Common Opponent Research Articles

Development versus Preservation in the Snake River Birds of Prey Conservation Area

The proposed Birds of Prey Conservation Area (BPCA) contains approximately 800,000 acres of mostly public land along the Snake River in southwestern Idaho. It is the most concentrated nesting site for birds of prey-or raptors-in North America, including prairie falcons and peregrine falcons, hawks, eagles, and owls. It also provides habitat for jackrabbits and ground squirrels, the raptors' principal prey, as well as forage for domestic livestock. In addition, the area has a potential use in irrigated agriculture. Bird protection, grazing, and irrigated agriculture came into direct conflict with each other in 1978 when the secretary of interior requested the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to assess allocation of these acres as a reserved natural area. This conflict provided the impetus for our analysis. The federal Desert Land Act of 1877 and Carey Act of 1906 permit withdrawal of these lands from the public domain for agricultural development. Locally, withdrawal means irrigated production of primarily potatoes and sugar beets. These crops replace the natural vegetation and, therefore, compete with grazing. Irrigated agricultural development also destroys natural ground cover for rabbits and squirrels, thereby creating competition with bird protection. The result is an interesting and unusual, perhaps unique, political alliance. Raptor protectors and grazing interests are usually fierce opponents. The latter fear that the birds kill young livestock. In this case, however, the ranchers' usual opposition to the birds is subordinated to their fear of total loss. Meanwhile, their livestock keep the range vegetation short, enabling raptors to find prey more easily. As a result raptor protectors and livestock organizations readily united to confront their common opponent, irrigated agricultural development.' The analytical problem confronting BLM takes the classical form of two mutually exclusive alternatives, development (irrigated agriculture) versus preservation (grazing and raptor protection). The problem is complicated by the uncertain nature of irrigated agricultural development and by the nonmarket raptor protection values. We consider this problem, proceeding from a conceptual model to an empirical estimation to conclusions and policy implications.

What Are the Odds?-Constructing Competition Probabilities

Odds-making can be a lucrative business-witness Jimmy the Greek. For most, predicting winners and making odds are part of the enjoyment of getting ready for the big game (there always seems to be one a few days away). This article will outline a technique of using past performances of competitors against common opponents to set probabilities of particular outcomes of future competition. Common opponent analysis has a basic weakness, of course. Competition is not transitive, so anomalies like Slippery Rock is thirty points better than Ohio State can arise. To the extent that competition is transitive, the technique presented here will be valid.

Opposition to the Common Market in England and Scotland

. . # opposltlon v A related question is who does this opposition come from? What sections of the British public harbour the Common Market opponents ? In the Parliament both the extreme Left and the extreme Right appear to oppose British membership. Is this true among the population at large? In Scotland the SNP waged a dogged 'No' campaign. Is this sentiment shared by SNP voters ? Since the EEC could be very convenient to an independent Scotland, unequivocal sentiments from Scottish Nationalists could not be taken for granted. In the present paper an attempt will be made to relate opposition to the EEC not only to demographic variables but also to attitudes on a variety of other social issues and two personality variables important in social psychology-authoritarianism and achievement motivation. In theory an authoritarian might object to the dilution of traditional central authority that joining the EEC implies. Also, if the EEC is in fact seen as widening the economic opportunities available to Britons, people who themselves are particularly achievement motivated should support it. Existing research' has shown that Conservative voters are more favourable than others to Common Market membership but conservatism of ideology does not predict attitudes either war.

Biały Orzeł i Złota Chryzantema

White Eagle and Golden Chrysanthemum. Polish‑Japanese cooperation: myth or historical possibility or necessity?
 This article deals with the historical and contemporary Polish‑Japanese relations in various aspects of cooperation: political, military, economic and cultural types. Author discusses the traditions of Polish‑Japanese military cooperation since the Russo‑Japanese War to 1944 year, which is important in the context of the fact that during the Second World War, Poland and Japan fought on the opposite side. Despite this, two countries work together, as a common opponent was the Stalinist Soviet Union. In the following section discusses the renewal of the Polish‑Japanese relations after 1957 and their development, including the attitude of the Japanese authorities to “Solidarity” movement in 1980‑1981 to Polish‑Japanese relations after 1989. The author ends the with text summary and an attempt to outlook mutual the cooperation both countries.

Common Opponent Sought… and Found?

Common Opponent Sought… and Found?

The 1962 Election in California

ALIFORNIA was the focus of national attention during the 1962 congressional and gubernatorial elections. Sometime between the election and the publication of this article, the state became the most populous in the union, thus qualifying it in future years for the perquisites of primal representation in party conventions, the electoral college, and Congress. Dramatizing this newly acquired eminence was the return of Richard M. Nixon, native son and former Vice President of the United States, to enter the gubernatorial campaign, intended undoubtedly as an initial step toward winning a second Republican presidential nomination. The triumph of Nixon as the Republican presidential nominee in California by the narrow margin of 36,000 absentee ballots in 1960, does not nullify a provocative analogy between the fate of former Senator William F. Knowland in the 1958 gubernatorial campaign and that of Nixon in 1962.1 In each instance a nationally established leader of the Republican party, long absent from the councils of state politics, returned to attempt to capture the governorship as a springboard to the White House. Both encountered deep schisms and bitter personal animosities within the state Republican party, marked by public recriminations more devastating than those mustered by the opposition during the general election. Each held the common opponent in light regard, completely miscalculating the determination and electoral appeal of the unpretentious, but voter-oriented incumbent governor, Edmund G. Pat Brown. Both went down to crashing defeat, Knowland leading the conservative and Nixon the moderate wing of their party. In spite of the loud protestations of innocence by Democrats and Republicans alike, both campaigns were violent, unprincipled, and rank among the most unedifying in the recent history of the state. Finally, each of the two G.O.P. candidates chose to ignore the Warren-Knight formula for past gubernatorial successes: a policy position in the center of the ideological spectrum and an avoidance of undue partisanship. Considered from a near-term perspective the 1962 election results would seem to warrant several observations. The electorate preferred the status quo, marked by modest progress in public policy, to proposals for change shrouded in strident terms of What's wrong with the state! Growing evidence also points toward the gradual professionalization of the Democratic party. Expert organization, skilled leadership, and adequate financing have placed the two major parties upon virtually equal competitive footing in the arena of state politics. Beyond conjecture is the fact that the year 1962 found a strong, determined, and aggres-