Synopses & Reviews
How does the government decide whatand#8217;s a problem and what isnand#8217;t? And what are the consequences of that process? Like individuals, Congress is subject to the and#147;paradox of search.and#8221; If policy makers donand#8217;t look for problems, they wonand#8217;t find those that need to be addressed. But if they carry out a thorough search, they will almost certainly find new problemsand#151;and with the definition of each new problem comes the possibility of creating a government program to address it.
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With The Politics of Attention, leading policy scholars Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones demonstrated the central role attention plays in how governments prioritize problems. Now, with The Politics of Information, they turn the focus to the problem-detection process itself, showing how the growth or contraction of government is closely related to how it searches for information and how, as an organization, it analyzes its findings. Better search processes that incorporate more diverse viewpoints lead to more intensive policymaking activity. Similarly, limiting search processes leads to declines in policy making. At the same time, the authors find little evidence that the factors usually thought to be responsible for government expansionand#151;partisan control, changes in presidential leadership, and shifts in public opinionand#151;can be systematically related to the patterns they observe.
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Drawing on data tracing the course of American public policy since World War II, Baumgartner and Jones once again deepen our understanding of the dynamics of American policy making.
Review
and#8220;Baumgartner and Jones provide insights regarding the reshaping of American governance that are truly invaluable to our understanding of the political process. There is no doubt this book will be widely cited for both its theoretical innovations and its empirical insights.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Baumgartner and Jones have done it again! The Politics of Information is yet another pathbreaking study from the authors. This time focus is on the development of American government, but both the theoretical approach and the empirical analysis deserves attention well beyond. Scholars of public policy and comparative politics also have a lot to learn from the book.and#8221;
Review
"The Politics of Information illuminates the vast landscape of the national policymaking process. The analysis of the broadening and thickening dimensions of government growth is especially noteworthy."
Review
andldquo;Baumgartner and Jones have again contributed to the body of knowledge on agenda setting in public policy. In this analysis of how governments discover, define, and address problems, the authors present a model for how governments prioritize problems as problems go through the agenda-setting process. . . . Recommended.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Fascinating. . . . Baumgartner and Jones are grappling with a fundamental question of governance: How do we collectively solve problems whose complexity exceeds the cognition of any one person? And what happens when we attempt to impose simplicity on complex problems that defy such control?andrdquo;
Synopsis
During the 2008 election season, politicians from both sides of the aisle promised to rid government of lobbyistsand#8217; undue influence. For the authors of Lobbying and Policy Change, the most extensive study ever done on the topic, these promises ring hollowand#8212;not because politicians fail to keep them but because lobbies are far less influential than political rhetoric suggests.
Based on a comprehensive examination of ninety-eight issues, this volume demonstrates that sixty percent of recent lobbying campaigns failed to change policy despite millions of dollars spent trying. Why? The authors find that resources explain less than five percent of the difference between successful and unsuccessful efforts. Moreover, they show, these attempts must overcome an entrenched Washington system with a tremendous bias in favor of the status quo.
Though elected officials and existing policies carry more weight, lobbies have an impact too, and when advocates for a given issue finally succeed, policy tends to change significantly. The authors argue, however, that the lobbying community so strongly reflects elite interests that it will not fundamentally alter the balance of power unless its makeup shifts dramatically in favor of average Americansand#8217; concerns.
Synopsis
Information is central to government.and#160; Control the flow of information, and you can control the growth of government. So argue Frank Baumgartner and Bryan Jones in their latest book on the American policymakng process. They show how the growth and spread of governmentand#151;and its contractionsand#151;are closely related to how it searches for information, its definition of problems, and its organizational capacity to analyze that information. Just like individuals, government institutions, especially Congress, are subject to the paradox of search. If we donand#8217;t seek, we wonand#8217;t find problems that ought to be addressed. But, if we do look for problems, we almost certainly will find them. And with each discovery of the nature of a social problem comes the possibility of creating a government program to help alleviate it. To make their case, the authors rely on massive empirical datasets that trace the course of US public policy since World War II. Connecting the nature of the search process to policy outcomes, they tellingly show how government policy is intimately tied to the search process in a manner consistent with the paradox. Better search processes, defined as those that incorporate more diverse viewpoints, lead to more intensive government policymaking. Similarly, limiting the search process is associated with declines in policymaking activity. At the same time, they find little evidence that that the factors usually thought responsible for government expansionand#151;partisan control of government, changes in presidential leadership, or shifts in public opinionand#151;are systematically related to the trends they observe.
About the Author
Frank R. Baumgartner is the Bruce R. Miller and Dean D. LaVigne Professor of Political Science at Penn State University. Jeffrey M. Berry is the John Richard Skuse Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. Marie Hojnacki is associate professor of political science at Penn State University. David C. Kimball is associate professor of political science at the University of Missouriand#8211;St. Louis. Beth L. Leech is associate professor of political science at Rutgers University.
Table of Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Advocacy, Public Policy, and Policy Change
Chapter 2. Incrementalism and the Status Quo
Chapter 3. Structure or Chaos?
Chapter 4. Opposition and Obstacles
Chapter 5. Partisanship and Elections
Chapter 6. Strategic Choices
Chapter 7. Arguments
Chapter 8. Tactics
Chapter 9. Washington: The Real No-Spin Zone
Chapter 10. Does Money Buy Public Policy?
Chapter 11. Policy Outcomes
Chapter 12. Rethinking Policy Change
Methodological Appendix
Notes
Index