{"title":"The Women's Rights Lobby in the Gender Gap Congress, 1983-84","authors":"J. Thompson","doi":"10.15367/com.v2i1.593","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v2i1.593","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyzes the successes and failures of the women's right lobby during the 98th Congress, when the media made the \"gender gap\" a political watchword and legislators were unusually anxious to show support for women's issues. A similarly favorable climate had existed ten years earlier, but the women's interest groups were new to lobbying, had little coordination and were unable to attract coalition partners among more established groups. This time they had the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues as a liaison to over 100 House members, an agreed agenda called the Economic Equity Act and 165 allied organizations making up the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights. By playing the gender gap the Caucus and women lobbyists were able to win enactment of pension reform and child support enforcement legislation. While the gender gap is no longer in the headlines, some momentum has been retained.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90742781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Editor","authors":"Donald G. Tannenbaum","doi":"10.15367/com.v2i1.591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v2i1.591","url":null,"abstract":"From the Editor","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"81 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83974305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The New Libertarianism and the Sedition Act of 1798","authors":"Gerard. J. Fitzpatrick","doi":"10.15367/com.v3i1.585","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v3i1.585","url":null,"abstract":"When the First Amendment was ratified in 1791 many Americans still regarded trenchant criticism of govemment, its officers, or its policies to be criminally punishable \"seditious libel.\" Not until the bitter controversy ignited by the Sedition Act of 1798 did Americans formulate a theory of political expression in a republic that undercut arguments justifying prosecution for seditious libel. The result was a new libenarianism with regard to freedom of speech and press.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74241731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Costa Rican Democracy","authors":"John S. Peeler","doi":"10.15367/com.v1i1.600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v1i1.600","url":null,"abstract":"The article argues that the emergence and maintenance of Costa Rican democracy cannot be attributed to unique economic or social circumstances, but rather to identifiable elite actions that changed the character of political life. The argument is supported by a review of recent political history and an analysis of the functioning of the contemporary political system. This runs counter to a very common argument that attributes Costa Rica's unique democracy to the relative equality of wealth and status that has characterized the country since colonial times. A second persuasion emphasizes the virtual powerlessness of the mass of the population, but sees the maintenance of democracy as an outgrowth of a pluralistic dispersion of power and divergence of interests among the powerful minority. A third viewpoint, essentially the opposite of the first, sees the democratic regime as a continuation of patterns of class domination with deep historical roots. This article stands between the second and third schools of thoughts, attributing the democratic regime to explicit accommodations of interests among rival elites, while emphasizing the persistence of class domination in Costa Rican politics.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"13 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72402727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tacit Knowledge in Plato","authors":"Aryen Botwinick","doi":"10.15367/com.v2i1.595","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v2i1.595","url":null,"abstract":"Applying the concept of tacit knowledge to several key areas in Plato's political theory illuminates obscurities and mitigates incoherencies in his thought, revealing a less totalitarian emphasis. It also provides a promising avenue for resolving a central epistemological problem that has occupied Western philosophy since its inception, namely, the fonnulation of a consistent version of skepticism.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"2 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85972767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Political Economy of Colonialism in Puerto Rico","authors":"Martin J. Collo","doi":"10.15367/com.v2i1.592","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v2i1.592","url":null,"abstract":"This article is a rebuttal to the argument that Puerto Rico cannot be considered a colony of the United States because the people of the island have rejected independence. The position presented here is that the democratic process through which Puerto Ricans have seemingly rejected independence. The underlying theme of this article is that the Puerto Rican and U.S. ruling elites have not allowed the Puerto Rican masses to choose among all the possible status alternatives. By not adopting policies to develop the endogenous productive capacity of the insular economy, the elites have elimated economically viable independence as a status option.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"181 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80228809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Banking on Politics","authors":"D. Kowalewski, Robin D. Leonard","doi":"10.15367/com.v2i1.594","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v2i1.594","url":null,"abstract":"The Establishment model of American politics is examined through a study of the political involvement of the largest 100 banks. Establishmentism posits a close and mutually beneficial relationship between economic and political elites. The findings indicate that larger; more transnational and economically connected banks from New York are indeed more politically involved with respect to campaign contributions and revolving doors. The implications of the findings are then discussed.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72741061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Primates, Coalitions and Small Group Politics","authors":"S. Peterson, Alfred Somit","doi":"10.15367/com.v3i1.584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v3i1.584","url":null,"abstract":"Many scholar's have commented upon the tendency for human decision-making to be subject to shifting coalitions. Madison, among others, noted that this could lead to instability. This paper suggests that there is a biological basis to this propensity. Two case studies of \"chimpanzee politics\" are examined; both indicate that chimpanzee coalition behavior seems to be underlaid by a kind of cost-benefit calculus. Since chimpanzees are humans' closest relatives, this implies the possibility that human coalition behavior has an evolutionary basis. Implications for human politics are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72643916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public-Private Sector Relationships in Professional Sports","authors":"Jacqueline DeLaat","doi":"10.15367/com.v2i1.596","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v2i1.596","url":null,"abstract":"Relations between the public and private sectors are increasingly important, as service providers search for more efficient and effective ways to deliver both \"public\" and \"private\" services. This article explores the creative cooperation between public and private sectors in retaining the Pirate baseball franchise in Pittsburgh. The findings have implications for other troubled sports franchises, and potentially relate to other types of services, as well.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85999585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Independent Judges in a Democracy","authors":"T. O'neill","doi":"10.15367/com.v3i1.587","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15367/com.v3i1.587","url":null,"abstract":"This research note tests the proposition that different local selection processes recruit judges with different outlooks about tile roles they aught to perform Wi democratic officials and as legal professionals. Based on interviews with ninety-four state and local trial judges in California, Louisiana, and Massachusetts, I conclude that there is no statistically significant relationship between selection process and role orientation.","PeriodicalId":46038,"journal":{"name":"COMMONWEALTH & COMPARATIVE POLITICS","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76491257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}