Recently Published Books

Fall 2006, Volume 28, Number 1

Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy
By Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen
Oxford University Press, 2006, 384 pages

In a country that takes pride in its policy of universal suffrage for citizens, how did laws to disenfranchise felons come about? Today, 5.4 million Americans—one out of 40 voting-age adults—have lost their right to vote due to a felony conviction. In Locked Out, Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen examine the consequences of such large-scale disenfranchisement, exposing its threat to a healthy democracy in the United States. They also investigate the racial factors involved in the origin of felony disenfranchisement laws and their impact on modern politics: Currently, in several U.S. states, one out of four black men cannot vote because of a felony conviction. Using empirical evidence, the authors analyze these laws governing felons’ political rights and build a case for reform. Manza is associate director of IPR and a professor of sociology.

Distributed Leadership
By James Spillane
Jossey-Bass, 2006, 144 pages

Tales of educational victory often feature a heroic principal who marches into the school, sets new standards for teachers and students, and over time, pulls the school up to new achievements. But how accurate is this story? In Distributed Leadership, James Spillane challenges this simplistic model to form a more comprehensive account of leadership in schools. Using the concepts of distributed leadership, he discusses how leadership occurs in schools every day through both formal and informal interactions. Spillane takes into account roles beyond just principals and teachers, such as specialists and other administrators. In addition, he considers certain details of school interaction and organizational structure—such as memos, scheduling procedures, and evaluation methods—that help to create leadership situations. He is Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change.

Social Choice with Partial Knowledge of Treatment Response
By Charles F. Manski
Princeton University Press, 2005, 128 pages

Often times when doctors choose medical treatments for their patients, they must assign a single method to people across a wide range of demographics and backgrounds. Social planners and policymakers face a similar dilemma of treatment choice—how does one choose the best treatment for such a varied group, especially when evidence of treatment response is so limited? In this book, Charles F. Manski addresses central aspects of this broad question. He addresses the treatment-choice problem directly, taking into account the ambiguity that arises from identification problems under weak, but justifiable, assumptions and also the need for statistical inference from sample data. The book, written with support from the National Science Foundation, unifies and further develops the line of research he began in the late 1990s. He is Board of Trustees Professor in Economics.

Statistical Demography and Forecasting
By Juha Alho and Bruce Spencer
Springer, 2005, 412 pages

Certain problems, such as the sustainability of pension systems, cannot be solved without an understanding of population forecasts and their uncertainty. In addition, population estimates directly impact government decisions on the distribution of national funding and political representation. Juha Alho and Bruce Spencer develop a statistical perspective to address such issues. Their book speaks to statisticians as well as demographers, actuaries, epidemiologists, and professionals in related fields regarding the topics of classical mathematical demography, event history methods, multistate methods, stochastic population forecasting, sampling and census coverage, and decision theory. Spencer is a professor of statistics.

Freedom Is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace
By Nancy MacLean
Harvard University Press, 2006, 496 pages

Historian Nancy MacLean named this book after a 1965 speech by President Johnson in which he declared that blacks in the United States, though free from slavery, had a long journey ahead to achieve real equality. Similarly, in her new book, MacLean analyzes how far women, blacks, and Latinos have come in achieving workplace equality—and the types of discrimination these groups continue to face.

Traditionally, job segregation has kept white males in positions of economic, social, and political power. Even for much of the 20th century, Americans expected racism and sexism in the workplace. But over the last 50 years, unions and activist groups have embarked on large-scale grassroots labor organizing. MacLean shows how employment demands from discriminated groups have changed American culture and politics. She is professor of history and African American studies and chair of the history department.

A Place to Call Home: After-School Programs for Urban Youth
By Barton Hirsch
American Psychological Association and Teachers College Press, 2005, 163 pages

Drawing on his research with Boys and Girls Clubs of America programs for low-income, mostly minority, urban youth, Barton Hirsch describes the positive role that after-school programs can play, as well as the qualities that lead youth to call such programs a “second home.” He also analyzes specific characteristics of the clubs, such as the role of gender in structuring the program and the staff’s embrace of certain aspects of youth culture. Hirsch’s research finds that the wide-ranging mentoring provided by club staff is the core strength of the program.

With its combination of case illustrations, actual field notes, and quantitative analysis, the Society for Research on Adolescence conferred A Place to Call Home its Social Policy Award for best-authored book. Hirsch is a professor of human development and social policy.