This book offers a general discussion of a wide range of political reforms by addressing how the American political system would be different if various reforms were adopted. Advocating a wide menu of proposals and weighing their good and bad effects, this book does not attempt exhaustive analysis of a single topic. Rather, it gives general introductions to each issue. It examines some of the most important rules that shape America's electoral landscape, assembling the best evidence available to anticipate what would happen if certain rules were changed. Designed to make readers think and analyze the current electoral status quo in the U.S., this book covers electoral reform and American politics, the public's attitudes, problems with congressional elections, electing the Congress and the President, ballot selection, campaign finance, and the mechanics of running an election. An appropriate and thought-provoking book for any reader who wonders about the current electoral process in the U.S., and is interested in learning about the possible effects of the current reform movement.

Reforming the Republic: Democratic Institutions for the New America

Politics & Social Sciences

DONOVAN, TODD

BOWLER, SHAUN

Politics & Government

Pearson

Book by Bowler, Shaun, Cain, Bruce E.

Clicker Politics: Essays on the California Recall

Cain, Bruce E.

PRENTICE/HALL

Losers' Consent: Elections and Democratic Legitimacy (Comparative Politics)

Democratic elections are designed to create unequal outcomes: for some to win, others have to lose. This book examines the consequences of this inequality for the legitimacy of democratic political institutions and systems. Using survey data collected in democracies around the globe, the authors argue that losing generates ambivalent attitudes towards political authorities. Because the efficacy and ultimately the survival of democratic regimes can be seriously threatened if the losers do not consent to their loss, the central themes of this book focus on losing: how losers respond to their loss and how institutions shape losing. While there tends to be a gap in support for the political system between winners and losers, it is not ubiquitous. The book paints a picture of losers' consent that portrays losers as political actors whose experience and whose incentives to accept defeat are shaped both by who they are as individuals as well as the political environment in which loss is given meaning. Given that the winner-loser gap in legitimacy is a persistent feature of democratic politics, the findings presented in this book contain crucial implications for our understanding of the functioning and stability of democracies.

Listhaug, Ola

Legal Theory & Systems

Oxford University Press

Based on data from new and established contemporary democracies across the globe, this leading team of experts examines how election losers and their supporters respond to their loss and how institutions shape losing. Losers' Consent shows how being able to accept losing is one of the central requirements of democracy, and provides a major new contribution to our understanding of political legitimacy, comparative political behaviour, and democratic stability.

Institutions 'matter' to electoral reform advocates and political scientists - both argue that variation in electoral institutions affect how elected officials and citizens behave. Change the rules, and citizen engagement with politics can be renewed. Yet a look at the record of electoral reform reveals a string of disappointments. This book examines a variety of reforms, including campaign finance, direct democracy, legislative term limits, and changes to the electoral system itself. This study finds electoral reforms have limited, and in many cases, no effects. Despite reform advocates' claims, and contrary to the 'institutions matter' literature, findings here suggest there are hard limits to effects of electoral reform. The explanations for this are threefold. The first is political. Reformers exaggerate claims about transformative effects of new electoral rules, yet their goal may simply be to maximize their partisan advantage. The second is empirical. Cross-sectional comparative research demonstrates that variation in electoral institutions corresponds with different patterns of political attitudes and behaviour. But this method cannot assess what happens when rules are changed. Using examples from the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, and elsewhere this book examines attitudes and behaviour across time where rules were changed. Results do not match expectations from the institutional literature. Third is a point of logic. There is an inflated sense of the effects of institutions generally, and of electoral institutions in particular. Given the larger social and economic forces at play, it is unrealistic to expect that changes in electoral arrangements will have substantial effects on political engagement or on how people view politics and politicians. Institutional reform is an almost constant part of the political agenda in democratic societies. Someone, somewhere, always has a proposal not just to change the workings of the system but to reform it. The book is about how and why such reforms disappoint. Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu. The Comparative Politics series is edited by Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, and Kenneth Carty, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia.

The Limits of Electoral Reform (Comparative Politics)

Research on election campaigning has been left to journalists for the most part and available studies have tended to focus only on one country or even just one party, usually the victor. Despite the central importance of elections to representative democracy, there is no systematic study available of how exactly the parties wage their election campaigns. And these campaigns are becoming ever more expensive and more reliant on new media technologies. This book is the first-ever crossnational study of campaigning, examining recent elections in nine countries across three continents. The authors are all national experts; the case-studies are based on detailed interviewing and research of the parties. The book starts with a lengthy comparative introduction which shows where this research fits into the available literature. This is followed by the case-studies written according to a common framework. The book concludes with a study on campaign 'effects' and a final chapter which assesses the book's main findings.

Electoral Strategies and Political Marketing

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting, and Direct Democracy

Referenda on important public policy questions have come to play a central role in policy making in many states. Referenda, or ballot propositions, have resulted in limits on taxation and limits on the number of terms of elected officials, and have dealt with bilingual education, campaign finances, and affirmative action, in states all over the country. Shaun Bowler and Todd Donovan present a searching and original examination of how voters make decisions in direct referenda. The authors ask if voters have some information about the issue easily at their disposal and if they make choices that seem sensible given their interests and the information they have. Looking at the way voters respond to different kinds of questions, the authors suggest that while direct democracy has its failings, the flaws do not necessarily lie with citizens being "duped," nor with voters approving propositions they do not want or do not understand at some basic level. As cynicism about government has increased many have sought to take policy questions out of the hands of elected officials and put the questions directly before the voters for decision. And yet many are skeptical about the ability of voters to make intelligent decisions about complex policy issues. This important book demonstrates that voters are capable of responding thoughtfully to referenda questions. This book will appeal to students of contemporary American politics and electoral politics. Shaun Bowler is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California at Irvine. Todd Donovan is Associate Professor of Political Science, Western Washington University.

Donovan, Todd Andrew

University of Michigan Press

Referenda on important public policy questions have come to play a central role in policy making in many states. Referenda, or ballot propositions, have resulted in limits on taxation and limits on the number of terms of elected officials, and have dealt with bilingual education, campaign finances, and affirmative action, in states all over the country.Shaun Bowler and Todd Donovan present a searching and original examination of how voters make decisions in direct referenda. The authors ask if voters have some information about the issue easily at their disposal and if they make choices that seem sensible given their interests and the information they have. Looking at the way voters respond to different kinds of questions, the authors suggest that while direct democracy has its failings, the flaws do not necessarily lie with citizens being "duped," nor with voters approving propositions they do not want or do not understand at some basic level.As cynicism about government has increased many have sought to take policy questions out of the hands of elected officials and put the questions directly before the voters for decision. And yet many are skeptical about the ability of voters to make intelligent decisions about complex policy issues. This important book demonstrates that voters are capable of responding thoughtfully to referenda questions.This book will appeal to students of contemporary American politics and electoral politics.Shaun Bowler is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California at Irvine. Todd Donovan is Associate Professor of Political Science, Western Washington University.

Early in the twentieth century, many American states began experimenting with direct democracy. Direct democracy -- primarily the initiative device -- allows groups to place directly before voters laws affecting taxation, spending, term limits, school choice, gay rights, immigration, and numerous other state issues. Ballot initiatives were expected to allow citizens the option of getting around legislators, who were seen as beholden to wealthy interests; early defenders of the process argued it would make state politics more responsive to the public will, and more responsible. Citizens as Legislators examines direct democracy in America at the end of the twentieth century to see if it has lived up to these expectations.The seven contributors to this volume use the American experience with direct democracy to investigate some fundamental questions of politics: Can modern democracy have direct citizen participation in legislation? What are the consequences of more (or less) direct citizen access to government?The authors look at the context of initiative campaigns and detail the rise of the modern initiative campaign industry. They examine how campaigns affect voters and how voters deal with the array of decisions they face in direct democracy states. They go on to explain why certain policy outcomes are different in direct democracy states.

CITIZENS AS LEGISLATORS: DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES (PARLIAMENTS & LEGISLATURES)

TOLBERT, CAROLINE

Ohio State University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by BOWLER, SHAUN. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by BOWLER, SHAUN

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by BOWLER, SHAUN. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Reforming the Republic: Democratic Institutions for the New America

Clicker Politics: Essays on the California Recall

Losers' Consent: Elections and Democratic Legitimacy (Comparative Politics)

Losers' Consent: Elections and Democratic Legitimacy (Comparative Politics)

The Limits of Electoral Reform (Comparative Politics)

Electoral Strategies and Political Marketing

Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting, and Direct Democracy

Demanding Choices: Opinion, Voting, and Direct Democracy

CITIZENS AS LEGISLATORS: DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES (PARLIAMENTS & LEGISLATURES)