Who Should Run Elections in the United States?

Much has been said since the 2000 presidential election regarding the administration of elections in the United States, particularly about how election administrators are selected and to whom they are responsive. Unfortunately, there has been little research on the different administrative structures that are possible and the preferences of Americans regarding these different administrative options. In this article we present the results from a national survey of American adults in which we asked them their preference for whether elections should be run by partisan or nonpartisan officials, whether the officials should be elected or appointed, and whether the administration of elections should be by a single unitary executive or by an election board. In addition to eliciting the basic preferences of Americans about these administrative choices, we also undertake a deeper analysis of these data to determine the underlying patterns in support for the different administrative options.     

Genetic relationships based on discrete dental traits: Basketmaker II and Mimbres

Investigations of the relationships between culture and biology among prehistoric populations of the southwestern United States can enhance our reconstruction of social interactions. The present study analyses the permanent dentition of Basketmaker II and Mimbres individuals from multiple sites using the Arizona State University dental anthropology system, and compares them with a regional sample. Discrete dental trait analysis provides a useful means for assessing the degree of genetic relatedness between populations when large comparative samples are available. Both in situ cultural change and population replacement have been posited as the dominant mechanism acting on Basketmaker and early Puebloan groups. We examine the relationship of these populations to probable Uto‐Aztecan speakers in light of the Uto‐Aztecan farmer migration hypothesis. The Basketmaker II complex, traditionally recognised as a distinct cultural unit, exhibits considerable population heterogeneity. Western Basketmakers appear to share biological ties with Uto‐Aztecan speakers, while Eastern Basketmakers do not, as predicted by the model. The relationship of the Mimbres to probable Uto‐Aztecan speakers is less clear because the Mimbres show only weak affinities to northern Mexican populations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

State Taxation, Exploration, and Production in the U.S. Oil Industry

Abstract How do firms in nonrenewable resource industries respond to changes in state taxes? This paper presents simulations of changes in state production (severance) tax policy on the timing of exploration and output in Wyoming. The framework developed allows for interactions between taxes levied by different levels of government. Results suggest that oil production is highly inelastic with respect to changes in production taxes. Policy implications suggest that increases in production taxes on oil risk little loss in future production. The extent to which these results may generalize to other oil producing states is considered. JEL Codes: H71, Q32     

‘A Wigwam to Westminster’: Performing Mohawk Identity in Imperial Britain, 1890s–1990s

This article examines the travels and appearances of Canadian Mohawk writers, lecturers, and performers E. Pauline Johnson and John Brant‐Sero, who appeared in Britain as self‐identified Mohawks, Canadians, and members of the British Empire during the late‐Victorian and Edwardian years of heightened imperial sentiment. The article draws upon feminist scholarship on performance, imperialism, and culture and consumption for the late‐Victorian and Edwardian period. It argues that, while Johnson and Brant‐Sero challenged stereotypes of Mohawk gender relations, they also were part of imperialist modernity; their gendered ‘performances’– on and off‐stage – must be analysed within the context of the gendered cultures of consumption and performance of late‐Victorian and Edwardian British society.     

The Spending-Service Connection

This research tests the relationship between state and local spending for health and hospitals, a set of health service measures, and three final policy outcomes—low birthweight infants, infant mortality, and child deaths. The analysis includes several proxies for service demand—state resources, percentage of single-teen births, and percentage of the population without health insurance. The multiple regression equations also incorporate a measure of federal spending on health and an indicator of state spending for Medicaid. This first stage of the analysis can account for only a limited amount of variation in per capita state and local health and hospital spending. Health expenditures, however, are prominently related to health workers per 10,000 population, while hospital spending buys hospital beds. The final step in the analysis uses path models. The results show that neither spending nor the intermediate-level health outputs (including a measure of prenatal care) are significantly related to the final three outcome variables. Single-teen births is the dominant influence in the final equations.     

Book reviews

The Restless Urban Landscape. Paul L. Knox (Ed.), New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1993, 285pp.

Towards a New Economic Order: Postfordism, Ecology and Democracy. Alain Lipietz, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1992, 206pp.

London: A New Metropolitan Geography. Keith Hoggart and David R. Green (Eds), London, Edward Arnold, 1992, pbk.

Regional Innovation Policy: Case‐studies from the Ruhr Area, Baden‐Württemberg and the North East of England. Robert Hassink, Faculteit Ruimtelijke Wetenschappen Rijksuniversiteit, 1992, 187pp., ISBN 90–6809–155–7.

Environmental Problems in Eastern Europe. F. W. Carter and D. Turnock (Eds), London, Routledge, 1993, 249 pp., ISBN 0–415–06229–2.

From Garden Cities to New Towns: Campaigning for town and Country Planning 1899–1946.. Dennis Hardy, London, E. and F. N. Spon, 1992, 340pp., £39.95 hbk.     

EVALUATING A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM: A CITIZENS GROUP PERSPECTIVE

A citizens advisory group evaluation of a Community Development Block Grant program is compared with similar responses from city staff and city council members. All three groups provided quite positive assessments with the citizens group evaluations closer to staff responses than to council members. Objective indicators of program targeting also reveal that projects and funds have been committed to those areas of greatest need. An argument is made that citizen groups which are closely involved with certain urban programs may be able to provide useful evaluations of program performance.     

The Effects of Mayoral Power on Urban Fiscal Policy

Can mayors of American cities overcome the enormous constraints of environmental forces to exert some control over municipal spending priorities? Despite case study evidence suggesting that mayors can and do influence public policy making, the expectation of this research was that mayoral power in a comparative research design likely would not have a pronounced effect on city spending. Using multiple regression techniques and various socioeconomic, demographic, and political variables, the analysis indeed showed that mayoral strength was not a significant predictor of municipal expenditures for 1987. The findings also revealed only slight differences in the way the mayoral power variable operated when cities were divided by city government form (mayor-council vs. council-manager). The research did demonstrate that mayoral power was most likely to be effective in controlling city spending among localities having partisan ballots.     

It's the Lungfish,stupid: knowledge fights,activism, and the science–policy interface

Since the post‐positivist turn in the 20th century, many scholars and philosophers have argued for the importance of Other Ways Of Knowing – including local, embodied, situated, partial, and indigenous knowledges – in developing a better understanding of the world. This argument has been further stressed by a large subset of scholars working in the fields of geography, policy, planning, natural resource management, and community development, yet in practice, positivism retains its epistemological dominance. Drawing from a case study of a dam proposal at Traveston Crossing, Queensland, Australia, this paper will explore these epistemological tensions from the perspective of those whose first/primary ways of knowing about the issue were marginalised, namely the local activists who opposed the proposal. Using data gathered from document analysis and interviews, the paper will explore how these activists implicitly understood this epistemological marginalisation, how they adopted and employed positivist knowledge and language to further the exposure and credibility of their campaign, how this credibility was mediated by their identities, how they strategically deployed different forms of knowledge at local, national, and international scales, and how their successful navigation of these epistemological tensions was critical to the ultimate success of their campaign.