Nicholas O. Alozie

Women's Council Representation: Measurement Implications for Public Policy

Previous accounts of the determinants of womens service on city councils focused on the degree of womens representation. In this paper we suggest that understanding womens representation on these legislative bodies requires that attention also be paid to potential differences between communities where women have been able to break the cycle of exclusion from those where they have not. This paper compares two different measures of womens council representation using both logit and the OLS regression. The results indicate that, alone, electoral structure is not a significant explanatory factor in understanding either the presence of women on city councils or the extent of womens representation on these legislative bodies. However, the size of the legislative body has a significant effect which, except among district election cities, largely improves the likelihood of electing a woman to the council (as compared to improving the degree of womens representation). Other results indicate significant regional disparities which favor the Midwest and West over the Northeast and South.

“A Piece of the PIE” and More Competition and Hispanic Employment on Urban Police Forces

Further diversification of local police forces is essential in any systematic response to current difficulties in police-minority relations. The authors explore the relevance of out-and intragroup competition on Hispanic employment—one dimension of police diversification. The results indicate that competition is relevant in any dialogue on evolving ethnically diverse police forces or on increasing the role of Hispanic women. Black employment casts a negative influence on Hispanic employment generally, and that negative influence extends to Hispanic males and females separately. Generally, white females compete with Hispanics, particularly in minority Hispanic cities. Within Hispanic groups, the successes of Hispanic males and Hispanic females are zero-sum.

Gender Differences in Willingness to Pay for Urban Public Services

The “vote” urban residents cast when they make decisions about public services has implications for service delivery in local government. We utilize probability data from one of the nation’s largest municipalities to explore potential gender disparities in willingness to pay for local public services: whether men and women differ in their general orientation toward paying for services; whether any gender gaps are exacerbated in particular service areas; and whether any gender disparities have implications for community governance. Men and women report strong predisposition to paying generally, although glaring gender gaps exist that are both theoretically and practically insightful.

Black and Hispanic Council Representation Does Council Size Matter

The authors use black and Hispanic representation on city councils to address the proposition that the size of an elective body is related to minority officeholding in that body. A conceptual framework of the nature of minority representation and the types of differences that council size can make are examined using national survey data for 525 cities. The results support the position that council size does not explain the strength of minority representation but that larger councils provide a greater opportunity for minority incumbency. This effect is strongest in at-large election cities. For blacks, the strongest effect is found for at-large election cities in the South.

The Effect of Age on Criminal Processing: Is There an Advantage in Being ‘Older’?

Abstract This article uses data on the prefile diversion review of 5,715 drug offenders to explore the effect of age on criminal processing outcomes. Specifically, the study asks whether older offenders were treated more leniently than younger offenders and to what extent any age-based preferential treatment extended to race/ethnic minorities. Hypotheses on the treatment of younger and older offenders generally and for racial/ethnic groups are tested. The results for the entire sample indicate a positive effect which begins at about age 52. Moreover, there is an elderly effect for whites and Native Americans, but not for blacks and Hispanics. These results introduce a significant caveat in the ubiquitous precept that all older offenders are treated more leniently in criminal processing. They support previous policy questions regarding how much racial/ethnic minority offenders benefit from generally accepted preferential treatment for the older offender. The issues which arise from the preferential treatment has implications for social policy generally andsocialworkersin particular.

Probing the Limits of the Female Advantage in Criminal Processing: Pretrial Diversion of Drug Offenders in an Urban County

Some research suggests that female offenders are treated more leniently than male offenders in criminal processing. Other research contends that female offenders are either treated similarly to or treated more harshly than male offenders. Still, some derivative of this literature maintains that any advantage of female over male offenders is enjoyed exclusively by Anglo females. “Serious” offenses and the sentencing stage in criminal processing constitute much of the evidentiary bases of these positions. In this research, we explore the efficacy of the sex disparity thesis focusing on a “soft” offense at the pretrial stage. Specifically, we investigate whether sex predicts the disposition of drug cases and the extent to which Anglo females were treated more leniently than their ethnic minority counterparts. Generally, we found that female offenders were treated more leniently than male offenders. Within race/ethnic categories, Anglo and black females were treated more leniently than Anglo and black males, while Latino males and females tended to be treated equally. On the contrary, we did not find evidence of more favorable treatment of Anglo over ethnic minority females. The implications of the findings for the major assumptions regarding male-female disparities in criminal processing are discussed.

Political tolerance hypotheses and white opposition to a Martin Luther King holiday in Arizona

Abstract On November 2, 1983, President Reagan signed into law national legislation designating the third Monday in January a national holiday in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK). At the end of 1992, except for New Hampshire that had a Civil Rights Day that did not mention MLK specifically, every state and the District of Columbia (including the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands) had established some form of a MLK holiday. However, only Arizona voters decided the holiday issue via a statewide ballot initiative. Voters finally approved an initiative in 1992 after rejecting a similar one in 1990. Rejection of the 1990 proposal evoked national condemnation and provoked sanctions from organizations ranging from the National Football League to the National League of Cities. While the white community provided excuses, the black community reacted with charges of racism. Building on the traditional literature which links white contributions to black political gains to white political tolerance, this study explores the extent to which data gathered from white voters on the holiday support hypotheses drawn from the political tolerance model. Analysis indicate results that conform to the expectations of the model. Less educated, older, politically conservative, LDS, and rural white Arizonas are less likely to voice approval for such a holiday.

The Digital Gender Divide: Confronting Obstacles to Women's Development in Africa

The African Union has declared 2010–2020 as the African Womens Decade to accelerate African womens development. However, to achieve the decades goals, African countries must acknowledge the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in consolidating human capital. This research investigates gender disparities in access and use of ICTs in sub-Saharan Africa and finds that men are more likely to own and use the technologies. Education, socioeconomic status, domesticity and traditionalism are all linked to ICT use. However, the gender gap does not arise as a result of differential returns to these factors for men and women. Rather, it materializes when fewer women have the resources, or are more disadvantaged in accessing and using ICTs. Implications are discussed.

Segregation and Black and Hispanic Group Outcomes Policing in Large Cities

This research uses Black and Hispanic employment on large-city police forces to explore the relative efficacy of two competing hypotheses on the potential effect of residential segregation on minority-group outcomes. The latent-need hypothesis postulates that Blacks and Hispanics would fare better in more segregated communities because Black and Hispanic personnel are needed to police “their” own neighborhoods. Alternatively, the discrimination hypothesis contends that, ceteris paribus, the extent of residential segregation is an indicator of community-level intolerance and expects that more segregated communities would present Blacks and Hispanics with fewer opportunities in policing. The analysis indicates that the discrimination imperative is germane for Blacks. However, residential segregation is of no significant consequence for Hispanics.

Blacks and Latinos in City Management: Prospects and Challenges in Council-Manager Governments

Abstract By any measure, the council-manager form of government is the fastest growing model of local government in the United States. Given the unique environment of most council-manager authorities, the city manager becomes the single most important public official in the community. Access to the city manager position by minority administrators could have a substantial impact on citizen perceptions of access to institutions and processes if not equity and representation in service delivery in local government. All of this becomes significant given that the city manager is not elected on popular ballot and thus is not directly accountable to the electorate. This article explores the community factors that are associated with black and Latino success in achieving the position of city manager. The national data reveal that minority political empowerment is the most decisive catalyst predicting black and Latino success in achieving the position of city manager. Implications for representative bureaucracy and local governance are drawn.