Two respected students of Washington politics and Congress for >40 years, and authors of The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Oxford UP, 2006), argue that acrimony and hyper-partisanship have seeped into every part of the US political process. The Republicans have taken on the role of insurgent outlier--ideologically extreme, scornful of compromise, contemptuous of the established regime, and unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science. “The political system has become grievously hobbled at a time when the country faces unusually serious problems and grave threats…[the US] is squandering its economic future and putting itself at risk because of an inability to govern effectively.” Two overriding problems have led Congress and the US to the brink of institutional collapse: 1) the serious mismatch between our political parties which have become vehemently adversarial, and a governing system that, unlike a parliamentary democracy, makes it extremely difficult for majorities to act; 2) while both parties participate in tribal warfare, both sides are not equally culpable—a condition of “asymmetric polarization.” Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet reform to solve everything, but the authors do offer a number of ideas, as in their 2006 book.

(POLITICS OF EXTREMISM * CONGRESS POLARIZED * GOVERNMENT)

As individuals, communities, and organizations routinely struggle to recover from disasters, they are beset by a duplication of efforts, poor inter-organizational coordination, development and implementation of policies that are not shaped by local needs, and the spread of misinformation. Investment in pre-event planning for post-disaster recovery remains low. Analyzes existing practice to uncover problems and recommend solutions.

(DISASTER RECOVERY: PLANNING)

Countries that are rich in petroleum have less democracy, less economic stability, and more frequent civil wars than countries without oil. Traces the oil curse to the upheaval of the 1970s, when governments across the developing world seized control of their countries’ oil industries. Today, the oil-rich countries are 50% more likely to be ruled by autocrats - and twice as likely to descend into civil war – than countries without oil. Shows why oil wealth typically creates less economic growth than it should, why it produces more jobs for men than for women, and why it creates more problems in poor states than in rich ones. Also warns that the global thirst for oil is causing companies to drill in increasingly poor countries, which could further spread the oil curse.

(DEVELOPMENT AND OIL RESOURCES * “OIL CURSE”)

Describes and compares how semi-autonomous agencies are created and governed by 30 governments; explains the crowded world of agencies, their tasks, autonomy, control and history. Discusses agencification as a global phenomenon, agencification in different politico-administrative traditions, and current challenges in agencification in Europe and beyond. Evidence-based lessons and recommendations are formulated to improve agencification policies.

(GOVERNMENT * PUBLIC SECTOR AGENCIFICATION)

Libertarians can and should care about social justice. Tomasi offers a “new theory” committed to both limited government and the material betterment of the poor. Property rights are best defended as requirements of democratic legitimacy. Free market fairness, a “market democratic” concept of twin commitment to economic liberty and a fair distribution of goods and opportunities, is morally superior social justice, American style.

(LIBERTARIANISM * FREE MARKET FAIRNESS * SOCIAL JUSTICE)

During the first decade of the 21C, the US increasingly has relaxed its regulatory posture in the face of critical challenges to public health and the environment. This is true for regulation of recycling end-of-life products such as autos and electronic components, potentially hazardous chemicals, and health claims on food labels. Coincidentally, the EU has gravitated toward more restrictive regulation in these very same areas. How might we explain these diverging regulatory trajectories of the world's two largest market economies in an era of rising public awareness of dangers to the public and the planet? The explanation derives not from cultural differences in willingness to tolerate risk, but rather from distinctive regulatory tradeoffs - between environment and competitiveness in the US and environment, competitiveness, and integration in the EU.

(ENVIRONMENT REGULATION * HEALTH REGULATION * REGULATION: US AND EUROPE)

Around the world, government officials responsible for public budgeting are facing demands to make their patterns of spending more transparent and their processes more participatory. Demands are coming from citizens, other government officials, economic actors, and increasingly from international sources. Looks at the characteristics, causes, and consequences of the shift toward greater transparency, participation, and accountability: where it is happening (in Asia, Africa, and Latin America), under what conditions, and what the future holds for this trend. This international movement, aided by the Open Government Partnership recently launched at the UN by President Obama and other heads of state, is picking up steam.

(OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP * BUDGET TRANSPARENCY * GOVERNMENT)

While governments around the world struggle to maintain service levels amid financial crises, innovators are improving social outcomes for citizens by changing the system from within. Presents case studies of social innovation that have led to significant social change, drawing on research in the US (public education in New Orleans, higher education in Virginia), Canada (financial literacy education), Japan (medical informatics), Germany (solar energy), Denmark (institutional reform), and the Netherlands (Alzheimer cafés). Chapters also discuss cross-boundary thinking, transformative change, and the arts of making a start, of making things happen, and of making sense.

(GOVERNMENT * CHANGE AGENTS * METHODS * SOCIAL INNOVATION STRATEGY)

Ubiquitous today in rich and middle-income countries, government regulation can be explained not so much by the failure of markets as by the failure of courts to solve contract and tort disputes cheaply, predictably, and impartially. When courts are expensive, unpredictable, and biased, the public will seek alternatives to dispute resolution; regulation is such an alternative form, and the more efficient strategy for social control of business. Shleifer does not offer an unconditional endorsement of regulation and its expansion; rather, it is better than its alternatives, particularly litigation.

(REGULATION * GOVERNMENT * BUSINESS REGULATION)

Bush, Cheney, Rove, & Perry created a conservative political agenda in Texas that is now sweeping the country and defining our national identity. Through its vigorous support of banking deregulation, lax environmental standards, draconian tax cuts, fierce championing of states’ rights, gun ownership, and sexual abstinence, Texas has become the bellwether of a far-reaching national movement that continues to have profound social and economic consequences for us all. “Like it or not, as Texas goes, so goes the nation.”

(SOCIETY * GOVERNMENT * CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT AND TEXAS * TEXAS CONSERVATISM)