Social Capital, Racial Context, and Incarcerations in the American States

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Hawes

This article examines the differential effects of social capital on policy equity in state outcomes. Specifically, it explores the relationship between social capital and incarceration rates in the American states paying particular attention to racial disparities in incarceration rates. Building on work by Hero, I present a theoretical explanation and empirical support for how social capital operates differently under different racial contexts. I argue that social capital enhances social empathy in homogeneous contexts and social controls in diverse contexts. Using state-level longitudinal data on the contiguous states, I find that social capital is positively associated with incarcerations, but only for African Americans. Furthermore, the effects of social capital appear to be conditional on racial context where this relationship is stronger as minority group size increases.

2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Hawes ◽  
Austin Michael McCrea

A long-standing debate persists regarding how social capital relates to diversity and inequality in the American states. Putnam argues social capital leads to greater equality and tolerance; however, others find that it increases racial inequality. We build on Soss, Fording, and Schram’s Racial Classification Model (RCM) and theorize that social capital enhances social trust and empathy in homogeneous contexts and favors paternalistic and punitive social controls in diverse contexts. We test this using the case of immigration and welfare generosity following the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. Using state-level data from 1997 to 2009, we find that under conditions of low immigration, social capital is associated with increased social trust and empathy; however, as immigration increases, social capital pivots toward favoring mechanisms of social control. Specifically, social capital increases Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash benefit levels, but only when immigration levels are low. In high-immigration contexts, social capital is associated with decreased welfare generosity.


2022 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Gidong Kim

Abstract I examine the relationship between labor unions and voter turnout in the American states. Though it is well known that unions increase turnout directly, we know less about their indirect effects. Moreover, the indirect effects may consist of nonmember mobilization and aggregate strength. To examine the direct and indirect mechanisms, I analyze both state-level panel data and individual-level data with a multilevel approach. First, my panel analysis shows that unions are positively associated with turnout as expected. Yet, the association is observed only in midterm elections, but not in presidential elections. Second, more importantly, my individual-level analysis suggests that indirect nonmember mobilization and indirect aggregate strength are positively related to turnout, while direct member mobilization is not. The findings imply that the direct effects are limited and, thus, that decreasing levels of voter turnout due to recently declining union membership come primarily from indirect mobilization rather than direct mobilization.


2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
RODNEY E. HERO ◽  
CAROLINE J. TOLBERT

Previous research has shown that institutional factors, particularly ‘direct democracy’, along with racial context, shape policy outcomes in the fifty American states. But less is understood about the impact of such factors on attitudes towards government of racial and ethnic minorities. The passage of ballot initiatives targeting minority interests might be expected to have a negative effect on these groups. This study considers the impact of institutional and social context on attitudes about government responsiveness (external efficacy), drawing on pooled NES survey data from 1988–98 merged with state level data. Consistent with previous research, which was based on a single year, there is strong evidence that citizens in states with frequent exposure to direct democracy are more likely to perceive that government is responsive to their needs. At the same time, direct democracy did not have the hypothesized detrimental impact on racial and ethnic group attitudes towards government in general. State racial context also did not have a measurable impact on individual-level attitudes. Regardless of state environmental contexts, however, racial and ethnic minorities (with the exception of Latinos) reported less confidence in government than whites. The findings have broader implications, particularly given the growing racial and ethnic diversity and the ongoing politics of democratic inclusion in America.


Author(s):  
Denise Huang ◽  
Allison Coordt ◽  
Deborah La Torre ◽  
Seth Leon ◽  
Judy Miyoshi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Andreea Gheorghe ◽  
Oana Fodor ◽  
Anișoara Pavelea

This study explores the association between task conflict and team creativity and the role of group cognitive complexity (GCC) as a potential explanatory mechanism in a sample of 159 students organized in 49 groups. Moreover, we analyzed the moderating effect of collective emotional intelligence (CEI)in the relationship between task conflict and GCC.As hypothesized, we found that task conflict has a nonlinear relationship with GCC, but contrary to our expectations, it follows a U-shaped association, not an inversed U-shape. In addition,the moderating role of CEI was significant only at low levels. Contrary to our expectation, the mediating role of GCC did not receive empirical support. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.


Author(s):  
Yujin Han ◽  
He Li ◽  
Yunyu Xiao ◽  
Ang Li ◽  
Tingshao Zhu

(1) Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine suicidal risk factors, the relationship and the underlying mechanism between social variables and suicidal behavior. We hope to provide empirical support for the future suicide prevention of social media users at the social level. (2) Methods: The path analysis model with psychache as the mediate variable was constructed to analyze the relationship between suicidal behavior and selected social macro variables. The data for our research was taken from the Chinese Suicide Dictionary, Moral Foundation Dictionary, Cultural Value Dictionary and National Bureau of Statistics. (3) Results: The path analysis model was an adequate representation of the data. With the mediator psychache, higher authority vice, individualism, and disposable income of residents significantly predicted less suicidal behavior. Purity vice, collectivism, and proportion of the primary industry had positive significant effect on suicidal behavior via the mediator psychache. The coefficients of harm vice, fairness vice, ingroup vice, public transport and car for every 10,000 people, urban population density, gross domestic product (GDP), urban registered unemployment rate, and crude divorce rate were not significant. Furthermore, we applied the model to three major economic development belts in China. The model’s result meant different economic zones had no influence on the model designed in our study. (4) Conclusions: Our evidence informs population-based suicide prevention policymakers that incorporating some social factors like authority vice, individualism, etc. can help prevent suicidal ideation in China.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089590482110156
Author(s):  
Christopher Redding

Drawing on nationally representative data from six cohorts of beginning teachers from the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, this study applies a difference-in-differences research design to examine the relationship between changes to state-level alternative certification policies and the characteristics of new teachers. The introduction of alternate routes into teaching is associated with an increase in the fraction of new teachers of color in a state and the new teachers who graduated from selective colleges. No evidence was found of a relationship with the relative share of male teachers or teachers of in-demand subjects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089976402097769
Author(s):  
Christopher Fredette ◽  
Ruth Sessler Bernstein

This research examines the relationship among Board Diversity, Social Capital, and Governance Effectiveness by asking, “does board ethno-racial diversity moderate the relationship between Social Capital and Governance Effectiveness, and if so, how?” Exploring the direct and interacting effects of demographic diversity and Social Capital, and their relation to governing-group effectiveness using a two-sample field survey design, we illustrate whether heterogeneous or homogeneous group compositions amplify or attenuate Governance Effectiveness, and to what degree. Primary analyses find no support for Board Diversity moderating the Social Capital-Governance Effectiveness relationship, with secondary analysis revealing a more complex interaction for Governance Effectiveness, albeit inconsistently, across samples. Our investigation points to the value of social resources in understanding governance as an inherently socially complex activity or capability, predicated on truce or mutual agreement and shaped by the composition and connections of boards.


Author(s):  
Clara Egger ◽  
Raul Magni-Berton

Abstract A recently published paper in this journal (Choi, 2021) establishes a statistical link between, on the one hand, Islamist terrorist campaigns – including terrorist attacks and online propaganda – and, on the other the growth of the Muslim population. The author explains this result by stating that successful campaigns lead some individuals to convert to Islam. In this commentary, we intend to reply to this article by focusing on the impact of terrorist attacks on religious conversion. We first show that Choi's results suffer from theoretical flaws – a failure to comprehensively unpack the link between violence and conversion – and methodological shortcomings – a focus on all terrorist groups over a period where Islamist attacks were rare. This leads us to replicate Choi's analysis by distinguishing Islamist and non-Islamist terror attacks on a more adequate timeframe. By doing so, we no longer find empirical support for the relationship between terror attacks and the growth of the Muslim population. However, our analyses suggest that such a hypothesis may hold but only in contexts where the level and intensity of political violence are high.


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