Analyzes and surveys how 182 nongovernmental organizations affect the development of federal U.S. educational policy. The alphabetically arranged profiles describe the purposes, origins and development, structure and budget, policy concerns and tactics, political activities, and publications of key citizen interest groups in the field of education. Appendices give information about the survey questionnaire, important governmental bodies, and legislative hearings and list the organizations under study; a short bibliography points to important recent books and articles on educational groups in general. The index makes the guide easily accessible to students, teachers, policymakers, and professionals in education, public policy, and government.

No other reference analyzes the origins, development, programs, publications, and political action of 180 major American organizations concerned with women's issues in such depth. Over 100 experts give an overview of how national women's groups of all kinds and representing varied and broad segments of society have had an impact on a wide array of public policy issues in Washington in recent years. An introduction provides a content analysis, general background, and historical sketch for the profiles, which are arranged alphabetically. An appendix describes six government agencies of primary importance in handling women's issues, as agenda setters and bridges. A second appendix consists of the questionnaire which was sent to each organization covered in the volume. The alphabetically arranged profiles cover organizations with all types of goals and concerns, different racial and ethnic identification, church and temple affiliations: civil, elderly, professional, and occupational associations; social and sorority groups; labor and business organizations; not-for-profit and for-profit groups; research centers; and both partisan and nonpartisan organizations. Students, teachers, professionals in governmental and nongovernmental agencies, researchers, and citizen activists will find that this handy sourcebook is a treasury of authoritative information about how private citizens work to affect national policy and legislation in essential ways.

Interest group scholarship has so far focused mainly on national politics and has had very little to say about interest groups in American cities, counties, school districts, and special districts. This special issue is a step toward remedying that: it is a collection of articles and essays that examine some of the interest groups that are commonly active in US local politics. The contributions herein discuss real estate developers, tenant organizations, teachers' unions, police unions, and local PACs—covering topics such as how they are organized, how they engage in local politics, some of the constraints on their influence, and the nuanced ways in which ideology and identities can sometimes shape what coalitions are possible in the local context. By bringing this work together in one place, in a journal devoted to research on interest groups, the hope is that this special issue will help to cement “interest groups in local politics” as the recognizable research focus it deserves to be.

Written by a mix of established and rising stars in school politics, policy, law, finance, and reform this comprehensive Handbook provides a three part framework that helps organize this relatively new and loosely organized field of study. A central theme running through the book is how to harness politics to school equity and improvement. Key features include: Thematic Discussions – detailed discussions of key topics in educational politics are organized by themes and competing perspectives. The overarching themes are 1) the goals of the U.S. political system (justice, equity, opportunity, efficiency and choice); 2) the means and resources for reaching these goals; and 3) the political behaviors and compromises that seek to mitigate ideological differences and conflicts of interest. Research Oriented – in addition to summarizing the latest research connected to key topics, each chapter exemplifies and reports on the methods and techniques for further exploration of these topics. Reform Oriented – throughout the book and especially in the summarizing chapter, authors provide suggestions for improving the political behaviors of key educational groups and individuals: unions, superintendents, politicians, school boards, teachers, and parents.

Shaping Education Policy is a comprehensive overview of education politics and policy during the most turbulent and rapidly changing period in American history. Respected scholars review the history of education policy to explain the political powers and processes that shape education today. Chapters cover major themes that have influenced education, including the civil rights movement, federal involvement, the accountability movement, family choice, and development of nationalization and globalization. Sponsored by the Politics of Education Association, this edited collection examines the tumultuous shifts in education policy over the last six decades and projects the likely future of public education. This book is a necessary resource for understanding the evolution, current status, and possibilities of educational policy and politics.

This compelling new book asks: How can American education policy be consistent with democratic ideals? Robust democracy is the combination of participation, self-rule, equality, understanding, and inclusion, but these norms can produce contradictory policy. Local control in education policy can undermine educational equality. Participation in teachers unions can improve working conditions but thwart self-rule by local taxpayers. The Democratic Dilemma of American Education draws on contemporary research in political science and education policy to offer remarkably balanced insights into these challenging issues. Expertly navigating through local, state, and federal layers of education policy, Arnold Shober examines contemporary controversies over education governance, teachers unions and collective bargaining, school funding, school choice, academic accountability, and desegregation. Shober describes the inherent practical dilemmas of current policy and the difficulties policymakers face in overcoming them to produce lasting educational reform in a democratic, federal system of government. Timely, engaging, and accessible, this is the ideal resource for courses in public policy as well as education and politics.

In his latest book, Joel Spring covers major political, economic and social issues affecting US and global education policy today. Crafted to evoke classroom discussion, this book explores contemporary issues such as the pandemic, institutional racism, religious controversies, nationalism and immigration, increased reliance on online instruction, climate change, economics of education and the deep state in education. Giving students the opportunity to engage in critical thinking and explore the growing sense that US and global education is in distress and in need of fundamental transformation, this book forces readers to examine their own values and how they might apply this thinking to their own education policy and practice.

Educational Change and the Political Process brings together key ideas on both the system of educational policy and the policy process in the United States. It provides students with a broad, methodical understanding of educational policy. No other textbook offers as comprehensive a view of the US educational policy procedure and political systems. Section I discusses the actors and systems that create and implement policy on both the federal and the local level; Section II walks students through the policy process from idea to implementation to evaluation; and Section III delves into three major forces driving the creation of educational policies in the current era—accountability, equity, and market-driven reforms. Each chapter provides case studies, discussion questions, and classroom activities to scaffold learning, as well as a bibliography for further reading to deepen exploration of these topics. This new edition will explore recent Trump-era and post-Trump era US politics and policy changes as well as the politics of race.

This book , The Author addresses the following issues: how and to what effect judicial action has changed since the adoption of the charter, both at the national level and in Quebec; howjudges seek to reconcile particular groups claims with the sense of community integral to a free and democratic society; the implications of these and other developments for interest group advocacy, particular within parliament; and means of strengthening the voice of under represented groups within elected institutions.

This book is the fifth in a series on research and theory dedicated to advancing our understanding of schools through empirical study and theoretical analysis. Scholars, both young and established, are invited to publish original analyses, but we especially encourage young scholars to contribute to this series. The current volume is similar to its predecessors in that it provides a mix of beginning and established scholars and a broad range of theoretical perspectives; in all 14 authors contributed to 9 separate but related analyses, which were selected for publication this year.