Sustainability is about improving the odds of continued existence under preferred conditions. Preferred conditions can entail many things. Nineteenth century writer Henry David Thoreau presented a rather succinct glimpse of a very personal j [...]
Boundless Political Science by Simple Book Publishing (lumenlearning.com) is a collection of webpages that cover the following topics: American Politics; The Constitution and the Founding of America; Federalism; Civil Liberties; Civil Rights; [...]
Abstract: Do legislators and lobbyists trade favors? This study uses uncommon data sources and plagiarism software to detect a rarely observed relationship between interest group lobbyists and sitting Members of Congress. Comparison of letters [...]
Abstract: By focusing on the legislative process underpinning marriage equality in the American states, this article identifies the combinations of conditions under which attempts at institutional displacement succeed or fail. Hitherto, few sc [...]
Dear Students, I hope you enjoy this free textbook on the U. S. political system. Use it well. Why is this textbook free? Textbook prices are too high. The barriers to higher education are many—cost being a major one—and this is my own small a [...]
Abstract: The study of policy entrepreneurs as agents of change has developed greatly in recent years, supported by increasingly more sophisticated theoretical and empirical research. In this article, we first consider how the concept of the p [...]
Abstract: When do campaign contributions matter? This article advances the claim that a group that gives campaign contributions to US Members of Congress is more likely to achieve legislative success when (1) a single legislator can deliver to [...]
Abstract: When a major policy change occurs, policy entrepreneurs—advocates who devote substantial time, energy, and resources to campaigning for a specific policy outcome—are often credited as critical influences. However, there has been [...]
Abstract: Extensive research on “environmental federalism†investigates the effects of shared state-federal implementation on policy outcomes under the landmark American environmental laws of the 1970s. But these laws originally made no me [...]
Abstract: Well-resourced and well-connected individuals, or “policy entrepreneurs,†often play an important role in advocating and securing the adoption of policies. There is a striking lack of inquiry into the ways that social networks sh [...]
Abstract: The practice and profession of evaluation is continually evolving. From its early origin in the Great Society years of the 1960s, through its golden years of the 1970s, its transformation under the fiscal conservatism of the Reagan e [...]
Abstract: Despite collaborative governance's popularity, whether collaboration improves policy performance remains uncertain. This study assesses the link between collaborative decision making and licensed environmental management protocols in [...]
Abstract: Abstract The aim of the article is to examine how the population size of voluntary associations affects the process through which the public's issue priorities are translated into policy priorities. We conduct a time series analysis [...]
Abstract: How do stigmatized minorities advance agendas when confronted with hostile majorities? Elite theories of influence posit marginal groups exert little power. I propose the concept of agenda seeding to describe how activists use method [...]
American Government 2e is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American Government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective featu [...]
Abstract: Immigration is a highly polarized issue in the United States, and negative attitudes toward immigrants are common. Yet, almost all Americans are descended from people who originated outside the country, a narrative often evoked by th [...]
This contains a syllabus for an upper-division course on U.S. immigration policy, as well as the final paper project for the course where students had to submit an immigration-related policy proposal. The third component is the grading rubric [...]
Description: Inspiring publicly spirited and scholarly minded students means utilizing our knowledge of political ideals, institutions, and behaviors, and exploring the lifecycle of public policies – their formation, effectuation, and reformat [...]
Abstract: Racial inequality in voter turnout is well-documented, but we know less about racial inequality in campaign contributions. Using new data on the racial identities of over 27 million donors, we find an unrepresentative contributor cla [...]
Abstract: Roll-call votes provide scholars with the opportunity to measure many quantities of interest. However, the usefulness of the roll-call sample depends on the population it is intended to represent. After laying out why understanding t [...]
In this course, Inequalities in Participation and Representation Course, students explore inequalities in political participation and representation in the United States. Special attention is paid to African Americans, as well as inequalities [...]
Description: The intentional spread of falsehoods – and attendant attacks on minorities, press freedoms, and the rule of law – challenge the basic norms and values upon which institutional legitimacy and political stability depend. How did we [...]
Abstract: This article aims to illuminate how non-state actors participate in forging public institutions and in establishing public agendas. It also sets out to identify novel mechanisms of state building. It does so by examining the historic [...]
Abstract: How did personal wealth and slaveownership affect the likelihood Southerners fought for the Confederate Army in the American Civil War? On the one hand, wealthy Southerners had incentives to free-ride on poorer Southerners and avoid [...]