Deliberative Choices by Gary Mucciaroni
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.-
For the Many or the Few
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Gaining Access
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Actors, Athletes, and Astronauts
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Crosstalk
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Rational Lives
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The Hollow Hope
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Defining the National Interest
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What Government Can Do
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The Myth of Democratic Failure
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Numbered Voices
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Policy and Opinion in the Gulf War
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Is Anyone Responsible?
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The President in the Legislative Arena
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Taken by Storm
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Who Deliberates?
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Race, Redistricting, and Representation
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Divided by Color
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The Political Life of Medicare
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Collective Action and the Civil Rights Movement
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Why Congressional Reforms Fail
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The Logic of Delegation
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Mayors and Money
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Common Knowledge
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The Rational Public
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Golden Rule
"This book will immediately be required reading for students of congressional deliberationThe authors break new ground by employing an innovative methodology to evaluate how well floor debate informs Congress about the potential effects of policy choices." - Joseph Bessette, author of The Mild Voice of Reason"
Gary Mucciaroni is associate professor of political science at Temple University. Paul J. Quirk is the Phil Lind Chair in United States Politics and Representation at the University of British Columbia.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780226544069 |
| ISBN 10 | 0226544060 |
| Title | Deliberative Choices |
| Author | Gary Mucciaroni |
| Series | American Politics And Political Economy Series |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | The University of Chicago Press |
| Year published | 2006-06-01 |
| Number of pages | 296 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |