American politics in the age of ignorance
Subtitle: why lawmakers choose belief over research
By: David Schultz
Edition: 1st ed.
Series: Palgrave pivot; Palgrave pivot
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 139
ISBN-13: 9781137308719
Subjects: Politics and government; Political sociology
Description: State and local governments are often trumpeted as laboratories of democracy, capable of significant policy innovation and expertise. Yet the reality is that states more often than not repeatedly reenact failed policies that past research shows do not work. American Politics in the Age of Ignorance contends that policy making is shrouded in many myths and that policy makers often ignore ample research and evidence when it comes to legislating on a range of issues. Examining such hot button issues as restricting immigration and welfare migration, seeking to lure businesses with tax breaks, and providing public subsidies for sports stadiums, this book catalogs a list of repeatedly enacted failed policies that public officials advocate, offering a critical and skeptical analysis of the policy process.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-133) and index.
Table of contents: title: States as Laboratories of Futility; title: The Truth about Taxes: They Don't Matter Much; title: Sportsfare: Welfare for Professional Sports; title: Welfare Queens, Calculative Criminals, And the Myth of Homo Economicus; title: Sending Signals: Illegal Immigrants and Teenage Sex; title: Democracy is the Worst Form of Government; title: Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me.