Abstract: Using nominations to Article III district and appeals court judgeships, we test a model of senatorial treatment of presidential nominations to the lower federal bench, looking both at outcome (whether or not a nomination culminates in confirmation) and process (the length of time it takes the Senate to process a nomination). We find evidence that nominee quality matters, as does composition of the Judiciary Committee and pending judicial nominations. Contrary to charges made in the popular press, however, neither race nor gender makes a difference for ultimate success or failure of a nomination. Duration analysis reveals that race (though not gender) does matter for district court nomination processing time. We also find presidential year and term to matter for both levels of court but the outcome of the Bork nomination to affect only appeals court nominations.

Abstract: Legislators have long recognized that delaying tactics are powerful tools for preventing the passage of laws they deem unsatisfactory. Because the U.S. Congress has several deadlines built into its session, when committee chairmen or individual members delay the scheduling of hearings, markups, or executive business meetings, it can have a devastating effect on pending legislation. The tactic of delay is now being used by the Senate Judiciary Committee and individual senators to stall confirmation of the President's judicial nominations. Since 1996, the average length of time between an individuals nomination to serve as a federal judge and the time that he or she is confirmed has increased dramatically At the same time, some nominations still proceed very quickly through the confirmation process. This article explores the question of why some nominees are subjected to lengthy delays, while others move through the Senate confirmation process in a matter of days. Specifically, it explores the impact of div...

Abstract: This essay examines media coverage and candidate rhetoric of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Elizabeth Dole during their 2000 political campaigns. Although gender was emphasized when Clinton was first lady, it became the tacit subtext of her run for the U.S. Senate, and Clinton's male opponents arguably were more disadvantaged by gender stereotypes than she was in that particular campaign. In contrast, Dole's gender was foregrounded in media portrayals of her bid for the Republican presidential nomination, making it harder for voters to imagine her as president. This study underscores the fact that although women are making strides in other realms of public governance, the U.S. presidency remains a bastion of masculinity.

Abstract: Linking Presidency Research and Gender Studies. CABINET NOMINATIONS: POWER AND PROCESS. The President's Nomination Power. Presidential Decisionmaking: Selecting the Secretaries-Designate. SCRUTINIZING THE SECRETARIES-DESIGNATE: CAREER PATTERNS AND IMPLICATIONS. The Secretaries-Designate. The Women's Careers. Media Coverage. CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: IDEOLOGY AND EVALUATION. Legislative-Executive Relations in Cabinet Building. The Confirmation Hearing and Floor Action. CONCLUSION. Understanding Representation.

Abstract: Corporate governance is developing rapidly in many countries across the world. In this paper we analyse the existing state of corporate governance in a country in the Middle East: Bahrain. We employ a survey methodology, with a questionnaire being sent to all of the companies listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange Market. An analysis of the responses reveals that Bahraini companies have in place some of the features of corporate governance best practice with boards dominated by non–executive directors, for example, and the separation of the roles of Chair and CEO. However, it is not clear how effective the nomination/appointments process is and directors tend to be fairly entrenched. In terms of risk management and control, the majority of Bahraini companies have an internal audit department and risk management control. Overall, it seems that Bahraini companies have a number of key corporate governance structural features in place, but that there remains further progress to be made.

Abstract: A search system and method for performing group-based searches. The system comprises a client system having a browser and a search engine plug-in, wherein the search engine plug-in allows group members to generate nomination data by nominating web pages; and a server having a control program and a group structure for storing nomination data, wherein the control program generates a primary search result list based on a search index, and further refines the search result list based on the stored nomination data.

Abstract: Reviews the 2000 presidential campaign from a communication perspective. Denton and his colleagues analyze the 2000 American presidential campaign from a communication perspective, focusing on key topics and elements of political communication. The analyses go beyond the quantitative facts, electoral counts, and poll results of the election. Each chapter focuses on a specific area of political campaign communication: the early campaign period, the nomination process and conventions, candidate strategies, presidential debates, political advertising, the use of the Internet, news coverage, and political cartoons of the campaign. A major resource for scholars, students, the general public, and other researchers interested in political communication, American elections, presidential studies, political sociology, and journalism.

Abstract: I have two very vague memories of my high school guidance counselor, the only counselor I remember from my 12 years in public school. Both memories are from my senior year. One is related to paperwork regarding a scholarship nomination I received. The other memory is around subtle messages from her that I very clearly understood as discouraging me from applying to my top college choice. Whether this came from her concerns about my academic abilities or my family's ability to pay for a private university education, I do not know (she was probably right on both counts).

Abstract: This article applies the theory of competitive (war) and substantive (marketing) communication strategies to the presidential nomination campaign, focusing primarily on the time period during which we expect the candidates to be most concerned with framing their campaigns-the invisible primary. We utilize candidate press releases to assess the accuracy of this theory and refine it. We then test the hypothesis that a candidate's strategic goals, which are generally defined by the candidate's competitive status relative to the field, determine the dominant type of message communicated during this penod. We find that there are definite patterns of messaging choice relative to candidate status. We also find that competitive messages dominate the “discourse” of candidates relative to the news media to a far greater extent than anticipated.

Abstract: /RESUME This study identifies the factors associated with the nomination and election prospects of ethnic and visible minority candidates in three federal elections held between 1993 and 2000. We conducted a statistical analysis of how party affiliation, the geographic location of a riding, incumbency, local party competitiveness, riding cultural heterogeneity, campaign spending, minority competition, and a candidate's racial or ethnic background influenced electoral outcomes for 3,634 candidates. We found that ethnic and visible minority nomination and election rates did not slip from their climb in the third party system, but have stalled. Furthermore, macro factors such as party affiliation and geography did not generally account for differential election rates between Charter group and non-Charter group politicians. Instead, local party competitiveness and campaign spending were better predictors of the likelihood of a minority victory at the ballot box. Visible minorities continue to be underrepresented in candi dacies and in the parliamentary ranks, but there was no evidence to show they competed in unfavourable local contexts. The key to electing more visible minorities lies in recruiting more of these individuals to run for public office. Cette etude determine les facteurs qui sont lies la mise en candidature et a l'election de candidats ethniques et faisant partie des minorites visibles dans les trois elections federales tenues entre 1993 et 2000. Nous avons fait une analyse statistique de la maniere dans laquelle l'appartnence politique, le lieu geographique d'une circonscription, le titulaire en poste, la competitivite locale du parti, l'homogeneite culturelle de la circonscription, la somme depensee pour la campagne electorale, la concurrence minoritaire et les antecedents raciaux et ethniques du candidat ont influence les resultats dans 3 634 cas. Nous avons constate que le taux de mise en candidature et d'election de candidats ethniques et de minorites visibles n'avait pas regresse dans le systeme en faveur d'un tiers, mais etait demeure au meme niveau. De plus, les facteurs macro tels que 1'affiliation politique et la geographie n'avaient generalement pas d'incidence sur le taux d'election differentiel entre les politiciens des groupes fondateurs et ceux des groupes non fondateurs. Par ailleurs, Ia competitivite locale du parti et les sommes depensees se sont averees de meilleurs indicateurs des chances pour un candidat minoritaire d'etre elu. Les minorites visibles continuent d'etre sous representees chez les candidats et dans les rangs parlementaires, bien qu'il n'y avait aucune preuve que leur contexte locale etait defavorable. Pour elire des minorites visibles, le secret reside dans le recrutement des individus qui cherchent a se faire elire. INTRODUCTION The "earthquake" election of 1993 marked a profound transformation in the cast of major characters in Canadian party politics, as well as an important shift in discourse on the subject of integrating minorities in the polity. In the three federal ballots held between 1993 and 2000, two regionally-based parties won significant representation in the House of Commons, as two more established competitors experienced steep declines in electoral support. The parliamentary institutionalization of the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) and the Reform Party/Canadian Alliance, signals not only the emergence of a new era of multi-party competition (Carty, Cross and Young, 2000), but a departure from the previous era's inter-party consensus on the bilingual and multicultural character of the constitutional framework (Clarke, Jenson, LeDuc and Pammett, 1996). The BQ advocates the establishment of a sovereign Quebec and draws the bulk of its support from Quebeckers with French ancestry. The Reform party and its successor, the Canadian Alliance, have called for the elimination of public funding for programs promoting ethno-cultural minority traditions, and thus draw more support from White Anglo Saxon Protestants (Nevitte, Blais, Gidengil & Nadeau, 2000; Blais et al. …

Abstract: From a small program once shunned by the White House and attacked as an unnecessary intrusion into the workings of the nation's education systems, the Department of Education has grown into a major policy force in primary, secondary, and higher education. Mr. Stallings traces that evolution. THE RESPONSIBILITY for the education of American children has enjoyed at least a small presence at the federal level since the middle of the 19th century, usually in the form of independent programs housed in separate Cabinet-level departments. Various incarnations of a national education office or bureau -- beginning with the first federal office, established in 1838 for gathering statistics -- took root slowly. Despite concerns about an overt federalization of education, locating all the disparate programs into a single, separate office and giving it departmental status became the rallying cry of a small but growing minority from as early as the Reconstruction period. The idea gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s as the federal budget for education eclipsed the budgets of other full-fledged departments. By the 1970s, an independent, Cabinet-level department was on the verge of realization. Establishing a Federal Department In the period between 1908 and 1975, more than 130 bills to form a department of education were introduced.1 But it took two events to make the dream a reality: the election to the Senate of Abraham Ribicoff, a former secretary of health, education, and welfare (HEW), and the rapid politicization of the National Education Association (NEA). Sen. Ribicoff began work in earnest on the formation of a department in the 1960s. In 1972 the NEA formed a political action committee and in 1975 joined forces with other unions to form the Labor Coalition Clearinghouse (LCC) for election campaigning. Along with other members of the LCC, the NEA released "Needed: A Cabinet Department of Education" in 1975,2 but its most significant step was to endorse Jimmy Carter for President in the election of 1976. The NEA was no small player in the nomination process, and some estimates suggest that the larger LCC influenced the selection of more than 400 of the 3,000 delegates who attended the Democratic National Convention in 1976.3 NEA support helped to put Carter in the White House in 1976, but, once he was there, it was unclear whether his Administration would follow through on promises to consider Cabinet-level status for education. Education was not a top policy priority for the Carter team, and forming a new department ran counter to his platform of streamlining the federal government. After much deliberation and study, however, Carter finally made good on his campaign promise and endorsed Cabinet- level status for education.4 Sen. Ribicoff was quick to support the President's decision, and in March he co-sponsored yet another bill, the Department of Education Organization Act. The debates in the Senate Governmental Operations Committee in the winter of 1977-78 were at times acrimonious, but the bill was ultimately released to the floor, where the measure passed.5 The bill did not come up for a vote in the House during the same session, and the proceedings began all over again the following year. At last, the bill passed the House in a close vote. President Carter signed it into law on 17 October 1979, finally ending a struggle of almost 150 years. Building and Preserving the Department The Honorable Shirley Hufstedler, chosen by President Carter to be the first secretary of education, had by law only six months to get the department up and running. She worked quickly to establish the department's agenda, combining her own goals with a panoply of suggestions from critics and supporters alike. One set of goals focused on streamlining and strengthening the political workings of the federal/state relationship; a second set reinforced the notion that the department would not supersede local control by attempting to impose restrictive regulations; a third set focused on issues of educational equity. …

Abstract: Since the 1960 national election, the nonpartisan Citizens' Research Foundation (CRF) has published a series of Financing the Election volumes, compiling reliable data on the costs and trends of campaign finance. For the 2000 edition, CRF and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University assembled leading political science scholars to analyze this historic election season where campaign finance was critically important. Candice J. Nelson of American University compares spending estimates in 2000 with previous election cycles, and discusses the implications of increased spending. John C. Green and Nathan S. Bigelow of the Roy Bliss Institute at the University of Akron look at the presidential nomination campaigns, while Anthony Corrado of Colby College explores the financing of the general election, including the unprecedented Florida recount battle. Paul S. Herrnson of the University of Maryland and Kelly D. Patterson of Brigham Young University review the close party balance in the House and Senate and its effect on the financing of congressional elections. Diana Dwyre of California State University-Chico and Robin Kolodny of Temple University put the role of political parties and their use of soft money in perspective. Alan J. Cigler of the University of Kansas investigates the ways interest groups attempt to influence elections. Anthony Gierzynski of the University of Vermont analyzes the impact of redistricting on gubernatorial and state legislative elections, while Roy A. Schotland of Georgetown University Law School examines the recent history and rising costs of judicial campaigns. Finally, Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution discusses lessons the 2000 elections should teach us about the realities of financing elections and the implications for reform that emerged from this remarkable election. In setting forth the contours of American political finance, Financing the 2000 Election provides a unique resource for students of elections, reformers, journalists, and interested citizens.

Abstract: There at least two important questions about voter behavior in California's blanket primary. The first is: How many voters took the opportunity to cast a ballot for a candidate of a party different than that of the voter's registration or identification? The second question is: Why did these crossover voters decide to defect from their own party's nomination campaign and support a candidate from another party? In this chapter, we focus on these two questions at the Assembly district level.

Abstract: From 1992 to 2000, both Democrats and Republicans frequently charged President Bill Clinton with being "an unprincipled opportunist quick to shed ideas, commitments, and associates when they become inconvenient."' Clinton's actions on race-related issues, in particular, fueled accusations that he cared more about his public approval ratings than his stated principles. When the Lani Guinier nomination for assistant attorney general for civil rights provoked heated controversy in 1993, Clinton decided to withdraw the nomination. His subsequent decisions to continue federal affirmative action programs and to sign Republican-sponsored welfare reform legislation drew fire from the right and left for being inconsistent, unprincipled, and opportunistic. The President, his critics averred, blithely moved back and forth between liberal and conservative positions on racial issues, swaying in the political winds of the moment. In light of these charges, Clinton's announcement of a new race initiative, entitled "One America in the 21st Century: The President's Initiative on Race," in June 1997 posed something of a puzzle to observers of the presidency. Consider the following two facts. First, public opinion polls have shown a significant and enduring black-white breach on racial issues for decades. Black-white polarization concerning the extent of, nature of, and solutions to the race problem

Abstract: There is an old story about a mother who has two sons. One goes to sea and the other becomes Vice President of the United States. Neither is ever heard from again. --Hubert H. Humphrey (1991, 320) President Eisenhower's comment became notorious. Clearly tired and eager to end another press conference filled with presumptuous and annoying questions, he called on one last reporter, a fellow interested in the influence Vice President Richard Nixon had wielded in the White House. Asked to name "an example of a major idea of his that you had adopted," the normally sunny Eisenhower snapped, "If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember" (1960d, 658). The remark, regardless of Eisenhower's intent, haunted Richard Nixon for years. In the midst of the hard-fought 1968 presidential campaign, Lyndon Johnson, in one of his rare forays into public humor, called on it once again. He claimed that one of his daughters had asked him, Tell me Daddy, how was it that after losing a national election in 1960 to President Kennedy and then after losing a state election as Governor of California in 1962 to Pat Brown, how does it happen that Richard Nixon has been able to win his party's nomination for the presidency in 1968? One can only imagine the relish with which LBJ delivered the punch line: "I told her if she would give me a week, I would try to think of some reasons" (1968f, 1087). The irony of Johnson's remark should not pass without notice; he made the comment while campaigning for yet another vice president, a candidate crippled throughout much of that year by Johnson's unyielding determination to force the poor man to toe the line on Vietnam. Hubert Humphrey might have preferred Johnson to "take a week" to think of any contribution that Humphrey had made to that administration. Its record had become an albatross around his neck, and, partly as a result of that association, Vice President Humphrey went down to defeat, adding his name to the long roster of vice presidential failures in presidential campaigns. Throughout American history, most vice presidents have not been considered for their party's subsequent presidential nomination; something about the office taints the man. Only four people have been elected to the presidency directly after serving as vice president. The first two, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, won election prior to passage of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, the one establishing that the president and the vice president were to run as a team: one ticket, yet clearly separate and most assuredly unequal. The other two, Martin Van Buren and George Herbert Walker Bush, each managed to win a term, but both were denied reelection, partly because it was perceived that they had departed from their predecessors' key policies. The record offers little encouragement to those who wish to move on up from a corner office to the Oval Office. Yet as Vice President Gore's campaign demonstrates, they continue to try. While a variety of reasons can be forwarded to explain this record of nearly unrelieved failure, we focus in this article on the campaign rhetoric of presidents as they stump for their chosen heirs. Oceans of ink have been spilled in an effort to explicate the problems that vice presidents face as they try to create their own identities (Nelson 2000). In 2000 alone, a variety of pundits sought to delineate the relationship between President Clinton and Vice President Gore (Duffy and Tumulty 1999; Seelye 2000). However, comparatively little attention has been paid to the efforts of the president on behalf of the vice president (for an exception, see Chisholm 1997). This discourse is important for a number of reasons. First, the typical strategies used by the president, however well intentioned, tend to impede the campaign of the vice president. In their rhetoric, presidents almost invariably cast vice presidents as subordinates, diminishing the perceived presidential capacity of these "partners. …

Abstract: This paper analyzes network news coverage of presidential nomination candidates during the pre-primary and primaries seasons from 1975 to 2000. Using data from the Vanderbilt Television Archives, we find that the network news programs are giving less coverage to the candidates. The decline corresponds to the front-loaded primary schedule, which produces a presumptive nominee sooner and effectively ends coverage of the nomination campaign. We also analyze news coverage of US senators and representatives campaigning for the presidency. Legislators' news coverage varies with their position in Congress and their position in or at the polls.

Abstract: The Setting and the Nominating Process Introduction: Contemporary Southern Politics and the 2000 Elections by Brad Lockerbie, Robert P. Steed, and Laurence W. Moreland Believers for Bush, Godly for Gore: Religion and the 2000 Election in the South by John C. Green The 2000 Presidential Nomination Process by John A. Clark and Audrey A. Haynes The South and the 2000 Election: A Victory for Valence Issues by John C. Kuzenski Elections in the Deep South Alabama: A "Small Time" Election by Patrick R. Cotter Georgia: Another Mixed Partisan Result by Charles S. Bullock III Louisiana: Mainstream Republicans Back in Control by Jonathan O. Knuckey and Charles D. Hadley Mississippi: GOP Blunts Democratic Resurgence by Stephen D. Shaffer and Byron E. Price South Carolina: Republican, Primarily by Laurence W. Moreland and Robert P. Steed Elections in the Rim South Arkasas: Non-Stop Action in Post-Clinton Arkansas by Jay Barth, Janine A. Parry, and Todd Shields Florida: Too Close to Call by Steven C. Tauber and William E. Hulbary North Carolina: Continued Two-Party Competition by Charles Prysby Tennessee: A Native Son Scorned by David M. Brodsky and Robert H. Swansbrough Texas: Ignored for Once by Frank B. Feigert and John R. Todd Virginia: The Parties Agree It's Out of Play by John J. McGlennon Conclusion The South and the 2000 Presidential Election by Harold Stanley Selected Bibliography Index

Abstract: We consider a model of political competition among two ideological parties who are uncertain about the distribution of voters. The distinguishing feature of the model is that parties can delegate electoral decisions to candidates by nomination. It is shown that if the credible platform commitments of the candidates is feasible, then at least one of the parties nominates in equilibrium to a candidate who has an ideology that is more radical than the delegating party's ideology. In a variety of circumstances, this, in turn, yields a polarization of equilibrium policy choices of the candidates. It is thus argued formally here that strategic nomination of the candidates may well be one of the major reasons behind the well documented observation that the platforms associated with the political parties in two-party democracies are often surprisingly polarized.

Abstract: SPACE - Sean O'Keefe, the deputy director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was named the next NASA administrator by the White House on 14 November. The nomination has met with cautious optimism in Washington and, despite his lack of technical experience, in the aerospace community as well.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine how well various peer nomination factors predict to long-term low frequency but highly disruptive elementary age classroom behaviors that result in school disciplinary action. Peer nomination measures to determine six factors (prosocial, social preference, overt aggression, relational aggression, impulsivity, and social impact) were administered to 838 third through fifth grade students in the spring of 2000 and 344 students were re-assessed in the spring of 2001. In the spring of 2001, the occurrence of four school disciplinary actions (in-school suspension, out-of school suspension, corporal punishment, and placement in disciplinary alternative) was collected on the 838 students assessed in 2000. Consistent with prior research, the' peer nomination measures were highly reliable. Using Receiving Operating Characteristics analyses the findings indicated that low prosocial skills, high overt aggression, and high impulsivity were independently strong predictors of school disciplinary actions. These findings were similar across grade and ethnicity. However, the impulsivity factor was a stronger predictor of disciplinary action for girls than for boys. (Author) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Predicting School Problems 1 Running head: PREDICTING SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY PROBLEMS Predicting School Disciplinary Problems: The Validity of Peer Nomination Measures Gary D. Fireman, Ph.D., Suzy Hutcherson, B.S. Amy Jo Chilton, B.A., Eugene Wang, Ph.D. Texas Tech University The authors wish to express our appreciation to the Lubbock Independent School District. In particular, we would like to thank Dr. Jack Clemmons, Ann Graves, Larry Mullican, Debra Davenport and the principals, teachers, and students of the schools that participated in this research. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gary Fireman, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409. Electronic mail may be sent to G.FiremanRttu.edu U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to CD improve reproduction quality. C\I Cr) Points of view or opinions stated in this 0 document do not necessarily represent 0 official OERI position or policy. 0 2 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 BEST COPY AMIABLE Predicting School Problems 2 Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine how well various peer nomination factors predict to long-term low frequency but highly disruptive elementary age classroom behaviors that result in school disciplinary action. Peer nomination measures to determine six factors (prosocial, social preference, overt aggression, relational aggression, impulsivity, and social impact) were administered to 838 third through fifth grade students in the Spring of 2000 and 344 students were re-assessed in the Spring of 2001 In the Spring of 2001, the occurrence of four school disciplinary actions (in-school suspension, out-of school suspension, corporal punishment, and placement in disciplinary alternative) was collected on the 838 students assessed in 2000. Consistent with prior research, the peer nomination measures were highly reliable. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses the findings indicated that low prosocial skills, high overt aggression, and high impulsivity were independently strong predictors of school disciplinary actions. These findings were similar across grade and ethnicity. However, the impulsivity factor was a stronger predictor of disciplinary action for girls than for boys.The purpose of this study was to determine how well various peer nomination factors predict to long-term low frequency but highly disruptive elementary age classroom behaviors that result in school disciplinary action. Peer nomination measures to determine six factors (prosocial, social preference, overt aggression, relational aggression, impulsivity, and social impact) were administered to 838 third through fifth grade students in the Spring of 2000 and 344 students were re-assessed in the Spring of 2001 In the Spring of 2001, the occurrence of four school disciplinary actions (in-school suspension, out-of school suspension, corporal punishment, and placement in disciplinary alternative) was collected on the 838 students assessed in 2000. Consistent with prior research, the peer nomination measures were highly reliable. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses the findings indicated that low prosocial skills, high overt aggression, and high impulsivity were independently strong predictors of school disciplinary actions. These findings were similar across grade and ethnicity. However, the impulsivity factor was a stronger predictor of disciplinary action for girls than for boys.

Abstract: The failed nomination of federal appeals court judge Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court led to conclusions that the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees had been forever changed. Commentators speculated that future nominations would be characterized by intense media coverage, heavy interest group involvement, and the selection of either stealth nominees or non-controversial judicial moderates. This book examines the four subsequent nominations - David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer - to assess whether the Bork episode has had this long-term impact. Supreme Court Justices in the Post-Bork Era also focuses on the justices' actual performance on the Court in light of the confirmation process, and the author speculates about the future of Supreme Court confirmation politics.

Abstract: hat the White House had no institu tional memory-the problem prompting the White House Interview Program (WHIP)-represents just one area in which the White House 2001 Project affected the presidential transition. In appointments, the Pew Charitable Trusts identified a second transition problem. In 1996, the Twentieth Century Fund' produced a blue-ribbon study outlining several issues undermining the appeal of government appointment. The study, entitled Obstacle Course: The Report of the Twentieth Century Task Force on Presidential Appointment Process (Twentieth Century Fund 1996), convinced Pew to focus on the recruitment of presidential nominees. As part of that initiative, they contemplated a computer program that would reduce the burden placed on nominees by filing numerous, intrusive, and repetitive questionnaires.

Abstract: Figuring out an acceptable relationship between law and politics has been one of the perennial preoccupations of both politicians and lawyers, and of political scientists and legal scholars as well. In a country in which it has long been the case that “scarcely any political question arises . . . that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question,” the way this question is answered has ramifications for many issues vital to the health of our society. Viewed through a conventional lens, the relational issues of greatest concern about these two activities, politics and law, involve politics’ influence on law: how much is politics influencing law, whether that is a good thing, whether that influence can be avoided and whether the political preferences of the judges rather than some quasi-autonomous methodology of legal reasoning determine legal outcomes. One recurring worry is that politics will have too much influence on legal outcomes. A central ambition of the rule of law has been to insulate legal decisions from political pressures. Creating the social expectations that courts of law ought to make decisions without regard to the social status or political power of the litigants was one of the great developments in the history of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence. Law “ought to ignore the social status of individuals and also to ignore their political role, unless their ability to perform that role itself requires some legal exemption.” This is a commitment that is never quite fulfilled, however. In the past thirty years, we have witnessed a number of high-profile battles over Supreme Court nominees, in which traditional political battle lines were drawn up over the nomination, leaving plenty of room for the inference that the leaders in our political parties thought there was something political at stake in the decisions about whom to place on the highest court in the land. The high water mark in the politicization of Supreme Court nominations, if that is the appropriate image, was the 1986 nomination of Robert Bork. Soon thereafter, Clarence Thomas’s nomination put the politically volatile issues of race and gender poli-

Abstract: At the start of the millennium Council reviewed medals and prizes and decided to discontinue the Gold Medal (which had not in any case been awarded for some time) and establish in its place the Society's Award. This Award will be made every two or three years in recognition of outstanding scholarship in Asian studies. Having considered a number of tenders, Council commissioned Ms Danuta Solowiej-Wedderburn to design and cast a medal bearing versions of two of the original Daniell images: the elephant and howdah on one side and the banyan-tree on the other (see John Hansman, “The Emblems, Medals and Medallists of the Royal Asiatic Society”, JRAS [1984 Part 1], pp. 99–119. Council approved the nomination of Mr John M. Gullick, who was recommended by a search committee (chaired by the Director) to be the first recipient of the RAS Award. On 10 January 2002 the President presented the RAS Award for 2001 to Mr Gullick who replied with a lecture, “An Indian official in Singapore: Governor Cavanagh (1859–1867)”.