Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability

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Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400849586
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability by : R. Douglas Arnold

Download or read book Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability written by R. Douglas Arnold and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability is the first large-scale examination of how local media outlets cover members of the United States Congress. Douglas Arnold asks: do local newspapers provide the information citizens need in order to hold representatives accountable for their actions in office? In contrast with previous studies, which largely focused on the campaign period, he tests various hypotheses about the causes and consequences of media coverage by exploring coverage during an entire congressional session. Using three samples of local newspapers from across the country, Arnold analyzes all coverage over a two-year period--every news story, editorial, opinion column, letter, and list. First he investigates how twenty-five newspapers covered twenty-five local representatives; and next, how competing newspapers in six cities covered their corresponding legislators. Examination of an even larger sample, sixty-seven newspapers and 187 representatives, shows why some newspapers cover legislators more thoroughly than do other papers. Arnold then links the coverage data with a large public opinion survey to show that the volume of coverage affects citizens' awareness of representatives and challengers. The results show enormous variation in coverage. Some newspapers cover legislators frequently, thoroughly, and accessibly. Others--some of them famous for their national coverage--largely ignore local representatives. The analysis also confirms that only those incumbents or challengers in the most competitive races, and those who command huge sums of money, receive extensive coverage.

Public Opinion and Democratic Accountability

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691123799
Total Pages : 188 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Public Opinion and Democratic Accountability by : Vincent L. Hutchings

Download or read book Public Opinion and Democratic Accountability written by Vincent L. Hutchings and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2005-09-11 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much of public opinion research over the past several decades suggests that the American voters are woefully uninformed about politics and thus unable to fulfill their democratic obligations. Arguing that this perception is faulty, Vincent Hutchings shows that, under the right political conditions, voters are surprisingly well informed on the issues that they care about and use their knowledge to hold politicians accountable. Though Hutchings is not the first political scientist to contend that the American public is more politically engaged than it is often given credit for, previous scholarship--which has typically examined individual and environmental factors in isolation--has produced only limited evidence of an attentive electorate. Analyzing broad survey data as well as the content of numerous Senate and gubernatorial campaigns involving such issues as race, labor, abortion, and defense, Hutchings demonstrates that voters are politically engaged when politicians and the media discuss the issues that the voters perceive as important. Hutchings finds that the media--while far from ideal--do provide the populace with information regarding the responsiveness of elected representatives and that groups of voters do monitor this information when "their" issues receive attention. Thus, while the electorate may be generally uninformed about and uninterested in public policy, a complex interaction of individual motivation, group identification, and political circumstance leads citizens concerned about particular issues to obtain knowledge about their political leaders and use that information at the ballot box.

Accountability Reconsidered

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1009197967
Total Pages : 395 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Accountability Reconsidered by : Charles M. Cameron

Download or read book Accountability Reconsidered written by Charles M. Cameron and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-02-16 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last two decades have witnessed a substantial change in the media environment, growing polarization of the two dominant parties, and increasing inequality of wealth and income. These profound changes necessitate updating our understanding of political accountability. Accountability Reconsidered examines how political accountability functions in the US today given the dramatic changes in voting behavior, media, congressional dynamics, and relations between branches. With particular attention to policymaking, this volume uses original research to analyze micro-foundations of voter behavior, examining its implications for incentives and offering insight into the accountability relationships among voters, interest groups, legislators, and government bureaucracy. Combining contributions from leading experts who write about the political system synoptically with those who focus on specific elements, Accountability Reconsidered brings together distinct perspectives to focus on the effect of the informational environment on government officials, bridging up-to-date knowledge about accountability mechanisms with our overall understanding of political accountability.

Congressional Record

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 1084 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (121 download)

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Book Synopsis Congressional Record by : United States. Congress

Download or read book Congressional Record written by United States. Congress and published by . This book was released on 1919 with total page 1084 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Legislative Voting and Accountability

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139476793
Total Pages : 217 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

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Book Synopsis Legislative Voting and Accountability by : John M. Carey

Download or read book Legislative Voting and Accountability written by John M. Carey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-12-15 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legislatures are the core representative institutions in modern democracies. Citizens want legislatures to be decisive, and they want accountability, but they are frequently disillusioned with the representation legislators deliver. Political parties can provide decisiveness in legislatures, and they may provide collective accountability, but citizens and political reformers frequently demand another type of accountability from legislators – at the individual level. Can legislatures provide both kinds of accountability? This book considers what collective and individual accountability require and provides the most extensive cross-national analysis of legislative voting undertaken to date. It illustrates the balance between individualistic and collective representation in democracies, and how party unity in legislative voting shapes that balance. In addition to quantitative analysis of voting patterns, the book draws on extensive field and archival research to provide an extensive assessment of legislative transparency throughout the Americas.

The Logic of Congressional Action

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Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780300056594
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (565 download)

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Book Synopsis The Logic of Congressional Action by : R. Douglas Arnold

Download or read book The Logic of Congressional Action written by R. Douglas Arnold and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congress regularly enacts laws that benefit particular groups or localities while imposing costs on everyone else. Sometimes, however, Congress breaks free of such parochial concerns and enacts bills that serve the general public, not just special interest groups. In this important and original book, R. Douglas Arnold offers a theory that explains not only why special interests frequently triumph but also why the general public sometimes wins. By showing how legislative leaders build coalitions for both types of programs, he illuminates recent legislative decisions in such areas as economic, tax, and energy policy. Arnold's theory of policy making rests on a reinterpretation of the relationship between legislators' actions and their constituents' policy preferences. Most scholars explore the impact that citizens' existing policy preferences have on legislators' decisions. They ignore citizens who have no opinions because they assume that uninformed citizens cannot possibly affect legislators' choices. Arnold examines the influence of citizens' potential preferences, however, and argues that legislators also respond to these preferences in order to avoid future electoral problems. He shows how legislators estimate the political consequences of their voting decisions, taking into account both the existing preferences of attentive citizens and the potential preferences of inattentive citizens. He then analyzes how coalition leaders manipulate the legislative situation in order to make it attractive for legislators to support a general interest bill.

Learning While Governing

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226924408
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (269 download)

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Book Synopsis Learning While Governing by : Sean Gailmard

Download or read book Learning While Governing written by Sean Gailmard and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sean Gailmard is the Judith E. Gruber Associate Professor in the Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. John W. Patty is associate professor of political science at Washington University.

The Impression of Influence

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 069116262X
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis The Impression of Influence by : Justin Grimmer

Download or read book The Impression of Influence written by Justin Grimmer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-11-23 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Constituents often fail to hold their representatives accountable for federal spending decisions—even though those very choices have a pervasive influence on American life. Why does this happen? Breaking new ground in the study of representation, The Impression of Influence demonstrates how legislators skillfully inform constituents with strategic communication and how this facilitates or undermines accountability. Using a massive collection of Congressional texts and innovative experiments and methods, the book shows how legislators create an impression of influence through credit claiming messages. Anticipating constituents' reactions, legislators claim credit for programs that elicit a positive response, making constituents believe their legislator is effectively representing their district. This spurs legislators to create and defend projects popular with their constituents. Yet legislators claim credit for much more—they announce projects long before they begin, deceptively imply they deserve credit for expenditures they had little role in securing, and boast about minuscule projects. Unfortunately, legislators get away with seeking credit broadly because constituents evaluate the actions that are reported, rather than the size of the expenditures. The Impression of Influence raises critical questions about how citizens hold their political representatives accountable and when deception is allowable in a democracy.

Monitoring Government

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Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 9780815752554
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (525 download)

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Book Synopsis Monitoring Government by : Paul Charles Light

Download or read book Monitoring Government written by Paul Charles Light and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers the first systematic evaluation of the offices of inspector general (OIG) and examines the government-wide investment in the OIGs concept. Despite their increasingly prominent, often controversial, role in the internal oversight of government, very little is known about their institutional or operational problems.

Transparency in Politics and the Media

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0857734598
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (577 download)

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Book Synopsis Transparency in Politics and the Media by : Nigel Bowles

Download or read book Transparency in Politics and the Media written by Nigel Bowles and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-10-28 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increasingly governments around the world are experimenting with initiatives in transparency or 'open government'. These involve a variety of measures including the announcement of more user-friendly government websites, greater access to government data, the extension of freedom of information legislation and broader attempts to involve the public in government decision making. However, the role of the media in these initiatives has not hitherto been examined. This volume analyses the challenges and opportunities presented to journalists as they attempt to hold governments accountable in an era of professed transparency. In examining how transparency and open government initiatives have affected the accountability role of the press in the US and the UK, it also explores how policies in these two countries could change in the future to help journalists hold governments more accountable. This volume will be essential reading for all practising journalists, for students of journalism or politics, and for policymakers.

Presidential Power and Accountability

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136278338
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (362 download)

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Book Synopsis Presidential Power and Accountability by : Bruce Buchanan

Download or read book Presidential Power and Accountability written by Bruce Buchanan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-08-21 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many analysts now believe that the growth of presidential war power relative to Congress is irreversible. This book was written to contest that view. Its purpose is to identify what would be required to restore presidential war power to constitutional specifications while leaving the president powerful enough to do what is truly necessary in the face of any emergency. Buchanan focuses mainly on diagnosing the origins of the problem and devising practical ways to work toward restoration of the constitutional balance of power between Congress and the president. The work begins by showing the lack of clear, widely shared standards whose enforcement is needed to sustain the balance of power and draws on the thinking of the founders and political theorists to crystallize such standards. Next it details how, in the absence of standards, agents such as Congress and the Supreme Court with formal influence on presidents and informal agents such as media and public opinion have unwittingly enabled unnecessary power expansion, such as the presidential 'wars of choice'. Of course change of this magnitude cannot be expected to happen quickly. Remedies necessarily involve a reform architecture intended to unfold gradually, with the first step being simply to start a focused conversation (another purpose of this book). Buchanan moves toward specific remedies by identifying the structure and strategy for a new think tank designed to nudge the political system toward the kind of change the book recommends. Lastly, the book shows how a fictional policy trial could take a practical step toward in rebalancing the war power. This is a crucial examination of presidential power and the U.S. separation of powers system, with a focused effort on making a course correction toward the kind of power sharing envisioned in the Constitution.

Power Without Responsibility

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Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300159595
Total Pages : 374 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Power Without Responsibility by : David Schoenbrod

Download or read book Power Without Responsibility written by David Schoenbrod and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that Congress's process for making law is as corrosive to the nation as unchecked deficit spending. David Schoenbrod shows that Congress and the president, instead of making the laws that govern us, generally give bureaucrats the power to make laws through agency regulations. Our elected "lawmakers" then take credit for proclaiming popular but inconsistent statutory goals and later blame the inevitable burdens and disappointments on the unelected bureaucrats. The 1970 Clean Air Act, for example, gave the Environmental Protection Agency the impossible task of making law that would satisfy both industry and environmentalists. Delegation allows Congress and the president to wield power by pressuring agency lawmakers in private, but shed responsibility by avoiding the need to personally support or oppose the laws, as they must in enacting laws themselves. Schoenbrod draws on his experience as an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council and on studies of how delegation actually works to show that this practice produces a regulatory system so cumbersome that it cannot provide the protection that people need, so large that it needlessly stifles the economy, and so complex that it keeps the voters from knowing whom to hold accountable for the consequences. Contending that delegation is unnecessary and unconstitutional, Schoenbrod has written the first book that shows how, as a practical matter, delegation can be stopped.

Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11

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Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393083519
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (93 download)

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Book Synopsis Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 by : Jack Goldsmith

Download or read book Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 written by Jack Goldsmith and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The surprising truth behind Barack Obama's decision to continue many of his predecessor's counterterrorism policies. Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed—endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more—are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority. But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints—enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media—that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable. These constraints are the key to understanding why Obama continued the Bush counterterrorism program, and in this light, the events of the last decade should be seen as a victory, not a failure, of American constitutional government. We have actually preserved the framers’ original idea of a balanced constitution, despite the vast increase in presidential power made necessary by this age of permanent emergency.

How Our Laws are Made

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 72 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (327 download)

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Book Synopsis How Our Laws are Made by : John V. Sullivan

Download or read book How Our Laws are Made written by John V. Sullivan and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Reclaiming Accountability

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022619163X
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis Reclaiming Accountability by : Heidi Kitrosser

Download or read book Reclaiming Accountability written by Heidi Kitrosser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-01-06 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans have long treated government accountability as a birthright. However, accountability is frequently tossed about in a rhetorically effective but substantively empty way. We often feel that those in government “work for us” and therefore must “answer to us,” but fail to grapple with the conditions under which we can really assess how accountable our government is. This is especially true with respect to matters of secrecy and transparency in government as, while we routinely voice support for transparency and accountability, we too often tolerate secrecy when associated with “national security.” The government plainly needs to keep some information secret, and there are ways to reconcile secrecy with accountability. In Reclaiming Accountability, unchecked secrecy is the primary concern as insufficient checking breeds unnecessary, even counterproductive, secrecy and is also deeply antithetical to accountability. Heidi Kitrosser shows how, for all of its influence, “presidentialism” badly misreads the Constitution. The book first explains presidentialism and its major component parts – “supremacy” and “unitary executive theory.” It then details how supremacy and unitary executive theory manifest themselves as arguments for a broad presidential power to control information. The descriptive elements lay the groundwork for Kitrosser's two normative arguments. The first is that the Constitution situates the presidency within a substantive accountability framework that entails substantial congressional and judicial leeway to impose and enforce external and internal checks on presidential power to foster transparency and accountability. And, closely related, the second argument is that supremacy and unitary executive theory misread the Constitution.

Super PACs

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Publisher : Greenhaven Publishing LLC
ISBN 13 : 0737768649
Total Pages : 113 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (377 download)

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Book Synopsis Super PACs by : Louise I. Gerdes

Download or read book Super PACs written by Louise I. Gerdes and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The passage of Citizens United by the Supreme Court in 2010 sparked a renewed debate about campaign spending by large political action committees, or Super PACs. Its ruling said that it is okay for corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want in advertising and other methods to convince people to vote for or against a candidate. This book provides a wide range of opinions on the issue. Includes primary and secondary sources from a variety of perspectives; eyewitnesses, scientific journals, government officials, and many others.

Advances in Economics and Econometrics

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107016045
Total Pages : 511 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Advances in Economics and Econometrics by : Econometric Society. World Congress

Download or read book Advances in Economics and Econometrics written by Econometric Society. World Congress and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-27 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume of edited papers from the Tenth World Congress of the Econometric Society 2010.