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Blending original interview material with his own institutional analysis, Sparrow shows how the major U.S. news organizations can act contrary to the interests of the American public and democratic government. Because individual journalists and news organizations face serious and similar uncertainties with respect to their political credibility, access to news sources, and commercial performance, they rely regularly on the same practices to report the news. But these shared practices enable both journalists and politicians to manipulate political communication, government officials to mislead the public, and advertising and other business factors to have significant influence on the news; they also cause journalists to regret the damage done to democratic government. Sparrow investigates important recent examples in foreign policy, economic policy, and health policy in which the news media were unable to serve as guardians of the public interest. He also offers proposals to revitalize the news media to better serve the American public and the cause of representative government.  By providing an in-depth analysis of the news media's role in the American political system,  Uncertain Guardians challenges us to re-evaluate much of what we take for granted as news consumers and to think about how to improve political communication.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49517063766289,"sku":"GOR009152617","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50363048526097,"sku":"CIN0801860369G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0801860369.jpg?v=1750914595"},{"product_id":"presidency-and-political-science-book-raymond-tatalovich-9780801873218","title":"The Presidency and Political Science","description":"This work surveys the intellectual history of presidential scholarship from the Founding to the late 20th century. 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Arguing that three paradigms have dominated the history of presidential scholarship - Hamiltonianism, Jeffersonianism and Progressivism - the authors conclude that today's understanding of the presidency is characterized by a \"new realism and old idealism\". The book should appeal to students and scholars as well as to general readers with an interest in the American presidency.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49810949275921,"sku":"CIN0801873215G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0801873215.jpg?v=1751395096"},{"product_id":"political-parties-and-constitutional-government-book-sidney-m-milkis-9780801861956","title":"Political Parties and Constitutional Government","description":"The U.S. Constitution makes no mention of political parties, yet parties began to form shortly after its ratification. Today, American democracy would not work without them. 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With the decline of localized parties, Milkis concludes, there has arisen an administrative politics of rights and entitlements that belittles the efforts of Democrats and Republicans alike to define a collective purpose. Ending with a discussion of possible methods of revitalization and reform, this timely book does much to explain the reasons behind Americans' disenchantment with parties and the party system.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50046749868305,"sku":"CIN0801861950G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0801861950.jpg?v=1751329120"},{"product_id":"institutional-presidency-book-john-p-burke-9780801865015","title":"The Institutional Presidency","description":"When Franklin Roosevelt decided his administration needed a large executive staff, he instituted dramatic and lasting changes in the federal bureaucracy and in the very nature of the presidency. Today, no president can govern without an enormous White House staff. Yet analysts have disagreed about whether the key to a president's success lies in his ability to understand and adapt to the constraints of this bureaucracy or in his ability to control and even transform it to suit his needs.  In  The Institutional Presidency John Burke argues that both skills are crucial. Burke examines how the White House staff system-larger and more powerful than ever-interacts with a particular president's management ability and style. 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Government is the collection of institutions that act with authority and create formal obligations; governance is the set of processes and institutions, formal and informal, through which social action occurs. 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In this updated edition, a new epilogue shows Kettl urging political leaders to step back from the political barricades of hyperpartisanship to consider government's contemporary dilemma: Is there any practical way forward for public administrators to manage government effectively? Reinforcing the ten principles of bridge building which he developed in the original book, Kettl adds an eleventh, which lays out five transformative strategies: redefining public law to promote public accountability; re-conceptualizing government agencies as instruments of leverage; launching government leaders as boundary spanners; using information technology for building authority and trust; and incorporating performance management into processes that drive collaboration. 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