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This book, written by a sociologist and a banking executive, is intended to bring together strands of social-science research that are usable in organizational decision making, fashioning social policy, and dealing with social problems. Topics include space-time constraints on social behavior, cognition, and bias; sanctions and behavior; groups and networks; dynamics of organization; principles of economic development; and research methods. For each of these topics, many relevant lines are assembled and made as relevant to the “real world” as possible. The final two chapters deal, first, with the sources of societal demands for social-science knowledge in an increasingly complex world and, second, with the supply of such knowledge by academics, think tanks, and consulting organizations. Throughout the book, the authors attempt to steer a realistic middle course between two extremes: “quick-fix” promises of social-scientific knowledge and dismissal of the uses of such knowledge. The intended audiences of the book are decision makers and policy makers; faculty and students, especially in professional schools; and the educated and concerned public.

Every kindergarten soccer player gets a trophy. Many high schools name dozens of seniors as valedictorians — of the same class. Cars sport bumper stickers that read “USA — Number 1.” Prizes proliferate in every corner of American society, and excellence is trumpeted with ratings that range from “Academy Award winner!” to “Best Neighborhood Pizza!” In this book, the author shines a bright light on the increasing abundance of status in our society and considers what it all means. He argues that status affluence fosters social worlds and, in the process, helps give meaning to life in a large society.

This book develops the extended case method by connecting personal experiences among workers of the world to the great transformations of the twentieth century—the rise and fall of the Soviet Union and its satellites, the reconstruction of U.S. capitalism, and the African transition to post-colonialism in Zambia. The author's odyssey began in 1968 in the Zambian copper mines and proceeded to Chicago's South Side, where he worked as a machine operator and enjoyed a unique perspective on the stability of advanced capitalism. In the 1980s, this perspective was deepened by contrast with his work in diverse Hungarian factories. Surprised by the collapse of socialism in Hungary in 1989, he journeyed in 1991 to the Soviet Union, which by the end of the year had unexpectedly dissolved. He then spent the next decade studying how the working class survived the catastrophic collapse of the Soviet economy. These chapters, presented with a perspective that has benefited from time and rich experience, offer a theory and a method for developing novel understandings of epochal change.

While fads such as hula hoops or streaking are usually dismissed as silly enthusiasms, trends in institutions such as education, business, medicine, science, and criminal justice are often taken seriously, even though their popularity and usefulness are sometimes short lived. Institutional fads such as open classrooms, quality circles, and multiple-personality disorder are constantly making the rounds, promising astonishing new developments: novel ways of teaching reading or arithmetic, better methods of managing businesses, or improved treatments for disease. Some of these trends prove to be lasting innovations, but others—after absorbing extraordinary amounts of time and money—are abandoned and forgotten, soon to be replaced by other new schemes. In this book, the author explores the range of institutional fads, analyzes the features of our culture that foster them, and identifies the major stages of the fad cycle; emerging, surging, and purging. Deconstructing the ways that this system plays into our notions of reinvention, progress, and perfectibility, the book examines the causes and consequences of fads, and suggests ways of fad-proofing our institutions.

What will California look like by the middle of the twenty-first century? Change is occurring in the state at a breathtaking pace. It will face many extraordinary challenges. Yet today most Californians believe that their elected officials are unable to develop effective public policies. The book examines the powerful undercurrents — economic, demographic, and political — shaping California at this critical juncture in its history. It focuses on three trends that are profoundly affecting the social and political landscape of the state: political distrust, racial and ethnic change, and regional diversity. The book discusses the complexities of this situation and offers a series of substantive recommendations for how California can come to terms with the unprecedented challenges it faces.

When Orange County, California, filed for Chapter 9 protection on December 6, 1994, it became the largest municipality in United States history to declare bankruptcy. Providing a comprehensive analysis of this momentous fiscal crisis, the book uncovers the many twists and turns from the dark days in December 1994 to the financial recovery of June 1996. Utilizing a wealth of primary materials from the county government and Merrill Lynch, as well as interviews with key officials and players in this drama, it untangles the causes of this $1.64 billion fiasco. It identifies three factors critical to understanding the bankruptcy: one, the political fragmentation of the numerous local governments in the area; two, the fiscal conservatism underlying voters' feelings about their tax dollars; and three, the financial austerity in state government and in meeting rising state expenditures. The book finds that these forces help to explain how a county known for its affluence and conservative politics could have allowed its cities' school, water, transportation, and sanitation agencies to be held hostage to this failed investment pool. Meticulously examining the events that led up to the bankruptcy, the local officials' response to the fiscal emergency, and the road to fiscal recovery—as well as the local government reforms engendered by the crisis—this book is a dramatic and instructive economic morality tale. It underlines the dangers inherent in a freewheeling bull economy and the imperatives of local and state governments to protect fiscal assets. As this book shows, Orange County need not—and should not—happen again.