The Doomsday Lobby

The Doomsday Lobby PDF Author: James T. Bennett
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441966854
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
Federal patronage of science was never contemplated by the framers of the Constitution, but they did seek to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Art” by granting inventors patent rights. However, direct subvention to scientists and scientific organizations was not considered appropriate activity of the central government. In the 19th Century, American science was funded almost entirely through private investors. Since WWII, however, the federal government has become the primary patron of American science. From the race-to-space in the 1950s to current furor over global warming, Bennett traces the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which government has co-opted scientific research and reinforced a culture in which challengers to proscribed wisdom are frozen out. Citing original documents and media reports, Bennett offers a compelling, entertaining, and thought-provoking perspective on political influence on scientific research and its implications for a democratic society. "During the Nineteenth Century, almost entirely on private funding, American science grew from practically nothing to world class. Now, however, over fifty percent of American science is funded by the federal government. Dr. Bennett traces the path, "crisis" after "crisis," by which American science became practically an arm of the federal government. His tale is a cautionary one, warning against future "crisis mongers" who would extend the government's already majority control of American science even further. His warning is a timely one, and it should be heeded." Joseph P. Martino, author of Science Funding: Politics and Porkbarrel "Bennett's latest book offers a challenging interpretation of the rise of the American federal science establishment since World War II. Focusing primarily on the growth of the space program, Bennett argues that crisis, real or imagined, is the source of state power and state funding for science. The Doomsday Lobby offers what no doubt will be viewed as a controversial contribution to the history of American science policy, and more broadly to an understanding of the role of the state in society." James D. Savage, Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, and author of Funding Science in America

The Doomsday Lobby

The Doomsday Lobby PDF Author: James T. Bennett
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441966854
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
Federal patronage of science was never contemplated by the framers of the Constitution, but they did seek to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Art” by granting inventors patent rights. However, direct subvention to scientists and scientific organizations was not considered appropriate activity of the central government. In the 19th Century, American science was funded almost entirely through private investors. Since WWII, however, the federal government has become the primary patron of American science. From the race-to-space in the 1950s to current furor over global warming, Bennett traces the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which government has co-opted scientific research and reinforced a culture in which challengers to proscribed wisdom are frozen out. Citing original documents and media reports, Bennett offers a compelling, entertaining, and thought-provoking perspective on political influence on scientific research and its implications for a democratic society. "During the Nineteenth Century, almost entirely on private funding, American science grew from practically nothing to world class. Now, however, over fifty percent of American science is funded by the federal government. Dr. Bennett traces the path, "crisis" after "crisis," by which American science became practically an arm of the federal government. His tale is a cautionary one, warning against future "crisis mongers" who would extend the government's already majority control of American science even further. His warning is a timely one, and it should be heeded." Joseph P. Martino, author of Science Funding: Politics and Porkbarrel "Bennett's latest book offers a challenging interpretation of the rise of the American federal science establishment since World War II. Focusing primarily on the growth of the space program, Bennett argues that crisis, real or imagined, is the source of state power and state funding for science. The Doomsday Lobby offers what no doubt will be viewed as a controversial contribution to the history of American science policy, and more broadly to an understanding of the role of the state in society." James D. Savage, Professor of Politics, University of Virginia, and author of Funding Science in America

The Washington Lobby

The Washington Lobby PDF Author: Congressional Quarterly, inc
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description


Coming Back to Earth

Coming Back to Earth PDF Author: James Clarke
Publisher: Jacana Media
ISBN: 9781919777931
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
This book is a current, comprehensive and holistic assessment of the challenges facing a developing African state within the global context and is an up-to-the-minute review of the state of the South African environment.

Lobbying America

Lobbying America PDF Author: Benjamin C. Waterhouse
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691168016
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
Lobbying America tells the story of the political mobilization of American business in the 1970s and 1980s. Benjamin Waterhouse traces the rise and ultimate fragmentation of a broad-based effort to unify the business community and promote a fiscally conservative, antiregulatory, and market-oriented policy agenda to Congress and the country at large. Arguing that business's political involvement was historically distinctive during this period, Waterhouse illustrates the changing power and goals of America's top corporate leaders. Examining the rise of the Business Roundtable and the revitalization of older business associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Waterhouse takes readers inside the mind-set of the powerful CEOs who responded to the crises of inflation, recession, and declining industrial productivity by organizing an effective and disciplined lobbying force. By the mid-1970s, that coalition transformed the economic power of the capitalist class into a broad-reaching political movement with real policy consequences. Ironically, the cohesion that characterized organized business failed to survive the ascent of conservative politics during the 1980s, and many of the coalition's top goals on regulatory and fiscal policies remained unfulfilled. The industrial CEOs who fancied themselves the "voice of business" found themselves one voice among many vying for influence in an increasingly turbulent and unsettled economic landscape. Complicating assumptions that wealthy business leaders naturally get their way in Washington, Lobbying America shows how economic and political powers interact in the American democratic system.

Apocalypse Not

Apocalypse Not PDF Author: Ben W. Bolch
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 9781882577057
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
What is likely to kill off the human race first? Overpopulation? Global warming? Ozone depletion? Chemicals and insecticides? Would you believe none of these? Drawing on scientific evidence, Ben Bolch and Harold Lyons, an economist and a chemist, show that the prophets of apocalyptic doom mislead and scare the public with their warnings of impending catastrophes. Apocalypse Not debunks the alleged global threats to mankind, as well as the scares about asbestos and radon. It fosters respect for calm, objective science, while showing that the doomsday lobbyists exploit ignorance and cause hysteria. Bolch and Lyons go on to show that, contrary to the beliefs of some environmentalists, modern society and the growth in population do not threaten our quality of life. In fact, science and industry have enabled more people to live longer, healthier lives than ever before. Resources are cheaper and more plentiful than anytime in history. In light of those facts, the authors take up the perplexing question of why the environmental movement, with its apparent death wish, has been able to persuade so many people that the human race is doomed. Their answer to that question could help turn the tide that threatens to undo the industrial and scientific revolutions. This book is the book that will restore good sense to thinking about the environment.

The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture

The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture PDF Author: Paul Arthur Cantor
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 081314082X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
Popular culture often champions freedom as the fundamentally American way of life and celebrates the virtues of independence and self-reliance. But film and television have also explored the tension between freedom and other core values, such as order and political stability. What may look like healthy, productive, and creative freedom from one point of view may look like chaos, anarchy, and a source of destructive conflict from another. Film and television continually pose the question: Can Americans deal with their problems on their own, or must they rely on political elites to manage their lives? In this groundbreaking work, Paul A. Cantor explores the ways in which television shows such as Star Trek, The X-Files, South Park, and Deadwood and films such as The Aviator and Mars Attacks! have portrayed both top-down and bottom-up models of order. Drawing on the works of John Locke, Adam Smith, Alexis de Tocqueville, and other proponents of freedom, Cantor contrasts the classical liberal vision of America -- particularly its emphasis on the virtues of spontaneous order -- with the Marxist understanding of the "culture industry" and the Hobbesian model of absolute state control. The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture concludes with a discussion of the impact of 9/11 on film and television, and the new anxieties emerging in contemporary alien-invasion narratives: the fear of a global technocracy that seeks to destroy the nuclear family, religious faith, local government, and other traditional bulwarks against the absolute state.

The Doomsday Machine

The Doomsday Machine PDF Author: Martin Cohen
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1137000341
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
Today, there are over one hundred nuclear reactors operating in our backyards, from Indian Point in New York to Diablo Canyon in California. Proponents claim that nuclear power is the only viable alternative to fossil fuels, and due to rising energy consumption and the looming threat of global warming, they are pushing for an even greater investment. Here, energy economist Andrew McKillop and social scientist Martin Cohen argue that the nuclear power dream being sold to us is pure fantasy. Debunking the multilayered myth that nuclear energy is cheap, clean, and safe, they demonstrate how landscapes are ravaged in search of the elusive yellowcake to fuel the reactors, and how energy companies and politicians rarely discuss the true costs of nuclear power plants - from the subsidies that build the infrastructure to the unspoken guarantee that the public will pick up the cleanup cost in the event of a meltdown, which can easily top $100 billion dollars.

They Play, You Pay

They Play, You Pay PDF Author: James T. Bennett
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461433320
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
They Play, You Pay is a detailed, sometimes irreverent look at a political conundrum: despite evidence that publicly funded ballparks, stadiums, and arenas do not generate net economic growth, governments keep on taxing sales, restaurant patrons, renters of automobiles, and hotel visitors in order to build ever more elaborate cathedrals of professional sport—often in order to satisfy an owner who has threatened to move his team to greener, more subsidy‐happy, pastures. This book is a sweeping survey of the literature in the field, the history of such subsidies, the politics of stadium construction and franchise movement, and the prospects for a re‐privatization of ballpark and stadium financing. It ties together disparate strands in a fascinating story, examining the often colorful cases through which governments became involved in sports. These range from the well‐known to the obscure—from Yankee Stadium and the Astrodome to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles (to a privately built ballpark constructed upon land that had been seized via eminent domain from a mostly Mexican‐American population) to such arrant giveaways as Cowboys Stadium. It examines alternatives that might lessen the pressure for public subsidies, whether the Green Bay Packers model (in which the team’s owners are local stockholders) or via league expansions. It also takes a look at little-known, yet significant, episodes such as President Theodore Roosevelt’s intervention in the collegiate football crisis of 1905—a move that indirectly put the federal government on the side of such basic rule changes as the legalization of the forward pass. They Play, You Play is a fresh look at a political and economic puzzle: how it came to be that Joe and Jane Sixpack in the Bronx and Dallas subsidize the Steinbrenners and Jerry Joneses of professional sport.

Lobby Investigation

Lobby Investigation PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Lobbying
Languages : en
Pages : 1606

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Book Description


Reclaiming Paradise

Reclaiming Paradise PDF Author: John McCormick
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253206602
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description