Clinton performed very well in most urban areas relative to Obama, despite losin the Rustbelt — and the Presidency with it

Despite talk of collapsed Democrat support for Clinton, her performance in urban areas was very strong this presidential election. As Joshua D. Ambrosius argues however, her loss to Donald Trump highlights the weakness of Democrats’ urban-centric appeal, given the new-found GOP capacity to mobilise masses of rural working class and suburban Americans

Why Urbanists Need Religion

This essay summarizes a conference paper presented at the October 2008 Society for the Scientific Study of Religion meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. The paper was reviewed by several leading scholars

Religion and regionalism : congregants, culture and city-county consolidation in Louisville, Kentucky.

Literature on religious involvement in public affairs typically examines the national scene, particularly public opinion and political behavior in presidential elections. Few scholars examine religious actors in urban politics and policymaking. Those who do study local politics emphasize morality policy and ignore issues of metropolitan governance and institutional design, central concerns of the urban politics field. This dissertation fills that gap by studying Louisville, Kentucky, site of the first large-scale city-county consolidation since 1969. I ask: does religion affect how people vote in a consolidation referendum and shape their opinions about merged government? I employ a survey instrument (N=807), collected randomly across Louisville Metro in 2006, and use multiple linear and binary logistic regression to predict religiosity, “culture war” stances, and consolidation referendum participation and support. I control for socio-economic status, demographics, residence, and political ideology. I operationalize religion as a variable in two ways: as a factor score index measuring level of religiosity, combining behavior, belief, and salience items; and as religious affiliation, predominately Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist in Louisville. I also employ the 2006 General Social Survey for comparison with the nation and several additional religion databases to better understand Louisville’s religious ecology. I find that religiosity did not significantly affect one’s turnout or vote but is positively related to opinions of the merged government. Religious affiliation did not significantly affect turnout but significantly affected one’s vote and opinions. Regression results show that Catholics were 37 percent more likely to support consolidation than Southern Baptists. I downplay theories that differences over redistribution to central cities and political trust may be driving differences over consolidation. I posit a theory labeled “polity replication” based in the institutional and organizational theory and sociology of religion literatures. I argue that participation in a religious denomination’s organizational structure conditions members to prefer similar structures in other societal institutions. Two forms of metropolitan governance, monocentrism and polycentrism, parallel the poles of church polity (i.e., denominational governance): episcopal/centralized (Catholic) and congregational/decentralized (Baptist). In conclusion, I present recommendations and implications for research, religious practice, and politics/policymaking

Religion, Politics, and Polity Replication: Religious Differences in Preferences for Institutional Design

This article presents a theory of polity replication in which religious congregants prefer institutions in other realms of society, including the state, to be structured like their church. Polities, or systems of church governance and administration, generally take one of three forms: episcopal (hierarchical/centralized), presbyterian (collegial/regional), or congregational (autonomous/decentralized). When asked to cast a vote to shape institutions in a centralizing or decentralizing manner, voters are influenced by organizational values shaped by their respective religious traditions‘ polity structures. Past social scientific scholarship has neglected to explicitly connect religious affiliation, defined by polity, with members‘ stances on institutional design. However, previous examples of polity replication in action include the founding of the United States, the perpetuation of authoritarian regimes in Latin America, and the consolidation of the European Union. In this article, I provide original data on Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist support for city-county consolidation, an example of institutional design in metropolitan governance, in Louisville, Kentucky. Logistic regression results show that, other factors being equal, episcopal Catholics were 37 percent more likely to support consolidation in the 2000 referendum than were congregational Southern Baptists. Linear regression results show that Catholics were also more approving of the Louisville Metro government three years after its creation. In addition, Catholics who attend services more frequently were more supportive of consolidation and the consolidated regime. Perhaps owing to their polity structure, the effect of attendance for Baptists was unclear

Reflecting on Michael McQuarrie's 'revolt of the rust belt'

Following Donald Trump's surprise election win in November 2016, Michael McQuarrie of LSE Sociology wrote on the regional nature of Trump's win. His blog article, "Trump and the Revolt of the Rust Belt", has now formed the basis of a new article in the British Journal of Sociology. We asked a several academic experts for their reactions to McQuarrie's new article. McQuarrie demonstrates ..

Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500 steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30 minutes spent performing activities ≥500 counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24 months), both the number of steps per day (per 500 steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500 counts per minute (per 30 minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score >10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Review: \u27Religion and Organization Theory\u27

This review examines the 41st volume of Emerald\u27s Research in the Sociology of Organizations series. It is a multiauthor collection reminiscent of Sacred Companies edited by Demerath et al. As with SC, this effort highlights an important yet understudied intersection—the interface between organizational and institutional theory and religion. While the previous tome was mostly written by and for religion scholars, this volume is produced by management scholars exploring religious organizational dynamics. Of two-dozen authors, just three (two sociologists, one theologian) work outside business schools or departments. It is thus a work that sociologists of religion may not be exposed to otherwise. This also means, in some cases, the treatment of religion is less nuanced than if approached by religion specialists

Review of \u27God Talk: Experimenting with the Religious Causes of Public Opinion\u27

Review of Religious Causes of Public Opinion by Paul A. Djupe and Brian R. Calfano (Temple University, 2014)

Blue City … Red City? A Comparison of Competing Theories of Core County Outcomes in U.S. Presidential Elections, 2000-2012

The red/blue dichotomy describing presidential elections, while criticized, is ubiquitous: Red states vote Republican; blue states vote Democratic. Locally, suburban and rural counties are often red; urban counties are often blue. This overgeneralization misses the Republican share of urban centers. This study analyzes the 2000–12 presidential elections in core counties of metropolitan areas with populations over 250,000. Possible explanations for urban election outcomes cover three theoretical groupings: sociodemographics, culture, and economics. Several prominent explanatory variables from each are compared. Changes from 2000–04 to 2008–12 are highlighted given the 2008 economic crash and President Obama\u27s race and urban identity, which permitted him to cut President Bush\u27s core county share in half. Regression analyses find that sociodemographic and cultural features account for most variation for all elections, while economic indicators add little explanatory power. In contrast to conventional thinking, economics mattered most in 2004; culture increased in importance in 2008–2012; and urban foreclosures positively influenced Republican candidate John McCain in 2008