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THE LITERATURE ON POLITICAL BUSINESS CYCLES ARGUES THAT PRESIDENTS AND THEIR TOP POLICY ADVISORS MANIPULATE THE ECONOMY FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES, SEEKING IN PARTICULAR TO CONCENTRATE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY IN PERIODS BEFORE ELECTIONS WHILE CONTAINING THE INEVITABLE ECONOMIC CONTRACTIONS IN POST-ELECTION PERIODS. THIS ARGUMENT IS REEXAMINED HERE USING AMERICAN DATA ON GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES AND MONETARY POLICY FROM 1948 TO 1978. CONTRARY TO EARLIER EMPIRICAL WORK ON THE UNITED STATES, THE FINDINGS PRESENTED HERE SHOW LITTLE EVIDENCE OF POLITICAL MANIPULATION OF THE ECONOMY. THE ANALYSIS CONCLUDES BY ARGUING THAT THE THEORY OF POLITICAL BUSINESS CYCLES GREATLY OVERSTATES THE GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO CONTROL THE ECONOMY AND THAT MUCH OF THE EARLIER INDICATIONS OF AN AMERICAN POLITICAL BUSINESS CYCLE WERE SPURIOUS.

In the modern political process, an important role is played by political actors who really influence the political process. The most active actors in the political process include political leaders, political parties, public organizations, etc., which, depending on the level of maturity of civil society in a particular country, influence political decision-making processes and the implementation of national and local policies. The political regimes of different states stimulate or inhibit the initiative of the subjects of the political process. However, the subjects of the political process are able to change the features of a particular political regime. Political institutions functioning in the political process go through the following eight stages. First, it is important for a political institution to define a goal that allows you to clearly define the goals and directions of its activities, which in turn increases its subjectivity. Second, political institutions must make political predictions to increase the effectiveness of their political activities. Third, the ability to make the right political decisions is important for a political institution. Fourth, in order to achieve their goal, political institutions must carry out political socialization and political mobilization, which increases their subjectivity. Fifth, political institutions implement the planned goals and adjust tactical activities. Sixth, political institutions must monitor the implementation of political decisions. Seventh, political institutions must analyze and summarize their political activities. Eighth, political institutions must define new strategies in their political activities, which allows them to increase their subjectivity.

THE AUTHORS EXAMINE THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF TWELVE TWENTIETH-CENTURY EFFORTS AT COMPREHENSIVE ADMINISTRATIVE REORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE EFFORTS ACCOUNT FOR ONLY A SMALL FRACTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES AND DO NOT SEEM TO HAVE HAD A MAJOR IMPACT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS, EFFICIENCY, OR CONTROL. THEY HAVE BEEN A SOURCE OF FRUSTRATION FOR PRESIDENTS AND OTHERS AND HAVE BECOME REGULAR AND UNLAMENTED CASUALITIES OF EXPERIENCE. NEVERTHELESS, THE IDEA OF COMPREHENSIVE ADMINISTRATIVE REORGANIZATION HAS BEEN PERSISTENTLY RESURRECTED BY THE POLITICAL SYSTEM. THE HISTORY OF COMPREHENSIVE REORGANIZATION SUGGESTS THAT SHORT-RUN OUTCOMES ARE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY THE PROBLEMATICS OF ATTENTION; THAT INFLUENCE OVER LONG-RUN ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES AFFECTING GRADUALLY EVOLVING SYSTEMS OF MEANING: AND THAT REORGANIZATION RHETORIC AND RITUAL AFFIRM AN INTERPRETATION OF LIFE AT LEAST AS MUCH AS THEY ARE BASES FOR SHORT-RUN POLITICAL DECISIONS. THEY SUGGEST SOME IMPLICATIONS OF SUCH CONCLUSIONS FOR A MORE GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL LIFE.

Public innovation has become a key objective for governments all over the Western world and is a growing research area among students of public policy and governance. At the heart of this new agenda is the search for ways to make the public sector more innovative. Governments and researchers alike are mainly interested in assessing and promoting innovations in public service delivery, but have paid little or no attention to the need for innovations in polity, politics and policy. This article develops a research agenda for studying innovations in political institutions, in the political process and in policy outputs. It proposes a number of research themes related to political innovations that call for scholarly attention, and identifies push and pull factors influencing the likelihood that these themes will be addressed in future research.

THE AMERICAN VOTER MOST OFTEN EXISTS IN A TWO CANDIDATE ELECTORAL ENVIRONMENT. WITHIN THIS CONTEXT VOTERS HAVE ONLY TO RELY ON PREFERENCE RANKINGS IN DECIDING WHICH CANDIDATE TO VOTE FOR. WHEN MORE THAN TWO CANDIDATES ARE PRESENT. THE VOTER HAS NEW OPTIONS TO EXERCISE AND THUS MODIFIES HIS PREFERENCE-BASED DECISION-MAKING APPROACH TO AN EVALUATIVE ONE, WHERE HE CONSIDERS OTHER CAMPAIGN INFORMATION BEFORE REACHING A FINAL DECISION. IN A LIMITED INFORMATION CAMPAIGN, WHERE ONLY CANDIDATES POSITIONS AND POLL RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE, VOTERS EXHIBIT SUCH EVALUATIVE BEHAVIOR, INDICATED BY SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENTS OF FIRST PREFERENCE'S CHANCE OF WINNING AND BY VOTE TRANSFER TO THE SECOND PREFERENCE. VOTERS ALSO DISPLAY AN AWARENESS OF THE TIME FRAME WITHIN WHICH AN ELECTION TAKES PLACE, CONFORMING MORE CLOSELY TO THE HYPOTHESIS OF EVALUATIVE BEHAVIOR TOWARD THE END OF AN ELECTION SIMULATION THAN AT ITS BEGINNING.

RECENT STUDIES HAVING SHOWN THAT MEMBERS OF 'APPROPRIATE' CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEESS ARE NO BETTER ABLE TO ATTRACT NEW FEDERAL SPENDING IN THE COMMITTEE AREA FOR THEIR DISTRICTS, THIS STUDY EXAMINES WHETHER SUCH APPROPRIATE MEMBERSHIP AT LEAST PREVENTS THE LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDS. FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT IT MAY NOT DO SO. CAUSES OF THIS TREND ARE CITED, AND THE POWER TO RESTORE FUNDS LATER IS CONFIRMED.

ABSTRACTIn US government courses, simulations have been shown to increase students' engagement and knowledge retention. We present an original simulation that focuses on both the interactions between political institutions that contribute to policy making and the normative ideas underlying politics. By exploring a civil rights or liberties policy area, students learn about the importance of both political institutions and foundational political ideas such as liberty and equality. Students role-play members of Congress, lobbyists for a pro- or anti-natural gas pipeline group, and Supreme Court justices. Although the goal of simulations in many US government courses is to teach students about the ways that institutions shape policy, this is the first (to our knowledge) that also integrates normative reflection on the ideas behind political arguments. Assessment indicates that the simulation was effective in increasing students' knowledge of and/or interest in American political institutions and eminent domain.

POLITICAL SENTIMENT IN AMERICA, LIKE SO MANY OTHER ASPECTS OF ITS CULTURE, IS A FADDISH THING, AND AT THE MOMENT, A CONSERVATIVE MENTALITY IS DEFINITELY IN STYLE. FOR THE GENERATION THAT CAME TO EMOTIONAL AND POLITICAL MATURITY DURING THE 1960S THE NEW MOOD IS PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT.

SHOULD THE LEFT ENGAGE IN ELECTORAL POLITICS? WE SHOULD AVOID THE POSTURE OF LEFTIST SUPERIORITY WHICH PRESUMES THAT ELECTORAL POLITICS IS SO THOROUGHLY A RULING CLASS RUSE AS TO BE UNWORTHY OF OUR SERIOUS CONCERN AND THAT THOSE WHO RUN FOR OFFICE MANIFEST AN INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MYSTIFICATIONS OF THE BURGEOIS POLITICAL ORDER.