The Transition to Republican Rule in the House: Implications for Theories of Congressional Politics
John H. Aldrich and David W. Rohde examine the revisions in the rules of the House of Representatives and the Republican Party Conference imposed by the Republican majority when it took control of the House after the 1994 elections. From this analysis, they draw inferences about support for competing theories of congressional politics.

Complexity and the Analysis of Political and Social Life
Robert Jervis argues that in policy analysis we too often overlook the complex dynamics and interactions that characterize political and social systems. Focusing on complexity and interaction in a system leads to a greater understanding of human activities, more methodological sophistication, and better guidelines for action.

Prospects for Elite-Driven Democracy in South Africa
Jeffrey Herbst looks at the pact that led to South Africa's first nonracial government in 1994. He finds that much of the optimism surrounding democratic transitions in Latin America is not justified in South Africa, because South African leaders have much more difficulty managing their respective constituencies.

Do Economic Crises Contribute to Economic Reform? Argentina and Venezuela in the 1990s
Javier Corrales questions the claim that deep economic crises pave the wavy for successful implementation of economic reforms. By looking at Argentina and Venezuela, he argues that a better predictor of the implementation of reform is whether the president resolves political differences with the ruling party.

Bargaining for Social Rights: Unions and the Reemergence of Welfare Capitalism, 1945-1952
Michael K. Brown analyzes why American unions acted to put employee benefits on the bargaining table in the 1940s and why that strategy was supported by President Truman and northern Democrats in Congress. The author argues that union leaders were motivated to obtain private social benefits such as health insurance in order to ensure the security of union membership, a question that was reopened when the closed shop was outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act. Paradoxically, this union policy helped defeat Truman's efforts to enact national health insurance.

Opinion: Netanyahu, A Palestinian State, and Israeli Security Reassessed
In one of our occasional opinion essays, Jerome Slater discusses the arguments for and against a Palestinian state as the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He argues that an appropriately structured Palestinian state would enhance rather than threaten Israel's national security.

Dismantling Desegregation: The Quiet Reversal of Brown v. Board of Education, Gary Orfield and Susan E. Eaton
Reviewed by Paul Teske

Taking the Initiative: Leadership Agendas in Congress and the "Contract with America", John B. Bader
Reviewed by James G. Gimpel

Democratic Transitions in Central America, Jorge I. Dominguez and Marc Lindenberg
Reviewed by Consuelo Cruz

Cultural Internationalism and World Order, Akira Iriye
Reviewed by Thomas Schoonover

The Election of 1996: Reports and Interpretations, Walter Dean Burnham, Gerald M. Pomper, Scott Keeter, Marion R. Just, William G. Mayer, Anthony Corrado, Marjorie Randon Hershey and Wilson Carey McWilliams
Reviewed by Norman R. Luttbeg

After Suffrage: Women in Partisan and Electoral Politics before the New Deal, Kristi Andersen
Reviewed by Jane Junn

Midterm: The Elections of 1994 in Context, Philip A. Klinkner
Reviewed by James E. Campbell

Nuclear Designs: Great Britain, France, and China in the Global Governance of Nuclear Arms, Bruce D. Larkin
Reviewed by Jim Walsh

Soldiers, Civilians, and Democracy: Post-Franco Spain in Comparative Perspective, Felipe Agüero ; Divided Nations: Class, Politics, and Nationalism in the Basque Country and Catalonia, Juan Díez Medrano
Reviewed by W. Rand Smith

Lebanon: A Shattered Country, Elizabeth Picard
Reviewed by Michael C. Hudson

Narratives of Justice: Legislators' Beliefs about Distributive Fairness, Grant Reeher
Reviewed by Kay Lehman Schlozman

When Allies Differ: Anglo-American Relations during the Suez and Falklands Crises, Louise Richardson
Reviewed by Gene A. Sessions

Reforming the Russian Legal System, Gordon B. Smith
Reviewed by Peter Juviler

Russian Civil-Military Relations, Dale R. Herspring
Reviewed by Laura V. Swartz

The Soviet Union and the Vietnam War, Ilya V. Gaiduk
Reviewed by Fredrik Logevall

Agenda for Africa's Economic Renewal, Benno Ndulu, Nicolas van de Walle and contributors
Reviewed by David K. Leonard

Setting National Priorities: Budget Choices for the Next Century, Robert D. Reischauer
Reviewed by Robert C. Lowry

Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the United States Senate, Steven S. Smith and Sarah A. Binder
Reviewed by J. Mark Wrighton

American Foreign Policy: Carter to Clinton, John Dumbrell
Reviewed by Walter LaFeber

Democracy and Development in Africa, Claude Ake
Reviewed by Frank Holmquist

The Politics of Expertise in Congress: The Rise and Fall of the Office of Technology Assessment, Bruce Bimber
Reviewed by William T. Golden

Second Coming: The New Christian Right in Virginia Politics, Mark J. Rozell and Clyde Wilcox
Reviewed by Corwin Smidt

Medicaid and the Limits of State Health Reform, Michael S. Sparer
Reviewed by James W. Fossett

Whose Welfare? AFDC and Elite Politics, Steven M. Teles
Reviewed by Donna Wilson Kirchheimer

Eisenhower and the Missile Gap, Peter Roman
Reviewed by Christopher Preble

The Cold War and Soviet Insecurity: The Stalin Years, Vojtech Mastny
Reviewed by Melvyn P. Leffler

The Workers' Movement in Russia, Simon Clarke, Peter Fairbrother and Vadim Borisov
Reviewed by Walter D. Connor

Tattered Banners: Labor, Conflict, and Corporatism in Postcommunist Russia, Walter D. Connor
Reviewed by Leonard Benardo

Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia: 1934-1941, Robert W. Thurston
Reviewed by Andrea Chandler

Politics and Symbols: The Italian Communist Party and the Fall of Communism, David I. Kertzer
Reviewed by Alexander De Grand

The Balance of Power: History and Theory, Michael Sheehan
Reviewed by Norman Rich

Crisis Bargaining and the State: The Domestic Politics of International Conflict, Susan Peterson
Reviewed by Joe D. Hagan

Ethnic Cleansing, Andrew Bell-Fialkoff
Reviewed by Roy Licklider

Putting Choice before Democracy: A Critique of Rational Choice Theory, Emily Hauptmann
Reviewed by Carole Pateman

The Social Democratic State: The Swedish Model and the Bureaucratic Problem of Social Reforms, Bo Rothstein
Reviewed by Tim Tilton

The Failure of U.S. Tax Policy: Revenue and Politics, Sheldon D. Pollack
Reviewed by Jane G. Gravelle