Democracy

Democracy PDF Author: David A. Moss
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674971450
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description
Historian David Moss adapts the case study method made famous by Harvard Business School to revitalize our conversations about governance and democracy and show how the United States has often thrived on political conflict. These 19 cases ask us to weigh choices and consequences, wrestle with momentous decisions, and come to our own conclusions.

Democracy and Political Ignorance

Democracy and Political Ignorance PDF Author: Ilya Somin
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804789312
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
One of the biggest problems with modern democracy is that most of the public is usually ignorant of politics and government. Often, many people understand that their votes are unlikely to change the outcome of an election and don't see the point in learning much about politics. This may be rational, but it creates a nation of people with little political knowledge and little ability to objectively evaluate what they do know. In Democracy and Political Ignorance, Ilya Somin mines the depths of ignorance in America and reveals the extent to which it is a major problem for democracy. Somin weighs various options for solving this problem, arguing that political ignorance is best mitigated and its effects lessened by decentralizing and limiting government. Somin provocatively argues that people make better decisions when they choose what to purchase in the market or which state or local government to live under, than when they vote at the ballot box, because they have stronger incentives to acquire relevant information and to use it wisely.

The Pulse of Democracy

The Pulse of Democracy PDF Author: George Gallup
Publisher: Greenwood
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description


Navigating Public Opinion

Navigating Public Opinion PDF Author: Jeff Manza
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195348842
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
Do politicians listen to the public? How often and when? Or are the views of the public manipulated or used strategically by political and economic elites? Navigating Public Opinion brings together leading scholars of American politics to assess and debate these questions. It describes how the relationship between opinion and policy has changed over time; how key political actors use public opinion to formulate domestic and foreign policy; and how new measurement techniques might improve our understanding of public opinion in contemporary polling and survey research. The distinguished contributors shed new light on several long-standing controversies over policy responsiveness to public opinion. Featuring a new analysis by Robert Erikson, Michael MacKuen, and James Stimson that builds from their pathbreaking work on how public mood moves policy in a macro-model of policymaking, the volume also includes several critiques of this model by Lawrence Jacobs and Robert Shapiro, another critique by G. William Domhoff, and a rejoinder by Erikson and his coauthors. Other highlights include discussions of how political elites, including state-level policymakers, presidents, and makers of foreign policy, use (or shape) public opinion; and analyses of new methods for measuring public opinion such as survey-based experiments, probabilistic polling methods, non-survey-based measures of public opinion, and the potential and limitations of Internet polls and surveys. Introductory and concluding essays provide useful background context and offer an authoritative summary of what is known about how public opinion influences public policy. A must-have for all students of American politics, public opinion, and polling, this state-of-the-art collection addresses issues that lie at the heart of democratic governance today.

Mass Informed Consent

Mass Informed Consent PDF Author: Adam F. Simon
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 1442209348
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Today's politics features a wealth of public opinion polling, but at the cost of suspicion and skepticism. Using recent, hot-button issues as case studies, Adam Simon discusses the science of polling in today's politics, laying the fundamentals of public opinion research, and advocating that poll results meet the standard for mass informed consent and should play a larger role. Mass Informed Consent will be of special interest to students of public opinion, political behavior, media and politics, interest group politics, and political communication

Polls and Politics

Polls and Politics PDF Author: Michael A. Genovese
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791485099
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
This hard-hitting and engaging examination of polls and American politics asks an essential question: do polls contribute to the vitality of our democracy or are they undermining the health of our political system? Leading scholars address several key issues such as how various types of polls affect democracy, the meaning attributed to polling data by citizens and the media, the use of polls by presidents, and how political elites respond—or do not respond—to public polls. The contributors assert that while polls tread a fine line between informing and manipulating the public, they remain valuable so long as a robust democracy obliges its political leaders to respond to the expressed will of the people.

The Measure of Democracy

The Measure of Democracy PDF Author: Daniel J. Robinson
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442638710
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Politicians, government officials, and public relations officers lean heavily on polling when fashioning public policy. Proponents say this is for the best, arguing that surveys bring the views of citizens closer to civic officials. Critics decry polling's promotion of sycophantic politicians who pander to the whims of public sentiment, or, conversely, the use of surveys by special interest groups to thwart the majority will. Similar claims and criticisms were made during the early days of polling. When George Gallup began polling Americans in 1935, he heralded it as a bold step in popular democracy. The views of ordinary citizens could now be heard alongside those of organized interest groups. When brought to Canada in 1941, the Gallup Poll promised similar democratic rejuvenation. In actual practice, traditionally disadvantaged constituencies such as women, the poor, French Canadians, and African Americans were often heavily underrepresented in Gallup surveys. Preoccupied with election forecasting, Gallup pollsters undercounted social groups thought less likely or unable to vote, leading to a considerable gap between the polling results of the sampled polity and the opinions of the general public. Examining the origins and early years of public opinion polling in Canada, Robinson situates polling within the larger context of its forerunners – market research surveys and American opinion polling – and charts its growth until its first uses by political parties.

Democratic Socialism

Democratic Socialism PDF Author: Donald F. Busky
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313002088
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Donald Busky provides an in-depth, well referenced, and up to date examination of the history of social democratic parties and governments worldwide from the 19th century onward. After reviewing the history of democratic socialism and its rivals as well as defining the various movements, Dr. Busky examines the history and current state of social democratic parties beginning with Europe and Great Britain, and then moving to the United States and Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The volume concludes with a survey bibliography of key studies on the topic. This global survey will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with comparative politics and political ideologies.

Democracy in Decline?

Democracy in Decline? PDF Author: Larry Diamond
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421418185
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
"Is Democracy in Decline? is a short book that takes up the fascinating question on whether this once-revolutionary form of government--the bedrock of Western liberalism--is fast disappearing. Has the growth of corporate capitalism, mass economic inequality, and endemic corruption reversed the spread of democracy worldwide? In this incisive collection, leading thinkers address this disturbing and critically important issue. Published as part of the National Endowment for Democracy's 25th anniversary--and drawn from articles forthcoming in the Journal of Democracy--this collection includes seven essays from a stellar group of democracy scholars: Francis Fukuyama, Robert Kagan, Thomas Carothers, Marc Plattner, Larry Diamond, Philippe Schmitter, Steven Levitsky, Ivan Krastev, and Lucan Way. Written in a thought-provoking style from seven different perspectives, this book provides an eye-opening look at how the very foundation of Western political culture may be imperiled"--

The People Vs. Democracy

The People Vs. Democracy PDF Author: Yascha Mounk
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674976827
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Uiteenzetting over de opkomst van het populisme en het gevaar daarvan voor de democratie.