Download or read book White Collar Government written by Nicholas Carnes and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eight of the last twelve presidents were millionaires when they took office. Millionaires have a majority on the Supreme Court, and they also make up majorities in Congress, where a background in business or law is the norm and the average member has spent less than two percent of his or her adult life in a working-class job. Why is it that most politicians in America are so much better off than the people who elect them— and does the social class divide between citizens and their representatives matter? With White-Collar Government, Nicholas Carnes answers this question with a resounding—and disturbing—yes. Legislators’ socioeconomic backgrounds, he shows, have a profound impact on both how they view the issues and the choices they make in office. Scant representation from among the working class almost guarantees that the policymaking process will be skewed toward outcomes that favor the upper class. It matters that the wealthiest Americans set the tax rates for the wealthy, that white-collar professionals choose the minimum wage for blue-collar workers, and that people who have always had health insurance decide whether or not to help those without. And while there is no one cause for this crisis of representation, Carnes shows that the problem does not stem from a lack of qualified candidates from among the working class. The solution, he argues, must involve a variety of changes, from the equalization of campaign funding to a shift in the types of candidates the parties support. If we want a government for the people, we have to start working toward a government that is truly by the people. White-Collar Government challenges long-held notions about the causes of political inequality in the United States and speaks to enduring questions about representation and political accountability.
Download or read book Good Enough for Government Work written by Amy E. Lerman and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-06-14 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American government is in the midst of a reputation crisis. An overwhelming majority of citizens—Republicans and Democrats alike—hold negative perceptions of the government and believe it is wasteful, inefficient, and doing a generally poor job managing public programs and providing public services. When social problems arise, Americans are therefore skeptical that the government has the ability to respond effectively. It’s a serious problem, argues Amy E. Lerman, and it will not be a simple one to fix. With Good Enough for Government Work, Lerman uses surveys, experiments, and public opinion data to argue persuasively that the reputation of government is itself an impediment to government’s ability to achieve the common good. In addition to improving its efficiency and effectiveness, government therefore has an equally critical task: countering the belief that the public sector is mired in incompetence. Lerman takes readers through the main challenges. Negative perceptions are highly resistant to change, she shows, because we tend to perceive the world in a way that confirms our negative stereotypes of government—even in the face of new information. Those who hold particularly negative perceptions also begin to “opt out” in favor of private alternatives, such as sending their children to private schools, living in gated communities, and refusing to participate in public health insurance programs. When sufficient numbers of people opt out of public services, the result can be a decline in the objective quality of public provision. In this way, citizens’ beliefs about government can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with consequences for all. Lerman concludes with practical solutions for how the government might improve its reputation and roll back current efforts to eliminate or privatize even some of the most critical public services.
Download or read book The Submerged State written by Suzanne Mettler and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-08-31 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” Such comments spotlight a central question animating Suzanne Mettler’s provocative and timely book: why are many Americans unaware of government social benefits and so hostile to them in principle, even though they receive them? The Obama administration has been roundly criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. Mettler argues that this difficulty is not merely a failure of communication; rather it is endemic to the formidable presence of the “submerged state.” In recent decades, federal policymakers have increasingly shunned the outright disbursing of benefits to individuals and families and favored instead less visible and more indirect incentives and subsidies, from tax breaks to payments for services to private companies. These submerged policies, Mettler shows, obscure the role of government and exaggerate that of the market. As a result, citizens are unaware not only of the benefits they receive, but of the massive advantages given to powerful interests, such as insurance companies and the financial industry. Neither do they realize that the policies of the submerged state shower their largest benefits on the most affluent Americans, exacerbating inequality. Mettler analyzes three Obama reforms—student aid, tax relief, and health care—to reveal the submerged state and its consequences, demonstrating how structurally difficult it is to enact policy reforms and even to obtain public recognition for achieving them. She concludes with recommendations for reform to help make hidden policies more visible and governance more comprehensible to all Americans. The sad truth is that many American citizens do not know how major social programs work—or even whether they benefit from them. Suzanne Mettler’s important new book will bring government policies back to the surface and encourage citizens to reclaim their voice in the political process.
Download or read book Unification of Local Governments in Chicago written by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency (Chicago, Ill.) and published by . This book was released on 1917 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Nineteen Local Governments in Chicago written by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency (Chicago, Ill.) and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Consolidation of Local Governments in Chicago written by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book How Should Chicago be Governed written by Bartow Adolphus Ulrich and published by . This book was released on 1893 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Key to Government in Chicago and Suburban Cook County written by Alfred Saucedo and published by Citizens Information Service. This book was released on 2001 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Rules and Restraint written by David M. Primo and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government spending has increased dramatically in the United States since World War II despite the many rules intended to rein in the insatiable appetite for tax revenue most politicians seem to share. Drawing on examples from the federal and state governments, Rules and Restraint explains in lucid, nontechnical prose why these budget rules tend to fail, and proposes original alternatives for imposing much-needed fiscal discipline on our legislators. One reason budget rules are ineffective, David Primo shows, is that politicians often create and preserve loopholes to protect programs that benefit their constituents. Another reason is that legislators must enforce their own provisions, an arrangement that is seriously compromised by their unwillingness to abide by rules that demand short-term sacrifices for the sake of long-term gain. Convinced that budget rules enacted through such a flawed legislative process are unlikely to work, Primo ultimately calls for a careful debate over the advantages and drawbacks of a constitutional convention initiated by the states—a radical step that would bypass Congress to create a path toward change. Rules and Restraint will be required reading for anyone interested in institutional design, legislatures, and policymaking.
Download or read book Municipal Government written by Chicago Public Library and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Publications written by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Property Rules written by Robin L. Einhorn and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2001-12 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Property Rules, Robin L. Einhorn uses City Council records-previously thought destroyed-and census data to track the course of city government in Chicago, providing an important reinterpretation of the relationship between political and social structures in the nineteenth-century American city. A Choice "Outstanding Academic Book" "[A] masterful study of policy-making in Chicago."—Choice "[A] major contribution to urban and political history. . . . [A]n excellent book."—Jeffrey S. Adler, American Historical Review "[A]n enlightening trip. . . . Einhorn's foray helps make sense out of the transition from Jacksonian to Gilded Age politics on the local level. . . . [She] has staked out new ground that others would do well to explore."—Arnold R. Hirsch, American Journal of Legal History "A well-documented and informative classic on urban politics."—Daniel W. Kwong, Law Books in Review
Download or read book The Nineteen Local Governments in Chicago written by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Chicago Politics Ward by Ward written by David K. Fremon and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1983 mayoral primary and general elections proved a watershed in Chicago politics, in which entire wards quit allegiances of the past. New voting patterns formed which generally continued into the 1987 elections. Covers the Council Wars and the election of Harold Washington as Mayor of Chicago in 1983.
Download or read book Publications written by Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency (Chicago, Ill.) and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Civil Government of Illinois and the U S Special Chapters on Chicago and Cook County written by Edwin Corydon Crawford and published by . This book was released on 1890 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Chicago Past and Present written by Samuel Robertson Winchell and published by . This book was released on 1906 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
