Small Power: How Local Parties Shape Elections

An insider's look into the largely anonymous volunteers in local party organizations who make decisions in elections with profound implications for American democracy.\nAlthough scholars have long recognized that local American parties play an important role in elections, surprisingly little is known about the individuals who lead these typically small, volunteer-based organizations. As David Doherty, Conor M. Dowling, and Michael G. Miller show in Small Power, local party leaders influence the electoral process in myriad ways: They recruit and support candidates, interface with state-wide and federal campaigns, and get out the vote in their communities. Drawing from a survey of over 850 Democratic and Republican local party chairs, a nationally representative sample of voters, and dozens of in-depth interviews, the authors describe how parties are organized, who party chairs are, and how they serve the party. Leveraging novel experiments that illuminate how chairs make choices about which individuals to recruit as candidates--as well as whether those choices reflect voters' preferences--Small Power sheds new light on how seemingly mundane local 
decisions can shape party goals, influence candidate pipelines, and affect who ends up winning elections. The book therefore offers unprecedented insight into the substantial influence that local parties and their chairpersons are positioned to wield and how they shape American politics.

Doherty, David

Dowling, Conor M.

Miller, Michael G.

Legal Theory & Systems

Oxford University Press

Super PAC!: Money, Elections, and Voters after Citizens United (Routledge Research in American Politics and Governance)

Recent federal court activity has dramatically changed the regulatory environment of campaign finance in the United States. Since 2010, the judiciary has decided that corporations and labor unions may freely spend in American elections, and that so-called "Super PACs" can accept unlimited contributions from private citizens for the purpose of buying election advertising.   Despite the potential for such unregulated contributions to dramatically alter the conduct of campaigns, little is known about where Super PACs get their money, where they spend it, or how their message compares with other political groups. Moreover, we know almost nothing about whether individual citizens even notice Super PACs, or whether they distinguish between Super PAC activity and political activity by other political groups.  This book addresses those questions. Using campaign finance data, election returns, advertising archives, a public opinion survey, and survey experiments, Super PAC! provides unprecedented insight into the behavior of these organizations, and how they affect public opinion and voting behavior. The first in-depth exploration of the topic, this book will make significant contributions in both political science and applied policy.

Business & Money

Economics

Routledge

How partisanship, polarization, and medical authority stand in the way of evidence-based medicine
The U.S. medical system is touted as the most advanced in the world, yet many common treatments are not based on sound science. Treatments can go into widespread use before they are rigorously evaluated, and every year patients are harmed because they receive too many procedures―and too few treatments that really work. Unhealthy Politics sheds new light on why the government’s response to this troubling situation has been so inadequate, and why efforts to improve the evidence base of U.S. medicine continue to cause so much political controversy and public trepidation.
This critically important book draws on public opinion surveys, physician surveys, case studies, and political science models to explain how political incentives, polarization, and the misuse of professional authority have undermined efforts to tackle the medical evidence problem and curb wasteful spending. It paints a portrait of a medical industry with vast influence over which procedures and treatments get adopted, and a public burdened by the rising costs of health care yet fearful of going against “doctor’s orders.” The book shows how the government’s efforts to promote evidence-based medicine have become mired in partisan debates. It also proposes sensible solutions that can lead to better, more efficient health care for all of us.
Unhealthy Politics offers vital insights not only into health policy but also into the limits of science, expertise, and professionalism as political foundations for pragmatic problem solving in American democracy.

Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine

Medical Books

Patashnik, Eric M.

Gerber, Alan S.

Administration & Medicine Economics

Princeton University Press

Review\n"The United States stands out among rich countries in resisting evidence-based medicine―not in theory, perhaps, but in practice. In this informative book, the authors, all political scientists, document this phenomenon and then consider why ordinary people, physicians, and politicians all resist public spending on research that would produce obvious benefits for everyone."―Richard N. Cooper, Foreign Affairs\n"Unhealthy Politics connects the dots in the complex relationships among physicians, medical societies, the public, and politicians."―Romana Hasnain-Wynia, Health Affairs\n"A remarkable example of the contribution that political science has to make to discussions of policy problems that have chiefly concerned other fields. . . . Patashnik, Gerber, and Dowling bring to bear not only a wealth of original survey evidence . . . but also a wealth of theoretical insights from the policy process and legislative politics literatures."―Jake Haselswerdt, Journal of Politics\nHow partisanship, polarization, and medical authority stand in the way of evidence-based medicine\nThe U.S. medical system is touted as the most advanced in the world, yet many common treatments are not based on sound science. Unhealthy Politics sheds new light on why the government's response to this troubling situation has been so inadequate, and why efforts to improve the evidence base of U.S. medicine continue to cause so much political controversy. This critically important book paints a portrait of a medical industry with vast influence over which procedures and treatments get adopted, and a public burdened by the rising costs of health care yet fearful of going against "doctor's orders." Now with a new preface by the authors, Unhealthy Politics offers vital insights into the limits of science, expertise, and professionalism in American politics.

Recent federal court activity has dramatically changed the regulatory environment of campaign finance in the United States. Since 2010, the judiciary has decided that corporations and labor unions may freely spend in American elections, and that so-called "Super PACs" can accept unlimited contributions from private citizens for the purpose of buying election advertising. Despite the potential for such unregulated contributions to dramatically alter the conduct of campaigns, little is known about where Super PACs get their money, where they spend it, or how their message compares with other political groups. Moreover, we know almost nothing about whether individual citizens even notice Super PACs, or whether they distinguish between Super PAC activity and political activity by other political groups. This book addresses those questions. Using campaign finance data, election returns, advertising archives, a public opinion survey, and interviews with congressional candidates in the 2012 election, Super PAC! provides unprecedented insight into the behavior of these organizations, and how they affect public opinion and voting behavior. The first in-depth exploration of the topic, this book will make significant contributions in both political science and applied policy.

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

Books by Dowling, Conor M.

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

Small Power: How Local Parties Shape Elections

Small Power: How Local Parties Shape Elections

Super PAC!: Money, Elections, and Voters after Citizens United (Routledge Research in American Politics and Governance)

Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine

Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine

Super PAC!: Money, Elections, and Voters after Citizens United (Routledge Research in American Politics and Governance)