Review\n"Few issues are as complicated as the relationship between technocratic policy-making and democratic politics. Schonhardt-Bailey does not only walk us through the challenges of monitoring the decisions of both elected and unelected public officials; she also provides a compelling analytical framework and a wealth of empirical evidence to explain patterns of "deliberative accountability". The book is undoubtedly a must-read for all those interested in democratic governance, the quality of accountability, and deliberation in contemporary societies." -- Manuela Moschella, Scuola Normale Superiore and Chatham House\nIn recent decades, we have seen an explosion in expectations for greater accountability of public policymaking. But, as accountability has increased, trust in governments and politicians has fallen. By focusing on the heart of public accountability--the reason-giving by policymakers for their policy decisions (i.e. deliberative accountability)--this work offers an empirical route for understanding why more accountability may not always deliver more public trust.\nThe focus is on the British Parliament, where both the Treasury Select Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee hold hearings on monetary policy, financial stability, and fiscal policy. The intent in these hearings is to challenge policymakers to explain their decisions, and thus the dialogue is expected to be deliberative. But how do we judge the quality of this deliberative accountability? Three metrics are explored and measured: respect, non-partisanship, and reciprocity. The approach is multi-method, including (1) quantitative text analysis to gauge the verbatim transcripts in committee hearings; (2) qualitative coding combined with an experimental design to gauge the role of nonverbal communication in the hearings; and (3) interviews with the MPs, peers, central bankers, and Treasury officials who participated in the hearings. The first method measures the content of 'what' was said, the second examines 'how' the words and arguments were expressed, and the third 
provides a more reflective 'why' component by asking participants to explain their motivations. This merging of the 'what', the 'how', and the 'why' offers a novel template for studying both accountability and deliberation.

Deliberative Accountability in Parliamentary Committees

Business & Money

Schonhardt-Bailey, Cheryl

Economics

Oxford University Press

A systematic analysis of Federal Reserve and congressional deliberations on monetary policy, drawing on textual analysis software and in-depth interviews with participants. 
American monetary policy is formulated by the Federal Reserve and overseen by Congress. Both policy making and oversight are deliberative processes, although the effect of this deliberation has been difficult to quantify. In this book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey provides a systematic examination of deliberation on monetary policy from 1976 to 2008 by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) and House and Senate banking committees. Her innovative account employs automated textual analysis software to study the verbatim transcripts of FOMC meetings and congressional hearings; these empirical data are supplemented and supported by in-depth interviews with participants in these deliberations. The automated textual analysis measures the characteristic words, phrases, and arguments of committee members; the interviews offer a way to gauge the extent to which the empirical findings accord with the participants' personal experiences. 
Analyzing why and under what conditions deliberation matters for monetary policy, the author identifies several strategies of persuasion used by FOMC members, including Paul Volcker's emphasis on policy credibility and efforts to influence economic expectations. Members of Congress, however, constrained by political considerations, show a relative passivity on the details of monetary policy.

Deliberating American Monetary Policy: A Textual Analysis

Oxford University Press, USA

The overlapping and interacting forces that caused a Conservative government to repeal the protectionist Corn Laws against its own political principles and economic interests: extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis.
The repeal of Britain's Corn Laws in 1846―one of the most important economic policy decisions of the nineteenth century―has long intrigued and puzzled political scientists, historians, and economists. Why would a Conservative prime minister act against his own party's interests? The Conservatives entered government in 1841 with a strong commitment to protecting agriculture; five years later, the Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel presided over repeal of the protectionist Corn Laws, violating party principles and undercutting the economic interests of the land-owning aristocracy. Only a third of Conservative members of Parliament supported the repeal legislation and within a month of repeal, Peel's government fell. The Conservatives remained out of power for decades. In this definitive book, Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey examines the interacting forces that brought about the abrupt beginning of Britain's free-trade empire.Using a wide variety of methodological tools to measure both qualitative and quantitative data (including computer-assisted content analysis of thousands of pages of parliamentary debates), Schonhardt-Bailey concludes that economic interests provided the momentum behind repeal, a momentum that overshadowed almost all else. Indeed, as part of a broader momentum of democratic reform, these same interests, left unsatisfied, may easily have snowballed into revolution―as Sir Robert Peel and others feared. But interests alone did not explain why reform rather than revolution emerged in mid-nineteenth century Britain. In order to resolve more fully the long-standing puzzle of repeal, Schonhardt-Bailey traces the overlapping and intertwined forces of interest, ideas, and institutions.

From the Corn Laws to Free Trade: Interests, Ideas, And Institutions in Historical Perspective

Mit Pr

From the Corn Laws to Free Trade: Interests, Ideas, and Institutions in Historical Perspective (The Mit Press)

MIT Press]

After the collapse of the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization talks, agricultural subsidies and market liberalization went high on the political agenda. This work features historical documents that address the thorny relationship between trade and politics, the appropriate role of international regulation, and domestic concerns.

Battles Over Free Trade, Volume 1: Anglo-American Experiences with International Trade, 1776-2007

Howe, Anthony

Duckenfield, Mark

Bannerman, Gordon

Routledge

Battles Over Free Trade, Volume 2: Anglo-American Experiences with International Trade, 1776-2008

Battles Over Free Trade, Volume 3: Anglo-American Experiences with International Trade, 1776-2009

Battles Over Free Trade, Volume 4: Anglo-American Experiences with International Trade, 1776-2010

After the collapse of the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organization talks, agricultural subsidies and market liberalization went high on the political agenda. This work features historical documents that address the thorny relationship between trade and politics, the appropriate role of international regulation, and domestic concerns.

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