The Institute of Governmental Studies: Publications

Policy Issues

Minoritized Space: An Inquiry into the Spatial Order of Things
Michel Laguerre, 1999, 152pp, $15, ISBN 0-87772-387-7, book #3877

Laguerre shows that in order to have ethnic minorities one must create a minoritized space. By conceptualzing the mechanisms that produce this minoritized space, the way it operates, and the technology of its reproduction, this book explains how and why the spatial question is intrinsic to the minority question and is crucial to our reevaluation of minority status in American society.

Crime & Punishment in California: The Impact of Three Strikes and You're Out
Franklin E. Zimring, Sam Kamin & Gordon Hawkins, 1999, 87pp, ISBN 0-87772-392-3, $8.00
California's 1994 "Three Strikes and You're Out" law is one of the most important--and controversial--pieces of crime control legislation in American history. It has resulted in nine times as many mandatory prison sentences as the other 25 three strikes state as and the federal government combined. This startling new study suggests it has had little if any affect on the crime rate.

Managing to Achieve Multiple Goals:
The Case of the Big Bang Financial System Reform in Japan
Christopher Weare and Eugene Smolensky, 1999, 61pp, $10, ISBN 0-87772-386-9, book #3869

This book brings a fresh economic perspective to bear on how best to free Japan's financial industry from excessive regulation. It accords with Japanese policymakers' three goals for the Big Bang. While they address other important aims, the authors argue that the primary goal must be efficiency.

Economic Earthquakes: Converting Defense Cuts to Economic Opportunities,
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher., 1994, 221pp., ISBN 0-87772-357-5, $21.95

California's economy is once again thriving after nearly a decade fueled by sharp cuts in defense spending. In these excellent case studies, Hatcher explains how three out-moded military bases were converted into productive assets.