Does Morality Policy Exist? Testing a Basic Assumption

Does morality policy exist? A growing body of scholarship has examined the ways that the politics of so‐called “morality policy” (e.g., abortion regulation, same‐sex marriage policy, and capital punishment) differ from the politics of other types of policy. In this literature, morality policies are assumed to be distinctive in that they generate conflicts of basic moral values, do not lend themselves to compromise, and are widely salient and technically simple. Using an email survey of morality policy scholars and a telephone survey of just over seven hundred Illinois residents in 2005, we test this assumption. We find that citizen responses about these policies vary along three of these four characteristics, just as morality policy scholars predicted. Thus, morality policies do exist, as assumed by these scholars. Our analysis also suggests some potentially fruitful avenues for future research on morality policy and other policy typologies.     

Mark Melton's geomorphology and geography's quantitative revolution

Mark Melton published some important papers in the late 1950s that have had a significant influence upon the subsequent development of geomorphology. Two of these papers were published in the same journal in the same year, and have a similar number of total citations, and these are compared in this study. Although both papers present novel empirical findings and discuss innovative conceptual frameworks, the extent and manner to which they have been used within geography and geology differs quite markedly. This reveals marked differences in the conceptual frameworks and research priorities of the two groups of scientists, which may help explain why geomorphology has proceeded differently on the two sides of the Atlantic since the quantitative revolution.     

A Liberal History of European Integration

John Gillingham's voluminous new book chronicles the course of European integration from the 1950s to the present. It contains interesting accounts of a variety of important events, and has the merit of drawing attention to the European Union as a subject for serious historical scholarship. Some readers, however, may find certain of Gillingham's major arguments controversial, especially his insistence that integration has been and will always be primarily about economic liberalization.     

Robustness of Spatial Autocorrelation Specifications: Some Monte Carlo Evidence

Abstract This paper examines the robustness of various models of spatial autocorrelation through a series of Monte Carlo experiments in which each model takes a turn at the data generator. The generated data are then used to estimate all of the models. The estimated models are evaluated primarily on their predictive power.     

Controlling for Doubt and Uncertainty Through Multiple Lines of Evidence: A New Look at the Mesoamerican Nahua Migrations

Nahuatl represents a relatively recent extension of the Uto-Aztecan language family into Mesoamerica. Ethnohistorians have linked Nahuatl's arrival to the historically attested migrations of nomadic people into central Mexico in the last centuries before the Spanish Conquest. Archaeologists have tended to treat migration as an explanation for a change in material culture rather than a social question to be examined theoretically. We approach this migration through the comparison of multiple data sets and conclude that what has previously been treated as a historical event is instead part of a longer term process tying together Mesoamerica's northern periphery with its highland core. While we find that certain themes from migration theory are reflected in this preindustrial migration as well, other variables are unique and bode well for archaeology's ability to address and contribute to theoretical issues relating to migration.     

Style and Subversion: Postwar Poses and the Neo–Edwardian Suit in Mid–Twentieth–Century Britain

This essay examines the emergence of the Neo–Edwardian look in postwar London. It traces a network of styles which took their meanings from the immediate environment and from broader social, economic and cultural trends, and suggests that the arising connections between place, class and gender identities provided an important precedent for the reinvention of London as a centre of fashion innovation in the 1960s. Utilising contemporary sociological accounts and the content of trade periodicals, this reading challenges some of the more reactionary interpretations of Neo–Edwardianism which have dominated the established literature and refocuses the attention of the fashion historian on the sartorial activities of young men.