Recently Published Books

Spring 2007 , Volume 29, Number 1

Faculty Fellows

After Admission: From College Access to College Success
By James Rosenbaum, Regina Deil-Amen, and Ann Person
Russell Sage Foundation, 2006, 240 pp.

Despite the considerable rise in enrollment at community colleges across America, with five times as many students entering today as in 1965, most students do not graduate or gain any advantages in the labor market. James Rosenbaum, Regina Deil-Amen, and Ann Person examine the reason for this trend by comparing community colleges with private occupational colleges in this book. They find occupational colleges help students to navigate the labor market by identifying and teaching students relevant skill sets. They also find that occupational colleges provide a higher level of support and guidance for students through structured academic plans and close monitoring of students by advisors. Using lessons learned from studying occupational colleges, the co-authors suggest organizational innovations to help community colleges to guide their students successfully and instill skills applicable to the labor market. James Rosenbaum is professor of human development and social policy and an IPR faculty fellow at Northwestern University. Regina Deil-Amen is assistant professor of education at the University of Arizona and a former IPR graduate research assistant. Ann Person is a doctoral student in human development and social policy and an IPR graduate research assistant at Northwestern.

Higher Ground: New Hope for the Working Poor and Their Children
By Greg Duncan, Aletha Huston, and Thomas Weisner
Russell Sage Foundation, 2007, 176 pp.

In the 1990s, Milwaukee business leaders and community activists came together to start a program called New Hope. The program was built on the tenet that “if you work, you should not be poor.” In exchange for working a minimum of 30 hours a week, participants were eligible for subsidized health and child care and for earnings supplements that would bring their incomes above the poverty line. The book goes beyond statistical reports and surveys to tell the stories of three of New Hope’s participants, Inez, Lakeisha, and Elena, and how the program affected them and their families. The authors show that New Hope offers some of the strongest evidence to date that work supports make a difference in the lives of people in low-wage jobs. The program not only increased income and employment but also improved the school achievement and behavior of the children of New Hope families. Few social policies—even those directly aimed at children—are able to match the benefits that New Hope children experienced. As America takes stock of the successes and shortcomings of the Clinton-era poverty and welfare policies, the authors convincingly demonstrate why New Hope could be a model for state and national efforts to assist the working poor. Greg Duncan is Edwina S. Tarry Professor in Education and Social Policy and an IPR faculty fellow at Northwestern University. Aletha C. Huston is Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor of Child Development at the University of Texas, Austin. Thomas S. Weisner is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Police and Community in Chicago: A Tale of Three Cities
By Wesley G. Skogan
Oxford University Press, 2006, 360 pp.

Community policing is the most important development in law enforcement in the past 25 years. In the early 1990s, Chicago implemented the nation’s largest community policing initiative. Wesley G. Skogan conducted a 13-year study of this initiative and examined its impact on crime, neighborhood residents, and the police. His study reveals a city divided among African Americans, whites, and Latinos. Each faced distinctive problems when community policing came to Chicago in 1993, and during the next decade the three communities took different routes. There were tremendous improvements in the city’s predominately African American districts, where crime and fear dropped the most. Residents in majority black neighborhoods were also the most enthusiastic about community policing. The city’s largely white neighborhoods were already solidly behind the police, yet they too registered significant gains. By many measures, however, things grew worse for the city’s burgeoning Latino population. Under pressure from immigration, the Hispanic population cleaved in two. Long-time residents of racially integrated neighborhoods did fairly well, but by the early 2000s, predominately Spanish-speaking areas had fallen behind on multiple measures of crime, disorder, and neighborhood decay. It was named Outstanding Book of the Year by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Skogan is professor of political science and an IPR faculty fellow.

The Politics of Free Markets: The Rise of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States
By Monica Prasad
University of Chicago Press, 2006, 280 pp.

Why did neoliberal policies of tax cuts, reduced social spending, deregulation, and privatization gain prominence in the United States under Ronald Reagan and in Britain under Margaret Thatcher, but not in similarly industrialized Western countries such as France or Germany? In The Politics of Free Markets, a comparative-historical analysis of the development of neoliberal policies in these four countries, Monica Prasad argues that neoliberalism was made possible in the United States and Britain not because the Left in these countries was too weak, but because it was in some respects too strong. Prasad is assistant professor of sociology and an IPR faculty fellow.

Faculty Associates

Standards and Public Policy
By Shane Greenstein and Victor Stango, editors
Cambridge University Press, 2007, 412 pp.

There is much agreement that rapid advances in technological standards have been the cornerstone of the modern information economy. Despite the importance of technological standards in driving economic growth, there has been little research on the role of public policy in the development of standards. Leading researchers in public policy standards address this research gap in Standards and Public Policy. In it, they examine whether markets choose efficient standards, the effect of standards organizations on the development of standards, and appropriate public policy on the issue of standards. Shane Greenstein is Elinor and Wendell Hobbs Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management and an IPR faculty associate at Northwestern. Victor Stango is associate professor of business administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

The Foreign Policy Disconnect: What Americans Want from Our Leaders but Don’t Get
By Benjamin I. Page, with Marshall M. Bouton
University of Chicago Press, 2006, 351 pp.

With world affairs so troubled, what kind of foreign policy should the United States pursue? Benjamin I. Page and Marshall M. Bouton look for answers in a surprising place—among the American people. Drawing on a series of national surveys conducted between 1974 and 2004, Page and Bouton reveal that—contrary to conventional wisdom—Americans generally hold durable, coherent, and sensible opinions about foreign policy. Nonetheless, their opinions often stand in opposition to those of policymakers, usually because of different interests and values, rather than superior wisdom among the elite. The Foreign Policy Disconnect argues that these gaps between leaders and the public are harmful and that by using public opinion as a guideline, policymakers could craft a more effective, sustainable, and democratic foreign policy. Page is Gordon S. Fulcher Professor in Decision Making and an IPR faculty associate at Northwestern University. Bouton is president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City
By Carl Smith
University of Chicago Press, 2006, 184 pp.

Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago proposed many of the city’s most distinctive features, including its lakefront parks and roadways, the Magnificent Mile, and Navy Pier. Carl Smith’s history reveals the Plan’s central role in shaping the ways people envision the cityscape and urban life itself. His narrative begins with a survey of Chicago’s rise from a tiny frontier settlement to the nation’s second-largest city. He explores the Plan’s creation and reveals how it embodies the renowned architect’s belief that cities can, and must be, remade for the better. The Plan defined the City Beautiful movement and was the first comprehensive attempt to re-imagine a major American city. Smith points out the ways the Plan continues to influence debates, even a century after its publication, about how to create a vibrant and habitable urban environment. The book is illustrated with archival images and maps. Smith is Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor in English and American Studies, professor of history, and an IPR faculty associate.

From Marriage to the Market
By Susan Thistle
University of California Press, 2006, 311 pp.

A social transformation of profound proportions has been unfolding over the second half of the 20th century as women have turned from household work to wages as the key source of their livelihood. This timely study, a broad comparative analysis of African American women and white women’s changing relationships to home and work over the past 40 years, provides a broad look at how this shift is influencing the shape of families and the American economy. Susan Thistle brings together diverse issues and statistics in her analysis. She is a senior lecturer and assistant chair in sociology and an IPR faculty associate.