Runaway Train? The Diffusion of State‐Level Reform in ADC/AFDC Eligibility Requirements, 1950–1967

Race and the Local Politics of Punishment in the New World of Welfare

“…Earlier research has demonstrated that state policy choices under welfare reform have produced a tight triadic relationship linking higher black population rates, more disciplinary and localized TANF regimes, and more aggressive correctional control (Soule and Zylan 1997;Soss et al 2001;Soss et al 2008;Waquant 2009). In the present study, we have shifted the focus from state policy choices to local implementation efforts.…”

The Diffusion of Collective Violence: Infectiousness, Susceptibility, and Mass Media Networks

“…Because eliminating these assumptions would allow considerably more detailed and useful analyses of diffusion, several analysts began translating diffusion models into an event history framework that focused on individual rates of adoption rather than cumulative counts of adoption events (Strang and Tuma 1993;Marsden and Poldony 1990;Hedstrom 1994;Greve, Strang, and Tuma 1995;Davis and Greve 1997;Soule and Zylan 1997;Myers 1997b). When diffusion processes are tested using event history, a full range of covariates indicating individual characteristics, relative spatial positions, and time decay of influence can be incorporated, and analysts have demonstrated the importance of each kind of heterogeneity in explaining the spread of social behavior.…”

“…If an increase in the riot rate accompanies that rise in infectiousness, then more severe riots have been more infectious (that is, have had more influence) than less severe ones. 6 A number of diffusion analyses (e.g., Strang 1990Strang , 1991Strang and Tuma 1993;Soule 1997;Soule and Zylan 1997) have found significant positive linear effects of the count of prior events (sometimes called the "contagion intercept"), but these trends exist only because the diffusion process was truncated either by historical circumstances or by the termination of observation. If the entire diffusion cycle is observed, the linear effect of the prior count of events should not be significant.…”

Participation for What? A Policy-motivated Approach to Political Activism

“…Though unexpected, this finding reflects theoretical developments within the social movements literature. After a certain point, entrenched allies provide sufficient access to preclude political activity (Soule and Zylan 1997;Jenkins, Jacobs and Agnone 2003;Amenta, Olasky and Caren 2005). Conversely, the type of legislative support supplied through favorable bill introductions is held as providing increased access without lessening the need for participation altogether (McAdam 1999;Cress and Snow 2000).…”