Democracy more or less
Subtitle: America's political reform quandary
By: Bruce E. Cain
Series: Cambridge studies in election law and democracy; Cambridge studies in election law and democracy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 251
ISBN-13: 9781107612266; 9781107039636
Subjects: Political culture; Representative government and representation; Polarization (Social sciences); Democracy; Political participation
Description: "Why do American political reform efforts so often fail to solve the problems they intend to fix? In this book, Bruce E. Cain argues that the reasons are an unrealistic civic ideal of a fully informed and engaged citizenry and a neglect of basic pluralist principles about political intermediaries. This book traces the tension between populist and pluralist approaches as it plays out in many seemingly distinct reform topics, such as voting administration, campaign finance, excessive partisanship, redistricting, and transparency and voter participation. It explains why political primaries have promoted partisan polarization, why voting rates are declining even as election opportunities increase, and why direct democracy is not really a grassroots tool. Cain offers a reform agenda that attempts to reconcile pluralist ideals with the realities of collective-action problems and resource disparities"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: 1. The ascendancy of reform populism; title: 2. Reform pluralism; title: 3. How much transparency?; title: 4. Participation paradoxes; title: 5. Reform cycles; title: 6. Fair representation; title: 7. Raising the political ethics bar; title: 8. Election administration or policy?; title: 9. A blended reform agenda.