Deborah Kaple

Current Data Resources on Nonprofit Arts Organizations

This article presents and examines the data sources that are currently available for conducting research on nonprofit arts organizations in the United States. It gives a detailed look at how the field has developed and why particular data problems exist. It examines the data necessary to understand sufficiently the largely uncharted territory of nonprofit arts organizations and it gives an overview of the key data sources that do exist. It summarizes recent efforts of scholars and researchers to assemble better databases on arts organizations and, finally, it makes recommendations for further research to be pursued.

Comparing Sample Frames for Research on Arts Organizations: Results of a Study in Three Metropolitan Areas

This paper addresses a small but crucial aspect of research on arts organizations: how to define a sample frame, based upon which one can collect data generalizable to the population of cultural organizations as a whole. Researchers undertook case studies in three metropolitan areas: Philadelphia, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Dallas/Fort Worth. They compiled, as complete as possible, a list of arts organizations based on printed sources and information from local citizens familiar with the nonprofit arts community. Then, they examined the extent to which different approaches to developing a sample frame would have captured the organizations by the group identified, and what types of bias each approach would entail. This paper reports on the findings from this research and discusses several theoretical and methodological dilemmas that emerged during the course of the work.

Perspectives on Sergey Radchenko's Two Suns in the Heavens

In this forum, three leading experts on Sino-Soviet relations and Mao Zedongs policy toward the Soviet Union offer their appraisals of Sergey Radchenkos Two Suns in the Heavens, The Sino-Soviet Struggle for Supremacy, 1962–1967, published by the Woodrow Wilson Center Press. The commentators praise many aspects of Radchenkos book, but Michael Sheng and to a lesser extent Qiang Zhai and Deborah Kaple wonder whether Radchenko has gone too far in downplaying the role of ideology in Maos foreign policy. Unlike Lorenz Lüthi, who gives decisive weight to ideology in his own book about the Sino-Soviet split, Radchenko argues that a classical realist approach is the best framework for understanding Chinese foreign policy and the rift between China and the Soviet Union. Sheng and Zhai also raise questions about some of the sources used by Radchenko. Replying to the commentaries, Radchenko defends his conception of Maos foreign policy, arguing that it is a more nuanced view than Sheng and Zhai imply. Radchenko also stresses the inherent shortcomings of the source base scholars are forced to use when analyzing Chinese foreign policy.

FORUM: Mao, Khrushchev, and China's Split with the USSR: Perspectives on The Sino-Soviet Split

This forum includes six commentaries on Lorenz M. Lthis book The Sino-Soviet Split: Cold War in the Communist World, published by Princeton University Press in 2008. Drawing on recently declassified documents and memoirs from numerous countries, Lthi explains how and why the close alliance between the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China fell apart in a remarkably short time, dissolving into fierce mutual enmity. Amassing a wealth of evidence, Lthi stresses the role of ideology in the split, lending support to the arguments put forth nearly five decades ago by analysts like Donald Zagoria in his pioneering book on the Sino-Soviet rift. Six leading experts on Chinese foreign policy and Sino-Soviet relations discuss the strengths of Lthis book but also raise questions about some interpretations and omissions. The forum includes Lthis reply to the commentaries.

THE BAM: LABOR, MIGRATION AND PROSPECTS FOR SETTLEMENT

The construction of the showcase Baikal-Amur Mainline (the BAM), which spans over 2,000 miles of unsettled, desolate territory, provides an excellent opportunity to study labor management and organization in a centrally planned economy, and illustrates the interplay of central planning with the relatively unhindered migration of workers. Significantly, in the face of a shrinking labor force, the USSR attracted thousands of young people to Siberia to work on the BAM. Now that the rail line is in place, the more difficult task will be to entice workers to settle in the BAM zone. Until the Soviet Government makes a firm commitment to improving the quality of life in Siberia, prospects for settling the BAM region remain uncertain. (The author wishes to thank Holland Hunter, Gilbert Rozman and Theodore Shabad for their generous help and encouragement.)