RECENT POPULATION TRENDS IN THE USSR

Pending the publication of new Soviet population data based on the 1979 census, to be hald next January, the author reviews population trends in the 1970's. After a steady decline through much of the Soviet period, birth rates and death rates have stabilized for the country as a whole, although marked regional differences continue. An unexplained rise in infant mortality and an apparent reduction of life expectancy have led to the suppression of data in these areas. No ready explanation is found for a recent increase in female fertility and age-specific death rates. Abnormalities in the age-sex structure, resulting from past population catastrophes, continue to persist and indicate future labor shortages. Geographical differences in population growth rates, resulting from differential rates of natural increase and migration, are analyzed. Urbanization, a typical phenomenon of the Soviet period, continues apace, with the biggest increases in large cities despite a policy designed to discourage big-city growth. A crucial question is the optimal disposition of the growing labor pool in the Central Asian region-whether to foster local employment or encourage migration from Central Asia to labor deficit areas elsewhere in the Soviet Union.     

Industrializing Shell-Bead Production in Northern New Jersey: Reuniting Collections from Stoltz Farm (1770–1830) and the Campbell Wampum Factory (1850–1900)

Historical Archaeology - By at least 1770, settlers of northern New Jersey appropriated the production of Indigenous shell beads, including iconic styles of wampum and hair pipes. At that time,...     

A Study of the Folklore on the Coast of Connacht,Ireland.

CHIUS VINCTA OR THE OCCUPATION OF CHIOS BY THE TURKS (1566) AND THEIR ADMINISTRATION OF THE ISLAND (1566–1912). DESCRIBED IN CONTEMPORARY DIPLOMATIC REPORTS AND OFFICIAL DISPATCHES. Edited by PHILIP P. ARGENTI, with a preface by SIR STEPHEN GASELEE. Pp. cclxxxii + 264. Cambridge University Press. 25s. Reviewed by J. H. Hutton.

A JERSEYMAN AT OXFORD. By R. R. MARETT. Pp. xi+346. Oxford University Press (Humphrey Milford). 15s. Reviewed by J. H. H.

THE LAND OF THE RAINBOW, POLAND AND HER PEOPLE. By VIOLET MASON. Pp. 322. Minerva, London. 1941. Reviewed by J. H. H.

IT HAPPENED IN HAMPSHIRE. Items of interest compiled and arranged by W. G. BEDDINGTON and E. B. CHRISTY. 8vo. 8½x5? in. Pp. 24. Price is. Published by The Hampshire Federation of Women's Institutes, 66a High Street, Winchester. Reviewed by P. J. Heather     

Pivotal Politics,Presidential Capital,and Supreme Court Nominations

We analyze the Supreme Court nomination process in order to provide a general explanation of presidents' propensity to win confirmation battles even in the face of an ideologically hostile Senate. The analysis serves two purposes. First, we argue that employing the conventional measure of the Senate's power to constrain the president's choice of nominees–the median senator–provides an inaccurate picture of this process. In its stead we argue that the filibuster pivot (or the sixtieth most liberal or conservative senator) more accurately captures the Senate's power over the president (Krehbiel 1998). Second, we argue that even under this more stringent spatial constraint, presidents still have the ability to win most confirmation battles with the Senate. Indeed, our results indicate that presidents often overcome situations where the Senate should reject their nominees, or where it should force them to make a less desirable choice, by invoking political capital.     

Recognition of native rights in Northern Quebec: Settlement of comprehensive claims,constitutional protection and economic development

In order to allow for hydro development in Northern Quebec, it was necessary for the federal and provincial governments to negotiate conditions of settlement with the tree and Inuit people. These negotiations resulted in the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975.

A process to define aboriginal rights was established when the Canadian Constitution was repatriated in 1981–1982. In 1983, the Constitution was amended to recognize, among other things, rights or free ‐doms acquired by way of land claims agreements, as well as existing aboriginal and treaty rights. However, after a series of constitutional meetings, participants did not agree on an amendment to entrench the right to self‐government.

In the context of future development and actual practices, the exercise of rights is also extremely crucial; and, indeed, it is only through practice that those rights can be measured.