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

Paula Rothenberg: And Justice for All: Social Justice Teaching and A Curriculum of Inclusion (2004)

https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/av_root/1004/thumbnail.jp

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

Spontaneous Raman scattering as a high resolution XUV radiation source

A type of high resolution XUV radiation source is described which is based upon spontaneous anti-Stokes scattering of tunable incident laser radiation from atoms excited to metastable levels. The theory of the source is summarized and two sets of experiments using He (1s2s)(1)S atoms, produced in a cw hollow cathode and in a pulsed high power microwave discharge, are discussed. The radiation source is used to examine transitions originating from the 3p(6) shell of potassium. The observed features include four previously unreported absorption lines and several sharp interferences of closely spaced autoionizing lines. A source linewidth of about 1.9 cm(-1) at 185,000 cm(-1) is demonstrated

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

Two electrophoreses in different pH buffers to purify forest soil DNA contaminated with humic substances

Direct extraction of DNA from soils is a useful way to gain genetic information on the soil source. However, DNA extraction from soils, especially forest soils, may be contaminated by humic substances due to their similar physical and chemical characteristics to soil. Even commercial soil DNA extractionkits fail to retrieve DNA from these soils. Using the potential changes of specific charge of DNA and humic substances in a pH solution, we performed two electrophoreses in different pH buffers to eliminate the interfering substances. The method produced high quality soil DNA, which is applicablefor PCR amplification

Protecting Older Workers: The Failure of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

A growing number of older adults are finding that retirement is no longer affordable and they must work well into their later years. Unfortunately, over 42 years after passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967, age discrimination in the workplace continues to present serious impediments to employment in later life. Using a critical gerontology perspective, this paper reviews the history of work-related age discrimination and analyzes the ADEA and its limited effectiveness at protecting the civil and economic rights of older workers. The authors discuss implications and suggest policy alternatives that would support the employment and enhance the economic well-being of older adults