Regulating Privacy: Data Protection and Public Policy in Europe and the United States. By Colin J. Bennett. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992. 263p. $39.95 cloth, $16.95 paper.

This chapter explores the relationship between hours of work and unemployment. When it comes to time spent working in the United States at present, two problems immediately come to light. First, an asymmetrical distribution of working time persists, with some people overworked and others underemployed. Second, hours are increasingly unstable; precarious on-call work scheduling and gig economy–style employment relationships are the canaries in the coal mine of a labor market that produces fewer and fewer stable jobs. It is possible that some kind of shorter hours movement, especially one that places an emphasis on young workers, has the potential to address these problems. Some policies and processes are already in place to transition into a shorter hours economy right now even if those possibilities are mediated by an anti-worker political administration.

Download Full-text

Introduction

10.1093/oso/9780190860554.003.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Valls

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Public Policy ◽

Social Construction ◽

Political Theory ◽

Racial Inequality ◽

The United States ◽

Racial Justice ◽

Color Blind ◽

American Society ◽

Liberal Political Theory

The persistence of racial inequality in the United States raises deep and complex questions of racial justice. Some observers argue that public policy must be “color-blind,” while others argue that policies that take race into account should be defended on grounds of diversity or integration. This chapter begins to sketch an alternative to both of these, one that supports strong efforts to address racial inequality but that focuses on the conditions necessary for the liberty and equality of all. It argues that while race is a social construction, it remains deeply embedded in American society. A conception of racial justice is needed, one that is grounded on the premises provided by liberal political theory.

Download Full-text

The Insidious Momentum of American Mass Incarceration

10.1093/oso/9780197513170.001.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Franklin E. Zimring

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Public Policy ◽

Twentieth Century ◽

Mass Incarceration ◽

The United States ◽

Next Generation ◽

Single Generation ◽

American Life ◽

Peak Rate ◽

Or Practice

The phenomenal growth of penal confinement in the United States in the last quarter of the twentieth century is still a public policy mystery. Why did it happen when it happened? What explains the unprecedented magnitude of prison and jail expansion? Why are the current levels of penal confinement so very close to the all-time peak rate reached in 2007? What is the likely course of levels of penal confinement in the next generation of American life? Are there changes in government or policy that can avoid the prospect of mass incarceration as a chronic element of governance in the United States? This study is organized around four major concerns: What happened in the 33 years after 1973? Why did these extraordinary changes happen in that single generation? What is likely to happen to levels of penal confinement in the next three decades? What changes in law or practice might reduce this likely penal future?

Download Full-text

The Implications of Political Trust for Supporting Public Transport

Journal of Social Policy ◽

10.1017/s0047279420000707 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

JAE YOUNG LIM ◽

KUK-KYOUNG MOON

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Public Policy ◽

Public Transport ◽

Social Equity ◽

Political Trust ◽

The United States ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Social Surveys ◽

Pooled Data ◽

Policy Attitudes

Abstract Despite the importance of public transport for urban vitality, social equity, and mobility, the discussions surrounding these topics have become heated ideological battles between liberals and conservatives in the United States, as in other countries. Conservatives, in particular, have exhibited anti-transit attitudes that have worked against the development of public transport. Scholars note that political trust functions as a heuristic and its impact is felt more strongly among individuals who face ideological risks with respect to a given public policy. Based on several studies noting the relationships between political trust, ideology and policy attitudes, the study employs the pooled data of the 2010 and 2014 General Social Surveys. It finds that conservatives are negatively associated with supporting spending on public transport, but when contingent upon high levels of political trust, they become more supportive of it. The study discusses the potential of political trust as a mechanism to influence public policy discourses as well as certain methodological and substantive limitations.

Download Full-text