{"title":"American Politics And Political Economy Series","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"after-suffrage-book-kristi-andersen-9780226019574","title":"After Suffrage","description":"Seeking to debunk the conventional opinion that women had little impact on politics after gaining the vote, Kristi Andersen gives an account of both the accomplishments and the disappointments women experienced in the decade after suffrage. This revisionist history text traces how the entrance of women and their concerns into the public sphere transformed both the political system and women themselves.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49553963811089,"sku":"GOR013743354","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345886974225,"sku":"CIN0226019578G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51326066819345,"sku":"CIN0226019578VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226019578.jpg?v=1751227581"},{"product_id":"golden-rule-book-thomas-ferguson-9780226243177","title":"Golden Rule","description":"\"To discover who rules, follow the gold.\" This is the argument of this book, a history of modern American politics. Although the role big money plays in defining political outcomes has long been obvious to ordinary Americans, most pundits and scholars have virtually dismissed this assumption. Even in the light of sky-rocketing campaign costs, the belief that major financial interests primarily determine who parties nominate and where they stand on the issues - that, in effect, Democrats and Republicans are merely the left and right wings of the \"Property Party\" - has been ignored by most political scientists. Offering evidence ranging from the 19th century to the 1994 mid-term elections, this book shows that voters are \"right on the money.\" Thomas Ferguson breaks completely with traditional voter-centred accounts of party politics. In its place he outlines an \"investment approach,\" in which powerful investors, not unorganized voters, dominate campaigns and elections. Because businesses \"invest\" in political parties and their candidates, changes in industrial structures - between large firms and sectors - can alter the agenda of party politics and the shape of public policy. This book presents revised versions of essays in which Ferguson advanced and tested his theory, including his study of the role played by capital intensive multinationals and international financiers in the New Deal. The chapter, \"Studies in Money Driven Politics\", brings this aspect of American politics into better focus, along with other studies of Federal Reserve policy-making and campaign finance in the 1936 election. Ferguson analyzes how a changing world economy and other social developments broke up the New Deal system in our own time, through careful studies of the 1988 and 1992 elections. The essay on 1992 contains an extended analysis of the emergence of the Clinton coalition and Ross Perot's dramatic independent insurgency. A postscript on the 1994 elections demonstrates the controlling impact of money on several key campaigns.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49578457891089,"sku":"GOR007722046","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50290808324369,"sku":"CIN0226243176VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51209820799249,"sku":"CIN0226243176G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51835499479313,"sku":"GOR014418832","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53194322870545,"sku":"GOR013096446","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226243176.jpg?v=1751005227"},{"product_id":"mild-voice-of-reason-book-joseph-m-bessette-9780226044248","title":"The Mild Voice of Reason","description":"Drawing on original research, case studies of policy-making in Congress and portraits of American law-makers, this book argues that the institutional framework created by the founding fathers continues to foster a government that is both democratic and deliberative.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49616862675217,"sku":"CIN0226044246G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53113860686097,"sku":"CIN0226044246VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226044246.jpg?v=1751290671"},{"product_id":"turf-wars-book-david-c-king-9780226436241","title":"Turf Wars","description":"For most bills in American legislature, the issue of turf - or which committee has jurisdiction over a bill - is crucial. This study explains how jurisdictional areas for committees are created and changed in Congress, and dissects the politics of \"turf-grabbing\". Political scientists have long maintained that jurisdictions are relatively static, changing only at times of dramatic reforms. David King disagrees with this premise and, combining quantitative evidence with interviews and case studies, he shows how ongoing turf wars make jurisdictions fluid. He argues that jurisdictional change stems both from legislators seeking electoral advantage and from nonpartisan House parliamentarians referring ambiguous bills to committees with the expertise to handle the issues. King shows how parliamentarians have become institutional guardians of the legislative process.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49621160427793,"sku":"GOR013260170","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345968075025,"sku":"CIN0226436241G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226436241.jpg?v=1751133221"},{"product_id":"real-democracy-book-frank-m-bryan-9780226077970","title":"Real Democracy","description":"Relying on an astounding collection of more than three decades of firsthand research, Frank M. Bryan examines one of the purest forms of American democracy, the New England town meeting. At these meetings, usually held once a year, all eligible citizens of the town may become legislators; they meet in face-to-face assemblies, debate the issues on the agenda, and vote on them. And although these meetings are natural laboratories for democracy, very few scholars have systematically investigated them.  A nationally recognized expert on this topic, Bryan has now done just that. Studying 1,500 town meetings in his home state of Vermont, he and his students recorded a staggering amount of data about them—238,603 acts of participation by 63,140 citizens in 210 different towns. Drawing on this evidence as well as on evocative \"witness\" accounts—from casual observers to no lesser a light than Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn—Bryan paints a vivid picture of how real democracy works. Among the many fascinating questions he explores: why attendance varies sharply with town size, how citizens resolve conflicts in open forums, and how men and women behave differently in town meetings. In the end, Bryan interprets this brand of local government to find evidence for its considerable staying power as the most authentic and meaningful form of direct democracy.  Giving us a rare glimpse into how democracy works in the real world, Bryan presents here an unorthodox and definitive book on this most cherished of American institutions.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49622294855953,"sku":"GOR011354834","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226077977.jpg?v=1750973952"},{"product_id":"presidential-mandates-book-patricia-heidotting-conley-9780226114842","title":"Presidential Mandates","description":"Presidents have claimed popular mandates for more than 150 years. How can they make such claims when surveys show that voters are uninformed about the issues? In this volume, the author argues that mandates are not mere statements of fact about the preferences of voters. By examining election outcomes from the viewpoints of the politicians, Conley uncovers the inferences and strategies that translate those outcomes into the national policy agenda.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49917697982737,"sku":"CIN0226114848G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226114848.jpg?v=1750695568"},{"product_id":"rational-public-book-benjamin-i-page-9780226644783","title":"The Rational Public","description":"This monumental study is a comprehensive critical survey of the policy preferences of the American public, and will be the definitive work on American public opinion for some time to come. Drawing on an enormous body of public opinion data, Benjamin I. Page and Robert Y. Shapiro provide the richest available portrait of the political views of Americans, from the 1930's to 1990. They not only cover all types of domestic and foreign policy issues, but also consider how opinions vary by age, gender, race, region, and the like. The authors unequivocally demonstrate that, notwithstanding fluctuations in the opinions of individuals, collective public opinion is remarkably coherent: it reflects a stable system of values shared by the majority of Americans and it responds sensitively to new events, arguments, and information reported in the mass media. While documenting some alarming case of manipulation, Page and Shapiro solidly establish the soundness and value of collective political opinion. The Rational Public provides a wealth of information about what we as a nation have wanted from government, how we have changed our minds over the years, and why. For anyone interested in the short- and long-term trends in Americans' policy preferences, or eager to learn what Americans have thought about issues ranging from racial equality to the MX missile, welfare to abortion, this book offers by far the most sophisticated and detailed treatment available.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49919853822225,"sku":"CIN0226644782A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50289104486673,"sku":"CIN0226644782G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50660314874129,"sku":"CIN0226644782VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52109650985233,"sku":"GOR013792686","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226644782.jpg?v=1751133276"},{"product_id":"numbered-voices-book-susan-herbst-9780226327433","title":"Numbered Voices","description":"Quantifying the American mood through opinion polls appear to be an unbiased means for finding out what people want. But in this study the author demonstrates that the way public opinion is measured affects the use that voters, legislators, and journalists make of it. Exploring the history of public opinion in the United States from the mid-19th century to the present day, Herbst shows how numbers served both instrumental and symbolic functions, not only conveying neutral information but creating a basis authority. Addressing how the quantification of public opinion has affected contemporary politics and the democratic process, Herbst asks fundamental questions about the workings of American politics.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50052383736081,"sku":"CIN0226327434G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226327434.jpg?v=1751133205"},{"product_id":"actors-athletes-and-astronauts-book-david-t-canon-9780226092683","title":"Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts","description":"The U.S. Congress is typically seen as an institution filled with career politicians who have been seasoned by experience in lower levels of political office. In fact, political amateurs have comprised roughly one quarter of the House of Representatives since 1930. The effect of amateurs' inexperience on their political careers, roles in Congress, and impact on the political system has never been analyzed in detail.   Written in a lucid style accessible to the nonspecialist, David T. Canon's Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts is a definitive study of political amateurs in elections and in Congress. Canon examines the political conditions that prompt amateurs to run for office, why they win or lose, and whether elected amateurs behave differently from their experienced counterparts. Challenging previous work which presumed stable career structures and progressively ambitious candidates, his study reveals that amateurs are disproportionately elected in periods of high political opportunity, such as the 1930s for Democrats and 1980s for Republicans.   Canon's detailed findings call for significant revision of our prevailing understanding of ambition theory and disarm monolithic interpretations of political amateurs. His unique typology of amateurism differentiates among policy-oriented, \"hopeless,\" or ambitious amateurs. The latter resemble their professional counterparts; \"hopeless\" amateurs are swept into office by strong partisan motivations and decision-making styles of each type vary, affecting their degree of success, but each type of amateur provides a necessary electoral balance by defeating entrenched incumbents rarely challenged by more experienced politicians.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50117785846033,"sku":"CIN0226092682VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226092682.jpg?v=1750909037"},{"product_id":"common-knowledge-book-w-russell-neuman-9780226574400","title":"Common Knowledge","description":"Photo opportunities, ten-second sound bites, talking heads and celebrity anchors: so the world is explained daily to millions of Americans. The result, according to the experts, is an ignorant public, helpless targets of a one-way flow of carefully filtered and orchestrated communication. Common Knowledge shatters this pervasive myth. Reporting on a ground-breaking study, the authors reveal that our shared knowledge and evolving political beliefs are determined largely by how we actively reinterpret the images, fragments, and signals we find in the mass media. For their study, the authors analyzed coverage of 150 television and newspaper stories on five prominent issues--drugs, AIDS, South African apartheid, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the stock market crash of October 1987. They tested audience responses of more than 1,600 people, and conducted in-depth interviews with a select sample. What emerges is a surprisingly complex picture of people actively and critically interpreting the news, making sense of even the most abstract issues in terms of their own lives, and finding political meaning in a sophisticated interplay of message, medium, and firsthand experience. At every turn, Common Knowledge refutes conventional wisdom. It shows that television is far more effective at raising the saliency of issues and promoting learning than is generally assumed; it also undermines the assumed causal connection between newspaper reading and higher levels of political knowledge. Finally, this book gives a deeply responsible and thoroughly fascinating account of how the news is conveyed to us, and how we in turn convey it to others, making meaning of at once so much and so little. For anyone who makes the news--or tries to make anything of it--Common Knowledge promises uncommon wisdom.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50120834744593,"sku":"CIN0226574407G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50581164228881,"sku":"CIN0226574407VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53052993175825,"sku":"GOR007804053","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226574407.jpg?v=1751037714"},{"product_id":"mayors-and-money-book-ester-r-fuchs-9780226267913","title":"Mayors and Money","description":"Chicago and New York share similar backgrounds but have had strikingly different fates. Tracing their fortunes from the 1930s to the present day, Ester R. Fuchs examines key policy decisions which have influenced the political structures of these cities and guided them into, or clear of, periods of economic crisis.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50162691440913,"sku":"CIN0226267911G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226267911.jpg?v=1751356909"},{"product_id":"gaining-access-book-john-mark-hansen-9780226315560","title":"Gaining Access","description":"Through a comprehensive analysis of American agricultural politics in the past half-century, Gaining Access shows when, how, and why interest groups gain and lose influence in the policy deliberations of the United States Congress. By consulting with policy advocates, John Mark Hansen argues, lawmakers offset their uncertainty about the policy stands that will bolster or impede their prospects for reelection. The advocates provide legislators with electoral intelligence in Washington and supportive propaganda at home, earning serious consideration of their policy views in return. From among a multitude of such informants, representatives must choose those they will most closely consult.   With evidence from congressional hearings, personal interviews, oral histories, farm and trade journals, and newspapers, Hansen traces the evolution of farm lobby access in Congress. He chronicles the rise and fall of the American Farm Bureau, the surge and decline of party politics, the incoporation of the commodity lobbies, the exclusion of the consumer lobbies, and the accommodation of urban interests in food stamps.   Brilliantly combining insights from rational choice theory with historical data, Gaining Access is an essential guide for anyone interested in the dynamics of interest group influence.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50167477207313,"sku":"CIN0226315568G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52724927332625,"sku":"CIN0226315568A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53508876828945,"sku":"CIN0226315568VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226315568.jpg?v=1751259401"},{"product_id":"logic-of-delegation-book-d-roderick-kiewiet-9780226435312","title":"The Logic of Delegation","description":"Why do majority congressional parties seem unable to act as an effective policy-making force? They routinely delegate their power to others—internally to standing committees and subcommittees within each chamber, externally to the president and to the bureaucracy. Conventional wisdom in political science insists that such delegation leads inevitably to abdication—usually by degrees, sometimes precipitously, but always completely.   In The Logic of Delegation, however, D. Roderick Kiewiet and Mathew D. McCubbins persuasively argue that political scientists have paid far too much attention to what congressional parties can't do. The authors draw on economic and management theory to demonstrate that the effectiveness of delegation is determined not by how much authority is delegated but rather by how well it is delegated.   In the context of the appropriations process, the authors show how congressional parties employ committees, subcommittees, and executive agencies to accomplish policy goals. This innovative study will force a complete rethinking of classic issues in American politics: the \"autonomy\" of congressional committees; the reality of runaway federal bureaucracy; and the supposed dominance of the presidency in legislative-executive relations.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50181429100817,"sku":"CIN0226435318G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50346850189585,"sku":"CIN0226435318A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50808308269329,"sku":"GOR014080011","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226435318.jpg?v=1751259429"},{"product_id":"two-reconstructions-book-richard-m-valelly-9780226845302","title":"The Two Reconstructions","description":"Winner of the 2005 J. David Greenstone Book Award from the Politics and History section of the American Political Science Association.  Winner of the 2005 Ralph J. Bunche Award of the American Political Science Association Winner of the 2005 V.O. Key, Jr. Award of the Southern Political Science Association The Reconstruction era marked a huge political leap for African Americans, who rapidly went from the status of slaves to voters and officeholders. Yet this hard-won progress lasted only a few decades. Ultimately a \"second reconstruction\"—associated with the civil rights movement and the Voting Rights Act—became necessary.   How did the first reconstruction fail so utterly, setting the stage for the complete disenfranchisement of Southern black voters, and why did the second succeed? These are among the questions Richard M. Valelly answers in this fascinating history. The fate of black enfranchisement, he argues, has been closely intertwined with the strengths and constraints of our political institutions. Valelly shows how effective biracial coalitions have been the key to success and incisively traces how and why political parties and the national courts either rewarded or discouraged the formation of coalitions.   Revamping our understanding of American race relations, The Two Reconstructions brilliantly explains a puzzle that lies at the heart of America’s development as a political democracy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50192528048401,"sku":"CIN0226845303G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51816661352721,"sku":"CIN0226845303VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51857091526929,"sku":"CIN0226845303A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226845303.jpg?v=1750843756"},{"product_id":"why-congressional-reforms-fail-book-e-scott-adler-9780226007564","title":"Why Congressional Reforms Fail","description":"For decades, advocates of congressional reforms have repeatedly attempted to clean up the House committee system, which has been called inefficient, outmoded, unaccountable, and even corrupt. Yet these efforts result in little if any change, as members of Congress who are generally satisfied with existing institutions repeatedly obstruct what could fairly be called innocuous reforms. What lies behind the House's resistance to change? Challenging recent explanations of this phenomenon, Scott Adler contends that legislators resist rearranging committee powers and jurisdictions for the same reason they cling to the current House structure - the ambition for reelection. The system's structure works to the members' advantage, helping them obtain funding (and favor) in their districts. Using extensive evidence from three major reform periods - the 1940s, 1970s, and 1990s - Adler shows that the reelection motive is still the most important underlying factor in determining the outcome of committee reforms, and he explains why committee reform in the House has never succeeded and probably never will.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50208525123857,"sku":"CIN0226007561G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226067343_e02e692c-3099-4a0a-b50a-13fd303eff5f.jpg?v=1751227577"},{"product_id":"collective-action-and-the-civil-rights-movement-book-dennis-chong-9780226104416","title":"Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement","description":"Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement is a theoretical study of the dynamics of public-spirited collective action as well as a substantial study of the American civil rights movement and the local and national politics that surrounded it. In this major historical application of rational choice theory to a social movement, Dennis Chong reexamines the problem of organizing collective action by focusing on the social, psychological, and moral incentives of political activism that are often neglected by rational choice theorists. Using game theoretic concepts as well as dynamic models, he explores how rational individuals decide to participate in social movements and how these individual decisions translate into collective outcomes. In addition to applying formal modeling to the puzzling and important social phenomenon of collective action, he offers persuasive insights into the political and psychological dynamics that provoke and sustain public activism. This remarkably accessible study demonstrates how the civil rights movement succeeded against difficult odds by mobilizing community resources, resisting powerful opposition, and winning concessions from the government.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50214823723281,"sku":"GOR013890553","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345968042257,"sku":"CIN0226104419G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51713780318481,"sku":"CIN0226169553VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226169553.jpg?v=1751389553"},{"product_id":"political-life-of-medicare-book-jonathan-oberlander-9780226615967","title":"The Political Life of Medicare","description":"In recent years, bitter partisan debates have erupted over Medicare reform. Democrats and Republicans have fiercely contested issues such as prescription drug coverage and how to finance Medicare to absorb the baby boomers. But as Jonathan Oberlander demonstrates in \"The Political Life of Medicare\", these recent developments are an exception in the long-term history of the program. Contrary to popular belief, from Medicare's inception in 1965 until 1994, a remarkable bipartisan consensus governed Medicare politics. In \"The Political Life of Medicare\", Oberlander provides the first comprehensive history of Medicare politics, from the decades of consensus to current debates over Medicare reform. He shows how tensions embodied in the program since its enactment drove the politics of Medicare benefits, regulation and financing policy during the consensus period. For instance, rising Medicare costs led \"both\" liberal and conservative policymakers to embrace stronger government regulation of the program while rejecting expansion of benefits. Both parties also accepted the liberal vision of Medicare as a universal government program to provide federal health insurance for the elderly. Oberlander incisively traces how this consensus unravelled because of fundamental changes in American politics, the health care system and policymakers' attitudes about the elderly. Revealing how Medicare politics and policies have developed over the past several decades, and what the program's future holds, Oberlander's analysis should interest anyone concerned with American politics and public policy health care, aging and the welfare state.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50231140909329,"sku":"CIN0226615960G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51612417949969,"sku":"CIN0226615960VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226615960.jpg?v=1751290795"},{"product_id":"parties-and-leaders-in-the-postreform-house-book-david-w-rohde-9780226724072","title":"Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House","description":"Since the Second World War, congressional parties have been characterized as declining in strength and influence. Research has generally attributed this decline to policy conflicts within parties, to growing electoral independence of members, and to the impact of the congressional reforms of the 1970s. Yet the 1980s witnessed a strong resurgence of parties and party leadership—especially in the House of Representatives.   Offering a concise and compelling explanation of the causes of this resurgence, David W. Rohde argues that a realignment of electoral forces led to a reduction of sectional divisions within the parties—particularly between the northern and southern Democrats—and to increased divergence between the parties on many important issues. He challenges previous findings by asserting that congressional reform contributed to, rather than restrained, the increase of partisanship. Among the Democrats, reforms siphoned power away from conservative and autocratic committee chairs and put control of those committees in the hands of Democratic committee caucuses, strengthening party leaders and making both party and committee leaders responsible to rank-and-file Democrats. Electoral changes increased the homogeneity of House Democrats while institutional reforms reduced the influence of dissident members on a consensus in the majority party. Rohde's accessible analysis provides a detailed discussion of the goals of the congressional reformers, the increased consensus among Democrats and its reinforcement by their caucus, the Democratic leadership's use of expanded powers to shape the legislative agenda, and the responses of House Republicans. He also addresses the changes in the relationship between the House majority and the president during the Carter and Reagan administrations and analyzes the legislative consequences of the partisan resurgence.   A readable, systematic synthesis of the many complex factors that fueled the recent resurgence of partisanship, Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House is ideal for course use.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50260592492817,"sku":"CIN0226724077G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51324685353233,"sku":"CIN0226724077VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226724077.jpg?v=1751195743"},{"product_id":"divided-by-color-book-donald-r-kinder-9780226435749","title":"Divided by Color","description":"When news of the O.J. Simpson verdict swept across the United States, a nation stood divided as blacks and whites reacted differently to the decision. Seldom has the racial division that permeates American society come so clearly and prominently into view. This book aims to supply the reasons for this division, asserting that racial resentment continues to exist. Despite a parade of recent books optimistically touting the demise of racial hostility in the United States, the authors marshal a wealth of the most current and comprehensive evidence available to prove their case. They reveal that racial resentment remains the most powerful determinant of white opinion on such racially-charged issues as welfare, affirmative action, school desegregation, and the plight of the inner city. The book seeks to explain just why black and white Americans believe what they do. It analyzes the critical factors that shape people's opinion on race-related issues, uncovering the relative importance of self-interest, group identity, ideological principles, as well as racial animosity. Finally, the authors explore how the racial divide has insinuated itself into the presidential election process, and they examine the role of political elites in framing racial issues for ordinary citizens.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50276191994129,"sku":"CIN0226435741G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50913844887825,"sku":"CIN0226435741VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53240844976401,"sku":"CIN0226435741A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226435741.jpg?v=1750940793"},{"product_id":"race-redistricting-and-representation-book-david-t-canon-9780226092713","title":"Race, Redistricting, and Representation","description":"Since the creation of minority-dominated congressional districts in 1991, the Supreme Court has condemned the move as akin to \"political apartheid\", while many African-American leaders argue that such districts are required for authentic representation. In this treatment of the subject, David Canon shows that the unintended consequences of black majority districts actually contradict the common wisdom that whites will not be adequately represented in these areas. Not only do black candidates need white votes to win, but this crucial \"swing\" vote often decides the race. And, once elected, even the black members who appeal primarily to black voters usually do a better job than white members of walking the racial tightrope, balancing the needs of their diverse constituents. Ultimately, Canon contends, minority districting is good for the country as a whole. These districts not only give African Americans a greater voice in the political process, they promote a politics of commonality - a biracial politics - rather than a politics of difference.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50280339669265,"sku":"CIN0226092712G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415588274449,"sku":"CIN0226092712VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226092712.jpg?v=1751227617"},{"product_id":"who-deliberates-book-benjamin-i-page-9780226644738","title":"Who Deliberates?","description":"This work argues that although public deliberation is essential to democracy, the public can be fooled as well as enlightened. In three case studies of media coverage in the 1990s, Benjamin Page explores the role of the press in structuring political discussion. Page shows how the New York Times presented a restricted set of opinions on whether to go to war with Iraq, shutting out discussion of compromises favoured by many Americans. He then examines the media's negative reaction to the Bush administration's claim that riots in Los Angeles were caused by welfare programmes. Finally, he shows how talk shows overcame the elite media's indifference to widespread concern about Zoe Baird's hiring of illegal aliens. Page's conclusion identifies the conditions under which media outlets become political actors and actively shape and limit the ideas and information available to the public. His argument is that that a diversity of viewpoints is essential to true public deliberation. This book is intended for students of American politics, communications and media studies. Benjamin I. Page is the author, with Robert Y. Shapiro, of \"The Rational Public: 50 Years of Trends in Americans' Policy Preferences\", published by the University of Chicago Press.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50298486554897,"sku":"CIN0226644731G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226644731.jpg?v=1751259487"},{"product_id":"taken-by-storm-book-w-lance-bennett-9780226042596","title":"Taken by Storm","description":"This text examines the role played by the mass media and public opinion in the development of United States foreign policy in the Gulf War. Tracing the flow of news, public opinion and policy decisions from Saddham Hussein's rise to power in 1979, to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, through the outbreak and conclusion of the war, the contributors look at how the media have become key players in the foreign policy process. They examine the prewar media debate, news coverage during and after the war, how the news-gathering process shaped the content of the coverage and the media's effect on public opinion and decision-makers. \"Taken by Storm\" also examines more general patterns in post-Cold War journalism and foreign policy, particularly how contemporary journalistic practices determine whose voices and what views are heard in foreign policy coverage.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345959194897,"sku":"CIN0226042596G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52816035774737,"sku":"CIN0226042596VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53497033425169,"sku":"GOR014946622","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226042596.jpg?v=1751356846"},{"product_id":"president-in-the-legislative-arena-book-jon-r-bond-9780226064109","title":"The President in the Legislative Arena","description":"In recent years, the executive branch's ability to maneuver legislation through Congress has become the measure of presidential success or failure. Although the victor of legislative battles is often readily discernible, debate is growing over how such victories are achieved.   In The President in the Legislative Arena, Jon R. Bond and Richard Fleisher depart dramatically from the concern with presidential influence that has dominated research on presidential-congressional relations for the past thirty years. Of the many possible factors involved in presidential success, those beyond presidential control have long been deemed unworthy of study. Bond and Fleisher disagree. Turning to democratic theory, they insist that it is vitally important to understand the conditions under which the executive brance prevails, regardless of the source of that success. Accordingly, they provide a thorough and unprecedented analysis of presidential success on congressional roll-call votes from 1953 through 1984. Their research demonstrates that the degree of cooperation between the two branches is much more systematically linked to the partisan and ideological makeup of Congress than to the president's bargaining ability and popularity. Thus the composition of Congress \"inherited\" by the president is the single most significant determinant of the success or failure of the executive branch.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50346765713681,"sku":"CIN0226064107G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226064107.jpg?v=1750973940"},{"product_id":"is-anyone-responsible-book-shanto-iyengar-9780226388557","title":"Is Anyone Responsible?","description":"A disturbingly cautionary tale, Is Anyone Responsible? anchors with powerful evidence suspicions about the way in which television has impoverished political discourse in the United States and at the same time molds American political consciousness. It is essential reading for media critics, psychologists, political analysts, and all the citizens who want to be sure that their political opinions are their own.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50346854613265,"sku":"CIN0226388557G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415580147985,"sku":"CIN0226388557VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226388557.jpg?v=1751101749"},{"product_id":"shifting-the-burden-book-cathie-j-martin-9780226508337","title":"Shifting the Burden","description":"Since World War II, the corporate tax burden has, overall, decreased enormously as a percentage of the government's total revenue. Until now, however, no explanation of this phenomenon has accounted for the periodic reforms—such as the dramatic 1986 Tax Reform Act—which significantly increase some corporate taxes.   Remarkably accessible and rich in historical evidence, Shifting the Burden is the most compelling explanation to date of how our nation's tax policy is formulated. Cathie J. Martin shows how presidents' cultivation of allies within the business community and struggles within that community itself combine to shape tax policy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50346895835409,"sku":"CIN0226508331VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226508331.jpg?v=1751037699"},{"product_id":"policy-and-opinion-in-the-gulf-war-book-john-e-mueller-9780226545653","title":"Policy and Opinion in the Gulf War","description":"The Persian Gulf crisis may well have been the most extensively polled episode in US history as President Bush, his opponents and even Saddam Hussein appealed to, and tried to influence, public opinion. As well documented as this phenomenon was, it remains largely unexplained. In this book, John Mueller provides an account of the complex relationship between American policy and public opinion during the Gulf crisis. Mueller analyzes key issues: the actual shallowness of public support for war; the effect of public opinion on the media (rather than the other way around); the use and misuse of polls by policy-makers; the American popular focus on Hussein's ouster as a central purpose of the war; and the war's short-lived impact on voting. Of particular interest is Mueller's conclusion that Bush succeeded in leading the country to war by increasingly convincing the public that it was inevitable, rather than right or wise. Throughout, Mueller, author of \"War, Presidents, and Public Opinion\", an analysis of public opinion during the Korean and Vietnam wars, places this analysis of the Gulf crisis in a broad political and military context, making comparisons to wars in Panama, Vietnam, Korea and the Falklands, as well as to World War II and even the War of 1812. The book also collects nearly 300 tables charting public opinion through the Gulf crisis.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50437849121041,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50437849415953,"sku":"GOR013951173","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226545652.jpg?v=1751164255"},{"product_id":"numbered-voices-book-susan-herbst-9780226327426","title":"Numbered Voices","description":"Quantifying the American mood through opinion polls appears to be an unbiased means for finding out what people want. But in Numbered Voices, Susan Herbst demonstrates that the way public opinion is measured affects the use that voters, legislators, and journalists make of it. Exploring the history of public opinion in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, Herbst shows how numbers served both instrumental and symbolic functions, not only conveying neutral information but creating a basis authority. Addressing how the quantification of public opinion has affected contemporary politics and the democratic process, Herbst asks difficult but fundamental questions about the workings of American politics.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51421087498513,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51421087957265,"sku":"GOR014268274","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226327426.jpg?v=1751133205"},{"product_id":"myth-of-democratic-failure-book-donald-a-wittman-9780226904238","title":"The Myth of Democratic Failure","description":"This is a text seeking to refute one of the cornerstone beliefs of economics and political science: that economic markets are more efficient than the processes and institutions of democratic government. The author first considers the characteristic of efficient markets - informed, rational participants competing for well-defined and easily transferred property rights - and explains how they operate in democratic politics. He then analyzes how specific political institutions are organized to operate efficiently. \"Markets\" such as the the Congress in the United States, bureaucracies, and pressure groups, the author asserts contribute to efficient political outcomes. He also provides a theory of institutional design to explain how these political \"markets\" arise. Finally, Wittman addresses the methodological shortcomings of analyses of political market failure, and offers his own suggestions for a more effective research strategy. Ultimately, the study concludes that nearly all of the arguments claiming that economic markets are efficient apply equally well to democratic political markets; and, conversely, that economic models of political failure are not more valid than the analogous arguments for economic market failure.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51421359571217,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51421359636753,"sku":"CIN0226904237G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226904237.jpg?v=1751133376"},{"product_id":"what-government-can-do-book-benjamin-i-page-9780226644820","title":"What Government Can Do","description":"Can governments do anything right? Can they do anything at all about the problems of poverty and inequality? Despite the recent boom in the U.S. economy, many millions of Americans have been left behind. Poverty rates remain higher than in most other industrialized countries. Income inequality has increased sharply. Yet we are sometimes told that government cannot or should not do anything about it: either these problems are hopeless, or government action is inevitably wasteful and inefficient, or globalization has made governments impotent. \"What Government Can Do\" argues, on the contrary, that federal, state, and local governments can and should do a great deal. The authors examine a broad range of government programs that affect Americans' food, housing, health care, education, jobs and wages, incomes, and taxes, finding that government policies already do, in fact, help alleviate poverty and economic inequality. Often these policies work far more effectively and efficiently than people realize, and in ways that enhance freedom rather than infringe on it. At the same time, Page and Simmons show how even more could be - and should be - accomplished. The authors advocate many sweeping policy changes while noting certain political obstacles (such as the power of money and organized interests in American politics) that may stand in the way. Yet even those who disagree with their recommendations will come away with a deepened understanding of how social and economic policies actually work.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51575698096401,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51575698391313,"sku":"CIN0226644820G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0226644820_d94ce840-7359-4da1-a835-1801ff2dd722.jpg?v=1750974098"},{"product_id":"defining-the-national-interest-book-peter-trubowitz-9780226813035","title":"Defining the National Interest","description":"The USA has had a highly-politicized and divisive history of foreign policy-making. This text examines American foreign policy and the domestic and geopolitical forces shaping it. It shows how interdisciplinary scholarship can cast light on the connections between domestic and international change.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51757971439889,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51757971898641,"sku":"CIN0226813037G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52724868350225,"sku":"CIN0226813037VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226813035.jpg?v=1754476517"},{"product_id":"hollow-hope-book-gerald-n-rosenberg-9780226726717","title":"The Hollow Hope","description":"In follow-up studies, dozens of reviews, and even a book of essays evaluating his conclusions, Gerald N. Rosenberg's critics - not to mention his supporters - have spent nearly two decades debating the arguments he first put forward in \"The Hollow Hope\". With this substantially expanded second edition of his landmark work, Rosenberg himself steps back into the fray, responding to criticism and adding chapters on the same-sex marriage battle that ask anew whether courts can spur political and social reform.Finding that the answer is still a resounding no, Rosenberg reaffirms his powerful contention that it's nearly impossible to generate significant reforms through litigation. The reason? American courts are ineffective and relatively weak - far from the uniquely powerful sources for change they're often portrayed to be. Rosenberg supports this claim by documenting the direct and secondary effects of key court decisions - particularly Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. He reveals, for example, that Congress, the White House, and a determined civil rights movement did far more than Brown to advance desegregation, while pro-choice activists invested too much in Roe at the expense of political mobilization. Further illuminating these cases, as well as the ongoing fight for same-sex marriage rights, Rosenberg also marshals impressive evidence to overturn the common assumption that even unsuccessful litigation can advance a cause by raising its profile.Directly addressing its critics in a new conclusion, \"The Hollow Hope\" promises to reignite for a new generation the national debate it sparked seventeen years ago.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52306994495761,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52306995216657,"sku":"GOR014503005","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226726717.jpg?v=1757942126"},{"product_id":"rational-lives-book-dennis-chong-9780226104393","title":"Rational Lives","description":"Although economic reasoning has infiltrated many fields in the social sciences, those who study value conflicts have resisted rational choice approaches to the subject. Instead, most contend that political conflict over cultural values is best explained by group loyalties, symbolic motives and other \"nonrational\" factors. In this book, Dennis Chong shows that a single model can explain how people make decisions across both social and economic realms. He argues that preferences result from a combination of psychological dispositions, which are shaped by social influences and developed over the life span, as well as costs and benefits calculated according to our desire for material gain and social acceptance. Chong's book yields insights about the circumstances under which preferences, beliefs, values, norms and group identifications are formed. Most significantly, it offers an explanation of how ingrained social norms and values can change over time in spite of the myriad forces working to maintain the status quo.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52506416611601,"sku":"CIN0226104397VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53191196442897,"sku":"CIN0226104397G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226104393.jpg?v=1760315165"},{"product_id":"for-the-many-or-the-few-book-john-g-matsusaka-9780226510811","title":"For the Many or the Few","description":"Studies a century of budget data from states and cities to provide a picture of how direct democracy is changing government policies. This book argues against the belief that initiatives empower wealthy special interest groups that neglect the majority view. It demonstrates how initiatives led to significant tax and expenditure cuts.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53336298029329,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53336298389777,"sku":"NGR9780226510811","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226510811.jpg?v=1774307630"},{"product_id":"deliberative-choices-book-gary-mucciaroni-9780226544069","title":"Deliberative Choices","description":"The task of deliberating public policy falls preeminently to Congress. But decisions on matters ranging from budget deficits to the war with Iraq, among others, raise serious doubts about its performance. In \"Deliberative Choices\", Gary Mucciaroni and Paul J. Quirk assess congressional deliberation by analyzing debate on the House and Senate floors. Does debate genuinely inform members of Congress and the public? Or does it mostly mislead and manipulate them? Mucciaroni and Quirk argue that in fashioning the claims they use in debate, legislators make a strategic trade-off between boosting their rhetorical force and ensuring their ability to withstand scrutiny. Using three case studies - welfare reform, repeal of the estate tax, and telecommunications deregulation - the authors show how legislators' varying responses to such a trade-off shape the issues they focus on, the claims they make, and the information they provide in support of those claims. Mucciaroni and Quirk conclude that congressional debate generally is only moderately realistic and informed. It often trades in half-truths, omissions, and sometimes even outright falsehoods. Yet some debates are highly informative. Moreover, the authors believe it's possible to improve congressional deliberation, and they recommend reforms designed to do so.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53336308744465,"sku":"NGR9780226544069","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226544069.jpg?v=1774307671"},{"product_id":"crosstalk-book-marion-r-just-9780226420219","title":"Crosstalk","description":"This analysis of the 1992 US presidential campaign looks at how citizens use information in the media to make their voting decisions and how politicians and the media interact to shape that information.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53336309563665,"sku":"NGR9780226420219","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226420219.jpg?v=1774307674"},{"product_id":"actors-athletes-and-astronauts-book-david-t-canon-9780226092676","title":"Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts","description":"The U.S. Congress is typically seen as an institution filled with career politicians who have been seasoned by experience in lower levels of political office. In fact, political amateurs have comprised roughly one quarter of the House of Representatives since 1930. The effect of amateurs' inexperience on their political careers, roles in Congress, and impact on the political system has never been analyzed in detail.   Written in a lucid style accessible to the nonspecialist, David T. Canon's Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts is a definitive study of political amateurs in elections and in Congress. Canon examines the political conditions that prompt amateurs to run for office, why they win or lose, and whether elected amateurs behave differently from their experienced counterparts. Challenging previous work which presumed stable career structures and progressively ambitious candidates, his study reveals that amateurs are disproportionately elected in periods of high political opportunity, such as the 1930s for Democrats and 1980s for Republicans.   Canon's detailed findings call for significant revision of our prevailing understanding of ambition theory and disarm monolithic interpretations of political amateurs. His unique typology of amateurism differentiates among policy-oriented, \"hopeless,\" or ambitious amateurs. The latter resemble their professional counterparts; \"hopeless\" amateurs are swept into office by strong partisan motivations and decision-making styles of each type vary, affecting their degree of success, but each type of amateur provides a necessary electoral balance by defeating entrenched incumbents rarely challenged by more experienced politicians.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53336312185105,"sku":"NGR9780226092676","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226092676.jpg?v=1774307684"},{"product_id":"gaining-access-book-john-mark-hansen-9780226315546","title":"Gaining Access","description":"Through a comprehensive analysis of American agricultural politics in the past half-century, Gaining Access shows when, how, and why interest groups gain and lose influence in the policy deliberations of the United States Congress. By consulting with policy advocates, John Mark Hansen argues, lawmakers offset their uncertainty about the policy stands that will bolster or impede their prospects for reelection. The advocates provide legislators with electoral intelligence in Washington and supportive propaganda at home, earning serious consideration of their policy views in return. From among a multitude of such informants, representatives must choose those they will most closely consult.   With evidence from congressional hearings, personal interviews, oral histories, farm and trade journals, and newspapers, Hansen traces the evolution of farm lobby access in Congress. He chronicles the rise and fall of the American Farm Bureau, the surge and decline of party politics, the incoporation of the commodity lobbies, the exclusion of the consumer lobbies, and the accommodation of urban interests in food stamps.   Brilliantly combining insights from rational choice theory with historical data, Gaining Access is an essential guide for anyone interested in the dynamics of interest group influence.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53336312414481,"sku":"NGR9780226315546","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226315546.jpg?v=1774307686"},{"product_id":"for-the-many-or-the-few-book-john-g-matsusaka-9780226510828","title":"For the Many or the Few","description":"Studies a century of budget data from states and cities to provide a picture of how direct democracy is changing government policies. This book argues against the belief that initiatives empower wealthy special interest groups that neglect the majority view. It demonstrates how initiatives led to significant tax and expenditure cuts.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53489952817425,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53489953079569,"sku":"GOR014944712","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226510828.jpg?v=1777730334"},{"product_id":"roots-of-reform-book-elizabeth-sanders-9780226734774","title":"Roots of Reform","description":"Offers a revision of the understanding of the rise of the regulatory state in the late 19th century. Elizabeth Sanders argues that politically mobilized farmers were the driving force behind most of the legislation that increased national control over private economic power. She demonstrates that farmers from the south, midwest and west reached out to the urban labourers who shared their class position and their principal antagonist - northeastern monopolistic industrial and financial capital - despite weak electoral support from organized labour. Based on evidence from legislative records and other sources, Sanders shows that this tenuous alliance of \"producers versus plutocrats\" shaped early regulatory legislation, remained powerful through the populist and progressive eras, and developed a characteristic method of democratic state expansion with continued relevance for subsequent reform movements.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53618048958737,"sku":"CIN0226734773VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780226734774.jpg?v=1780489389"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/american-politics-and-political-economy-series-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}