Book Notes

Books reviewed in this article: Judith Wagner DeCew, In Pursuit of Privacy: Law, Ethics, and the Rise of Technology. Peter DeLeon, Democracy and the Policy Sciences. Herbert Inhaber, Why Energy Conservation Fails. Sheila Jasanoff, Science at the Bar: Law, Science, and Technology in America. Marick F. Masters, Unions at the Crossroads: Strategic Membership, Financial, and Political Perspectives. Susan E. Mayer, What Money Can't Buy: Family Income and Children's Life Chances. Pietro S. Nivola (Ed.), Comparative Disadvantages? Social Regulations and the Global Economy. Sudhir Chella Rajan, The Enigma of Automobility:Democratic Politics and Pollution Control. Paul M. Sniderman and Edward G. Carmines, Reaching Beyond Race. Elliott White (Ed.), Intelligence, Political Inequality, and Public Policy. Robet H. Wilson (Ed.), Public Policy and Community: Activism and Governance in Texas.     

Book Notes

Books reviewed in this article: Donald L. Alexander (Ed.), Telecommunications Policy: Have Regulators Dialed the Wrong Number? John J. Audley, Green Politics and Global Trade: NAFTA and the Future of Environmental Politics. William I. Bacchus, The Price of American Foreign Policy: Congress, the Executive, and International Affairs Funding. Arnold Birenbaum, Managed Care: Made in America. Thomas A. Birkland, After Disaster; Agenda Setting, Public Policy, and Focusing Events. James Bowman and Donald Menzel (Eds.), Teaching Ethics and Values in Public Administration Programs. Robert J. Duffy, Nuclear Politics in America: A History and Theory of Government Regulation. Marianne Githens and Dorothy McBride Stetson (Eds.), Abortion Politics: Public Policy in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Christopher Howard, The Hidden Welfare State: Tax Expenditures and Social Policy in the United States Joan Johnson-Freese and Roger Handberg, Space, The Dormant Frontier: Changing the Paradigm for the 21st Century. Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, The Changing Federal Role in U.S. Health Care Policy. Yong S. Lee (Ed.), Technology Transfer and Public Policy. James Midgley, Social Welfare in Global Context. Nancy C. Roberts and Paula J. King, Transforming Public Policy: Dynamics of Policy Entrepreneurs hip and Innovation. Denise Scheberle, Federalism and Environmental Policy: Trust and the Politics of Implementation. David E. Wildasin (Ed.), Fiscal Aspects of Evolving Federations.     

Human Rights,Modernity, and Milton’s Areopagitica

Some of the founding documents of our modern human rights culture assert that, by virtue of natural law, the will of God, the will of a Supreme Being, or some kind of natural world order, all humans have a right to civil liberties. In Areopagitica (1644), Milton rejects this way of grounding the claim to civil liberties. Instead, he argues for civil liberties on pragmatic grounds, but also on the premise that members of political societies are entitled to civil liberties from their governors only insofar as those members are rational and virtuous. His argument for civil liberties is also grounded in the view that the proper function of government includes propagating virtue in those it governs, assessing their rationality and moral virtue, and extending civil liberties to them in accordance with this assessment. Arguing in this way, Milton opposes the notion that, simply by virtue of being human, all members of political societies have a specific set of rights which their governments, and indeed all other people on earth, are bound to respect. He thus has more in common with Isocrates and Renaissance humanists than he does with the defenders of our modern human rights culture.     

Finnish Farmstead Organization in Old And New World Settings

During recent years an increasing amount of scholarly attention has focused upon the assessment of ordinary people, conventional places and common events. Most studies of material culture, however, have been directed toward vernacular and ethnic architecture and artifacts, with relatively little attention given to the physical organization of rural enclaves or entire farmstead units. Undoubtedly studies of farmsteads have been limited in number because of the substantial amount of field survey work that is required, and what is perceived as a lack of primary research materials, both archival and structural. Despite these apparent problems, an assessment of extant rural building groupings and remnants in a Wisconsin Finnish-American community and a perusal of various reference materials revealed sufficient evidence to undertake an in-depth study of farmsteads and their spatial organization. By comparing farmsteads developed by Finnish immigrants in Wisconsin with prototypical examples from Finland, it was possible to determine both differences and similarities in functional and morphological characteristics on both sides of the Atlantic.     

The Nomad as State Builder: Historical Theory and Material Evidence from Mongolia

Theory on nomadic political complexity has largely been based on twentieth century ethnography and numerous historical accounts of the military confederations of pastoral nomads. Over the past two decades, archaeologists have increasingly used material evidence to evaluate ideas about nomadic polities and have added indigenous and local-scale perspectives to an understanding of nomadic political process in many regions across the Old World. One of these is Mongolia, a major center of nomadic state and empire formation, where archaeologists have recently focused attention on an early regional polity that arose at the end of the first millennium BC and is known as the Xiongnu (also Hsiung-nu) state. This paper synthesizes the latest archaeological research on the Xiongnu state in order to evaluate historical models that explain state emergence among nomads on the far eastern steppe. The material record from Mongolia adds the detail and resolution needed to refine existing explanations for Xiongnu state emergence.      

Abstract Cultural Landscapes

Fred B. Kniffen's career as an educator and scholar spanned more than 60 years (1929-1993). The Department of Geography and Anthropology at Louisiana State University, countless undergraduate and graduate students who had the good fortune to study under his thoughtful guidance, and American academic geography all bear an indelible imprint of Kniffen's eclectic interests, academic leadership, meticulous scholarship and innovative teaching. To generations of students, Kniffen was an exemplary role model and kindly "father figure." His students were encouraged to work in the field. As graduate advisor, he ensured that students were well versed in the history and philosophy of the discipline, as well as possessing a broad understanding of both physical geography and cultural anthropology. As an educator, perhaps his most lasting contribution was the work ethic and genuine love and enthusiasm for geography that he imparted to students.     

Lesions as Therapy: Surgical Intervention in Parkinson's Disease Prior to L-Dopa

The study of Parkinson's disease has undergone vast changes across its almost 200 year history. Over this period, research scientists have added dramatic detail to their understanding both of the motor system in general and the etiology of Parkinson's disease specifically This expanded understanding has been facilitated, particularly, by the work of clinicians with the goal of improving treatments designed to ameliorate its symptoms. This article examines the evolution of one particular clinical approach, the production of lesions to segments of the basal ganglia, from its inception, through its “golden era,” disuse, and rebirth.