In recent years, remarkable progress has been made in behavioral research on a wide variety of topics, e.g.: behavioral finance, labor contracts, philanthropy, savings and poverty, eyewitness identification, sentencing decisions, racism, sexism, health behaviors, and voting. Research findings have often been strikingly counterintuitive. Experts in psychology, decision research, policy analysis, economics, political science, law, medicine, and philosophy explore major trends, principles, and general insights about human behavior in policy-relevant settings and provide a deeper understanding of the many drivers—cognitive, social, perceptual, motivational, and emotional—that guide behaviors in everyday settings. Wide-ranging investigation into people’s motivations, abilities, attitudes, and perceptions finds that they differ in profound ways from what is typically assumed. The result is that public policy acquires even greater significance, since, rather than merely facilitating the conduct of human affairs, policy actually shapes their trajectory.

(GOVERNMENT * PUBLIC POLICY AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH * CRIME/JUSTICE)

Successful democracies throughout history—from ancient Athens to Britain on the cusp of the industrial age—have used the technology of their time to gather information for better governance. Our challenge is no different today, but it is more urgent because the accelerating pace of technological change creates potentially enormous dangers as well as benefits. McGinnis focuses on how to adapt democracy to new information technologies that can enhance political decision making and enable us to navigate the social rapids ahead. As society became more complex in the 19th century, social planning became a top down enterprise delegated to experts and bureaucrats. Today, technology increasingly permits information to bubble up from below and filter through more dispersed and competitive sources. McGinnis explains how to use fast-evolving information technologies to more effectively analyze past public policy, bring unprecedented intensity of scrutiny to current policy proposals, and more accurately predict the results of future policy. A revival of federalism is needed to permit different jurisdictions to test different policies. Democracy must be “informed by expertise and social-scientific knowledge, while shedding the arrogance and insularity of a technocracy.”

(GOVERNMENT * INFOTECH AND GOVERNANCE * DEMOCRACY: ACCELERATION)

How can one recognize when public value has been created?  Moore helps public managers name, observe, and count the value they produce, whether in education, public health, crime prevention, housing, or other areas.  Private sector models built on customer satisfaction and the bottom line cannot be transferred to government agencies.  The Public Value Account (PVA) outlines the values that citizens want to see produced by, and reflected in, agency operations:  achievement of collectively defined missions, fairness, and client satisfaction.  For strategic public managers who have to imagine and execute strategies that sustain or increase value into the future, Moore offers a Public Value Scorecard that focuses on the actions necessary to build legitimacy and support for the envisioned value, and on the innovations that must be made in existing operational capacity.

(PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION * PUBLIC VALUE SCORECARD * PUBLIC VALUE)

What's really wrong with Congress is the widening, hardening conflict in worldviews that leaves the two parties unable to understand how the other thinks about what people should do on their own and what we should do together. Members of Congress don't just disagree, they think the other side makes no sense. Both self-reliance (the quintessential American virtue) and community (our characteristic instinct to cooperate) are essential balancing components of American culture and politics; members of the Congress should not set them at war with each other. Former Democratic Congressman Allen explains why we must escape the grip of our competing worldviews to enable Congress to work productively on our 21st century challenges.

(POLITICAL POLARIZATION IN AMERICA * U.S. CONGRESS DYSFUNCTION)

Freedom is the ability to choose one of many available alternatives; occasionally, freedoms are expanded through the creation of additional restrictions because the restrictions provide people with more alternatives. Thus, being “free” or “restricted” is not an all or nothing proposition, but rather a question of degrees. Provides case studies that illustrate the role of restrictions in American life throughout religious activity, noise-making, sexual activities, etc.

(FREEDOM RESTRICTION * GOVERNMENT)

Marcus Cicero was elected to the Roman Republic’s highest office at a time when the very existence of his beloved country was threatened by power-hungry politicians, dire economic troubles, foreign turmoil, and political parties that refused to work together. Cicero’s letters, speeches, and other writings are filled with timeless wisdom and practical insight about how to solve these and other problems of leadership and politics. Topics include leadership, corruption, the balance of power, taxes, war, immigration, and the importance of compromise.

(GOVERNMENT * LEADERSHIP * METHODS)

Assesses the impact of the two conflicts on US foreign policy, military planning, and capacities for counterinsurgency and state building and offers guidance for avoiding the pitfalls and increasing the prospects for success in US interventions. Topics include US strategy toward “rogue states,” learning from our mistakes, reassessing priorities, winning the wars we’re in, unanticipated challenges, and the predicament in Afghanistan.

(IRAQ * US FOREIGN POLICY * AFGHANISTAN)

Explains how the US tax system works, how it affects people and businesses, and how it may be improved. Uses a Q&A format to address questions as: How to recognize Fool’s Gold tax reform plans? How much more tax would the IRS collect with better enforcement? How do tax burdens vary around the world? Why do corporations pay so little tax? What kind of tax system is most conducive to economic growth.

(TAX REFORM * GOVERNMENT * TAXES IN U.S.)

Over the course of US history, the Constitution has been turned upside-down. The Constitution’s vision of a federalism in which local, state, and federal government compete to satisfy the preferences of individuals has given way to a cooperative, cartelized federalism that enables interest groups to leverage power at every level for their own benefit. Thus the trend to toward more government and fiscal profligacy. Taking aim at both the progressive heirs of the New Deal and the vocal originalists of our own time, Greve explains why the current fiscal crisis will soon compel a fundamental renegotiation of a new federalism grounded in constitutional principles. (also as e-book)

(GOVERNMENT * CONSTITUTION: :INVERTED INTENT)

Many communities and regions are still vulnerable to extreme events and natural hazards. Climate-related changes such as rising sea levels will seriously affect livelihoods in many areas. More than 20% of the population in developing countries could face the risks of various hazards such as toxic buildups of salt in the soil, flooding, and coastal storm surges. Combines practical examples from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe with theoretical and conceptual frameworks for anticipating, preparing for, and responding to disasters.

(NATURAL HAZARDS * DISASTER RESILIENT SOCIETIES * VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT)