Suchergebnisse

Fundamentals -- The Constitution and the founding -- Federalism -- Civil rights and civil liberties -- Congress -- The presidency -- The bureaucracy -- The judiciary -- Public opinion -- Participation -- Interest groups -- Political parties -- Elections -- The media -- Policy.

"In this provocative and wide-ranging book, Ken Kollman examines the histories of the US government, the Catholic Church, General Motors, and the European Union as examples of federated systems that centralized power over time. He shows how their institutions became locked-in to intensive power in the executive. The problem with these and other federated systems is that they often cannot decentralize even if it makes sense. The analysis leads Kollman to suggest some surprising changes in institutional design for these four cases and for federated institutions everywhere"--

Cover Page -- Half-title Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Tactics and Strategies -- 3. Outside Lobbying as Costly Signaling -- 4. Public Opinion and Mobilization -- 5. Outside Lobbying as Conflict Expansion -- 6. Lobbying over Trade Policy -- 7. Conclusion -- Appendixes -- A. Groups and Persons Interviewed -- B. Questionnaire for Interest Groups -- C. Opinion Questions -- D. A Signaling Model of Outside Lobbying -- Bibliography -- Index

The rotating presidency of the European Council is a curious, and unusual, institutional feature. I propose a formal theoretic model that compares a variety of decision-making procedures, including rotating the leadership position in a decision-making council, referendums on each policy issue, and electing a Council president. From the results of the model I conclude that the current version of the rotating presidency has a lot to recommend it. Rotating agenda-setting authority allows for the exploration of new mixtures of policies that might not be discovered or tried under other kinds of procedures. However, I also argue that, once the European Union expands to over 20 members, the procedure may no longer be sustainable.