Legislative Diversity and the Rise of Women Lobbyists

2021 ◽  
pp. 106591292110093
Author(s):  
James M. Strickland ◽  
Katelyn E. Stauffer
Keyword(s):  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Revolving Door ◽  
Women And Politics ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Women Legislators ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
American States

Despite a growing body of literature examining the consequences of women’s inclusion among lobbyists, our understanding of the factors that lead to women’s initial emergence in the profession is limited. In this study, we propose that gender diversity among legislative targets incentivizes organized interests to hire women lobbyists, and thus helps to explain when and how women emerge as lobbyists. Using a comprehensive data set of registered lobbyist–client pairings from all American states in 1989 and 2011, we find that legislative diversity influences not only the number of lobby contracts held by women but also the number of former women legislators who become revolving-door lobbyists. This second finding further supports the argument that interests capitalize on the personal characteristics of lobbyists, specifically by hiring women to work in more diverse legislatures. Our findings have implications for women and politics, lobbying, and voice and political equality in the United States.

scholarly journals Why Hasn't Democracy Slowed Rising Inequality?

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Bonica ◽  
Nolan McCarty ◽  
Keith T Poole ◽  
Howard Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Real Income ◽  
Revolving Door ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Regulatory Processes

During the past two generations, democratic forms have coexisted with massive increases in economic inequality in the United States and many other advanced democracies. Moreover, these new inequalities have primarily benefited the top 1 percent and even the top .01 percent. These groups seem sufficiently small that economic inequality could be held in check by political equality in the form of “one person, one vote.” In this paper, we explore five possible reasons why the US political system has failed to counterbalance rising inequality. First, both Republicans and many Democrats have experienced an ideological shift toward acceptance of a form of free market capitalism that offers less support for government provision of transfers, lower marginal tax rates for those with high incomes, and deregulation of a number of industries. Second, immigration and low turnout of the poor have combined to make the distribution of voters more weighted to high incomes than is the distribution of households. Third, rising real income and wealth has made a larger fraction of the population less attracted to turning to government for social insurance. Fourth, the rich have been able to use their resources to influence electoral, legislative, and regulatory processes through campaign contributions, lobbying, and revolving door employment of politicians and bureaucrats. Fifth, the political process is distorted by institutions that reduce the accountability of elected officials to the majority and hampered by institutions that combine with political polarization to create policy gridlock.

Is This the Care We Need?: An Examination of Childcare Policy in Pennsylvania

Commonwealth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie Sweet-Cushman ◽  
Ashley Harden
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Child Care ◽  
Current System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Women And Politics ◽  
Richard Nixon ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Childcare Policy

For many families across Pennsylvania, child care is an ever-present concern. Since the 1970s, when Richard Nixon vetoed a national childcare program, child care has received little time in the policy spotlight. Instead, funding for child care in the United States now comes from a mixture of federal, state, and local programs that do not help all families. This article explores childcare options available to families in the state of Pennsylvania and highlights gaps in the current system. Specifically, we examine the state of child care available to families in the Commonwealth in terms of quality, accessibility, flexibility, and affordability. We also incorporate survey data from a nonrepresentative sample of registered Pennsylvania voters conducted by the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. As these results support the need for improvements in the current childcare system, we discuss recommendations for the future.

State Medical Boards' Perceptions of a Minimum Data Set and Current Practices for Collecting Physician Information

2013 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Young ◽  
Philip Davignon ◽  
Margaret B. Hansen ◽  
Mark A. Eggen
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Minimum Data Set ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Physician Workforce ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Minimum Data ◽  
State Medical Boards ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Current Practices

ABSTRACT Recent media coverage has focused on the supply of physicians in the United States, especially with the impact of a growing physician shortage and the Affordable Care Act. State medical boards and other entities maintain data on physician licensure and discipline, as well as some biographical data describing their physician populations. However, there are gaps of workforce information in these sources. The Federation of State Medical Boards' (FSMB) Census of Licensed Physicians and the AMA Masterfile, for example, offer valuable information, but they provide a limited picture of the physician workforce. Furthermore, they are unable to shed light on some of the nuances in physician availability, such as how much time physicians spend providing direct patient care. In response to these gaps, policymakers and regulators have in recent years discussed the creation of a physician minimum data set (MDS), which would be gathered periodically and would provide key physician workforce information. While proponents of an MDS believe it would provide benefits to a variety of stakeholders, an effort has not been attempted to determine whether state medical boards think it is important to collect physician workforce data and if they currently collect workforce information from licensed physicians. To learn more, the FSMB sent surveys to the executive directors at state medical boards to determine their perceptions of collecting workforce data and current practices regarding their collection of such data. The purpose of this article is to convey results from this effort. Survey findings indicate that the vast majority of boards view physician workforce information as valuable in the determination of health care needs within their state, and that various boards are already collecting some data elements. Analysis of the data confirms the potential benefits of a physician minimum data set (MDS) and why state medical boards are in a unique position to collect MDS information from physicians.

REVISITING CONTEMPORARY HOMESCHOOLING: THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Zamir
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
American States ◽  
At Home

The term “homeschooling” denotes the process of educating, instructing, and tutoring children by parents at home instead of having this done by professional teachers in formal settings. Although regulation and court rulings vary from one state to another, homeschooling is legal in all fifty American states. Contrary to the growing tendency of parents in the United States to move toward homeschooling in 1999-2012, the rate of homeschooling and the population of those educated in this manner appear to have leveled off in 2012–2016. This paper aims to explain both phenomena and asks whether a trend is at hand.

scholarly journals Actors, Partisan Inclination, and Emotions: An Analysis of Government Shutdown News Stories Shared on Twitter

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630512110088
Author(s):  
Colin Agur ◽  
Lanhuizi Gan
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Responses ◽  
The United States ◽  
Online Information ◽  
News Frames ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
News Stories ◽  
News Sharing ◽  
Government Shutdown

Scholars have recognized emotion as an increasingly important element in the reception and retransmission of online information. In the United States, because of existing differences in ideology, among both audiences and producers of news stories, political issues are prone to spark considerable emotional responses online. While much research has explored emotional responses during election campaigns, this study focuses on the role of online emotion in social media posts related to day-to-day governance in between election periods. Specifically, this study takes the 2018–2019 government shutdown as its subject of investigation. The data set shows the prominence of journalistic and political figures in leading the discussion of news stories, the nuance of emotions employed in the news frames, and the choice of pro-attitudinal news sharing.

STEM-Focused Career Courses and College Pipeline for Students with Learning Disabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 089590482110199
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Freeman ◽  
Michael A. Gottfried ◽  
Jay Stratte Plasman
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
High School Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Students With Learning Disabilities ◽  
School Students ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Stem Majors ◽  
Career And Technical ◽  
Nationally Representative

Recent educational policies in the United States have fostered the growth of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career-focused courses to support high school students’ persistence into these fields in college and beyond. As one key example, federal legislation has embedded new types of “applied STEM” (AS) courses into the career and technical education curriculum (CTE), which can help students persist in STEM through high school and college. Yet, little is known about the link between AS-CTE coursetaking and college STEM persistence for students with learning disabilities (LDs). Using a nationally representative data set, we found no evidence that earning more units of AS-CTE in high school influenced college enrollment patterns or major selection in non-AS STEM fields for students with LDs. That said, students with LDs who earned more units of AS-CTE in high school were more likely to seriously consider and ultimately declare AS-related STEM majors in college.

scholarly journals The COVID Connection: Pandemic Anxiety, COVID-19 Comprehension, and Digital Confidence

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110031
Author(s):  
Laura Robinson ◽  
Jeremy Schulz ◽  
Øyvind N. Wiborg ◽  
Elisha Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Models ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Digital Inequality ◽  
Partner Status ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
Nationally Representative

This article presents logistic models examining how pandemic anxiety and COVID-19 comprehension vary with digital confidence among adults in the United States during the first wave of the pandemic. As we demonstrate statistically with a nationally representative data set, the digitally confident have lower probability of experiencing physical manifestations of pandemic anxiety and higher probability of adequately comprehending critical information on COVID-19. The effects of digital confidence on both pandemic anxiety and COVID-19 comprehension persist, even after a broad range of potentially confounding factors are taken into account, including sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, metropolitan status, and partner status. They also remain discernable after the introduction of general anxiety, as well as income and education. These results offer evidence that the digitally disadvantaged experience greater vulnerability to the secondary effects of the pandemic in the form of increased somatized stress and decreased COVID-19 comprehension. Going forward, future research and policy must make an effort to address digital confidence and digital inequality writ large as crucial factors mediating individuals’ responses to the pandemic and future crises.

scholarly journals 910. A Comprehensive, One Year, Hospital-Wide Snapshot of All Serious Infectious Complications in People Who Inject Drugs

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S489-S490
Author(s):  
John T Henderson ◽  
Evelyn Villacorta Cari ◽  
Nicole Leedy ◽  
Alice Thornton ◽  
Donna R Burgess ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Vertebral Osteomyelitis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infectious Complications ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Icu Admission ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background There has been a dramatic rise in IV drug use (IVDU) and its associated mortality and morbidity, however, the scope of this effect has not been described. Kentucky is at the epicenter of this epidemic and is an ideal place to better understand the health complications of IVDU in order to improve outcomes. Methods All adult in-patient admissions to University of Kentucky hospitals in 2018 with an Infectious Diseases (ID) consult and an ICD 9/10 code associated with IVDU underwent thorough retrospective chart review. Demographic, descriptive, and outcome data were collected and analyzed by standard statistical analysis. Results 390 patients (467 visits) met study criteria. The top illicit substances used were methamphetamine (37.2%), heroin (38.2%), and cocaine (10.3%). While only 4.1% of tested patients were HIV+, 74.2% were HCV antibody positive. Endocarditis (41.1%), vertebral osteomyelitis (20.8%), bacteremia without endocarditis (14.1%), abscess (12.4%), and septic arthritis (10.4%) were the most common infectious complications. The in-patient death rate was 3.0%, and 32.2% of patients were readmitted within the study period. The average length of stay was 26 days. In multivariable analysis, infectious endocarditis was associated with a statistically significant increase in risk of death, ICU admission, and hospital readmission. Although not statistically significant, trends toward mortality and ICU admission were identified for patients with prior endocarditis and methadone was correlated with decreased risk of readmission and ICU stay. FIGURE 1: Reported Substances Used FIGURE 2: Comorbidities FIGURE 3: Types of Severe Infectious Complications Conclusion We report on a novel, comprehensive perspective on the serious infectious complications of IVDU in an attempt to measure its cumulative impact in an unbiased way. This preliminary analysis of a much larger dataset (2008-2019) reveals some sobering statistics about the impact of IVDU in the United States. While it confirms the well accepted mortality and morbidity associated with infective endocarditis and bacteremia, there is a significant unrecognized impact of other infectious etiologies. Additional analysis of this data set will be aimed at identifying key predictive factors in poor outcomes in hopes of mitigating them. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

scholarly journals Altitude and risk of sudden unexpected infant death in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Johnston ◽  
Xiaohan Yan ◽  
Tatiana M. Anderson ◽  
Edwin A. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Infant Death ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sudden Infant ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Live Births ◽  
Sudden Unexpected Infant Death ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Unexpected Infant Death

AbstractThe effect of altitude on the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has been reported previously, but with conflicting findings. We aimed to examine whether the risk of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) varies with altitude in the United States. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Cohort Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set for births between 2005 and 2010 were examined. County of birth was used to estimate altitude. Logistic regression and Generalized Additive Model (GAM) were used, adjusting for year, mother’s race, Hispanic origin, marital status, age, education and smoking, father’s age and race, number of prenatal visits, plurality, live birth order, and infant’s sex, birthweight and gestation. There were 25,305,778 live births over the 6-year study period. The total number of deaths from SUID in this period were 23,673 (rate = 0.94/1000 live births). In the logistic regression model there was a small, but statistically significant, increased risk of SUID associated with birth at > 8000 feet compared with < 6000 feet (aOR = 1.93; 95% CI 1.00–3.71). The GAM showed a similar increased risk over 8000 feet, but this was not statistically significant. Only 9245 (0.037%) of mothers gave birth at > 8000 feet during the study period and 10 deaths (0.042%) were attributed to SUID. The number of SUID deaths at this altitude in the United States is very small (10 deaths in 6 years).

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