In this fascinating, theoretically informed case study of policy-making, Jack R. Van Der Slik demonstrates partisan politics in action in Illinois. Specifically, he shows how major changes in governing state universities were enacted over the objections of members of the higher education community, who preferred to maintain the status quo. In 1991, Republican Governor Jim Edgar, enthusiastically aided by Lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra, began a political effort to decentralize the "system of systems", which had governed state universities since the 1960s. Despite partisan defeat of their plan in 1993, Edgar and Kustra managed to neutralize support for the status quo in the educational community. After their 1995 landslide reelection, which brought about Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature, Edgar and Kustra were so successful in achieving their goals that they actually had to restrain the legislature's enthusiasm for decentralization: the legislature wanted to extend decentralization to community colleges. To account for these policy shifts, Van Der Slik interviewed twenty-five significant players from the executive branch of Illinois government, from the legislature, and from the educational community. Grounding his study theoretically, he compared his findings to previous studies in American policy-making: Jack Kingom's 1984 notion of the crucial role of the "policy entrepreneur"; arguments in 1993 by Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones that public policies are inherently unstable and that discoverable phenomena can account for policy eruption; and research in 1995 by Charles O. Jones covering presidential transitions from Kennedy to Reagan. In thisanalysis of political give and take, Van Der Slik notes that elected officials proposed a solution to the problems of bureaucratic bloat and unresponsiveness that leaders of the higher education community would not support. Political leaders based their actions on bold intuition rather than on a rational consideration of the consequences. Given the possibility of change, Van Der Slik observes, politicians instinctively knew what policies to effect. To a remarkable degree, the political actions in Illinois fit the theoretical formulations of previous scholarship in national policy-making. As key participants recount their own actions and their observations, then, Van Der Slik places what happened in Illinois into a larger context.
Charlie Rangel came off the mean streets of Harlem for his first election to the U.S. House of Congress in 1970. Always fashionably attired, he is a charming man with a distinctively raspy voice and a sharp sense of humor. He is ever ready with quick and penetrating arguments for his views. Charlie seems to be all you can expect a congressman to be. By cultivating his congressional district, loyally voting for the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and long-suffering patience, Rangel ascended to the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee in 2007, a top spot for congressional influence. With that prominence came greater visibility, media scrutiny and sad evidence of a less than honorable record of taking care of himself as well as his constituents. Forty years after his first election to Congress, Charlie Rangel's House colleagues censured him for ethical misconduct. Rangel called "Foul!" He said his entire record deserved consideration, not just his "sloppy mistakes" about his income taxes and financial records. Jack R. Van Der Slik, an accomplished congressional scholar, offers fair consideration in this political biography of the engaging, but sometimes slippery, successor to Harlem's Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Rangel came to the House as one of the "new breed," and has stayed long, perhaps too long, as an "old bull." No doubt Charlie Rangel faithfully served Harlem. He also served himself, but not always the best interests of the Americans who are not his constituents. But you be the judge. Written for a general audience as well as for students of politics, this book much about how well and badly Congress works and why it has become such a partisan arena. With an engaging, but disappointing central character, this "Greek tragedy" ends with a conclusion about Charlie Rangel-- "One is enough.
In this fascinating, theoretically informed case study of policy-making, Jack R. Van Der Slik demonstrates partisan politics in action in Illinois. Specifically, he shows how major changes in governing state universities were enacted over the objections of members of the higher education community, who preferred to maintain the status quo. In 1991, Republican Governor Jim Edgar, enthusiastically aided by Lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra, began a political effort to decentralize the "system of systems", which had governed state universities since the 1960s. Despite partisan defeat of their plan in 1993, Edgar and Kustra managed to neutralize support for the status quo in the educational community. After their 1995 landslide reelection, which brought about Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature, Edgar and Kustra were so successful in achieving their goals that they actually had to restrain the legislature's enthusiasm for decentralization: the legislature wanted to extend decentralization to community colleges. To account for these policy shifts, Van Der Slik interviewed twenty-five significant players from the executive branch of Illinois government, from the legislature, and from the educational community. Grounding his study theoretically, he compared his findings to previous studies in American policy-making: Jack Kingom's 1984 notion of the crucial role of the "policy entrepreneur"; arguments in 1993 by Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones that public policies are inherently unstable and that discoverable phenomena can account for policy eruption; and research in 1995 by Charles O. Jones covering presidential transitions from Kennedy to Reagan. In thisanalysis of political give and take, Van Der Slik notes that elected officials proposed a solution to the problems of bureaucratic bloat and unresponsiveness that leaders of the higher education community would not support. Political leaders based their actions on bold intuition rather than on a rational consideration of the consequences. Given the possibility of change, Van Der Slik observes, politicians instinctively knew what policies to effect. To a remarkable degree, the political actions in Illinois fit the theoretical formulations of previous scholarship in national policy-making. As key participants recount their own actions and their observations, then, Van Der Slik places what happened in Illinois into a larger context.
The most comprehensive state election study ever undertaken, Elections in Pennsylvania provides data and analysis for more than 13,000 general elections and more than 6,000 primary elections held in the state between 1900 and 1998, with a postscript examining in less detail the elections of 2000 and 2002. Included are all elections for president, governor, U.S. senators and representatives, statewide offices, and members of the General Assembly. The extensive period of time covered allows the author to provide an important historical perspective on electoral trends, distinguishing what are genuinely new developments in electoral dynamics and voting behavior in recent decades from what are continuations of patterns earlier in the century.
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