Determinants of Organizational Failure in the Milwaukee School Voucher Program

In this article, we utilize 25 years of data on the Milwaukee voucher program to test the relationships among organizational liabilities of newness, institutional affiliation, market‐share, and regulatory environment on the cumulative risk of school failure. Overall, we find that 41 percent of all private voucher schools operating in Milwaukee between 1991 and 2015 failed. Start‐up voucher schools, and those unaffiliated with a larger institution, have comparatively higher failure risk over time. The results of our analysis shed light onto one of the long‐term impacts of a public policy reform premised on social entrepreneurship. We conclude that policymakers should consider the consequences of organizational failure when utilizing nongovernment entities in the provision of public goods, and that scholars focus increased attention to understanding the negative externalities created by public entrepreneurship.     

The family as the foundation of political rule in western philosophy: a comparative analysis of Aristotle's politics and Hegel's philosophy of right

For both Aristotle and Hegel, the family is the foundation in which the universalized rule of law is validated according to the political structure of the 'Polis' or 'State' itself. This composite whole or structure of society (Ancient Polis/Modern State) is the political end of humanity for both philosophers, which in turn finds its primordial beginning in the family. For Aristotle, it is in the kingly rule of the household that the property-based distinction of citizenship is set for the rule of his ideal Polis. For Hegel, it is in the love affirmed through caring affection within the nuclear family that the dialectical framework for the freedom of civil society, and the rational unity of a congregational 'spirit' in the State, finds its foundation. For both thinkers, the family sets the base for a political theory that defines citizenship in a manner that transcends the particularities of kin bonds.     

Success(ion): Second-Generation Iranian Americans

More than a generation has passed since the substantial immigration of Iranians to the United States in the late 1970s, resulting in a sizable second-generation population (defined by convention as persons born in the United States and those who immigrated under the age of thirteen). This article presents a first look at the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the second generation at the national level, and compares them with those of the first generation (Iran- or foreign-born population). It uses the 2005–07 merged data set compiled by the United States Census in the American Community Survey (ACS). The results indicate a preliminary continuation of economic and educational success from the first- to the second-generation Iranians. Moreover, this achievement has become more balanced across gender lines in the second generation. Specifically, in terms of educational attainment and labor force participation, females have quickly closed the gap with their male counterparts. Because the second generation is still young, it is premature to assess the extent of intergenerational mobility among Iranians. But given this generation's initial achievements, one can only expect an upward trajectory.     

Ideology,Power, and the Structure of Policy Networks

This article investigates the role of power and ideology in the endogenous formation of policy networks. According to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), shared ideology (conceptualized as a system of policy‐relevant beliefs and values) is the primary driver of collaboration within policy subsystems. On the other hand, Resource Dependency Theory suggests that power‐seeking is an important rationale behind network structure, and that collaborative ties are formed primarily on the basis of perceived influence. Hypotheses are tested using a new method of egocentric network correlation, based on survey data of policy networks in five regional planning subsystems in California (N = 506). Results suggest that ideology is an important force behind network cohesion: Not only do policy elites systematically avoid networking with ideologically dissimilar actors but collaborative ties are also systematically formed among actors with shared beliefs. Power‐seeking does not operate on a network‐wide scale but may drive network formation among coalitions of ideologically similar agents.     

The Effect of Persuasive Messages on Policy Problem Recognition

Prior theories of individual behavior in recognizing public problems have centered on the role of policy entrepreneurs; institutional effects; information; and cultural, political, and social pressures. Our extension of these theories suggests that policy problem recognition is an attitudinal evaluation process. If the information is considered valid and the new attitude is negative in valence, then a policy problem is recognized. To test this theory, we use an embedded experiment in a national survey to measure the effect of persuasive messages on the concern for global warming. We find that the negativity of the message and the credibility of the source of the message both affect the level of increase in concern for global warming. Further, the impact of the message from the source is conditional based upon the recipient's ideology. This suggests that policy problem recognition is attitudinal and thus incorporates both analytical and affective components.     

Vesalius on the Anatomy and Function of the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerves: Medical Illustration and Reintroduction of a Physiological Demonstration from Galen

The purpose of this article is to review the anatomical illustrations and physiological demonstrations of sixteenth-century Flemish-born anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius concerning the recurrent laryngeal nerves. Although Vesalius was primarily an anatomist, he also used vivisection as a pedagogical device to help his students understand the function of structures within the fabric of the body that they had previously studied in anatomical detail. Vesalius’s masterwork, De humani corporis fabrica or simply the Fabrica (1543, 1555), was ostensibly an anatomy text, but Vesalius included textual and figural references to his use of vivisection to explicate the function of specific structures. Even as he began to criticize the errors in Galen’s anatomical works, Vesalius nevertheless adopted some of Galen’s classic physiological demonstrations, in particular the ligation (and subsequent release) of the recurrent laryngeal nerves of a pig to demonstrate their role in generating the pig’s squeal. Vesalius’s illustrations concerning the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the Fabrica were of two types: elegant anatomical woodcut plates—unsurpassed for their clarity, accuracy, and detail — and the distinctly inelegant historiated initial Q, depicting a throng of putti busily engaged in vivisecting a pig. Vesalius’ anatomical plates were heavily plagiarized while the historiated initials, showing the rough work of an anatomist or surgeon, were largely ignored and remain little recognized today. While Vesalius’ anatomical illustrations of the recurrent laryngeal nerves contained some errors, they were a dramatic departure from prior meager efforts at medical illustration and indeed far surpassed all contemporary published illustrations by others. Vesalius was also influential in reviving Galen’s approach to vivisection, at least for pedagogical purposes, if not really then yet as a full-fledged investigative technique.     

Deconstructing Hunting Returns: Can We Reconstruct and Predict Payoffs from Pursuing Prey?

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Explaining variation in hunter-gatherer livelihoods hinges on our ability to predict the tradeoffs and opportunities of pursuing different kinds of...