Campaign Finance & American Democracy

Campaign Finance & American Democracy
Author: David M. Primo
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2020-11-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 022671313X

In recent decades, and particularly since the US Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United decision, lawmakers and other elites have told Americans that stricter campaign finance laws are needed to improve faith in the elections process, increase trust in the government, and counter cynicism toward politics. But as David M. Primo and Jeffrey D. Milyo argue, politicians and the public alike should reconsider the conventional wisdom in light of surprising and comprehensive empirical evidence to the contrary. Primo and Milyo probe original survey data to determine Americans’ sentiments on the role of money in politics, what drives these sentiments, and why they matter. What Primo and Milyo find is that while many individuals support the idea of reform, they are also skeptical that reform would successfully limit corruption, which Americans believe stains almost every fiber of the political system. Moreover, support for campaign finance restrictions is deeply divided along party lines, reflecting the polarization of our times. Ultimately, Primo and Milyo contend, American attitudes toward money in politics reflect larger fears about the health of American democracy, fears that will not be allayed by campaign finance reform.

The Tyranny of Big Tech

The Tyranny of Big Tech
Author: Josh Hawley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 126
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1684512409

The reign of Big Tech is here, and Americans’ First Amendment rights hang by a keystroke. Amassing unimaginable amounts of personal data, giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple—once symbols of American ingenuity and freedom—have become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power. Decades of unchecked data collection have given Big Tech more targeted control over Americans’ daily lives than any company or government in the world. In The Tyranny of Big Tech, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri argues that these mega-corporations—controlled by the robber barons of the modern era—are the gravest threat to American liberty in decades. To reverse course, Hawley argues, we must correct progressives’ mistakes of the past. That means recovering the link between liberty and democratic participation, building an economy that makes the working class strong, independent, and beholden to no one, and curbing the influence of corporate and political elites. Big Tech and its allies do not deal gently with those who cross them, and Senator Hawley proudly bears his own battle scars. But hubris is dangerous. The time is ripe to overcome the tyranny of Big Tech by reshaping the business and legal landscape of the digital world.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

High Crimes and Misdemeanors
Author: Frank O. Bowman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2019-08-30
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1108481051

Explains impeachment from its English roots through 250 years of American constitutional experience, including the case against President Trump.

The Pendergast Machine

The Pendergast Machine
Author: Lyle W. Dorsett
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 188
Release: 1968
Genre: Kansas City (Mo.)
ISBN:

A history of the Kansas City Democratic political organization started by Jim Pendergast who expanded his power base from a few local wards to the whole state of Missouri in the 1880's.

Corporate Citizen?

Corporate Citizen?
Author: Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Business and politics
ISBN: 9781632847263

Over time, corporations have engaged in an aggressive campaign to dramatically enlarge their political and commercial speech and religious rights through strategic litigation and extensive lobbying. At the same time, many large firms have sought to limit their social responsibilities. For the most part, courts have willingly followed corporations down this path. But interestingly, corporations are meeting resistance from many quarters including from customers, investors, and lawmakers. Corporate Citizen? explores this resistance and offers reforms to support these new understandings of the corporation in contemporary society.

Throw Them All Out

Throw Them All Out
Author: Peter Schweizer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2011
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0547573146

Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, discusses the state of government and the depths of its political corruption.

Mr. Smith Goes to Prison

Mr. Smith Goes to Prison
Author: Jeff Smith
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2015-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1250058406

A politician's humorous memoir of his year in federal prison, with a viable prescription for a more productive, cost-effective corrections system.

Forgotten Americans

Forgotten Americans
Author: Isabel Sawhill
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2018-09-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0300241062

A sobering account of a disenfranchised American working class and important policy solutions to the nation’s economic inequalities One of the country’s leading scholars on economics and social policy, Isabel Sawhill addresses the enormous divisions in American society—economic, cultural, and political—and what might be done to bridge them. Widening inequality and the loss of jobs to trade and technology has left a significant portion of the American workforce disenfranchised and skeptical of governments and corporations alike. And yet both have a role to play in improving the country for all. Sawhill argues for a policy agenda based on mainstream values, such as family, education, and work. While many have lost faith in government programs designed to help them, there are still trusted institutions on both the local and federal level that can deliver better job opportunities and higher wages to those who have been left behind. At the same time, the private sector needs to reexamine how it trains and rewards employees. This book provides a clear-headed and middle-way path to a better-functioning society in which personal responsibility is honored and inclusive capitalism and more broadly shared growth are once more the norm.