The Path of American Public Policy

Informationen zum Autor Anne Marie Cammisa is a visiting professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Previously, Cammisa was professor of government at Suffolk University in Boston. She is the author of From Rhetoric to Reform? Welfare Policy in American Politics. Paul Christopher Manuel is professor of government and director of the leadership program in the School of Public Affairs at American University. Klappentext The Path of American Public Policy: Comparative Perspectives demonstrates how ideas and institutions influence public policy formation in the United States. This book presents comparative cases of when comprehensive change in the United States failed and when it succeeded and compares and contrasts the American presidential system to the British parliamentary system. In this book, Anna Marie Cammisa and Paul Christopher Manuel renew their thoughtful comparison of the American 'Presidential' system with the parliamentary systems found in most liberal democracies. They go beyond a comparative politics text by imagining how American democracy might work if we had a parliamentary system. Their writing is both educational and entertaining, and they offer instruction in a way that is simple and understandable, while encouraging the student to think critically about democracy. This is great for assignment in both American Politics and Comparative Politics courses. -- Arthur Paulson, Southern Connecticut State University The Path of American Policy: Comparative Perspectives attacks an old question with a fresh perspective. Anne Marie Cammisa and Paul Christopher Manuel examine the impact of American institutions on policy-making, noting debates among the framers of our constitution, and ask what would be different if we had a parliamentary system and what would be different under different types of parliamentary systems stemming from electoral rules other than first-past-the-post-plurality voting. Naturally, there are no firm answers to the 'what ifs' that the authors pose, but there are probabilistic ones. This very well written book explicates the philosophies and the biases behind the American Constitution and its diametric opposite, the Westminster system. It explores the outcomes of two case studies in the U.K. and the U.S. and how institutions influenced them. This is a terrific book for thinking about American politics and government in a comparative context and is especially useful in understanding why we get the policy outcomes we do-or, as may more often be the case, the lack of outcome. -- Bert A. Rockman, Perdue University Zusammenfassung The Path of American Public Policy: Comparative Perspectives demonstrates how ideas and institutions influence public policy formation in the United States. This book presents comparative cases of when comprehensive change in the United States failed and when it succeeded and compares and contrasts the American presidential system to the British parliamentary system. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface Chapter 1: Of Ideas and Institutions: The Foundational Tension of American DemocracyIntroduction Why Does American Government Appear to Be Spinning Its Wheels? The Foundational Tension: Majority Rule versus Minority RightsHow the Foundational Ideational Tension Limits Innovative Policy Development: Ideas Conceptualized as Cognitive Locks Conclusion Structure of the Remainder of the BookChapter 2: The Path of Political Development in Great Britain and the United States: A Brief Comparative History Why American Government Operates under Checks and Balances, and British Government Does Not The Evolution of the British Parliament Key Institutional Features of British Democracy The Creation of the American Presidential System Key Institutional Features of American Democracy ConclusionChapter 3: Agenda Setting and Agenda Control: Case One: A Legislative History of the 1994 Republ...

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Among all the worlds' democracies, the American system of government is perhaps the most self-conscious about preventing majority tyranny. The American constitutional system is predicated on an inherent ideational and institutional tension dating back to the foundation of the nation in the eighteenth century, which constrains innovative policy development. Namely, the framers designed a system that simultaneously seeks to protect the rights of the minority out of power and provide for majority rule. These opposing goals are based on the idea that limiting governmental power will guarantee individual liberty. The Path of American Public Policy: Comparative Perspectives asks how this foundational tension might limit the range of options available to American policy makers. What does the resistance to change in Washington teach us about the American system of checks and balances? Why is it so difficult (though not impossible) to make sweeping policy changes in the United States? How could things be different? What would be the implications for policy formation if the United States adopted a British-style parliamentary system? To examine these questions, this book gives an example of when comprehensive change failed (the 1994 Contract with America) and when it succeeded (the 2010 Affordable Care Act). A comparison of the two cases sheds light on how and why Obama's health care was shepherded to law under Nancy Pelosi, while Newt Gingrich was less successful with the Contract with America. The contrast between the two cases highlights the balance between majority rule and minority rights, and how the foundational tension constrains public-policy formation. While 2010 illustrates an exception to the rule about comprehensive policy change in the United States, the 1994 is an apt example of how our system of checks and balances usually works to stymie expansive, far-reaching legislative initiatives.

Résumé
The Path of American Public Policy: Comparative Perspectives demonstrates how ideas and institutions influence public policy formation in the United States. This book presents comparative cases of when comprehensive change in the United States failed and when it succeeded and compares and contrasts the American presidential system to the British parliamentary system.

Contenu

Preface Chapter 1: Of Ideas and Institutions: The Foundational Tension of American Democracy Introduction Why Does American Government Appear to Be Spinning Its Wheels? The Foundational Tension: Majority Rule versus Minority Rights How the Foundational Ideational Tension Limits Innovative Policy Development: Ideas Conceptualized as Cognitive Locks Conclusion Structure of the Remainder of the Book Chapter 2: The Path of Political Development in Great Britain and the United States: A Brief Comparative History Why American Government Operates under Checks and Balances, and British Government Does Not The Evolution of the British Parliament Key Institutional Features of British Democracy The Creation of the American Presidential System Key Institutional Features of American Democracy Conclusion Chapter 3: Agenda Setting and Agenda Control: Case One: A Legislative History of the 1994 Republican Contract with America The 1994 Contract with America Introduction to the 104th Congress The Framers Fears of the Tyranny of the Majority and the 1994 Republican Contract with America Background: Where Did the Contract Come From? The Contract with America The First Hundred Days of the 104th Congress American Congress Function Differently than the British Parliament Chapter 4: Agenda Setting and Agenda Control: Case Two: The 2008 2010 Battle over Health Care Introduction Background Agenda Setting and Agenda Control Congress s Turn: Policy Formation and Legitimation Welcome (Again) to the World of Checks and Balances Conclusion: Lessons from the Past Chapter 5: What if American Democracy Were on a Different Path? How a British-Style Parliamentary System Could Change American Politics How American Polit…