Democracy More or Less

America's Political Reform Quandary

AvBruce E. Cain

Inbunden, Engelska, 2014

Del i serien Cambridge Studies in Election Law and Democracy

830 kr

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Häftad

285 kr

Beskrivning

Why do American political reform efforts so often fail to solve the problems they intend to fix? In this book, Bruce E. Cain argues that the reasons are an unrealistic civic ideal of a fully informed and engaged citizenry and a neglect of basic pluralist principles about political intermediaries. This book traces the tension between populist and pluralist approaches as it plays out in many seemingly distinct reform topics, such as voting administration, campaign finance, excessive partisanship, redistricting, and transparency and voter participation. It explains why political primaries have promoted partisan polarization, why voting rates are declining even as election opportunities increase, and why direct democracy is not really a grassroots tool. Cain offers a reform agenda that attempts to reconcile pluralist ideals with the realities of collective-action problems and resource disparities.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2014-12-08
Mått:152 x 231 x 20 mm
Vikt:520 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Cambridge Studies in Election Law and Democracy
Antal sidor:262
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781107039636

Utforska kategorier

Polisrätt och vapenlagar inom Juridik

Mer om författaren

Bruce E. Cain is the Charles Louis Ducommun Professor of Humanities and Sciences in the Political Science Department at Stanford University, California, where he is also the director of the Bill Lane Center for the American West. In addition to publishing numerous scholarly works, he has also served as a consultant for state and local governments on constitutional and charter reform, campaign finance regulation, redistricting, and voting rights. He received the Zale Award for Outstanding Achievement in Policy Research and Public Service and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Recensioner i media

'Everyone talks about the dysfunction of American politics, but very few people have practical or thought-through ideas on what to do about it. Bruce Cain has studied this topic extensively as a scholar and has first-hand experience in the cauldron of California's ongoing experiments in structural reform. In this book he explains the conceptual weakness in today's most popular reform proposals and offers a convincing alternative. I hope this book informs media, academic and public discussions of a way out of our political morass.' James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic

Innehållsförteckning

1. The ascendancy of reform populism; 2. Reform pluralism; 3. How much transparency?; 4. Participation paradoxes; 5. Reform cycles; 6. Fair representation; 7. Raising the political ethics bar; 8. Election administration or policy?; 9. A blended reform agenda.