Thomas L. Brunell's Books

How Polarization Begets Polarization

Ideological Extremism in the Us Congress

By: Samuel Merrill III,Bernard Grofman,Thomas L. Brunell

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How Polarization Begets Polarization

Ideological Extremism in the Us Congress

By: Samuel Merrill III,Bernard Grofman,Thomas L. Brunell

Extreme polarization in American politics--and especially in the U.S. Congress--is perhaps the most confounding political phenomenon of our time. This book binds together polarization in Congress and polarization in the electorate within an ever-expanding feedback loop. This loop is powered by the discipline exerted by the respective political parties on their Congressional members and district candidates and endorsed by the voters in each Congressional district who must choose between the alternatives offered. These alternatives are just as extreme in competitive as in lop-sided districts. Tight national party discipline produces party delegations in Congress that are widely separated from one another but each ideologically narrowly distributed. As district constituencies become more polarized and are egged on by activists, parties are further motivated to move past a threshold and appeal to their respective bases rather than to voters in the ideological center. America has indeed acquired parties with clear platforms--once thought to be a desirable goal--but these parties are now feuding camps. What resolution might there be? Just as the progressive movement slowly replaced the Gilded Age, might a new reform effort replace the current squabble? Or could an asymmetry develop in the partisan constraints that would lead to ascendancy of the center, or might a new and over-riding issue generate a cross-cutting dimension, opening the door to a new politics? Only the future will tell.

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Page Count

201

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0197745229

ISBN 13

9780197745229

Redistricting and Representation

Why Competitive Elections are Bad for America

By: Thomas Brunell

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Redistricting and Representation

Why Competitive Elections are Bad for America

By: Thomas Brunell

Pundits have observed that if so many incumbents are returned to Congress to each election by such wide margins, perhaps we should look for ways to increase competitiveness – a centerpiece to the American way of life – through redistricting. Do competitive elections increase voter satisfaction? How does voting for a losing candidate affect voters’ attitudes toward government? The not-so-surprising conclusion is that losing voters are less satisfied with Congress and their Representative, but the implications for the way in which we draw congressional and state legislative districts are less straightforward. Redistricting and Representation argues that competition in general elections is not the sine qua non of healthy democracy, and that it in fact contributes to the low levels of approval of Congress and its members. Brunell makes the case for a radical departure from traditional approaches to redistricting – arguing that we need to "pack" districts with as many like-minded partisans as possible, maximizing the number of winning voters, not losers.

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Page Count

172

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1135925208

ISBN 13

9781135925208

Cycles in US Foreign Policy since the Cold War

By: Thomas H. Henriksen

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Cycles in US Foreign Policy since the Cold War

By: Thomas H. Henriksen

This book describes how American international policy alternates between engagement and disengagement cycles in world affairs. These cycles provide a unique way to understand, assess, and describe fluctuations in America’s involvement or non-involvement overseas. In addition to its basic thesis, the book presents a fair-minded account of four presidents’ foreign policies in the post-Cold War period: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. It suggests recurring sources of cyclical change, along with implications for the future. An engaged or involved foreign policy entails the use of military power and diplomatic pressure against other powers to secure American ends. A disengaged on noninvolved policy relies on normal economic and political interaction with other states, which seeks to disassociation from entanglements.

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Page Count

335

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3319486403

ISBN 13

9783319486406

Book's by Thomas L. Brunell

How Polarization Begets Polarization

How Polarization Begets Polarization

Redistricting and Representation

Redistricting and Representation

Cycles in US Foreign Policy since the Cold War

Cycles in US Foreign Policy since the Cold War

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