The creation of temporary, independent advisory bodies that give advice to Congress, is an important yet under-investigated area of congressional delegation. With variations to fit the circumstances, lawmakers entrust commissions to accomplish diverse goals, such as coping with increases in the scope and complexity of legislation, forging consensus, drafting legislation, finessing institutional obstacles, coordinating strategy, and promoting party unity.

Campbell investigates why and when Congress formulates policy by commissions rather than by the normal legislative process. He shows that many variables go into the decision to entrust those bodies to render non-partisan recommendations. According to lawmakers and their staff, the three primary justifications for choosing to delegate to commission include expertise, workload, and avoidance. Which of these three dominates depends in large part on the politics surrounding a particular issue and the nature of the policy problem. The logic of delegation to each of the three commission types is different. Which reason dominates depends in large part on the politics surrounding the issue and the nature of the legislative policy problem. Scholars, students, and other researchers involved with Congress, American government, and public policy will find the study of particular interest.

One of the most powerful and widespread ideal and political reasons underlying the birth and building of the Nation-state has been the concurrence of territory, culture and people. Lately, however, one can observe a complete overturning of the relation between territorial and social spaces. New forms of international migrations, new systems of communication, new financial flows, and new political entities constitute relations, which, by crossing over the old borders, take on a territorial multipolarity as the area of their sociocultural practices. Studying the new relations between culture and territory implies laying stress on the effects of processes of contemporary nomadisms at global, local, virtual, and everyday life levels. The volume contains a collection of essays that try to illustrate the trends of the ceaseless nomadisms spanning our world, the distinctive modalities by which they fuel yet are also subjected to the complexity of contemporariness, looking into an ethnography of the modern traffic of the incorporeal but also of identity experiences and of state and state-like practices enfolding them.

"Matilde Callari Galli" is full professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Bologna, Department of Education (Italy).

Covering key issues ranging from education to political mobilization to racial stratification, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the Obama Presidency. President Barack Obama's election and subsequent reelection represent a critical paradigm shift in American political history. But will there be lasting effects of the election of an African American to the highest office in the land in terms of the United States' economic, educational, political and social realities? A valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, state and federal policymakers, and general readers, this book poses critical questions and offers insightful answers from expert contributors, provides a balanced critique of President Obama's accomplishments and challenges, and considers the national and international impact President Obama's tenure had on politics. The numerous contributors to this book provide a range of perspectives on President Obama's presidency that question conventional thinking, covering key issues that include health care, education, political mobilization, gender, racial stratification, voting patterns, and criminal justice. Readers will come away with a heightened comprehension of the complex relationships between political structures, economic policies, and minority interests; how Congress, traditional and contemporary activists, and domestic and international issues all shaped the Obama Presidency; and how micro and macro issues such as voting rights, voting patterns, and Get Out the Vote (GOTV) initiatives are connected.

This book assesses the state of presidential accountability in the post-Reagan era. It looks at five major areas of concern for students of the presidency. These problem areas concern (1.) presidents, national security, and civil liberties; (2.) controlling the intelligence community; (3.) the politized nature of the Justice Department; (4.) celebrity politics and symbolic manipulation; and (5.) the popularity of the Reagan administration and its implications for accountability. The research concludes that in the post- modern presidency, we have lost the desire and power to keep presidents accountable for their actions. After discussing the problem of presidential accountability in the opening chapter, the book turns to the checkered pasts of American presidents with respect to protecting civil liberties. It then examines the problems of presidential accountability that are posed by the intelligence community. Next, it looks at the exercises of the president's discretionary power in the criminal justice policy arena. The newer phenomenon of "Celebrity Politics" is explored next in terms of the consequences it has on citizens who want to keep the American president in check. Following this, the lessons of the popular Reagan presidency on presidential accountability are outlined. Finally, it concludes by lamenting the loss of presidential accountability in the American political system. This book should appeal to presidential researchers and anyone interested in the American presidency.

The Senate of the mid twentieth century, which was venerated by journalists, historians, and senators alike, is today but a distant memory. Electioneering on the Senate floor, playing games with the legislative process, and questioning your fellow senators' motives have become commonplace.
In this book, noted political scientist Sean Theriault documents the Senate's demise over the last 30 years by showing how one group of senators has been at the forefront of this transformation. He calls this group the "Gingrich Senators" and defines them as Republican senators who previously served in the House after 1978, the year of Newt Gingrich's first election to the House. He shows how the Gingrich Senators are more conservative, more likely to engage in tactics that obstruct the legislative process, and more likely to oppose Democratic presidents than even their fellow other Republicans. Phil Gramm, Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint, and Tom Coburn are just four examples of the group that has includes 40 total senators and 22 currently serving senators.
Theriault first documents the ideological distinctiveness of the Gingrich Senators and examines possible explanations for it. He then shows how the Gingrich Senators behave as partisan warriors, which has radically transformed the way the Senate operates as an institution, by using cutthroat tactics, obstructionism, and legislative games. He concludes the book by examining the fate of the Gingrich Senators and the future of the U.S. Senate.

Presidents and Place: America's Favorite Sons highlights the interrelationship between America's leading political icons and various facets of space and place, including places of birth and death as well as regional allegiances, among others. Chapters examine the legacy of relationships between presidents and place in a variety of social and cultural forms, ranging from famous political campaigns to television series to developments in tourism. Beginning with the political iconography of New York's Federal Hall in early eighteenth-century America and ending with a focus on the Republican Party's electoral relationship with the South, the interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse nature of the chapters reveals that place has more than a biographical significance in relation to US presidents.

The 'Russiagate' affair is one of the most far-reaching political events of recent years. But what exactly was the nature and extent of Russian interference in the campaign that led to the presidency of Donald J. Trump? Richard Sakwa sets out the dramatic series of events that combined to create Russiagate and examines whether together they form a persuasive account of Russia's role in the extraordinary 2016 American election. Offering a meticulous account of the multiple layers in play, his authoritative analysis challenges the claims of Russian interference and collusion. As we enter into a new cold war, this myth-busting, accessible and balanced account is essential reading to understand contemporary East-West relations.

This original contribution largely based on unpublished material to the biography of an American president and to the diplomatic history of the United States traces Franklin Roosevelt's contacts with the French from his childhood until the end of his life. It necessarily concentrates on the years after he ascended the presidency--the pre-war years of the 1930s and the war years from 1939 to 1944. Especially knotty were the war years when Roosevelt had to deal with two French governments--the Vichy government and the Free French government of Charles de Gaulle--as well as their representatives and supporters.

This book illuminates the decision-making process of the U.S. Senate by examining the Trade Agreements Act of 1979. The purpose of Jerome's study is threefold: first, to discuss the legislative process dealing with the act, and thereby to document the particular nature of Senate decision-making. Second, the author reviews current decision-making theories and examines various points of his case study to see how reality conforms with the theories. Finally, he suggests revisions of the decision-making theories. Jerome creates three broad theoretical categories to analyze the Senate decision-making process: The first stresses a structural approach; the second emphasizes factors that influence the decision; and the third emphasizes specific behavioral patterns. Over the course of the decision-making process, the author argues, no one dimension is necessarily more important than another. He develops a model that views the process as a time line or braided rope with each of the three dimensions comprising one cord of the rope. By slicing through this rope the decision process can be examined at various points, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses in each of the individual theories. Because Jerome's conceptual framework is based on an insider's perspective, his work will be of considerable interest to political scientists studying decision-making theories and the legislative process. Economists interested in trade policy will also find this book useful.

Examines the decisions of US presidents to appoint judges from diverse backgrounds to federal courts In Diversifying the Courts, Nancy Scherer addresses why presidents choose—or don’t choose—to diversify the federal courts by race, ethnicity, and gender. She explores how and why the issue became a bitter partisan fight in the first place, tracking the controversial history—and politics—of court diversification. Drawing on polls, political experiments, surveys and one-on-one interviews, Scherer illuminates the complicated relationship between diversity and court legitimacy. She shows us how diverse representation can positively impact perceptions of the court among women and racial minorities, while having a negative impact on the perceptions among white people and men. Ultimately, Diversifying the Courts provides insight into the impact of gender, race, and ethnicity on the courts, illuminating some of the major challenges facing the American judicial system in the years that lie ahead.

An original and comprehensive study of the sociological and psychological forces driving individual choices in French Presidential elections. Based on a unique comparative analysis of four French presidential contests over the last two decades, this book presents a rigorous examination of long-term and short-term voter motivations.

Delving into the concept of America as an empire, this investigation demonstrates how the country has been steadily expanding its control of overseas territories since the turn of the 20th century. By explaining how U.S. military interventionism harms the interests of Americans politically, economically, and militarily and illustrating how the United States--and the world--would be more free, secure, and prosperous if the U.S. government reduced its military involvement overseas, the study explores how rampant imperialism has threatened U.S. security, straining the country's relations with the rest of the world. A thorough and compelling examination of U.S. foreign and domestic security policies, this informed survey maintains a neutral stance by arguing against both liberal and conservative proponents.

The first of four volumes comprising a biographical dictionary of state house speakers from 1911 to 1994, this book covers speakers from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Entries provide basic biographical and career information on more than 400 speakers. The book opens with an insightful analytical introduction and includes valuable statistical appendixes based on an exhaustive database.

Complementing Charles R. Ritter and Jon L. Wakelyn's book IAmerican Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910R (1989), this book covers those who have served as state speakers in the West since 1910. Forthcoming volumes will cover state house speakers in the South, the Midwest, and the Northeast.

At last, there's a business leadership book that really tackles the tough issues of integrity and governance. Taking a unique approach to leadership, this book gathers the path--breaking perspectives of influential shareholder activists; opinion--leading CEOs of major firms; trailblazing, distinguished academics; and courageous regulators. The all--star roster of contributors from the corporate world and academia includes Vanguarda s John Bogle, former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, and Harvard Business Schoola s Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Sherron Watkins, Enron whistleblower and Time Person of the Year, shares an inside look at Enron, and Barbara Ley Toffler, former head of Arthur Andersena s Ethics Practice, paints a picture of Anderson Consulting before their fall.

The number one bestselling memoir of one of New Labour s three founding architects, now with a revealing new chapter updating this paperback edition.

Peter Mandelson is one of the most influential politicians of modern times. The Third Man is his story of a life played out in the backroom and then on the frontline of the Labour Party during its unprecedented three terms in government.

Much of the book is devoted to the defining political relationships of Peter Mandelson s life with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Charting what he terms the soap-opera years of the Labour government, his book continues to ruffle feathers with an updated preface bringing the story up to the tempestuous present."

The 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial race between ex-Klan Grand Wizard David Duke and former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards was the most closely watched statewide or local election ever. Years of racial and economic resentment, one-party rule in the state, and two controversial candidates turned a cakewalk into a hotly contested race, almost without anyone noticing. More importantly, it shook up national politics, led to a rise in the Radical Right, and influenced our current political moment. Perhaps most surprisingly, the story of the campaign and how one little-noticed Republican woman managed to almost singlehandedly rescue the state provides a galvanizing blueprint for anti-racist, pro-union, progressive Democrats, especially in the South. In the fall of 1991, when brilliant fall foliage lit up the Kisatchie National Forest, crisp peppers, collards, and turnip greens lined the grocery aisles, and football fever swept weekend campuses, two wizards put their lunacy on hold and let everyone around them create the fireworks. Their eventual tEte-A-tEte on November 17 would mark the end of "the New South" and the birth of a darker yet invigorated era.

Henry Bernard Loewendahl scrutinizes the relationship between multinational companies, regional development, and governments, using a framework of bargaining between government and multinationals. He critically analyzes the role of foreign investment in economic development, and examines how governments can link inward investment to regional economic development. Based on extensive use of data, interviews and case studies of Siemens and Nissan's UK investment, the book shows why MNCs have invested in the UK in the past, how they bargained with the government, and what the impact was on the national and regional economies. In particular, through linking the strategy of multinationals to the location advantages of the UK, it is argued that labor flexibility and incentives were crucial to investment decisions. Loewendahl recommends a framework to integrate endogenous and exogenous approaches to developments; and proposes a greater role for the region and the EU to control incentives and monitor multinationals.

The Bill of Rights and Civil War Amendments created a triangular power struggle among state, nation and individual. Using chronological court cases, this book examines how the Supreme Court became arbiter among the three claimants to power, sometimes backtracking and sometimes taking a bold leap forward. Focusing on Justice Rehnquist's lengthy term on the Supreme Court, Steven T. Seitz examines the growth and emphasis of individual sovereignty throughout the twentieth century. Highlighting some of the dispositional problems with Rehnquist decisions, the book uses the sustainable case law standard instead of applauding either conservative or liberal point of view which provides new vantage points on topics like equal protection of women, due process in several arenas, contracts, free speech, sex, and guns.

The authors examine the ways in which the President and Congress have developed and the ways in which they manage their relations with each other. They admit that they believe that the President is more successful in discerning the national purpose than is the Congress.

In keeping with the preceding book on the American Founders, this volume deals mostly with U.S. Presidents and their ideas in the 19th and 20th centuries, from Lincoln (along with his contemporaries Davis and Stevens), Theodore Roosevelt, and Wilson, to Franklin Roosevent, Lyndon Johnson, and Reagan. Part One centers on "Civil War and Reconstruction;" Part Two on "Progressivism and New Deal;'" and Part Three on "Toward Contemporary America." In all three, the overriding concern will be with "Legislative Perspectives of Sovereignty and State." In the mid-19th century, the main central imprints of Abraham Lincoln upon the Union, of Jefferson Davis upon the Confederacy, and of Thaddeus Stevens upon Reconstruction were manifested in ways crucial to this study. Throughout the 20th century, there was a long succession of Presidents whose chief slogans signaled the country's main agenda during their Administrations. Most prominent were Theodore Roosevelt's "Square Deal," and "New Nationalism," Woodrow Wilson's "New Freedom," Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal," John Kennedy's "New Frontier," Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society," and Ronald Reagan's "Revolution" in government. In these cases, Presidential viewpoints on legislative sovereignty and the legislative state had great impact upon the nation as well as on Congress, notwithstanding the separation of powers. Certain contemporary points of view also loom large. Some emerging hopeful trends toward an American neo-Progressivism are considered, taking their lead from historical frameworks explored in the main body of the book.

The Alternative Right's Attempt at Autocratic Democracy in Twenty-First Century America analyzes the several significant factors that influenced the cultural environment to move American democracy toward authoritarianism. Chuck A. Baker hypothesizes that growing xenophobia, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008 recession, and neoliberal economic philosophy were the shocks that made possible a lurch toward autocratic democracy. Several of the central tenets embedded in fascism like conventionalism, acquiescence to coercion, and hostility toward the less powerful would manifest as autocratic-democratic rule gained traction. As minority communities were made vulnerable, the lethality of police practices against unarmed minorities and the government's response to such coercive oppression motivated protests throughout America. The January 6, 2021 Capital riots made clear that the far-right was willing to utilize violence to meet their goal. Statements that situated 'Making America Great Again' reminded right-wing extremists of an epoch in which racism and sexism were part of the American society's structure. This book examines, in a sociological manner, the factors that made autocratic democracy palatable to a large plurality of Americans. The text discusses the reason for social change in the middle twentieth century and then utilizes quantitative methodology to elucidate the events in the twenty-first century that threaten democracy through authoritarian practices.

This is Noam Chomsky's description of the evolution of American foreign policy and ideology between the early 1970s and Ronald Reagan's first term. He dissects assumptions about US commitment to human rights during the Carter administration, its relation to the Middle East, especialy Israel and the Palestinians, as well as the ways the public intelligensia dealt with information on these topics that was to the contrary of official policy.

Now in its seventh edition, Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations brings together the knowledge of leading scholars and scholar-practitioners alike to explain the complex political dynamic between the president and Congress. Contributors analyze the structural, political, and behavioral factors that shape this relationship, while showing how and why rivalry has tended to intensify when different parties control the two branches. Intended for students, scholars, public officials, and the general public, Rivals for Power offers an accessible and engaging analysis of executive and legislative rivalry across a span of eras, with particular attention to developments from the Obama, Trump, and Biden presidencies.

In this book, a distinguished group of presidential campaign staff, journalists, and political observers take us inside the 2020 race for the Republican and Democratic nominations and general election, guiding us through each candidate's campaign from the time each candidate announced his or her intention to seek the presidency through the primaries, conventions, and up to election day. Meeting under the auspices of the Harvard University's Institute of Politics, the candid discussion allows us to learn about the motivations of each candidate, strategies they deployed, and lessons they learned. In addition, representatives from the major SUPERPACS share their strategies and evaluate their impact in an election characterized by unprecedented campaign spending. Campaign for President: The Managers Look at 2020 is essential reading for anyone interested in the inner workings of national political campaigns.

Balk argues that most professionals in government agencies are underutilized. He proposes an operational approach, called public agency democracy, that should help reduce costly and disconcerting errors. The book will interest those who wish to better understand the frustrations of public service and how to turn these to motivate change.

Well over two million very qualified individuals mediate between high-level managers and other members of public agencies. These grossly underutilized intermediary professionals must become more empowered to reduce waste, malfeasance and other costly errors. Balk proposes an applied theory of public agency democracy designed to liberate the potential of its highly trained experts.

The book begins by discussing professionals as power intermediaries and their necessary tensions with authority around matters of reform. Recognized dilemmas in the field of public administration are reviewed to demonstrate the need to resolve issues concerning public agency democracy. A model is then developed to incorporate democratic action with responses ranging from routine to whistle-blowing activities. The second part of the book shows why existing management orientations are not receptive to the need for agency democracy. Conventional orientations reject the paradoxical realities of government environments; therefore, ingrained beliefs about effectiveness and management authority are at times inappropriate. Management approaches to public service motivation lack sophistication. Four final chapters are devoted to techniques and approaches on the part of professionals to initiate change. These involve techniques to assess organizational predicaments, design resolutions and become constructively involved in processes of agency reform. Ways are proposed for professionals and others to institutionalize public agency democracy in government environments.