There exists considerable disagreement about whether the United States president has a direct and measurable influence over the economy. The analysis presented in Economic Actors, Economic Behaviors, and Presidential Leadership suggests that while the presidents have increased their rhetoric regarding the economy, they have not had much success in shaping it. Despite attempts to tailor rhetoric to influence specific actors, the presidents are incredibly ineffective. Considering this research, Arthur argues that the president s decision to address the economy so often must stem from a symbolic placation or institutional necessity that is intended to comfort constituencies or somehow garner electoral advocacy from the party s base. No other viable explanation exists given the lack of results presidents obtain from discussing the economy and their persistent determination to do so. This discrepancy suggests that presidential rhetoric on the economy is, at best, a tool used to appear concerned about the economy to everyone and toeing the party-line to their base. Moreover, it allows them to present the facade to their constituents that they are in control of a crucial facet of American life."

This book offers a generic explanation of the political economy of the EU, demonstrating in a clear and comprehensive way how the present institutional set-up makes it vulnerable to lobbyism, corruption and the destruction of social capital. Gert Tinggaard Svendsen contends that this 'EU disease' may be avoided by strengthening the power of the EU Parliament at the expense of the EU Commission. The book also discusses issues surrounding policy design, international negotiations on climate change and renewable energy sources. Using an interdisciplinary framework, the author examines how the current institutional set-up of the EU will determine future economic performance and will adversely affect policy outcomes. He looks at whether fundamental EU policies, such as the CAP, are consistent with economic growth or whether these policies will instead distort markets, leading to economic decline. Focusing in detail on international climate negotiations and wind energy, the author explores the way in which the design of a policy proposal can be affected by the interactions between interest groups and the institutions and bureaucrats of the EU. The case of greenhouse gas emissions trading is a unique example because it allows the author to actually measure lobbyism as the difference between the proposed design and the final EU directive. The interdisciplinary approach of the book and the original treatment of a very pertinent subject will appeal to academics, economists, political scientists and decision-makers. It will also interest and inform a wide readership in the social sciences, particularly those with an interest in the institutional structure of the EU.

The main theme of this study is the political economy of policy reform in less developed countries and post-socialist countries. Given the complexity of economic development and transition, Joachim Ahrens views failures in policy reform, poor public sector management, rent-seeking, corruption, and over-centralization as systematic, though not exclusive, instances of institutional failure. This interdisciplinary study looks for ways of constructing effective market-enhancing governance structures that provide appropriate incentive systems to cope with such failures. No blueprint is offered, but the book provides a conceptual governance framework that can be applied in a comparative way to analyze economic, political, and social obstacles to policy and institutional reform. The concept is not only used to analyze the politico-institutional foundation of policy reform in East Asia and Eastern Europe, but it also allows to elaborate country specific strategies to craft institutional safeguards that help overcome impediments to development and transition. This innovative book, which overcomes the conventional perspective of a government-market dichotomy, will be of interest to researchers, students, policymakers and all those concerned with the impact of the dialectic interaction between political and economic forces on economic development.

Order and Compromise questions the historicity of government practices in Turkey from the late Ottoman Empire up to the present day. It explores how institutions at work are being framed by constant interactions with non-institutional characters from various social realms. This volume thus approaches the state-society continuum as a complex and shifting system of positions. Inasmuch as they order and ordain, state authorities leave room for compromise, something which has hitherto been little studied in concrete terms. By combining in-depth case studies with an interdisciplinary conceptual framework, this collection helps apprehend the morphology and dynamics of public action and state-society relations in Turkey. Contributors are: Marc Aymes, Olivier Bouquet, Nicolas Camelio, Nathalie Clayer, Anouck Gabriela Corte-Real Pinto, Berna Ekal, Benoit Fliche, Muriel Girard, Benjamin Gourisse, Sumbul Kaya, Noemi Levy Aksu, Elise Massicard, Jean-Francois Perouse, Clemence Scalbert Yucel, Emmanuel Szurek and Claire Visier.

An indispensable resource for all readers, this book summarizes the founding of America alongside the personal and public life of one of America's most influential Founders through a comprehensive investigation of Hamilton's extensive writings. A product of extremely humble birth, Alexander Hamilton rose to become one of America's leading political figures, helping to determine the direction of nearly all of the seminal events of the founding of the country. The author introduces, provides notes on, and critically evaluates approximately 60 key documents that Hamilton wrote from his youth in the Caribbean through his leadership of the Federalist Party in the 1800s. In examining these writings, the book covers important periods of American history including the American Revolution, the ratification of the Constitution, the formation of the nation's first financial system, and the establishment of political parties. This book is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to study the key moments of the revolutionary and founding periods of America through the life and legacy of one of the country's most eminent statesmen. The work concludes with a chronology that provides historical context for the most significant personal and political events in Hamilton's life and a bibliography that offers a basis for further study.

This book centers on one fundamental question: is it possible to imagine a progressive sense of nation? Rooted in historic and contemporary social struggles, the chapters in this collection examine what a progressive sense of nation might look like, with authors exploring the theory and practice of the nation beyond nationalism. The book is written against the background of rising authoritarian-nationalist movements globally over the last few decades, where many countries have witnessed the dramatic escalation of ethnic-nationalist parties impacting and changing mainstream politics and normalizing anti-immigration, anti-democratic and Islamophobic discourse. This volume discusses viable alternatives for nationalism, which is inherently exclusionary, exploring the possibility of a type of nation-based politics which does not follow the principles of nationalism. With its focus on nationalism, politics and social struggles, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of political and social sciences.

How should failed states in Africa be understood? Catherine Scott here critically engages with the concept of state failure and provides an historical reinterpretation. She shows that, although the concept emerged in the context of the post-Cold War new world order, the phenomenon has been attendant throughout (and even before) the development of the Westphalian state system. Contemporary failed states, however, differ from their historical counterparts in one fundamental respect: they fail within their existing borders and continue to be recognised as something that they are not. This peculiarity derives from international norms instituted in the era of decolonisation, which resulted in the inviolability of state borders and the supposed universality of statehood. Scott argues that contemporary failed states are, in fact, failed post-colonies. Thus understood, state failure is less the failure of existing states and more the failed rooting and institutionalisation of imported and reified models of Western statehood. Drawing on insights from the histories of Uganda and Burundi, from pre-colonial polity formation to the present day, she explores why and how there have been failures to create effective and legitimate national states within the bounds of inherited colonial jurisdictions on much of the African continent.

." . . the real source of his Cooley's] fame. This book originated from the need of introducing a course on Constitutional Law in the school. . . . The text was developed as a basis for lectures. . . . His discussion attained immediate fame and his views and suggestions practically dominated American Constitutional Law. . . . Like Blackstone, Pomeroy and many other legal works, the influence of Constitutional Limitations rests partly upon literary qualities, upon clarity and grace of unaffected statement." --James G. Rogers, American Bar Leaders 70."The most influential work ever published on American Constitutional law." --Edward S. Corwin, Constitutional Revolution 87.Thomas McIntyre Cooley 1824-1898] was a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to serve on the Interstate Commerce Commission. He was a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University and dean of the University of Michigan Law School. First issued in 1870, his edition of Blackstone, popularly known as "Cooley's Blackstone," was the standard American edition of the late nineteenth century. Some of his other influential publications are A Treatise on the Law of Taxation (1876) and A Treatise on the Law of Torts or the Wrongs Which Arise Independently of Contract (1878). Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, founded in 1972, was named in his honor.

There is no better guide than Paul Krugman to basic economics, the ideas that animate much of our public policy. Likewise, there is no better foe of zombie economics, the misunderstandings that just won't die. Arguing with Zombies is Krugman "the most hated and most admired columnist in the US" (Martin Wolf, Financial Times) at his best, turning readers into intelligent consumers of the daily news with quick, vivid sketches of the key concepts behind taxes, health care, international trade and more. In this new book, in which he builds on and expands his The New York Times columns and other writings, "the most celebrated economist of his generation" (The Economist), offers short, accessible chapters on topics including the European Union and Brexit, the fight for national health care in the United States, the financial meltdown of 2007-2008, the attack on Social Security and the fraudulent argument-the ultimate zombie-that tax cuts for the rich will benefit all.

Orestes Brownson's thought-provoking thesis on the US government, the Constitution of the United States, and the ultimate destiny of the USA, remains as incisive and intellectually rich today as when it was first published. Combining history with political philosophy, Brownson casts his analytical gaze to the inception of the American nation. Using a wide variety of documents, including those authored by the Founding Fathers prior to and following the creation of the United States, the author attempts to demonstrate how religion and politics are interrelated - in the case of America's founding, both had roles. Writing in the mid-19th century, Orestes Brownson attempts to clarify what the nature of the U.S. government is, and how the Constitution reflects it. Various natural laws, such as those pertaining to the family and human development of civilization, are examined. Part of Brownson's conclusion is the idea religion must continue to play a role in the USA, just as it has since the colonial era.

Though they work largely out of the eye of the public, political consultants - "image merchants" and "kingmakers" to candidates - play a crucial role in shaping campaigns. They persuaded Barry Goldwater to run for president, groomed former actor Ronald Reagan for the California governorship, helped derail Bill Clinton's health care initiative, and carried out the swiftboating of John Kerry. As Dennis Johnson argues in this history of political consulting in the United States, they are essential to modern campaigning, often making positive contributions to democratic discourse, and yet they have also polarized the electorate with their biting messages. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, political campaigns were run by local political parties, volunteers, and friends of candidates; but as party loyalties among voters began to weaken, and political parties declined as sources of manpower and strategy, professional consultants swept in to carry the day. Political consulting emerged as a profession in the 1930s with writers Leone Baxter and Clem Whitaker, the husband and wife team who built their business, in part, with a successful campaign to destroy Upton Sinclair's 1934 bid for governor of California. With roots in advertising and public relations, political consulting has since developed into a highly professionalized business worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In fact, some of the top campaign consulting outfits have more recently come full circle and merged to create new public relations firms, serving not just candidates but also shaping public advocacy campaigns for businesses and nonprofits. Johnson, an academic who has also worked on campaigns alongside the likes of James Carville and pollster Peter D. Hart, suffuses his history with the stories of the colorful characters who have come to define the profession of consulting, from its beginning to its present. This will be the most complete and sweeping story of the profession to date. As such it tells not just the making of a political business but the very contours of modern American politics.

In a growing number of instances after the cold war, the United Nations and other international actors have sought to rebuild or establish new political institutions in states or territories recovering from violent conflict. From Afghanistan, Iraq, and the western Balkans to less prominent wars in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America, and the South Pacific, the international community's response involves extensive intrusions into the domestic affairs of sovereign states. Extending beyond the narrow mandates of traditional peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations, these interventions aspire to reconstitute local power within a democratic framework. Democratic Peacebuilding examines the evolution of international peacebuilding during this tumultuous period, identifying the factors that limit the progress of international actors to institutionalize democratic authority and the rule of law in war-shattered societies.
Based on extensive field research, the book gives particular attention to Afghanistan's Bonn Agreement process (2001-2005) and Post-Bonn period (2006-2009), in which the country's multiple, competing forms of authority (e.g. religious leaders, tribal elders, militia commanders, and technocrats) challenged efforts to create "modern" forms of political authority rooted in democratic norms and the rule of law. Despite the significant risks involved, Democratic Peacebuilding argues that the institutionalization of democratic legal authority can create the conditions and framework necessary to mediate competing domestic interests and to address the root causes of a conflict peacefully. At the same time, one overlooked problem of international peacebuilding stems from the divergent conceptions, between international officials and the local population, of authority and its sources of legitimacy. By helping a conflict-affected society reconcile the inherent tensions between competing forms of authority and, over time, deepen democracy--rather than lower the metrics for progress and conditions for exit, international peacebuilders can contribute to improved conditions for governance and a reduction in intra-state political violence. This examination of the peacebuilding-democratization nexus in war-torn societies aims to generate new insights for scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners in both the study and practice of politics and international relations.

The concept of individualism has gone through a fundamental change, according to distinguished political theorist Nadia Urbinati. In the nineteenth century, individualism was a philosophical and ethical perspective that permitted each person to respect and cooperate with others as equals in rights and dignity for the betterment of the community as a whole. Today, the individualist is a more self-interested entity whose maxim might best be expressed as "I don't give a damn." This contemporary form of individualism is possessive and conformist, litigious and docile, all too prone to manipulate norms and to submit to the tyrannical sway of private interests. As such, Urbinati believes, it represents the most radical risk that modern democracy currently faces. This well-reasoned and thought-provoking polemic is an attempt to detect the "tyranny of the moderns," with the ultimate aim of recovering the role of the individual citizen as a free and equal agent of democratic society. It explores the concept of communitarianism as a form of individualism applied to the group itself, and advances the idea that the rescue of true individualism from the current ideology is a basic condition for the defense of democratic citizenship.

This study shows how philanthropic foundations and their leaders help shape the American political agenda. The authors' central argument is that foundation leaders are members of a key social and political elite in American society. Relying on a survey of such leaders and on an examination of foundation public policy grants, the authors demonstrate that members of the foundation elite are among the most polarized groups in American society. This study shows how philanthropic foundations and their leaders help shape the American political agenda. The authors' central argument is that foundation leaders are members of a key social and political elite in American society. Relying on a survey of such leaders and on an examination of foundation public policy grants, the authors demonstrate that members of the foundation elite are among the most polarized groups in American society. Contrary to popular belief, those who control foundations seek to make American more progressive. Public policy oriented foundations are largely liberal in outlook and make grants primarily to liberal individuals and organizations. The authors examine the dilemmas that the existence of such organizations create for democratic political theory. The discussion is placed in the context of a historical overview of the role of foundations in American society; it will be of great interest to public policy professionals, political scientists, and those who track the direction of the national agenda.

This challenging book explores the debates over the scope of the enumerated powers of Congress and the Fourteenth Amendment that accompanied the expansion of federal authority during the period between the beginning of the Civil War and the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The Rise of the Federal Colossus: The Growth of Federal Power from Lincoln to F.D.R. offers readers a front-row seat for the critical phases of a debate that is at the very center of American history, exploring such controversial issues as what powers are bestowed on the federal government, what its role should be, and how the Constitution should be interpreted. The book argues that the critical period in the growth of federal power was not the New Deal and the three decades that followed, but the preceding 72 years when important precedents establishing the national government's authority to aid citizens in distress, regulate labor, and take steps to foster economic growth were established. The author explores newspaper and magazine articles, as well as congressional debates and court opinions, to determine how Americans perceived the growing authority of their national government and examine arguments over whether novel federal activities had any constitutional basis. Responses of government to the enormous changes that took place during this period are also surveyed. Numerous citations of the Congressional Record and federal court opinions Scores of articles from magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals of the period that reveal how Americans of all walks of life perceived the evolution of federal authority A select bibliography listing a wide variety of secondary works ranging from biographies to legal treatises that will aid the reader in further exploring the evolution of American federalism A helpful index that provides access to roles and views of critical figures in the evolution of federal authority during the middle period