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June 2006
Politics & Government: Elections | Federal Government | Judicial
System | State Government
Government Initiatives: Education Reform| Homeland Security | Social Security & Welfare | Tax
Reform
Politics & Government:
C1 - A War Too Far? Bush, Iraq, and the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election
McAllister, Ian
Presidential Studies Quarterly, June 2006,
v36, #2, pp260-281
“This article examines the role of the Iraq War in the 2004 U.S. presidential election and in Bush's reelection. It examines the ways by which public opinion was mobilized to support war, through priming and by the Bush administration's policy of constantly linking Iraq with terrorism and portraying it as a threat to U.S. security. Using the 2004 American National Election Study (ANES), the article also examines how Bush became personally associated with the war and how this shaped the public's evaluations of his personal qualities. The final part of the article examines the influence of Iraq on both turnout in the election and in shaping the final election result.” Ian McAllister is Professor of Political Science in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. He is currently chair of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project. Fulltext
C2 - Religious Influences in the 2004 Presidential Election
Guth, James L.; Kellstedt, A. Lyman, Smidt, Corwin E.; John C Green .
Presidential Studies Quarterly, June 2006, v36, #2, pp223-243.
“This article […] examines the impact of religious variables
on the vote in the 2004 presidential election. First, it reviews
and evaluates two theories that underlie many interpretations
of religion's role in American electoral politics, namely, the
ethno-religious and the religious restructuring perspectives.
Using both approaches, it deploys a comprehensive classification
incorporating religious affiliations, beliefs, and practices that
is quite successful in capturing the electoral impact of religion.
The authors show that religious groups exhibited distinctive political
priorities, attitudes toward the role of religion in the election,
stands on critical campaign issues, and evaluations of President
Bush's performance in office. They find that some religious factors
had an important role in the Republican victory, especially in
the so-called battleground states. Finally, they discuss some
substantive implications of the findings for understanding public
policies and policy making.” James L. Guth is Professor of
Political Science at Furman University. Lyman A. Kellstedt is
Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Wheaton College. Corwin
E. Smidt holds the Chair in Christianity and Politics and serves
as Executive Director of the Henry Institute for the Study of
Christianity and Politics at Calvin College. John C. Green is
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Ray C. Bliss
Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. Fulltext
C3 - Budget Villain, Local Hero
Cochran, John
CQ Weekly, June 12, 2006, pp1606ff
"Congressional earmarking, or “pork-barrel spending”
to its detractors, is as vilified these days in Washington as
it is pervasive. The practice of allowing individual lawmakers
to set aside money in the federal budget for pet projects back
home is a thread that runs through several ethics investigations,
including the bribery case against former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham
of California. Budget hawks regularly take to the House or Senate
floors to condemn earmarks as wasteful and irresponsible and try
to strip them out of legislation. Other critics of the practice
say the pursuit of money for highway projects, museums and hospitals
back home has come to consume congressional offices at the expense
of broader policy questions facing the nation." John
Cochran is a staff writer at "CQ Weekly". Order
Article
C4 - The Day After Roe
Rosen, Jeffrey
The Atlantic, v297, #5, June 2006, pp56-66
“With two newly-appointed Supreme Court justices and the
possibility of a third, the author notes that there is a real
possibility that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision
that struck down abortion laws in 46 states and the District of
Columbia, may be overturned. Rosen reviews the repercussions that
would result from such a ruling in the states, Congress, the White
House, and the courts. Rosen maintains that the court functions
best when it generally follows public opinion and that, if 'Roe'
is overturned, the group that seizes the "vital center in
a post-Roe world would be likely to dominate American politics
for a generation to come.” Jeffrey Rosen is Law Professor
at George Washington University and author of the forthcoming
book, “The Most Democratic Branch: How the Courts Serve America”.
Fulltext
C5 - Governor in Chief: Jeb Bush's Remarkable Eight Years
of Achievement in Florida
Barnes, Fred
Weekly Standard, June 12, 2006, v11, #37, pp18-28
"If only his last name were Smith. He'd not only attract
national attention as the popular and successful governor of a
difficult-to-govern state. He'd be viewed sympathetically as a
leader who had dealt with family issues--but was also successful
in a state with a surging population. This article portraits the
political leadership of a governor who has presided over a booming
economy with the highest rate of job creation in the country and
an unemployment rate of 3.0 percent (the national average is 4,6
percent). Fred Barnes is executive editor of the Weekly Standard
. Fulltext
Government Initiatives:
C6 - Higher Education, Inequality, and the Public Good
Tannock, Stuart
Disssent, Spring 2006, v53, #2, pp45-52
“At a time when some young Americans are quite literally dying to go college--the primary reason now cited by young recruits for enlisting in the US military is their desire to obtain financial assistance for college--people need to take a serious second look at what is being said and done with higher education and young people in this country. Now that alternative historical avenues for social and economic advancement have been shut down or obstructed, going to college remains the only legitimate, large-scale means for getting ahead. Tannock takes a look at one piece of the overall problem--the wage gap between the college and non-college educated in America--and suggests some of the directions that this larger conversation must explore.”
Stuart Tannock is a visiting scholar at the Center for Cities and Schools, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California-Berkeley, for the 2005-2006 academic year. Fulltext
C7 - The State of U.S. Homeland Security
Panel Discussion, Brooking Institution, June 1, 2006, online edition, 38p
” In three months we will mark the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. While a good deal has been accomplished to protect the country since, much still needs to be done. Policymakers and observers argue the nation must not lose its sense of urgency on homeland security. But what is the state of U.S. homeland security? And with the arrival of hurricane season, how well prepared is the U.S. for coping with the challenge of natural disasters that could afflict the nation? Brookings convened a discussion to examine the overall state of American security with a keynote address by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.” Fulltext
C8 - Can We Afford Social Security When Baby Boomers Retire?
Reno, Virginia P.; Lavery, Joni
National Academy of Social Insurance, Social Security Brief #22, May 2006, 12p
“How affordable are Social Security cash benefits projected
to be when baby boomers retire? The key question is not whether
we can afford the population we will have. Rather, it is how Americans
will choose to allocate national resources to accommodate an aging
population. Many options exist to balance Social Security finances
for baby boomers and those who follow. This Social Security Brief
examines various measures.” Virginia P. Reno is Vice President
for Income Security at the National Academy of Social Insurance
(NASI). Joni Lavery is Income Security Research Associate at NASI
. Fulltext
C9 -The Effect of Specific Welfare Policies on Poverty
McKernan, Signe-Mary ; Ratcliffe, Caroline
Urban Institute Research Report, Posted May 23, 2006, online edition, 51p
“This paper uses monthly Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data from 1988 through 2002 and monthly state-level policy data to measure the effects of specific policies on the deep poverty and poverty rates of ever-single mothers and children of ever-single mothers. The 19 specific policies included in the model are grounded in a conceptual framework. More lenient eligibility requirements for welfare receipt and more generous financial incentives to work generally reduce deep poverty, as hypothesized. Welfare time limits are hypothesized to have ambiguous effects on poverty and our results suggest that some stricter time limit policies may decrease deep poverty and poverty rates.” Signe-Mary McKernan; Ph.D., Economics, Brown University; Caroline Ratcliffe Ph.D., Economics, Cornell University, are both working for the Urban Institute. Fulltext
Tax Reform
C10 - Constrained Tax Reform: How Political and Economic Constraints Affect the Formation of Tax Policy Proposals
Ackerman,Jonathan Z.; Altshuler, Rosanne
National Tax Journal, March 2006, v59, #1, pp165-188
"This paper discusses how the economic and political constraints faced by the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform presented different challenges than the 1986 reform effort and resulted in a substantially different approach to tax reform. It explores how the policy choices underlying the various provisions of the Panel's proposals differed from those underlying the initial 1984 Treasury proposal and the subsequent legislation enacted under Tax Reform Act of 1986. The paper draws two conclusions that help explain the Panel proposals and should provide guidance for future reform efforts. First, the tax system as it has evolved over the last 20 years greatly shaped the Panel's recommendations. Second, the constraints likely to be imposed on tax reform are different, and in many ways more politically difficult, than those faced by tax reformers during the 1980s." Jonathan Z. Ackerman is on the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform. Rosanne Altshuler is Professor at the Department of Economics of Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Fulltext
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