Respect for human rights is one of several factors influencing US aid allocation decisions. Whereas previous research identifies human rights practices as being of secondary importance, it typically does not explore whether there is a more complicated relationship between human rights practices and US aid allocation. The authors argue that the impact of human rights varies at different levels of democracy and economic development. Employing data on 151 countries from 1977 to 2004, this study also investigates whether there has been an increase in the impact of human rights practices since the end of the Cold War. The results of the analysis show that during the Cold War, economic development was the prevailing factor in decisions about whether to allocate US aid. In the post-Cold War era, human rights practices are one among several significant variables, albeit exerting a generally negative impact. These results indicate that shifts in the international environment have, in fact, altered the determinants of US foreign aid. The authors further demonstrate that after the Cold War, countries with low economic development and transitioning regimes are subject to diminished levels of accountability for their human rights practices, while aid allocations to autocratic regimes follow the logic of promoting relatively higher human rights standards.

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I am happy to report thatPerspectives on Politicscontinues to thrive. In the roughly two and a half years since we assumed editorial control of the journal, in June 2009, I believe that we have succeeded in strengthening journal operations and procedures and in projecting a new excitement aboutPerspectivesand the role it can play in contributing to the invigoration of the discipline. At the heart of this has been the quality of the scholarship we have published and the way we have worked to present this scholarship in each issue.

I am happy to report thatPerspectives on Politicscontinues to thrive. In the roughly three-and-a-half years since we assumed editorial control of the journal, in June 2009, we have succeeded in strengthening journal operations and procedures and in projecting a new and growing excitement aboutPerspectivesand the role it can play in contributing to the invigoration of the discipline.

I am happy to report that Perspectives on Politics is thriving. We inherited a journal that was founded with a flourish in response to a range of concerns about the ways in which the U.S. political science profession had become highly specialized and balkanized, at the expense of broader understanding and public relevance. Our editorial predecessors had put the journal on a sound footing, a significant accomplishment for a new journal less than a decade old. At the same time, the journal we inherited faced some challenges related to the effective use of the Editorial Manager system; the efficiency of its operations, especially regarding communication with authors and reviewers; and its distinctive purposes and intellectual vision looking to the future. In the roughly 18 months since we assumed editorial control of the journal in June 2009, I believe that we have succeeded in addressing these challenges and projecting a new excitement about the journal and the role it can play in contributing to the invigoration of the discipline.