Zahariadis offers a theory that explains policymaking when "ambiguity" is present--a state in which there are many ways, often irreconcilable, of thinking about an issue. Expanding and extending John Kingdon's influential "multiple streams" model that explains agenda setting, Zahariadis argues that manipulation, the bending of ideas, process, and beliefs to get what you want out of the policy process, is the key to understanding the dynamics of policymaking in conditions of ambiguity. He takes one of the major theories of public policy to the next step in three different ways: he extends...
Zahariadis offers a theory that explains policymaking when "ambiguity" is present--a state in which there are many ways, often irreconcilable, of t...
The politics of building dams and levees and other structures are just part of the policies determining how American rivers are managed or mismanaged. America's well-being depends upon the health of those rivers and important decisions go beyond just dam-building or dam removal. American rivers are suffering from poor water quality, altered flows, and diminished natural habitat. Current efforts by policymakers to change the ways American rivers are managed range from the removal of dams to the simulation of seasonal flows to the restoration of habitat, all with varying degrees of...
The politics of building dams and levees and other structures are just part of the policies determining how American rivers are managed or mismanag...
Environmental groups for the first time formalized their role in shaping U.S. and international trade policy during their involvement in NAFTA negotiations. John J. Audley identifies the political forces responsible for forging this new intersection of trade and environment policy during NAFTA negotiations, analyzes the achievements of the environmentalists, and explores their prospects for influencing future trade policy.
The need to reconcile the conflicting paradigms of economic expansion through free trade and that of limited sustainable development played a significant part in...
Environmental groups for the first time formalized their role in shaping U.S. and international trade policy during their involvement in NAFTA nego...
Disasters like earthquakes are known as focusing events--sudden calamities that cause both citizens and policymakers to pay more attention to a public problem and often to press for solutions. This book, the first comprehensive analysis of these dramatic events, explains how and why some public disasters change political agendas and, ultimately, public policies.
Thomas A. Birkland explores important successes and failures in the policy process by analyzing the political outcomes of four types of events: earthquakes, hurricanes, oil spills, and nuclear accidents. Using this empirical...
Disasters like earthquakes are known as focusing events--sudden calamities that cause both citizens and policymakers to pay more attention to a pub...
Comparing national efforts to preserve public lands, William R. Lowry investigates how effectively and under what conditions governments can provide goods for future generations. Providing intergenerational goods, ranging from balanced budgets to space programs and natural environments, is particularly challenging because most political incentives reward short-term behavior. Lowry examines the effort of institutional structure on the public delivery of these goods. He offers a theoretical framework accounting for both the necessary conditions--public demand, political stability, and official...
Comparing national efforts to preserve public lands, William R. Lowry investigates how effectively and under what conditions governments can provide g...
This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the politics behind the use of mandates requiring state and local governments to implement federal policy.
Over the last twenty-five years, during both liberal and conservative eras, federal mandates have emerged as a resilient tool for advancing the interests of both political parties. Revealing the politics that led to the policies, Paul L. Posner explores the origins of these congressional mandates, what interests and needs they satisfy, whether mandate reform initiatives can be expected to alter their use, and their implications...
This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the politics behind the use of mandates requiring state and local governments to implement federal...
Today organized interests fight most of their major battles within coalitions. Whether joining forces to address tobacco legislation or proposed air safety regulations, Washington lobbyists with seemingly little in common are combining their clout to get results.
Kevin Hula here examines why coalition strategies have emerged as a dominant lobbying technique, when lobbyists use them, and how these strategies affect their activities. His is the first book to focus on the formation and use of coalitions by lobbyists, examining the broader scope of interest group coalitions and...
Today organized interests fight most of their major battles within coalitions. Whether joining forces to address tobacco legislation or proposed ai...
In recent decades, local governments across America have increasingly turned specialized functions over to autonomous agencies ranging in scope from subdivision-sized water districts to multi-state transit authorities. This book is the first comprehensive examination of the causes and consequences of special-purpose governments in more than 300 metropolitan areas in the United States. It presents new evidence on the economic, political, and social implications of relying on these special districts while offering important findings about their use and significance.
In recent decades, local governments across America have increasingly turned specialized functions over to autonomous agencies ranging in scope fro...
Rapid and controversial, the spread of school choice initiatives across the United States has radically changed political debate about public education. In this book, Michael Mintrom explores the complex world of open-enrollment policies, charter schools and voucher plans to reveal how and why school choice has become a major issue, and he draws important conclusions about how innovative individuals can spur significant change in the policy arena.
Policy entrepreneurs--individuals who take up a cause and make it part of the political agenda--have largely remained background figures...
Rapid and controversial, the spread of school choice initiatives across the United States has radically changed political debate about public educa...
Since the 1980s a distinctive suburban politics has emerged in the United States, Juliet F. Gainsborough argues in Fenced Off . As suburbs have become less economically and socially dependent on the central cities, suburban and urban dwellers have diverged not only in their voting patterns but also in their thinking about national politics. While political reporters have long noted this difference, few quantitative studies have been conducted on suburbanization alone--above and beyond race or class--as a political trend.
Using census and public opinion statistics, along with...
Since the 1980s a distinctive suburban politics has emerged in the United States, Juliet F. Gainsborough argues in Fenced Off . As suburbs h...