Download or read book Brookings at Seventy Five written by James Allen Smith and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historian James Allen Smith traces the evolution of Washington's oldest and prototypical think tank on the occasion of its seventy-fifth anniversary in 1991. Dedicated to bringing expertise to bear on public policy issues, Brookings has been a pioneer in bridging the disparate worlds of social science research and American policymaking. But while its efforts have been made steady, there have been frustrations and controversy over the years. Inspired by the scientific management and government efficiency movements in the Progressive Era, Brookings has evolved from an organization that consulted with government agencies on accounting and personnel practices into an institution with a wide-ranging research and publishing program as well as active public policy education and media outreach efforts. Smith vividly tells of the key individuals, beginning with Robert Brookings, who have shaped the institution. He recounts its relationships with financial supporters and presidential administrations, and he candidly discusses the problems surrounding efforts at funding. Smith places the Brookings research program in an intellectual context and within the changing policymaking environment of Washington. He reveals how Brookings has withstood seventy-five years of shifts in national politics, external perceptions on the institution, and internal leadership to emerge as one of the most prominent sources of policy expertise in the world. The proliferation of private think tanks and the expansion of governmental research agencies in the past quarter century have changed the policy environment. The Brookings Institution, on its seventy-fifth anniversary, offers a singular vantage point from which to observe the ever-changing relationship between expert knowledge and political decisionmaking in our democracy.
Download or read book Know Your Price written by Andre M. Perry and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2020-05-19 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The deliberate devaluation of Blacks and their communities has had very real, far-reaching, and negative economic and social effects. An enduring white supremacist myth claims brutal conditions in Black communities are mainly the result of Black people's collective choices and moral failings. “That's just how they are” or “there's really no excuse”: we've all heard those not so subtle digs. But there is nothing wrong with Black people that ending racism can't solve. We haven't known how much the country will gain by properly valuing homes and businesses, family structures, voters, and school districts in Black neighborhoods. And we need to know. Noted educator, journalist, and scholar Andre Perry takes readers on a tour of six Black-majority cities whose assets and strengths are undervalued. Perry begins in his hometown of Wilkinsburg, a small city east of Pittsburgh that, unlike its much larger neighbor, is struggling and failing to attract new jobs and industry. Bringing his own personal story of growing up in Black-majority Wilkinsburg, Perry also spotlights five others where he has deep connections: Detroit, Birmingham, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. He provides an intimate look at the assets that should be of greater value to residents—and that can be if they demand it. Perry provides a new means of determining the value of Black communities. Rejecting policies shaped by flawed perspectives of the past and present, it gives fresh insights on the historical effects of racism and provides a new value paradigm to limit them in the future. Know Your Price demonstrates the worth of Black people's intrinsic personal strengths, real property, and traditional institutions. These assets are a means of empowerment and, as Perry argues in this provocative and very personal book, are what we need to know and understand to build Black prosperity.
Download or read book The Forgotten Americans written by Isabel Sawhill and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. Although many have lost faith in government programs designed to help them, there are still trusted institutions on both the local and the 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.
Download or read book Getting Ahead written by Daniel P. McMurrer and published by The Urban Insitute. This book was released on 1998 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adapted in part from the "Opportunity in America" series of policy briefs, this volume focuses on social and economic mobility in the United States. Class or family background has a strong effect on individual success, the authors find. They examine the possible reasons for this relationship; how it has changed over the past century; and the role of the economy, the welfare system, and education in opening up opportunities for the less fortunate.
Download or read book Journey into America written by Akbar Ahmed and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly seven million Muslims live in the United States today, and their relations with non-Muslims are strained. Many Americans associate Islam with figures such as Osama bin Laden, and they worry about “homegrown terrorists.” To shed light on this increasingly important religious group and counter mutual distrust, renowned scholar Akbar Ahmed conducted the most comprehensive study to date of the American Muslim community. Journey into America explores and documents how Muslims are fitting into U.S. society, placing their experience within the larger context of American identity. This eye-opening book also offers a fresh and insightful perspective on American history and society. Following up on his critically acclaimed Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (Brookings, 2007), Ahmed and his team of young researchers traveled for a year through more than seventyfive cities across the United States—from New York City to Salt Lake City; from Las Vegas to Miami; from the large Muslim enclave in Dearborn, Michigan, to small, predominantly white towns like Arab, Alabama. They visited homes, schools, and over one hundred mosques to discover what Muslims are thinking and how they are living every day in America. In this unprecedented exploration of American Muslim communities, Ahmed asked challenging questions: Can we expect an increase in homegrown terrorism? How do American Muslims ofArab descent differ from those of other origins (for example, Somalia or South Asia)? Why are so many white women converting to Islam? How can a Muslim become accepted fully as an “American,” and what does that mean? He also delves into the potentially sticky area of relations with other religions. For example, is there truly a deep divide between Muslims and Jews in America? And how well do Muslims get along with other religious groups, such as Mormons in Utah? Journey into America is equal parts anthropological research, listening tour, and travelogue. Whereas Ahmed’s previous book took the reader into homes, schools, and mosques in the Muslim world, his new quest takes us into the heart of America and its Muslim communities. It is absolutely essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of America today.
Download or read book Affordable Excellence written by William A. Haseltine and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Today Singapore ranks sixth in the world in healthcare outcomes well ahead of many developed countries, including the United States. The results are all the more significant as Singapore spends less on healthcare than any other high-income country, both as measured by fraction of the Gross Domestic Product spent on health and by costs per person. Singapore achieves these results at less than one-fourth the cost of healthcare in the United States and about half that of Western European countries. Government leaders, presidents and prime ministers, finance ministers and ministers of health, policymakers in congress and parliament, public health officials responsible for healthcare systems planning, finance and operations, as well as those working on healthcare issues in universities and think-tanks should know how this system works to achieve affordable excellence."--Publisher's website.
Download or read book Why Presidents Fail And How They Can Succeed Again written by Elaine C. Kamarck and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2016-07-26 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Failure should not be an option in the presidency, but for too long it has been the norm. From the botched attempt to rescue the U.S. diplomats held hostage by Iran in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter and the missed intelligence on Al Qaeda before 9-11 under George W. Bush to, most recently, the computer meltdown that marked the arrival of health care reform under Barack Obama, the American presidency has been a profile in failure. In Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again, Elaine Kamarck surveys these and other recent presidential failures to understand why Americans have lost faith in their leaders—and how they can get it back. Kamarck argues that presidents today spend too much time talking and not enough time governing, and that they have allowed themselves to become more and more distant from the federal bureaucracy that is supposed to implement policy. After decades of "imperial" and "rhetorical" presidencies, we are in need of a "managerial" president. This White House insider and former Harvard academic explains the difficulties of governing in our modern political landscape, and offers examples and recommendations of how our next president can not only recreate faith in leadership but also run a competent, successful administration.
Download or read book Oilfield Revolutionary written by Houston Faust Mount II and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everette Lee DeGolyer wore many hats—and he wore them with distinction. Though not a geophysicist, he helped make geophysics central to oil exploration. Though not a politician, he played an important role in the national politics of energy. Though trained as a geologist, he became an important business executive. DeGolyer left his stamp on oil exploration and his name on a number of philanthropic institutions, including the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University. This account of DeGolyer’s life, at once readable and yet authoritative, covers the period from his training with the United States Geological Survey in the American West, to his geological exploration of Mexico during the Revolution of the 1910s, his pioneering investment in geophysical prospecting technologies, and his work on behalf of the United States government in World War II, including a ground-breaking mission to the Middle East. Houston Mount develops his account of the career of Everette Lee DeGolyer in a way that provides a useful lens through which to examine the rising fortunes of earth scientists in the oil industry and in government—a process for which DeGolyer’s spectacular career was both an exemplar and a catalyst.
Download or read book Overcoming Trumpery written by Norman Eisen and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to restore ethics, the rule of law, and democracy as the centerpieces of U.S. government U.S. government has been repeatedly renewed—sometimes simply repaired and other times reinvented—during its over 230 years. Major aspects of the federal system were broken again during the four years of the Trump administration, so it’s time for even more fixes. This book sets out the damage that was done and important ideas on how the repairs should be made, focusing on ethics, the rule of law, and democracy. Distinguished scholars and practitioners have come together not only to address what went awry over the past four years, but also the deeper weaknesses that have become more evident, and how those weaknesses can be repaired. The problem areas range from ethics and conflicts of interest to the Hatch Act and big money in politics, and from independence at the Department of Justice and government transparency to reestablishing Congressional oversight, and the government’s role in the broader areas of how Americans vote and of international ethics and rule of law. Overcoming Trumpery provides a framework to understand the significant developments that are already happening in Washington with respect to ethics, the rule of law, and democracy. These include the “For the People Act,” the “Protecting Our Democracy Act,” and President Biden’s Executive Order on Ethics. The ideas outlined in this book for fixing flaws in federal governance come from the more than century of collective experience of its expert authors. The book represents a burst of sunshine after a very dark period in the nation’s history.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Health Services Research written by Ross M. Mullner and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2009-05-20 with total page 1457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within two volumes, more than 400 signed entries and their associated bibliographies and recommended readings authoritatively cover issues in both the historical and contemporary context of health services research.
Download or read book Capitol Idea written by D. E. Abelson and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2006 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abelson focuses on a host of high profile think tanks - including the Brookings Institution, the Heritage Foundation, and the Project for the New American Century - and on the public and private channels they rely on to influence important and controversial foreign policies, including the development and possible deployment of a National Missile Defense and George Bush's controversial war on terror. In the process of uncovering how some of the nation's most prominent think tanks have established themselves as key players in the political arena, he challenges traditional approaches to assessing policy influence and suggests alternative models.
Download or read book Max Lerner written by Sanford Lakoff and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1998-10-15 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""Max Lerner: Pilgrim in the Promise Land" is a fair, honest, and vivid portrait of one of the notable American public intellectuals of the century. Sanford Lakoff's perceptive biography illuminates both Lerner's complex life and his turbulent times".--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 17 halftones.
Download or read book Do Think Tanks Matter Third Edition written by Donald E. Abelson and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2018-12-30 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is often assumed that think tanks carry enormous weight with lawmakers and other key stakeholders. In Do Think Tanks Matter? Donald Abelson argues that the question of how think tanks have evolved and under what conditions they can and do have an impact continues to be ignored. Think tank directors often credit their institutes with influencing major policy debates and government legislation, and many journalists and scholars believe the explosion of think tanks since the latter part of the twentieth century is indicative of their growing importance in the policy-making process. Abelson goes beyond assumptions, highlighting both the visibility and relevance of public policy institutes in what has become a contentious and polarized political arena in the United States, and in Canada, where, despite recent growth in numbers, they enjoy less prominence than their US counterparts. By focusing on how think tanks engage in issue articulation, policy formation, and implementation, Abelson argues that they have helped to shape the political dialogue and the policy preferences and choices of decision-makers, but in different ways and at different stages of the policy cycle. This expanded and revised third edition includes additional institutional profiles of key think tanks, an updated chapter on presidents and think tanks, a new chapter on the efforts of a group of public policy institutes to shape the discourse around the possible construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and dozens of new graphs and tables that track the public visibility and perceived policy relevance or impact of top-tier think tanks.
Download or read book The Transformation of American Politics written by David M. Ricci and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the parallel and convergent social, economic and political trends within America that have transformed government in Washington and led to the development and prestige of public policy research centres or think tanks.
Download or read book Do Think Tanks Matter Second Edition written by Donald E. Abelson and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2009-09-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is often assumed that think tanks carry enormous weight with lawmakers. In Do Think Tanks Matter? Donald Abelson argues that the basic question of how think tanks have evolved and under what conditions they can and do have an effect is consistently ignored. Think tank directors often credit their institutes with influencing major policy debates and government legislation and many journalists and scholars believe the explosion of think tanks in the latter part of the twentieth century indicates their growing importance in the policy-making process. Abelson goes beyond assumptions, identifying the influence and relevance of public policy institutes in today's political arena in the United States, where they've become an integral feature of the political landscape, and in Canada, where, despite recent growth in numbers, they enjoy less prominence than their US counterparts. By focusing on the policy cycle, issue articulation, policy formation, and implementation, Abelson argues that individual think tanks have sometimes played an important role in shaping the political dialogue and the policy preferences and choices of decision-makers but often in different ways and at different stages of the policy cycle. This revised and updated edition of the book includes up-to-date data (2000-08) on the growing visibility and policy relevance of think tanks in Canada and the United States.
Download or read book The Promise written by Matt Bennett and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2013-12-18 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bennett chronicles the attempts of the families with children who were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary to change gun laws and explains why it is so difficult to pass effective legislation to limit gun sales. THE BROOKINGS ESSAY: In the spirit of its commitment to high-quality, independent research, the Brookings Institution has commissioned works on major topics of public policy by distinguished authors, including Brookings scholars. The Brookings Essay is a multi-platform product aimed to engage readers in open dialogue and debate. The views expressed, however, are solely those of the author. Available in ebook only.
Download or read book Redeemer Nation written by Orrin Schwab and published by Orrin Schwab. This book was released on 2004 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Dr. Orrin Schwab develops the concept of the modern technocratic state as part of a global technocratic culture and civilization. The author argues that technocratic cultural and institutional forms were, and are, part of a collective ?script? for Western culture. The American script, combined the scientific, commercial, and technological aspects of the Enlightenment with the radical 17th century Protestant belief in America as a new Zion. In the twentieth century, the synthesis of mission, along with global technocratic knowledge and institutions, created the Wilsonian liberal technocratic order. As the principal agent and protector of the modern capitalist international system, America, the self-defined Redeemer Nation, has moved through the controlled anarchy of international relations, from one war and crisis to the next, confirmed in its self-defined role and mission.
