Part of the Praeger Series in Political Economy, this volume assembles prominent political scientists, sociologists, economists, historians, anthropologists, theologians, and journalists to examine the intricacies of the ground-breaking 1984 campaign for president by Jesse Jackson. As no other studies have done, this book explores the social and cultural context of the evolving political process in which the campaign took shape. The contributors study the campaign in a broad social and cultural context that helps to explain the campaign's strengths and weaknesses. The book's interdisciplinary approach reveals the economic, sociological, and political ramifications of the first serious run for the presidency by an African-American. Students and scholars of political science, sociology, anthropology, and communications, as well as professionals in the fields of journalism, public relations, and campaign consulting, will find this book enlightening reading. The volume explores a broad range of issues in terms of how they relate to Jackson's historical run for president, including: racial equity questions; educational and economic opportunity for minorities; family stability in minority communities; community development; and Third World politics. The contributors come to a number of conclusions about the future of politics for minority candidates. Some suggest that future campaigns by Jackson, or any minority candidate, will run into more difficulty inside the political parties than did Jackson's. Others suggest that the 1984 campaign represents a radicalization of the black and progressive American voter. The future, according to this provocative book, holds difficulty for both the Democratic and Republican parties as their candidates, whatever race or religion, bridge the ideological gaps dividing the voters.

David Gleicher and Lonnie Stevans present a theory of occupational wage rates that is a classical alternative to human capital theory. They introduce the net employment reserve, a novel explanatory variable that measures the bargaining power of employees in an occupation. An econometric model which includes net reserves is designed and tested. Results suggest standard empirical tests of human capital theory are misspecified. Other topics include: the origin of the firm, screening hypothesis, wage-efficiency, internal labor markets, and labor-market segmentation. This work offers insight into the theoretical and econometric modeling of labor specialization, as well as wage-rate differentials among occupations. It addresses researchers and graduate students in labor economics, classical price theory, and general political economy.

Gleicher and Stevans design an empirical study of the determination of occupational wage-rates, testing the net reserve against other hypothesized variables. Their first two chapters model relative wage rates within a broad classical conception: a simple model of relative prices is extended by incorporating relative wage rates according to occupation and training services. (The authors discuss the implications of these extensions with regard to the labor theory of value.) A testable hypothesis is put forth in Chapters 3 and 4. The fifth and final chapter presents econometric results.

Earlier studies of subsidized housing assume that segregation is a manifestation of white prejudice, and that the Fair Housing Act of 1968 would significantly remedy inequalities in housing and, in the process, narrow the socioeconomic gap between racial groups. This book argues, on the contrary, that segregation by race and income has been an integral part of federal housing policy from its inception and that white prejudice merely obscures the federal government's role in maintaining segregation.

Despite formal claims of providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing for the poor, the authors show how federal low-income housing programs have been used as instruments of urban renewal while doing little to realize their formal goals. The authors use a historical and statistical review of federally subsidized low-rent housing to demonstrate their thesis.