At the foundations of our modern conception of open government are a handful of disgruntled citizens in the Progressive Era who demanded accountability from their local officials, were rebuffed, and then brought their cases to court. Drawing on newspaper accounts, angry letters to editors, local histories, and court records, David Ress uncovers a number of miniature yet critical moments in the history of government accountability, tracing its decline as the gap between citizens and officials widened with the idea of the community as corporation and citizens as consumers. Together, these moments tell the story of how a nation thought about democracy and the place of the individual in an increasingly complex society, with important lessons for policy makers, journalists, and activists today.

This Palgrave Pivot presents the first in-depth study of the pioneering Kansas Blue Sky Act of 1911, the first effort in American financial history to regulate the sale of securities in the US. Though offering a balanced examination of critiques of the legislation as a barrier to individual liberty, interstate commerce, and economic growth, the author challenges the prevailing view of the Kansas Act as a complete anomaly, instead exploring sensitively what ‘blue sky laws’ can tell us about small-town market values during the nineteenth-century. Drawing on contemporary accounts of rural commerce and popular stereotypes about rural society, the author takes a cultural-historical approach to the politics of regulation and government intervention in the economy. Situating the Blue Sky Act in the broader context of Progressive Era reforms, the author demonstrates how distinctive patterns of commerce and finance in the self-contained, miniature economies of mid-continental rural communities were often at odds with the “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) standard of American law and commerce in larger markets. Instead the author explores how paternalistic assumptions about individual investment decisions led to the creation of the Act, yet how it was doomed to failure in the context of emerging national stock markets, changing attitudes that regarded stock primarily as a vehicle for trade and the market boom of the 1920s. The book also explores how the initial acceptance of the Kansas model in other states and its later rejection provides a lens through which to examine the fluidity of notions of individual liberty during this period of fast economic and social change. This book will be of interest to researchers working in American financial history, as well as legal history and securities law.

An Age of Accountability highlights the role of test-based accountability as a policy framework in American education from 1970 to 2020. For more than half a century, the quest to hold schools and educators accountable for academic achievement has relied almost exclusively on standardized assessment. The theory of change embedded in almost all test-based accountability programs held that assessment with stipulated consequences could lead to major improvements in schools. This was accomplished politically by proclaiming lofty goals of attaining universal proficiency and closing achievement gaps, which repeatedly failed to materialize. But even after very clear disappointments, no other policy framework has emerged to challenge its hegemony. The American public today has little confidence in institutions to improve the quality of goods and services they provide, especially in the public sector. As a consequence, many Americans continue to believe that accountability remains a vital necessity, even if educators and policy scholars disagree.

This one-volume reference presents the major conceptual approaches to the study of U.S. political parties and the national party system, describing the organization and behavior of U.S. political parties in thematic, narrative chapters that help undergraduate students better understand party origins, historical development, and current operations. Further, it provides researchers with in-depth analysis of important subtopics and connections to other aspects of politics. Key Features: Thematic, narrative chapters, organized into six major parts, provide the context, as well as in-depth analysis of the unique system of party politics in the United States. Top analysts of party politics provide insightful chapters that explore how and why the U.S. parties have changed over time, including major organizational transformations by the parties, behavioral changes among candidates and party activists, and attitudinal changes among their partisans in the electorate. The authors discuss the way the traditional concept of formal party organizations gave way over time to a candidate-centered model, fueled in part by changes in campaign finance, the rise of new communication technologies, and fragmentation of the electorate. This book is an ideal reference for students and researchers who want to develop a deeper understanding of the current challenges faced by citizens of republican government in the United States.

Bringing together a selection of readings that represent some of the most important trends and topics in urban scholarship today, American Urban Politics in a Global Age provides historical context and contemporary commentaries on the economy, politics, culture, and identity of American cities. The eighth edition of this well-rounded and popular urban politics reader maintains the wide variety of reading selections it is known for, as well as many “classics,” while adapting to current events and developments in urban politics, and engaging cities in a post-pandemic world. All-new readings and important editorial commentary include: • Recent political debates about policing, race, and ethnicity in the urban environment; • The impact of climate change on cities, and their roles in mitigating it, as well as preparing for it; • A discussion of gender politics in post-Trump American cities; • A reflection on the increasing importance of private players in city- and metro-politics, from implications for governance, to the growing corporate aspect of smart city initiatives, designed to help urban governments provide important services across cities and metropolitan regions; and • An examination of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on cities, from the initial, devastating outbreak in New York City in March 2020, to recurring shutdowns, life, urban development, and social polarization post-COVID. American Urban Politics in a Global Age remains an approachable scholarly resource for undergraduate and graduate classrooms, as well as a general, wide-ranging scholarly overview of the most important aspects of the field for researchers. It may be taught alongside City Politics: Cities and Suburbs in 21st Century America.

This book is organized to examine the major subjects taught in American politics through the lens of twenty-five hot button issues affecting American politics and policy today. These key issues reflect the ideas, principles, concerns, fears, morals, and hopes of the American people. The authors argue that these issues are the heart and soul of the American political system, serving as the basis for the disagreements that drive citizens, public servants, and elected officials into action. Features of this Innovative Text Examines 25 issues in light of the 2016 presidential election and beyond. Up-to-date chapters reflect important developments in the arenas of immigration, health care, race relations and civil rights, gun control, gay rights, and money and politics, in particular. Includes international coverage with recent and ongoing events surrounding Iran, Syria, Israel and Palestine, and China. A chapter on Russia puts recent developments in Syria, Ukraine, Crimea, and the "near abroad" in context with US foreign policy.

Bringing together a selection of readings that represent some of the most important trends and topics in urban scholarship today, American Urban Politics provides historical context and contemporary commentaries on the economy, politics, culture and identity of American cities. This seventh edition examines the ability of highly autonomous local governments to grapple with the serious challenges of recent years, challenges such as the stresses of the lingering economic crisis, and a series of recent natural disasters. Features: Each chapter is introduced by an editor's essay that places the readings into context and highlights their central ideas and findings. Division into three historical periods emphasizes both the changes and continuities in American urban politics over time. The reader is the perfect complement for Judd & Swanstrom's City Politics: The Political Economy of Urban American, 7/e, also available in a new edition (ISBN 0-205-03246-X)

This revised edition continues to provide a comprehensive introduction to the policies and practices of planning. Discussing land use, urban planning and environmental protection policies, the text explains the nature of the planning process.

This popular text has been thoroughly updated and revised to sharpen the focus on its 'bias and change' theme, include the latest data/studies informing the field, and cover important new topics (e.g., flood disaster in New Orleans). Political Change in the Metropolis, Eighth Edition, continues to focus on the political changes that have taken place in American cities and the reactions of urban scholars to them. In addition to offering scholarly perspectives, the text offers students a theoretical framework for interpreting these changing events for themselves. This framework analyzes the patterns of bias inherent in the organization and operation of urban politics, giving students an in-depth look at the fascinating and constantly changing face of urban politics. Features Accessible writing style engages students in the material. Provides excellent coverage of the impact of immigrants and ethnic groups in the making of the American city. An abundance of historical material helps students better understand the origins and development of urban politics and structures. Case studies throughout the text give students an opportunity to apply important material. The text exposes students to first-rate discussions of political phenomena and empirical literature on those phenomena.