Joseph Stewart

Ethnicity and Nonelectoral Political Participation

Research on political behavior has generally ignored nonelectoralforms ofparticipation and has given scant attention to ethnic minorities. Part of the reason for these gaps in the literature has to do with the paucity of data. Taking advantage of the availability of data from the Latino National Political Survey, this work looks at whether nonelectoral participation by Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans can be explained on the basis of culture, socioeconomic status, mobilization, or some combination of the three. Although mobilization appears to offer the strongest explanation, variables representing all three approaches have some utility. Furthermore, it appears that the factors affecting Cuban nonelectoral participation are notably different than for other Latinos.

Does Interest Group Litigation Matter? The Case of Black Political Mobilization in Mississippi

Litigation, like other interest-group tactics, is often assumed or asserted to have an impact. This research empirically examines this proposition by placing litigation in the context of the myriad of forces aimed at achieving black political mobilization in Mississippi. The results show different forces promoting different modes of black political mobilization, with litigation being effective in boosting black voter registration and black candidacies for public office.

Presidential and Congressional Support for "Independent" Regulatory Commissions: Implications of the Budgetary Process

SENATOR PROXMIRE: Now, you are required somehow to submit your budget to the Office of Management and Budget, and yet you are considered to be an independent agency. How do you reconcile that contradition? There is no greater power than the power to determine the budget of an agency, to destroy it, and to enfeeble it by simply denying it the resources it needs. How can you be independent in any real sense of the executive branch if the Office of Management and Budget determines your budget? (U.S. Congress, 1974: 1050).

The Justice Department and School Desegregation: The Importance of Developing Trust

ELIMINATION OF SOUTHERN segregated dual schools resulted from efforts of two federal departments, Justice and Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). Early desegregation efforts established the pattern of separation of efforts that has prevailed: once Justice sues a district, HEW generally refuses to become involved in enforcing desegregation. While the two departments had generally similar objectives, they used different techniques and, more importantly, there is evidence that the policy consequences differed depending on which agency assumed jurisdiction in a school district. Giles concludes that districts which desegregated pursuant to court orders had more racial isolation in both 1968 and 1970 than did HEW districts.1 Although the difference narrowed during the biennium, it remained statistically significant in 1970, the year by which unitary systems were supposed to be achieved. The en-

Civil Rights and Public Accommodations: The Heart of Atlanta Motel and McClung Cases By Richard C. Cortner. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. 240p.

Mention Richard Cortners name and political scientists think of “stories” of court cases well and thoroughly told. Cortners latest effort is another superb contribution to this line of work. In this work he focuses on the two cases in which the constitutionality of Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (CRA) was tested—the Heart of Atlanta Motel case and the “Ollies Barbeque” case.

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eration Mexican Americans, and a referentethniclass of mainstream Anglo youth. Seven specific hypotheses were furnmlated fur this study; many of these were corroborated as well as the discovery of other unanticipated findings. The informants responded to a variety of ethnographic and psychological measures, described in detail, including the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Problem Situation Test (PST), familism scale, family conflict scale, and a sentence completion test. The study revealed many differencesaswell as similarities among and between the groups in question. Some themes that emerged for immigrants were the importance ofeducation, wanting to help their families, and sadness.The researchers found that family conflict was more ofan issue for the Anglo youth who perceived going away from home to get an education as a liberation from parental authority; while the Mexican-origin youth wanted an education to help their families. In some ways the Mexican Americans approximated their Mexican counterparts, and in other ways they were closer to their Anglo-American peers. Another interesting finding had to do with understanding how oppression and racism eventually dampen the enthusiasm ofMexican-origin students. When they first come from Mexico they are very optimistic and have high self-esteem and expectations about the value ofeducation; by the next generation, this enthusiasm has waned considerably as a result of the harsh realitiesof life in the United States. Chapters 4 and 5 are devoted to the findings ofthis study; which are too numerous and rich for this brief review. This book should be required reading for teachers, teacher candidates, and other educational personnel K-12 in the United States, especially where large numbers of Latino and other inunigrant populations reside.Ofcourse, this book would also be very appropriate for students enrolled in cross-cultural sociology; anthropology; and psychology. In todays world, professionals in these fields must be up-to-date on the issuesand the content herein presented in order to become part of the solution to the misinformation and disinfonnation so rampant in the mass media and on the lips ofdemagogues. Overthe Ivy Walls: The EducationalMobility of Low-Income Chicanos. By Patricia Gandara. Albany: State Universiry ofNewYorkPress, 1995. Pp. lSI.

Book Review: Over the Ivy Wills: The Educational Mobility of Low-Income ChicanosOver the Ivy Wills: The Educational Mobility of Low-Income Chicanos. By GándaraPatricia. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. Pp. 151.

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