol prevention activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevalence and correlates of HIV testing were examined in a sample of 957 unmarried recent college students in the United States. Participants were asked about HIV testing, past-six-months sexual activities, lifetime treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI), past-year health service utilization, and DSM-IV criteria for alcohol and other drug (AOD) dependence during the 2008-2009 academic year. Two in five (41.9%wt) were ever tested for HIV. Holding constant demographics, HIV testing was positively related to AOD dependence, frequency of unprotected sex, number of sex partners, having a physical exam by a medical professional, number of visits to a health provider for physical health problems, and lifetime STI treatment. Women were more likely than men to be tested for HIV despite similar levels of risky sex. Results demonstrate the feasibility of achieving high HIV testing rates in a college population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which focuses on the use of polar-focused approach to solar radiation management (SRM) to limit the pace of climatic changes in high latitudes. The study used the CAM3.1 atmospheric model coupled to a slab ocean from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The study shows that green house gas emission is sufficient to limit the warming influence of greenhouse gas concentrations and polar reductions in solar radiation.

BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the deliberate and direct injuring of body tissue without suicidal intent for purposes not socially sanctioned. Few studies have examined the correlates of NSSI among young adults. This study aimed to identify predictors of lifetime and past-year NSSI, and describe motives for NSSI and disclosure of NSSI to others.MethodInterviews were conducted annually with 1081 students enrolled in the College Life Study, a prospective longitudinal study conducted at a large public mid-Atlantic university. NSSI characteristics were assessed at Year 4. Demographic and predictor variables were assessed during Years 1 to 4. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify correlates of lifetime NSSI and predictors of past-year NSSI.ResultsThe prevalence of past-year and lifetime NSSI was 2% and 7% respectively (>70% were female for both lifetime and past-year NSSI). Seven percent of NSSI cases self-injured once, whereas almost half self-injured six or more times. Independent predictors of past-year NSSI were maternal depression, non-heterosexual orientation, affective dysregulation and depression. Independent predictors of lifetime NSSI were depression, non-heterosexual orientation, paternal depression and female sex. One in six participants with NSSI had attempted suicide by young adulthood. The three most commonly reported motives for NSSI were mental distress, coping and situational stressors. Most (89%) told someone about their NSSI, most commonly a friend (68%).ConclusionsThis study identified unique predictors of NSSI, which should help to elucidate its etiology and has implications for early identification and interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates citizen perceptions of the impartiality and legitimacy of courts, focusing on a state (West Virginia) that has recently been a battleground for conflict over campaign support, perceived conflicts of interest, and loss of impartiality. We employ an experimental vignette embedded within a representative sample to test hypotheses about factors affecting perceived judicial impartiality. Perhaps not surprising is our finding that campaign contributions threaten the legitimacy of courts. More unexpected is evidence that contributions offered but rejected by the candidate have similar effects to contributions offered and accepted. And, although recusal can rehabilitate a court/judge to some degree, the effect of recusal is far from the complete restoration of the institution’s impartiality and legitimacy. The processes by which citizens form and update their opinions of judges and courts seem to involve preexisting attitudes, normative expectations of judges, and perceptions of contextual factors associated with judicial decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article intended to gather the concerning information to the level of coverage of food insecurity of the population served by NIS-Olímpic. With the use of an elaborated questionary based on USA's Cornell University's research, and validated by IBGE. We noticed that an average of 60,5% of population with a incomplete primary school and incomes until R$ 510,00 and also lower food intake, with some episodes of hunger, and characterizing food insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand the extent to which medication adherence was related to diversion of prescription analgesics. Cross-sectional analyses of data from the College Life Study, a prospective study of young adults. Participants were originally sampled as incoming first-time first-year college students from one large public university in the Mid-Atlantic United States. One hundred ninety-two young adults aged 21-26 who were prescribed an analgesic to treat acute pain in the past year. Diversion of prescription analgesics. The study tested two competing hypotheses: 1) individuals who skip doses (under-users) are at greatest risk for diversion because they have leftover medication; and 2) individuals who over-use their prescriptions (over-users) are at greatest risk for diversion, perhaps because of a general propensity to engage in deviant behavior. Fifty-eight percent followed physician's instructions regarding their prescription analgesic medication; 27% under-used their prescribed medication and 16% over-used their prescribed medication. Twenty-seven percent of the total sample diverted their medication, with over-users being the most likely to divert (63%). Holding constant demographic characteristics and perceived harmfulness of nonmedical use, over-users were almost five times as likely as adherent users to divert analgesic medications ( P < 0.05). Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between adherence and diversion. If these findings are replicated, physicians who are involved in pain management for acute conditions among young adults should take steps to monitor adherence and reduce diversion of prescription analgesics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does understanding how U.S. Supreme Court justices actually decide cases undermine the institutional legitimacy of the nation's highest court? To the extent that ordinary people recognize that the justices are deciding legal disputes on the basis of their own ideological biases and preferences (legal realism and the attitudinal model), the belief that the justices merely 'apply' the law (mechanical jurisprudence and the myth of legality) is difficult to sustain. Although it is easy to see how the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, the most unaccountable of all American political institutions, is nurtured by the view that judicial decisionmaking is discretionless and mechanical, the sources of institutional legitimacy under legal realism are less obvious. Here, we demonstrate, using a nationally representative sample, that the American people understand judicial decisionmaking in realistic terms, that they extend legitimacy to the Supreme Court, and they do so under the belief that judges exercise their discretion in a principled and sincere fashion. Belief in mechanical jurisprudence is therefore not a necessary underpinning of judicial legitimacy; belief in legal realism is not incompatible with legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To: (1) estimate the proportion of students exposed to specific types of information regarding the positive and negative effects of ecstasy, (2) test models that quantified the relationship between exposure to these messages and subsequent ecstasy use, controlling for peer drug use and sensation-seeking. Methods: As part of the College Life Study, 447 students, aged 17–20 years, from a university in the mid-Atlantic region of the US completed an in person interview plus three follow-up assessments. Findings: Individuals who had heard a greater number of negative messages were significantly more likely to use ecstasy, even controlling for positive messages, prior ecstasy use, peer ecstasy use, perceived harm, sensation-seeking, sex and race. Some messages were significant at the bivariate level. Conclusions: Ecstasy use may have been influenced more by the content of the messages than by the quantity or diversity of messages. Interventions should be designed to address both positive and negative perceptions about a particular drug, rather than focusing exclusively on the negative information. Future evaluations should focus on the effectiveness of multi-pronged sustainable prevention programs in reducing adolescent drug use risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists have developed increasingly sophisticated understandings of the influences on Supreme Court decision making. Yet, much less attention has been paid to empirical measures of the Court's ideological output. We develop a theory of the interactions between rational litigants, lower court judges, and Supreme Court justices. We argue that the most common measure of the Supreme Court's ideological output—whether the Court's decision is liberal or conservative—suffers from systematic bias. We trace this bias empirically and explain the undesirable consequences it has for empirical analyses of judicial behavior. Specifically, we show that, although the Court's preferences are positively correlated with the ideological direction of the justices' decision to reverse a lower court, the attitudes of the justices are negatively related—and significantly so—to the ideological direction of outcomes that affirm lower court decisions. We also offer a solution that allows scholars to work around this ''affirmance bias.'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional wisdom holds that the American people are woefully ignorant about law and courts. In light of this putative ignorance, scholars and other commentators have questioned whether the public should play a role in the judicial process¿for example, whether public preferences should matter for U.S. Supreme Court confirmation processes. Unfortunately, however, much of what we know¿or think we know¿ about public knowledge of the Supreme Court is based upon flawed measures and procedures. So, for instance, the American National Election Study, a prominent source of the conclusion that people know little if anything about the U.S. Supreme Court, codes as incorrect the reply that William Rehnquist is (was) a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court; respondents, to be judged knowledgeable, must identify Rehnquist as the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (which, of course, technically, he was not). More generally, the use of open-ended recall questions leads to a serious and substantial underestimation of the extent to which ordinary people know about the nation's highest court. Our purpose in this paper is to revisit the question of how knowledgeable the American people are about the Supreme Court. Based on two national surveys¿ using more appropriate, closed-ended questions¿we demonstrate that levels of knowledge about the Court and its justices are far higher than nearly all earlier surveys have documented. And, based on an experiment embedded in one of the national surveys, we also show the dramatic effect of question-form on estimates of levels of knowledge. Finally, we draw out the implications of political knowledge for the degree to which people support the U.S. Supreme Court. Our findings indicate that greater knowledge of the Court is associated with stronger loyalty toward the institution. We conclude by reconnecting these findings to ''positivity theory,'' which asserts that paying attention to courts not only provides citizens information, but also exposes them to powerful symbols of judicial legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gibson, Caldeira, and Spence (2003a, 2003b, 2005) expound the theory of positivity bias in their analysis of the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore. This theory asserts that preexisting institutional loyalty shapes perceptions of and judgments about court decisions and events. In this article, we use the theory of positivity bias to investigate the preferences of Americans regarding the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. More specifically, from the theory of positivity bias, we derive the hypothesis that preferences on the Alito confirmation are shaped by anterior commitments to the Supreme Court. Based on an analysis of a national panel survey, we find that those who have a high level of loyalty toward the Supreme Court rely much more heavily on what we term judiciousness—in contrast to ideology, policy, and partisanship—in forming their opinions on whether to confirm Alito. Thus, institutional loyalty provides a decisive frame through which Americans view the activity of their Supreme Court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Objective. To define, among a sample of college students, the nature and extent of nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NPS), including both overuse and use of someone else's drug, for attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); to characterize NPS among individuals not medically using a prescription stimulant for ADHD; and to determine whether NPS and overuse of a medically prescribed stimulant for ADHD were independently associated with an increased risk of other illicit drug use and dependence on alcohol and marijuana. Design. Cross-sectional analysis of personal interview data. Setting. Large public university in the mid-Atlantic region. Participants. A cohort of 1253 first-year college students aged 17-20 years. Measurements and Main Results. All students completed a 2-hour personal interview to ascertain medical use and overuse of prescription stimulants, NPS, nonmedical use of other prescription drugs and illicit drug use, and dependence on alcohol and marijuana. Comparisons were made among nonusers, nonmedical users, and medical users of prescription stimulants for ADHD (ADHD+), some of whom overused their drug. Of 1208 students who were not using prescription stimulants medically for ADHD (ADHD-), 218 (18.0%) engaged in NPS. Of 45 ADHD+ students, 12 (26.7%) overused their ADHD drug at least once in their lifetime, and seven (15.6%) nonmedically used someone else's prescription stimulants at least once in their lifetime. Among 225 nonmedical users, NPS was infrequent and mainly associated with studying, although 35 (15.6%) used prescription stimulants to party or to get high. Lifetime NPS was associated with past-year other drug use. Both NPS and overuse of prescribed stimulants for ADHD were independently associated with past-year use of five drugs, holding constant sociodemographic characteristics; NPS was also associated with alcohol and marijuana dependence. Conclusions. Physicians should be vigilant for possible overuse and/or diversion of prescription stimulants for ADHD among college students who are medical users of these drugs, as well as the occurrence of illicit drug use with NPS. Initiation of comprehensive drug prevention activities that involve parents as well as college personnel is encouraged to raise awareness of NPS and its association with illicit drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: College drinking is a significant public health problem. Although parental monitoring and supervision reduces the risk for alcohol consumption among younger adolescents, few studies have investigated the impact of earlier parental monitoring on later college drinking. This study examined whether parental monitoring indirectly exerts a protective effect on college drinking by reducing high school alcohol consumption. Methods: A longitudinal cohort of 1,253 male and female students, ages 17 to 19, attending a large, public, mid-Atlantic university was studied at two time points. First, data on high school parental monitoring and alcohol consumption were gathered via questionnaire during the summer prior to college entry. Second, during the first year of college, past-year alcohol consumption was measured via a personal interview. Multiple regression models tested the relationship between parental monitoring and past year alcohol use (i.e., number of drinks per drinking day). Results: Holding constant demographics, SAT score, and religiosity, parental monitoring had a significant protective effect on both high school and college drinking level. However, the association between parental monitoring and college drinking level became non-significant once high school drinking level was held constant. Conclusion: While parental monitoring did not directly influence college alcohol consumption, evidence for mediation was observed, whereby parental monitoring had an indirect influence on college drinking through reductions in high school drinking. Initiatives that promote effective parenting might be an important strategy to curb high-risk drinking among older adolescents. More research is needed to understand the nature and degree of parent-child communication that is necessary to extend the protective influence of parents into the college years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The orthodox answer to the question posed in the title of this article is that the legitimacy of institutions has something to do with acquiescence to unwelcome public policy decisions. We investigate that conventional wisdom using an experiment embedded within a representative national sample in the United States. We test hypotheses concerning not only the effect of institutional legitimacy on acquiescence, but also the influence of partisanship, the rule of law, and simple instrumentalism on willingness to accept an objectionable policy decision. Our analyses reveal that legitimacy does matter for acquiescence, and that the Supreme Court is more effective at converting its legitimacy into acceptance than is Congress. Yet, many important puzzles emerge from the data (e.g., partisanship is not influential), so we conclude that Legitimacy Theory still requires much additional empirical inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the timing of members' position-taking in the House of Representatives' decision to impeach President Clinton. Based on our understanding of the goals of members and leaders, we expect members whose constituencies, interest group influences, and partisanship are in alignment to make their positions known quickly, and those with conflicting or ambiguous signals to delay. We further expect members' electoral circumstances within their own party—the potential for a primary challenge—to condition the impact of interest-group connections on that timing. Our findings indicate that, while the influence of cross-pressures on timing was universal, Republicans who faced primaries in 1998 were more sensitive to the concerns of their political "base," and less susceptible to cross-pressures, than were those unopposed within their own party. We also show that, over and above the effects of ideology and partisanship, Republican members who delayed their announcements were more likely to split their votes between yeas and nays than those who took early positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional wisdom about the US Supreme Court and the 2000 presidential election is that the Court wounded itself by participating in such a partisan dispute. By 'wounded' people mean that the institution lost some of its legitimacy. Evidence from our survey, conducted in early 2001, suggests little if any diminution of the Court's legitimacy in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore, even among African Americans. We observe a relationship between evaluations of the opinion and institutional legitimacy, but the bulk of the causality seems to flow from loyalty to evaluations of the case, not vice versa. We argue that legitimacy frames perceptions of the Court opinion. Furthermore, increased awareness of the activities of the Court tends to reinforce legitimacy by exposing people to the powerful symbols of law. In 2000, legitimacy did indeed seem to provide a reservoir of good will that allowed the Court to weather the storm created by its involvement in Florida's presidential election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is conventional in research on the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court to rely on a survey question asking about confidence in the leaders of the Court to indicate something about the esteem with which that institution is regarded by the American people. The purpose of this article is to investigate the validity of this measure. Based on a nationally representative survey conducted in 2001, we compare confidence with several different measures of Court legitimacy. Our findings indicate that the confidence replies seem to reflect both short-term and long-term judgments about the Court, with the greater influence coming from satisfaction with how the Court is performing at the moment. We suggest a new set of indicators for measuring the legitimacy of the Court and offer some evidence on the structure of the variance in these items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the different measures of ideologies of U.S. Senators. Impact of roll call-based measures on the progression of legislator ideology; Potential of members of the Senate in tapping the operative preferences of members; Correlation between measures which attempt to remove extraneous forces and the traditional roll-call measures; Selection of an appropriate ideology measure based on the application and the relative importance of minimizing error and bias.

Deals with a study which analyzed the patterns of advocacy using data from a survey of interest groups about their lobbying activities on federal nominations for judicial and related offices considered by the United States Senate from 1984 through 1991. Lobbying tactics employed by various groups and organizations; How overall advocacy varies; Conclusion.

Participation as amicus curiae has long been an important tactic of organized interests in litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court. We analyze amicus curiae briefs filed before the decision on certiorari and assess their impact on the Court's selection of a plenary docket. We hypothesize that one or more briefs advocating or opposing certiorari increase the likelihood of its being granted. We test this hypothesis using data from the United States Reports and Briefs and Records of the United States Supreme Court for the 1982 term. The statistical analysis demonstrates that the presence of amicus curiae briefs filed prior to the decision on certiorari significantly and positively increases the chances of the justices' binding of a case over for full treatment—even after we take into account the full array of variables other scholars have hypothesized or shown to be substantial influences on the decision to grant or deny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I show the intimate connection between the actions of the justices and support for the Supreme Court during one of the most critical periods of U.S. political history, the four months of 1937 during which Franklin D. Roosevelt sought legislation to "pack" the high bench with friendly personnel. Over the period from 3 February through 10 June 1937, the Gallup Poll queried national samples on 18 separate occasions about FDR's plan. These observations constitute the core of my analyses. I demonstrate the crucial influence of judicial behavior and the mass media in shaping public opinion toward the Supreme Court. This research illuminates the dynamics of public support for the justices, contributes to a clearer understanding of an important historical episode, shows the considerable impact of the mass media on public attitudes toward the Court, and adds more evidence on the role of political events in the making of public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic study of changes in support for the U.S. Supreme Court across time has not been undertaken. Armed with a time series of observations from 1966 through 1984, I provide a description of the ebb and flow of public esteem for the Court. Then I outline and test several plausible propositions about the dynamics of support. Statistical analyses compel the conclusion that apart from a relatively constant core of support, increases in judicial activism, inflation, and solicitude for the rights of the accused decreased confidence in the Court; the events surrounding Watergate and increases in presidential popularity and the public salience of the Court brought about increased popular esteem for the high bench. Previous scholars, based on cross-sections of individuals, have emphasized the public's ignorance of and disinterest in the Supreme Court and judicial policy making. The responsiveness of public support for the Court in the aggregate to political events and shifts in the behavior of the justices stands in stark contrast to the conventional image of United States citizenry as singularly out of touch with and unmoved by the Supreme Court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study which analyzed friendship among legislators in the United States Congress. Review of related literature; Friendship in politics; Patterns of friendship in the legislature; Models of political friendship and results of application.

Each term 4,000 or more cases arrive at the doorstep of the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court narrows the field of decision from all possible choices to a smaller set of the most plausible ones; in a typical term, the Conference places 20 to 30 percent (around 500) of the cases filed on its discuss list, only 150 or so of which will be selected for plenary review. Here we investigate the composition, sources, and implications of the Court's discuss list. What criteria do the justices use in creating the list of cases for discussion in conferences? Do these criteria differ from those ultimately applied in the decision to grant or deny a writ of certiorari? What, if any, implication does the operation of the discuss list hold for the composition of the agenda and the outcome of decisions on the merits in the Supreme Court? We test two chief sets of hypotheses; (1) the justices weigh the various formal and informal criteria differently across the two stages of agenda building, and (2) despite differences in weighting, the justices rely on briefs amicus curiae as well as ideological predispositions to help them both to identify logical candidates for discussion and to decide whether to grant certiorari. We explain the variation in the weighting of the criteria as being largely due to the cost and accuracy of informal and the different risk of errors during the two phases of choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the dynamics of public opinion on the nomination and confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas. Analysis of data from CBS News/New York Times polls and use of statistical models on opinion-holding and support for Thomas' confirmation; Whether citizen attitudes were grounded in policy preferences; Model of the formation of opinion toward the nomination.

Deals with interpersonal relations in the Iowa state legislature. Patterns of friendship and respect; Example of informal organization of legislature institutions; Basis for legislative action.

Social scientists have offered numerous explanations far the support the public accords to the United States Supreme Court. Easton and Dennis have advanced the contention that such support is at least in part the product of youthful idealization of the Court, and this hypothesis has gained widespread, if tacit, acceptance. This paper argues that their conclusion is largely the consequence of a methodological artifact (the use of fixed-response survey instruments), and offers evidence that most children are not only unaware of the Supreme Court and its functions but demonstrate little or no positive affect toward that institution. If this is so, then why has the Easton-Dennis explanation persisted, despite its implausibility and lack of empirical grounding? One possibility is that the notion of a reservoir of trust in the Supreme Court is a useful rhetorical weapon for both judicial activists and those who advocate judicial restraint. But if public perceptions and evaluations of the Court are not strongly held, we must face the danger that those views will be susceptible to manipulation by people who do know and care about it-political, social, and economic elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an empirical analysis which examined the role which interest groups play in the shaping of senators' decisions. Reference to the nomination of Judge Robert Bork under the presidency of Ronald Reagan; Indepth look at theoretical models of legislative voting; Information on a voting model; Estimations and results from the model; Conclusions on the results.

Investigates absentee voting in California and compares it to a parallel research in Iowa. Mechanics of the practice of absentee voting; Variations in absentee voting rate in California and Iowa; Important changes in the determinants of absentee voting across three elections in California.

Assesses the budgetary responsiveness of governmental and political institutions to the rate of crime in the United States. Factors that affect the decision making on economic policies; Different stages of the budgetary process; Effects of administration partisanship on the growth of appropriation.

Few political scientists have undertaken systematic study of the determinants of greatness on the Supreme Court. In this article, I formulate and test a series of competing explanations for judicial eminence in a mnultivariate model. For the measure of performance on the Court, I use Blaustein and Mersky's ratings of the justices. The alternative explanations include social backgrounds, occupational experiences, political connections, experiences on the Court, and region of residence. Neither occupational experiences nor political connections have an appreciable impact on the level of achievement a justice reaches. Thus, contrary to one of the most popular hypotheses, previous judicial experience does not give an individual any advantage. Instead, in much greater measure, experiences on the Supreme Court and certain social backgrounds differentiate among the various levels of performance. In particular, the statistical analysis indicates the centrality and potency of parental status, religious affiliation, reputation as a dissenter, the number of opinions written in "landmark" cases, holding the office of chief justice, years of service, and the age of the justice at appointment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1960s, Americans' evaluations of Congress have been monitored regularly through public opinion polling. Our analysis focuses on variations over time in levels of both public confidence in the people running Congress and public evaluations of congressional job performance. For the 20-year time series of each of these dependent variables, we estimate the effects of indicators of presidential impact (e.g., presidential popularity, presidential support in Congress), economic conditions (e.g., rate of unemployment) coverage of Congress in the mass media (e.g., references in the New York Times to the institutional activities of Congress), and the salience of foreign affairs (the percentage of the public naming "foreign affairs" as the "most important problem"). We assay the effects of these variables using time-series regression. In our analysis, we seek to show the bases of variation in each dependent variable and to indicate interesting differences between the pair of models we construct and estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the standard of most European parliaments, levels of party voting in the United States Congress are relatively low. Nevertheless, party voting does occur in the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the American context, a party vote occurs when majorities of the two congressional parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, oppose one another. The authors construct measurements of levels of party voting in Congress in the years after the Second World War. They then develop a model to test the effects of a number of independent variables that influence fluctuations in party voting levels over time. The study models the time series for party voting and demonstrates striking differences between the House and Senate in the correlates of partisan cleavage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation by voters in the election of U.S. state legislators varies significantly across legislative districts. This analysis of state legislative elections in Iowa and California in 1978 demonstrates the powerful effects which campaign and partisan competitiveness can have on the extent to which voters take part in choosing their state legislator. With participation rates as the dependent variables, this study establishes a multivariate model which includes variables for campaign spending, the closeness of the electoral contests, the extent of district partisanship, and the degree of party competition. These "political mobilization" factors are shown to contribute very substantially to explaining variations in participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on a study on the methodologies for measuring carbon dioxide emissions published within this issue. The study used reasonable accounting methods to find that 19% of carbon dioxide emissions that supported production of goods in the U.S. were outside the nation's borders. It is mentioned that some emissions in the U.S. supported the consumption of goods and services in other countries.

Climate change is expected to decrease heating demand and increase cooling demand for buildings and affect outdoor thermal comfort. Here, we project changes in residential heating degree-days (HDD) and cooling degree-days (CDD) for the historical (1981-2010) and future (2080-2099) periods in the United States using median results from the Climate Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations under the Representation Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario. We project future HDD and CDD values by adding CMIP5 projected changes to values based on historical observations of US climate. The sum HDD + CDD is an indicator of locations that are thermally comfortable, with low heating and cooling demand. By the end of the century, station median HDD + CDD will be reduced in the contiguous US, decreasing in the North and increasing in the South. Under the unmitigated RCP8.5 scenario, by the end of this century, in terms of HDD and CDD values considered separately, future New York, NY, is anticipated to become more like present Oklahoma City, OK; Denver, CO, becomes more like Raleigh, NC, and Seattle, WA, becomes more like San Jose, CA. These results serve as an indicator of projected climate change and can help inform decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Sophisticated voting' has a solid theoretical foundation, but scholars have raised serious questions about its empirical importance in real-world institutions. The U.S. Supreme Court is one institution where sophisticated voting should be common, but, paradoxically, where scholarly consensus about its existence has yet to emerge. We develop and test a formal model of sophisticated voting on agenda setting in the Supreme Court. Using data on petitions for certiorari decided in October term 1982, we show that, above and beyond the usual forces in case selection, justices engage in sophisticated voting, defined as looking forward to the decision on the merits and acting with that potential outcome in mind, and do so in a wide range of circumstances. In particular, we present strong evidence for sophisticated behavior, ranging from votes to deny a case one prefers to reverse to votes to grant cases one prefers to affirm. More importantly, sophisticated voting makes a substantial difference in the size and content of the Court's plenary agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]