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This paper compares the political values and viewpoints of Americans with those of citizens of 19 other wealthy democracies. Drawing on the long history of scholarship and debate about “American Exceptionalism,” we ask whether Americans’ positions on issues of governance, taxation, equality, religion, and morality are significantly different from those of people in comparable countries in Europe and elsewhere. Using data from the International Social Survey Program’s Role of Government survey, the World Values Survey, and other sources, we show that, on almost all of these questions, Americans’ views are on average substantially to the right of those of people in our comparison countries: Americans are less supportive of redistribution and government intervention in the economy, are more likely to blame poverty on the failings of the poor, and are by far more religious. These findings confirm that Americans are on the whole more right-leaning than Europeans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and the Japanese.

This paper presents an Index of Societal Well-Being based on nine domains that represent essential components of a healthy, well-functioning society: the Economy, Education, Health, the Polity, the Environment, Social Capital, Mental Health and Subjective Well-Being, Crime and Incarceration, and Mobility andOpportunity. The paper describes the placement of 20 wealthy democracies on this index and on the domains that compose it. It then presents preliminary analyses of the relationships between the political and economic structure of these countries and their Societal Well-Being Index scores. Ideal-typical examples of three economic models--social democratic, coordinated, and liberal market--are identified. Societal well-being scores of countries adhering to the social democratic model rank relatively high, while societies adhering to the liberal market economy model tend to rank at the lower end of the index, with coordinated market economies performing slightly better. There is also a strong relationship between combined strength of unions and left-wing parties, on the one hand, and overall societal well-being, on the other. As a society with a weak left that is also the purest expression of the liberal market economy model, the low ranking of theUnited Stateson the Societal Well-Being Index follows the general pattern.

The University of California (UC) is a pathway into many of the most coveted jobs in the California economy, and the promise that all Californians will have the equal opportunity to acquire a UC education is a core part of California’s social contract. The authors describe UC’s admissions policy and explore inequalities in the access that California secondary schools provide to UC. Their measure of access is the rate of admission, or the percentage of a school’s graduates admitted to UC, circa 1999. By merging data provided by UC with data provided by the California Department of Education, the authors are able to examine the rates of admission to UC from most of the individual high schools in the state. They explore inequalities associated with the race and socioeconomic status of the student bodies of these schools.The authors find that a small number of privileged schools provide disproportionate access to UC. The average UC admissions rate for nonsectarian private schools is almost three times that for public schools. Public schools in affluent communities also have unusually high UC admissions rates. So do public schools with primarily Anglo and Asian student bodies. The authors consider recent policy interventions that aim to equalize admissions rates across schools by raising the floor or increasing the admissions rates of the lowest schools. They conclude that these policies are unlikely to have much impact on unequal access to UC, since they do nothing to reduce the yawning gap between the majority of schools and a small tier of elite public and private schools at the top.

Using institutional data on fall 1999 freshman admissions, we document the existence and magnitude of inequalities among California high schools in the access they provide to the University of California (UC). Because high schools are segregated by socioeconomic status and race, we examine how schools that differ on these dimensions also differ in their rates of admission to UC. We find that UC admission rates are grossly unequal between the public and private sectors and within each sector. Different groups, however, face different barriers. Schools where the student body is heavily Latino tend to have low per capita admissions because fewer students apply; schools where the student body is heavily African American tend to have low per capita admissions because fewer applicants are admitted. Our research suggests the need for both high school outreach to increase applications and contextual review of applications to reduce inequalities in the admission of applicants.

Notes that in 1998, despite energetic efforts to devise a more flexible admissions process at the University of California's professional schools, the percentage of entering black or Hispanic students (with the notable exception of 1997) stood at its lowest levels in 29 years. Discusses the problem, examining the effects of the University's Proposition 209 on its graduate programs. (SM)

The formation of Poland's Solidarity movement, the alliance between the working class and the intelligentsia led by the Workers Defense Committee (KOR), is attributed to the workers though the intellectuals also played an active role. Revisionists who stress the regional origins of the movement complicate the situation and exaggerate the mistakes of previous scholars. The political implications of the strikes that swept the city of Gdansk inspired the workers to play a more active role than the intellectuals in the formation of the movement, as the latter were influenced by the revisionists.

Reports key findings from research on community colleges since 1972. Discusses some of the major changes in these institutions in recent years (e.g., changes in student characteristics, the rise of vocational education, and the decline of the transfer function). Examines research needs and current dilemmas facing community colleges. (AYC)

Acknowledges the contributions of community colleges to the expansion of access to higher education, yet concludes that two-year colleges, especially since vocational education gained curricular predominance, have accentuated existing patterns of social inequality. Advocates the revitalization of transfer programs and the fostering of public rather than corporate interests. (DMM)

The structure of the American school system is viewed as an embodiment and source of fluidity of class boundaries. Community colleges are seen as an expression of characteristics of the educational system which reinforces the ideology that it is never too late for talent to reveal itself and be rewarded. (Author/MSE)

While the social scientific study of education has advanced impressively in recent years, little progress has been made in a number of areas. Energies should be directed to the study of the education of the rich and privileged as well as the education of minorities and the poor. (Author/EB)