Congress,the Presidency,and U.S. Foreign Policy

Gibson, Martha L. Conflict Amid Consensus in American Trade Policy. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000. Pp. 213. $55.00 hardbound; $17.95 softbound.

Henehan, Marie T. Foreign Policy and Congress: An International Relations Perspective. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000. Pp. 248. $49.50 hardbound.

Brands, H.W. The Foreign Policies of Lyndon Johnson: Beyond Vietnam. College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press, 1999. Pp. 194. $29 95 hardbound.

McNamara, Robert S., James G. Blight, and Robert K. Brigham, with Thomas J. Biersteker and Herbert Y. Schandler. Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 1999. Pp. 512. $27.50 hardbound; $17.00 softbound.     

Australian Foreign Policy

G. Clark: In Fear of China, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1967, pp. 219 + ix, $3.00.

W. J. Hudson, ed.: Towards a Foreign Policy: 1914–1941, Cassell, Melbourne, 1967.

T. B. Millar, ed.: Britain's Withdrawal from Asia: Its Implications for Australia, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, 1967, pp. 114.

T. B. Millar, ed.: Australia's Defence Policies 1945–1965, Department of International Relations, A.N.U., 1967, pp. 86.

A. and M. Vandenbosch: Australia Faces Southeast Asia: The Emergence of a Foreign Policy, University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, 1967, pp. 175 + vi, $5.75 (U.S.).

A. Watt: The Evolution of Australian Foreign Policy 1938–65, Cambridge University Press, 1967, pp. 387 + ix, $9.25.     

Fixing the Hole in the Bucket: Household Poverty Dynamics in the Peruvian Andes

Achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty will require simultaneous action on two separate fronts: helping poor people escape from poverty, and stemming the flow of people into poverty. This article examines forty Peruvian communities, and finds that descents into poverty have occurred alongside escapes in every one of them. Escape and descent are asymmetric in terms of reasons: while one set of reasons is responsible for escapes from poverty, another and different set of reasons is associated with descent. Making progress in poverty reduction will require measures to accelerate escapes whilst at the same time slowing down descents. The article looks at the different policies which will be required to serve these two separate purposes.     

Responding to Farm Poverty in Australia

In May 2005, the Commonwealth announced changes to the eligibility criteria for a number of farm welfare payments which have resulted in farmers receiving such payments on more generous terms than other disadvantaged groups in the community. The changes passed largely unremarked by the media or political commentators. Farm welfare programs are developed independently of the general welfare safety net and are based on assumptions about the nature, extent and causes of farm poverty. No comprehensive empirical research has been conducted into farm poverty since the Henderson Inquiry of the 1970 Henderson, R. F., Harcourt, A. and Harper, R. J.A. 1970. People in Poverty: A Melbourne Survey, Melbourne: University of Melbourne.  [Google Scholar]s. This paper discusses the issue of farm poverty in Australia and how it fits into the broader welfare debate, and proposes a way forward to develop more effective and equitable farm welfare programs.     

Economic Policy in Post-Soviet St. Petersburg

The paper assesses the efforts of regional government officials in St. Petersburg, a city heavily dependent on the defense sector, to transform its economic base after the fall of communism. It describes how the strategy initially favored in the early 1990s (the development of St. Petersburg as an international business center based largely on foreign investment) fell well short of expectations. The author then examines the results thus far from an alternative strategy, following the election of a new mayor in 1996, that focuses on the revival of the city's industry and the promotion of trade. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F21, H71, L52, O20. 59 references.     

The Federal Budget: Policy,Process, and Politics

Fiorina, Morris. Divided Government. New York: Macmillan, 1992. Pp. xi, 138. $13.00 Paperback.

Jacobson, Gary C. The Electoral Origins of Divided Government: Competition' in U.S. House Elections, 1946-1988. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990. Pp. xvi, 152. $15.95.

Mayhew, David R. Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking, and Investigations, 1946-1990. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991. Pp. viii, 228. $25.00 Hardback.     

Fiscal Reform,Policy, and Constraints during Transition in Poland

Two specialists on the Polish economy examine the process whereby the fiscal system of Poland's centrally planned economy was replaced during the 1990s by a system designed for a market economy. Changes in the structure of both revenues and expenditures are described. The authors demonstrate that fiscal authorities in Poland heretofore have maintained budget control despite radical changes in fiscal systems and institutions. However, they identify and assess emerging concerns regarding the ability of fiscal authorities to manage the economy in the face of external shocks, potential mismanagement of extra-budget expenditures such as social security, and increased debt-financing requirements. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E50, E60, H50, H60. 6 figures, 5 tables, 27 references.     

Review Article: British Foreign Policy from Salisbury to Blair

JOHN W. YOUNG. Britain and the World in the Twentieth Century. London: Edward Arnold, 1997; dist. New York: St Martin's Press. Pp. xi, 250. $19.95 (us), paper; DOUGLAS NEWTON. British Policy and the Weimar Republic, 1918–1919. New York: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. x, 481. $135.00 (CDN); RICHARD S. GRAYSON. Austen Chamberlain and the Commitment to Europe; British Foreign Policy, 1924–29. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. xviii, 318. $49.50 (us); DAVID DUTTON. Anthony Eden: A Life and Reputation. London: Edward Arnold, 1997; dist. Don Mills: Oxford University Press. Pp. xiv, 576. $40.50 (CDN), paper; PETER JONES. America and the British Labour Party: The ‘Special Relationship’at Work. London: I. B. Tauris, 1997; dist. New York: St Martin's Press. Pp. 252. $59.50 (us).     

The Historical Impact of Welfare Programs on Poverty: Evidence from the American States

Over the years, there has been a spirited debate over the impact of the welfare expansion associated with the War on Poverty. Many analysts have maintained that public assistance expansion during this period decreased poverty by raising the incomes of the poor (an income enhancement effect), while others have contended that welfare expansion increased poverty by discouraging the poor from working (a work disincentive effect). There has been considerable empirical research about the historical effect of welfare on poverty, nearly all of which relies on the poverty rate (i.e., the percentage of persons with income less than the “poverty threshold”) as an indicator of the extent of poverty. However, this work has not employed designs that allow researchers to sort out distinct income enhancement and work disincentive effects. We develop a model of poverty rates in the American states that permits estimation of these distinct effects—based on state‐level time‐series data observed annually for the years 1960–90—and we find that welfare had both effects during our period of analysis. We also calculate the net impact of increases in welfare benefits on the poverty rate—taking into account both work disincentive and income enhancement effects. Our results indicate that this net impact is dependent on three variables: the initial level of cash benefits, wage levels for unskilled workers, and the share of the benefit increase provided through cash rather than in‐kind assistance. Because of historical trends in these variables, since the 1970s welfare spending has become increasingly less effective in reducing the poverty rate. However, the significance of this result for policymakers must be tempered by evidence that flaws in the poverty rate as an indicator of poverty make it so that any finding about the net effect of an increase in welfare benefits on the poverty rate underestimates welfare's ability to lessen the true extent of poverty.     

Visions of the cosmos: Recent explorations of new world cosmology

Freidel, David, Linda Schele, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1993. 543 pp. including chapter references and index. $30:00 cloth.

Farrer, Claire R. Living Life's Circle: Mescalero Apache Cosmo‐vision. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1991. xiii + 274 pp. including chapter references and index. $24.95 cloth.

Dover, Robert V. H., Katharine E. Seibold, and John H. McDowell, eds. Andean Cosmologies Through Time: Persistence and Emergence. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1992. viii + 274 pp. including chapter references and index. $29.95 cloth.     

Howchinia Cushman, 1927 (Foraminifera) from the Mississippian Bei’an Formation and its distribution in South China

Shen, Y. & Wang, X.L., July 2016. Howchinia Cushman, 1927 (Foraminifera) from the Mississippian Bei’an Formation and its distribution in South China. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

Howchinia Cushman is a useful biostratigraphic marker for Mississippian rocks. In South China, Howchinia has been reported from four sections: the Bei’an, Baping, Naqing and Yashui sections; with high species diversity in the Bei’an section. Ten species from the Mississippian Bei’an Formation in the Bei’an section are described in this paper: Howchinia bradyana, H. beleutensis, H. gibba, H. plana, H. convexa, H. subconica, H. subplana, Howchinia sp. A, Howchinia sp. B. and Howchinia beianensis sp. nov. Howchinia ranges from late Visean to early Bashkirian in South China. Howchinia species inhabited both shallow-water and relatively deep-water environments.

Yang Shen [shenybj@126.com] and Xun-Lian Wang [wxl@cugb.edu.cn], State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, 29 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, PR China.     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: R.G., Golledge, H. Couclelis, P. Gould (editors) A Ground for Common Search, Santa Barbara E.W. Soja Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory Bill McGibben The End of Nature G.J.R. Linge, and G.A. van der Knaap, (editors) Labour, Environment and Industrial Change Sophie Watson Accommodating Inequality D.I. Smith and J.W. Handmer (editors) Flood Insurance and Relief in Australia G.J. Symen, B.J. Shaw, D.M. Fenton and W.S. Mueller (editors) The Planning and Evaluation of Hallmark Events M. Hordern Mariners are Warned! John Lort Stokes and H.M.S. O.H.K. Spate The Pacific since Magellan Allen J. and White J.P., 1988: “The Lapita homeland: some new data and an interpretation” Campbell I.C., 1990; A History of the Pacific Islands Pacific Islands, Journal of the Polynesian Society Spate, O.H.K., 1978: The Pacific as an Artefact, In N. Gunson, (ed.), The Changing Pacific: Essays in Honour of HE Maude Spate, O.H.K., 1983: The Pacific since Magellan: Il. Monopolists and Freebooters J.A. Kesby and K.J. Frawley The Forest Record in Australian Local and Regional History: An Annotated Bibliography Panbiogeography Special Issue New Zealand Journal of Zoology Jim Falk and Andrew Brownlow The Greenhouse Challenge: What's to be done?     

Congress and Foreign Policy: Toward a More Functional Analysis

Crabb, Cecil V., Jr., and Pat Holt, eds. Invitation to Struggle: Congress, The President and Foreign Policy. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, 1980. Pp. xii, 234. $9.75, paper. Franck, Thomas M. and Edward Weisband. Foreign Policy by Congress. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Pp. ix, 357. $15.95, hardbound. Spanier, John, and Joseph Nogee, eds. Congress, The Presidency and American Foreign Policy. New York: Pergamon Press, 1981. Pp. xxxii, 211. $30.00, hardbound; $10.95, paper. Whalen, Charles W., Jr. The House and Foreign Policy: The Irony of Congressional Reform. Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1982. Pp. x, 207. $18.95, hardbound; $9.95, paper.     

The first Italian geographical congress

EUROPE.

A Geography of Ireland. By O. J. R. Howarth. The Oxford Geographies Edited by A. J. Herbertson. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1911. Price 2s. 6d.

The Place‐Names of Berkshire. By the Rev. Walter R. Skeat. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1911. Price 2s. net.

Nooks and Corners of Yorkshire. By J. S. Fletcher. With a Map. London: Eveleigh Nash, 1911. Price 2s. 6d. net.

ASIA.

The Story of Korea. By Joseph H. Longford, late His Majesty's Consul at Nagasaki; Professor of Japanese, King's College, London; Barrister‐at‐law, Middle Temple; Author of “The Story of Old Japan.” With Thirty‐three Illustrations and Three Maps. London and Leipsic: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911. Price 10s. 6d. net.

AFRICA.

The Opening‐up of Africa. By Sir H. H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. Home University Library of Modern Knowledge. London: Williams and Norgate. Price 1s. net.

“Yakusu” The Very Heart of Africa. Being some Account of the Protestant Mission at Stanley Falls, Upper Congo. By H. Sutton Smith, Baptist Missionary Society. London and Edinburgh: Marshall Brothers, Limited, 1911. Price 6s.

GENERAL.

British Plants: Their Biology and Geology. By J. F. Bevis, B.A., B.Sc., and H. J. Jeffrey, A.R.C.Sc. London: Alston Rivers, 1911. Price 4s. 6d. net.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: An Appreciation of Difference: W.E.H Stanner and Aboriginal Australia. Edited by Melinda Hinkson and Jeremy Beckett . The Dreaming & Other Essays By W.E.H. Stanner , with an introduction by Robert Manne Bureaucrats & Bleeding Hearts: Indigenous Health in Northern Australia. By Tess Lea The anthropology of morality in Melanesia and beyond Edited by John Barker     

Once More,The German Question

THOMAS NIPPERDEY. Deutsche Geschichte 1800–1866: Bürgerwelt und Starker Stoat, 3rd. rev. ed. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1985. Pp. 838; HEINRICH LUTZ. Zwischen Habsburg und Preussen: Das Ringen um die Vormacht in Deutschland 1815–1866. Berlin: Siedler, 1985. Pp. 528; H.W. KOCH. A Constitutional History of Germany in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. London and New York: Longman, 1984. Pp. xv, 400. $17.95 (US); WOLF D. GRUNER. Die deutsche Frage: Ein Problem der europäischen Geschichte seit 1800. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1985. Pp. 217. DM 19.80.     

The Tax Threshold: Policy, Principles, and Poverty

In the absence of an independent poverty standard, postwar Britishgovernments have tended to use current, politically determinedsocial security scales (from Unemployment Assistance in the1930s to Income Support today) as their definition of minimallyadequate income levels, commonly known as an ‘officialpoverty line’. A basic principle of taxation since thedays of Adam Smith, however, has been that incomes below theminimum income required for socially defined necessities shouldbe free of tax. The personal tax allowance which determinesthe income tax-paying threshold thus also provides a practicaldefinition of such an official poverty line. Royal Commissionsand official committees since the nineteenth century have endorsedSmith's principle, but it only acquired major political significanceafter the Second World War when income tax began to affect lowearners, particularly after the 1960s when poverty was ‘rediscovered’in the UK. In spite of this potential coincidence of purpose,a review of evidence and interviews with officials shows thatthere has been no co-ordination of policy between the Treasuryand Inland Revenue responsible for determining the level ofthe tax allowances, and the Social Security ministries responsiblefor the minimum benefit scales. The tax threshold has consequentlycontinued to be determined by considerations of political economyand administration and not by the alleviation of poverty. ^* This paper is part of a larger project on concepts of povertyand need in British income maintenance systems, chiefly the‘Assistance’ schemes which ran from 1934 to 1966.I am grateful to the many people who have helped with the project,regrettably too numerous to name here. I am particularly indebtedto Sir Norman Price and Sir Kenneth Stowe, James Meade, DellaNevitt, and). Leonard Nicholson for information on the tax issues,and want to record my thanks to them and to Fran Bennett, JohnHills, Chris Pond, and Adrian Sinfield, and especially RodneyLowe, as well as participants in seminars at the Universitiesof Edinburgh and Essex, and in Budapest, for their advice onthis paper.     

Beira,the ocean gateway to Rhodesia and Nyasaland

The History of Sicily from the Earliest Times. By Edward A. Freeman, M.A., Hon. D.C.L., LL.D. 2 Vols.: Pp. 609 + 583. With Maps. Oxford : at the Clarendon Press, 1891.

Denmark. Edited by H. Weitemeyer. With a Coloured Map. London : W. Heinemann. Copenhagen : A. F. Host and Son. Pp. 268.

New Light on Dark Africa: being the Narrative of the German Emin Pasha Expedition. Related by Dr. Carl Peters, the Commander of the Expedition. Translated from the German by H. W. Dulcken, Ph.D. London: Ward, Lock, &; Co., 1891. Maps and Illustrations. 1 vol., pp. 597.

Rulers of India: The Earl of Mayo. By Sir W. W. Hunter. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1891. Pp. 201.

Wild Beasts and their Ways. By Sir Samuel W. Baker, F.R.S., P.R.G.S., etc. London : Macmillan and Co., 1891. Pp. 455.

Log of a Jack Tar; and Captain O'Brien's Captivity in France. Edited by Commander Lovett Cameron, R.N. “ Adventure Series.” London: Fisher Unwin, 1891. Pp. 379. Price 5s.

Portugal. By H. Morse Stephens, “ Story of the Nations “ Series. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1891. Pp. xxiv+450. Price 5s.

Industrial Ireland: A German View of the Irish Question. By J. B. Keller. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1891. Pp. 48.

A Lady's Letters from Central Africa : A Journey from Mandala, Shiri Highlands, to Ujiji, Lake Tanganyika, and back. By Jane F. Moir. With an Introduction by Rev. T. M. Lindsay, D.D. Glasgow: J. MacLehose and Sons, 1891. Pp. 91.

Manica: Being a Report addressed to the Minister of the Marine and the Colonies of Portugal. By J. Paiva de Andrada, Colonel of Artillery. With a Sketch‐Map by E. G. Eavenstein. London : George Philip and Son, 1891. Pp. 63. Price 1s.

Matabeleland and Mashonaland. Being a Special Number of South Africa. London : at the Offices of South Africa, 1891. Pp. 146. Price 2s.

The Bermuda Islands: A Contribution to the Physical History and Zoology of the Somers Archipelago, with an examination of the Structure of the Coral Beefs. By Angelo Heilprin, , F.G.S.A., etc. etc. Published by the Author. Philadelphia, 1889.

Wanderings in South America, etc. By Charles Waterton. Illustrations and Index. Pp. xxxix + 367. Thomas Kelson and Sons, 1891. Price 4s.

The Malay Archipelago : The Land of the Orang‐utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, with Studies of Man and Nature. By Alfred Russel Wallace. London and New York : Macmillan and Co., 1890. Pp. xvii + 515.

The Opening of the Arctic Sea. By H. A. N. Demsford, C.E. London : Eidgway, 1890.

The Cruise of the Dunottar Castle. By W. Scott Dalgleish, M. A. Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, 1890. Pp. 94. Illustrated.

The Cyclists’ Route‐Book of Great Britain. By W. J. Spurrier. London : Iliffe and Son, 1890. Pp. 170. Price 1s.

History of Newport and the Parish of Forgan ; and Rambles round the District. By J. S. Neish. Dundee: W. and D. C. Thomson, 1890. Pp. vii+256. Price 3s.     

LITERATURE REVIEW

SETTIING HATIOMALJPRJORITIES: A REVIEW ESSAY Charles L. Schultze, Setting National Priorities: The 1971 Budget Charles L. Schultze, Edward R. Fried, Alice M. Rivlin, and Nancy H. Teeters, Setting National Priorities: The 1972 Budget Charles L. Schultze, Edward R. Fried, Alice H. Rivlin, and Nancy H. Teeters, Setting Rational Priorities: The 1973 Budget Edward R. Fried, Alice M. Rivlin, Charles L. Schultze, and Nancy H. Teeters, Setting National Priorities: The 1974 Budget Barry M. Blechman, Edward M. Gramlich, and Robert W. Hartman, Setting National Priorities: The 1975 Budget Barry M. Blechman, Edward M. Gramlich, and Robert W. Hartman, Setting Rational Priorities: The 1976 Budget RECENT RELEVANT LITERATURE Thomas H. Tietenberg and Pierre Toureille, Energy Planning and Policy: The Political Economy of Project Independence Stanley D. Bachrack, The Committee of one Million: “China Lobby” Politics 1953–1971 Otis L. Graham, Toward a Planned Society: From Roosevelt to Nixon Judith Innes DeNuefville, Social Indicators and Public Policy: Interactive Processes of Design and Application Cole Blasier, The Hovering Giant: U.S. Response to Revolutionary Change in Latin America Richard L. Siegel and Leonard B. Weinberg, Comparing Public Policies; United States, Soviet Union, and Europe Richard D. Bingham, The Adoption of Innovation by Local Government Henry J, Pratt, The Gray Lobby BOOK NOTES Marc Karnis Landy, The Politics of Environmental Reform: Controlling Kentucky Strip Mining Allen C. Ornstein and Steven I. Miller, eds., Policy Issues in Education Colm A. O'Muircheartaigh and Clive Payne, eds., Exploring Data Structures Colm A. O'Muircheartaigh and clive Payne, eds., Model Fitting Rechard A. Posner, Antitrust Law: An Economic Perspective Lawrence L. Whetten, ed., The Future of Soviet Military Power THE PROS AND CONS OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS IN POLICY STUDIES A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SPECIFIC PROBLEM AREAS WITHIN POLICY STUDIES