The Route to Activism is through Experience: Contributor Mobilization in Interest Groups

Why members are organizational activists has received little attention, despite its obvious importance for many associations. In this analysis, a theory of experiential search is applied to the activist decision calculus of Common Cause members. Most such volunteers join an organization as. members of the rank and file, learn about the group and its operations, and then decide to become activists. They are largely motivated by what they learn about those benefits that accrue exclusively to activists. Their actions also may suggest a tendency toward organizational oligarchy-but one that is strongly tempered by the presence of other factors shaping the conditional decision calculus

The Determinants of Interest Group Membership: Estimating Choice-Based Probability Models of Contribution Decisions

There has been much theorizing about why individuals join interest groups. However, little has been done to test the resulting propositions because of the difficulties associated with empirically analyzing the joining decision. This deficiency is especially great when it comes to public or symbolic interest groups. In this analysis, choice-based probability methods are employed that permit the combination of data from the 1980 National Election Study with comparable information about Common Cause members and the estimation of models of the participation calculus. Besides demonstrating the applicability of the choice-based methodology, this analysis shows the primary importance of political interest and policy preferences for the membership choice. Citizens who are politically interested and have preferences that roughly match an organization's reputation find that associational membership has both greater benefits and lower costs for them than it does for others. An ability to pay is irrelevant, regardless of educational attainment and despite members' high incomes. Organizational leaders deliberately keep the costs of membership low relative to most citizens' ability to pay; this encourages potential contributors to join in order to learn about the organization

Organizational Maintenance and the Retention Decision: A Theory of Experiential Search

Understanding why members leave or remain in groups has received little attention despite its fundamental importance for organizational maintenance. In this analysis, a theory of experiential search is proposed and applied to Common Cause. Group participation is conceptualized as a process by which imperfectly informed decision-makers learn about the organizations they join. This framework makes quitting understandable and provides a link between the initial membership choice and follow-up decisions

Executive orders are not a viable route around political gridlock

In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama told Congress that if they continued to obstruct rather than act, he would move forward wherever he could without them. One avenue for such initiatives could be the increased use of executive orders; however, it is unclear if the president can actually wield true power in this way. Using data on executive orders from 1947-2003, Fang-Yi Chiou and Lawrence S. Rothenberg examine whether and how the president’s supposedly independent actions are constrained by outside forces. They conclude the president cannot achieve true additional power through unilateral action and executive orders are unlikely to provide a means to work around a gridlocked political process

Organizational Maintenance and the Retention Decision: A Theory of Experiential Search

Understanding why members leave or remain in groups has received little attention despite its fundamental importance for organizational maintenance. In this analysis, a theory of experiential search is proposed and applied to Common Cause. Group participation is conceptualized as a process by which imperfectly informed decision-makers learn about the organizations they join. This framework makes quitting understandable and provides a link between the initial membership choice and follow-up decisions

Choosing Among Public Interest Groups: Membership, Activism, and Retention in Political Organizations

Contemporary scholars who have explored why citizens join organizations have employed assumptions that are untenable for understanding other member choices. An analysis of data on four contrasting public interest groups demonstrates that it is possible to develop a general perspective for explaining member decision-making in organizations. Decisions about which association to join, whether or not to stay, and whether to be an activist or to remain in the rank and file can all be understood as reflections of a process in which imperfectly informed citizens join a group, learn more about it, and subsequently make more knowledgeable choices. The experiential search perspective provides a coherent explanation for a host of interrelated citizen decisions

A phase I trial of weekly gemcitabine and concurrent radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer

This study investigated the maximum-tolerated dose of gemcitabine based on the frequency of dose-limiting toxicities of weekly gemcitabine treatment with concurrent radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Fifteen patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer that was histologically confirmed as adenocarcinoma were enrolled in this phase I trial of weekly gemcitabine (150–350 mg m−2) with concurrent radiotherapy (50.4 Gy in 28 fractions). Gemcitabine was administered weekly as an intravenous 30-min infusion before radiotherapy for 6 weeks. Three of six patients at the dose of 350 mg m−2 of gemicitabine demonstrated dose-limiting toxicities involving neutropenia/ leukocytopenia and elevated transaminase, while nine patients at doses of 150 mg m−2 and 250 mg m−2 did not demonstrate any sign of dose-limiting toxicity. Of all 15 enrolled patients, six patients (40.0%) showed a partial response. More than 50% reduction of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 level was observed in 13 (92.9%) of 14 patients who had pretreatment carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels of 100 U ml−1 or greater. The maximum-tolerated dose of weekly gemcitabine with concurrent radiotherapy was 250 mg m−2, and this regimen may have substantial antitumour activity for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. A phase II trial of weekly gemcitabine at the dose of 250 mg m−2 with concurrent radiation in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer is now underway