(view table of contents)

'Based on data from democracies across the globe, this book examines how election losers and their supporters respond to their loss and how institutions shape losing'--Provided by publisher.

In this second edition of STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: INSTITUTIONS AND REFORM, Donovan, Mooney, and Smith go beyond the purely descriptive treatment usually found in state and local texts. First, the book offers an engaging comparative approach, showing students how politics and government differ between states and communities, and pointing out the causes and effects of those variations. Second, it focuses on what social scientists know about the effects of rules and institutions on politics and policy. This comparative, institutional framework enables students to think more analytically about the impact of institutions on policy outcomes, asks them to evaluate the effectiveness of one institutional approach over another, and encourages them to consider more sophisticated solutions. STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: INSTITUTIONS AND REFORM is the only text of its kind to dedicate three full chapters to direct democracy, land use policy, and morality politics. Throughout the text, boxed features elaborate on the themes of institutions, comparison, and reform, providing thought-provoking, concrete examples of the issues at state and local levels so that students can understand how institutions and systems effect individuals. New "You Decide" boxes and Discussion Questions at the end of each chapter ask students to apply critical thinking to the subject at hand. In addition, vivid tables, maps, graphs, and photographs provide the visual tools that students need to process detailed comparative data about the states. Written by three young, high-profile specialists who have contributed significantly to the field in the last decade, STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: INSTITUTIONS AND REFORM, Second Edition, incorporates into the course the most recent scholarship available, giving students access to perspectives that no other textbook on the market currently provides.

In STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: Institutions & Reform: THE ESSENTIALS--a concise version of their acclaimed new text--Donovan, Mooney, and Smith intrigue students by going beyond the purely descriptive treatment usually found in state and local texts. STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: THE ESSENTIALS offers an engaging comparative approach, showing students how politics and government differ between states and communities, as well as the causes and effects of those variations, all within a manageable 10 chapters. An abbreviated, cost-effective text, STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: THE ESSENTIALS covers the core concepts that students need for a solid understanding of state and local government. Written by three young, high-profile specialists who have contributed significantly to the field in the last decade, STATE AND LOCAL POLITICS: THE ESSENTIALS incorporates the most recent scholarship available, giving students access to perspectives that no other textbook on the market currently provides. In addition, the text goes above and beyond the traditional approach by focusing on what social scientists know about the effects of rules and institutions on politics and policy. This comparative, institutional framework enables students to think more analytically about the impact of institutions on policy outcomes, asks them to evaluate the effectiveness of one institutional approach over another, and encourages them to consider more sophisticated solutions.

Product Description: If Barack Obama had not won in Iowa, most commentators believe that he would not have been able to go on to capture the Democratic nomination for president. Why Iowa? offers the definitive account of those early weeks of the campaign season: from how the Iowa caucuses work and what motivates the candidates’ campaigns, to participation and turnout, as well as the lingering effects that the campaigning had on Iowa voters...read more