Suchergebnisse

AbstractScholarship on democratic responsiveness focuses on whether political outcomes reflect public opinion but overlooks attitudes toward how power is used to achieve those policies. We argue that public attitudes toward unilateral action lead to negative evaluations of presidents who exercise unilateral powers and policies achieved through their use. Evidence from two studies supports our argument. In three nationally representative survey experiments conducted across a range of policy domains, we find that the public reacts negatively when policies are achieved through unilateral powers instead of through legislation passed by Congress. We further show these costs are greatest among respondents who support the president's policy goals. In an observational study, we show that attitudes toward unilateral action in the abstract affect how respondents evaluate policies achieved through unilateral action by presidents from Lincoln to Obama. Our results suggest that public opinion may constrain presidents' use of unilateral powers.

American grand strategy is at a crossroads. The preferred trajectory of president‐elect Trump, hardball isolationism and nationalism, runs counter to the American tradition of global leadership and liberal interventionism. Despite Trump's preference for a new grand strategy, it is far from preordained that he will successfully resist Washington's perennial pull of hegemony once sworn into office. Therefore, it is imperative to examine the strategic preferences of the American public, given that it has to bear the costs of this grand strategy. So what can one expect when the public is disinterested in supporting such an ambitious grand strategy?

California's new economy is fostering far more growth among high- and low-wage jobs compared to middle-income jobs. The development of the hourglass economy means that there is a growing number of low-wage workers who cannot support their families even if they work full-time. As a consequence, they must turn to public assistance to meet the basic needs of their families. This study by Carol Zabin, Arindrajit Dube, and Ken Jacobs is the first to quantify how much it costs the public to provide what paychecks don't. In California, two million working families received public assistance in 2002. The price tag for this assistance was $10 billion per year, with most support going to families with full-time workers who earned near the minimum wage. The authors analyzed the ten largest means-tested public assistance programs that Californians participate in: Medi-Cal, the Earned Income Tax Credit, CalWORKs, Food Stamps, Free or Reduced Price Lunch, Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program, Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance, Healthy Families, and Section 8 Rental Assistance. They matched 2002 administrative data from the programs with 2002 detailed demographic and employment data from the federal government's Current Population Survey. They estimated how many program participants are in working families and the savings that could accrue if workers earned higher wages and received benefits. The authors found that half of all means-tested public assistance dollars are going to families who are working and that most workers on public assistance earn wages that are close to the minimum wage. They conclude that full-time employment at low wages does not bring self-sufficiency to these families and that small improvements in wages could move many off public programs, freeing up scarce resources for families currently on waiting lists. If all workers in the state earned a minimum of $8 an hour, program costs would be reduced by $2.7 billion. A movement to $14 per hour would reduce expenditures by 5.6 billion dollars. Likewise, if jobs included health benefits, even at current wage levels, $2.1 billion in expenditures could be put to other uses.

Reviews the main approaches to limiting suburban sprawl & mitigating the disparities it creates in metropolitan areas. Individual policies -- ranging from congestion pricing to regional governance -- are discussed in terms of slowing metropolitan deconcentration, feasibility of implementation, & power to redress inequities. Four policies appear most promising: (1) the utilization of impact fees, especially on a supralocal level; (2) reverse commuting programs; (3) special taxing districts for region-wide amenities; & (4) continued revitalization efforts in the central city. 1 Table, 56 References. Adapted from the source document.

RESEARCH ON POLITICAL AMBITION AND RECRUITMENT HAS YET TO CONSIDER SERIOUSLY THE ROLE OF PRIVATE LIFE AND ESPECIALLY THE FAMILY IN A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE'S CALCULATION OF THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF RUNNING FOR OFFICE. USING THE CENTER FOR POLITICAL STUDIES 1972 CONVENTION DELEGATE STUDY, THIS ARTICLE INVESTIGATES THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF FAMILY ROLES, SUBJECTIVE CONFLICT, AND POLITICAL AMBITION.