Suchergebnisse

Governing in a Polarized Society -- Beliefs, Values and American Society -- Constitutional Government -- Federalism: Cooperation and Conflict -- American Political Parties: Polarization and Conflict -- Elections and Political Participation -- The Media and American Politics -- Congress I: The People's Branch? -- Congress II: Functions and Powers - The Broken Branch? -- The Presidency I: Powers and Selection -- The Presidency II: The President as Chief Executive -- Bureaucratic Power: Federal Departments and Agencies -- The Security State -- Organized Interests: The Real Power? -- The Supreme Court and Judicial Politics -- Regulating Morality: Civil Rights, Liberties and the Conscience Issues -- Social Policy in America: Self-Reliance and State Dependence -- Managing Economic Change -- Environmental Politics -- The American World Role -- The American Political System in a Divided Society

The decision at Maastricht to create a political union and, in particular, to move towards a single currency, constitutes something of an intellectual puzzle. Why did the Europeans decide to create this union, and what are the chances of its succeeding? This book answers these questions and more.

A combination of political and economic forces have helped to return the states to the centre of the political stage. Whether measured by objective indicators (employment, share of government expenditure, elasticity of state revenues) or political institutional changes (the rise of career governors, the increasing influence of the intergovernmental lobby and the spread of state responsibilities), the states have become increasingly important in the formulation and implementation of American domestic policies. However, these changes have by no means reduced the level of intergovernmental conflict. On the contrary, cuts in federal expenditure, the introduction of block grants and public opposition to increases in state and local taxation are likely to intensify debate on distributional questions at the state level.