Policy Battles Research Articles

The State of American Federalism 2023–2024: Judicialization of Gridlocked Politics

Abstract Contemporary American federalism, while characterized by nationalized policy battles in the states, is also increasingly defined by the centralization of power in the federal judiciary. In this introductory piece of the 2023–2024 Annual Review issue, we unpack the judicialization of federalism politics. This process, we argue, has been facilitated by national political gridlock, defined by increasing dysfunction in Congress, and the growth of the administrative presidency. In policy conflicts on subjects ranging from education and the environment to abortion and other individual rights, courts have played an increasingly significant role as the arbiter of the federal–state balance of power. As the articles in this Annual Review illustrate, with a few exceptions, judicialization of federalism has often resulted in the devolution of authority to the states, with significant implications for public policy and democratic institutions.

Dreamers, Queer Kids, and American Culture Wars: Centering Young People in Identity Politics

Abstract Children routinely sit at the center of American culture wars, as parents, officials, and other adults battle over what kids learn in the classroom, which bathrooms they can use, whether they must wear masks or get vaccines, what sports teams they can join, and which schools they can attend. In Democracy’s Child, we describe the crucial reciprocal relationship that exists between children and politics: young people are constituted by their political environs, but liberal democratic politics in turn are shaped and influenced by their young constituents. In this article we ask: what happens when the youngest voices in the most contentious policy battles take the reins – with a specific focus on youth leaders who are challenged by multiple identity-based structural barriers. We train a spotlight on how two youth-led movements – gay straight or gender-sexuality alliances (GSAs) and Dreamers – influenced the rights of LGBTQIA+ people and immigrants amidst opposition from adult adversaries and allies.

Advocacy strategies in state preemption: The case of energy fuel bans

AbstractInterest group literature suggests reformer advocacy groups, seeking policy change and innovation, are more likely to secure policy victory in local government. Entrenched advocacy groups, favoring current policies, are better suited to win policy battles at the state level. Consequently, entrenched groups have pushed state legislatures to limit local governments' decision authorities through preemption across a wide range of public‐interest issues including tobacco use, gun control, marriage rights, and climate change. Yet few studies have considered how competing advocacy groups strategically frame their agenda in preemption debates. We draw on the “scope of conflict” literature to show that opposing camps vary in their issue definition, relational strategies, and institutional frames. For example, while entrenched advocates focus on the main issue under debate, reformer advocates link multiple issues together. Our study case is preemption legislation that prohibits local governments from banning energy fuels like natural gas in new buildings. We use computational text analysis and descriptive inference to analyze state committee testimony of 117 advocacy groups. Results raise important questions about the effectiveness of conflict expansion strategies in venues like committee systems and provide considerations for reformer advocates in their efforts to secure state support and build clean energy campaigns.

The consumer welfare standard and avoiding the dangers of polarized debate in the USA

The Biden Administration is seeking to redefine US antitrust policy that it views as largely responsible for historical underenforcement of antitrust laws in the USA.1 To achieve this, President Biden appointed progressive reformers to leadership positions2 and lawmakers are proposing amendments to the antitrust laws.3 These reforms could be described as a battle for the very soul of antitrust though such policy shifts in antitrust enforcement are not unprecedented.4 Arguably a victor of a previous antitrust policy battle was the Chicago School with its core underlying assumption that markets self-correct.5 Allied to that view was its emphasis on economic theory and analytical methods that rely heavily on economic analysis, especially the consumer welfare standard (CWS). A complete overhaul of US antitrust enforcement policy has yet to take place, but the current leadership of the US antitrust agencies have not held back in their criticism of the Chicago School with what they describe as its ‘focus on “consumer welfare”’ that is ‘warping America’s antimonopoly regime’ and ‘largely blinded enforcers to many of the harms caused by undue market power, including on workers, suppliers, innovators and independent entrepreneurs’.6 While the Chicago School’s influence was profound, focusing solely on the Chicago School does ignore the influence of other scholarship, including the modern Harvard School, and other influential scholars.7 This current ‘obsession’ with the Chicago School without a broader discussion of the nuanced views of many other scholars is polarizing the debate, including over the use of the CWS.8

Something in the air

This paper considers the issue of environmental racism as it relates to Indigenous and Black communities in Canada. Although the climate crisis affects us all, certain communities have felt the effects of environmental degradation more acutely and for a longer period. Environmental policy or practice that disproportionately disadvantages a racial group is an example of environmental racism. The article examines different policy responses to environmental racism in a Canadian context. The paper looks at proposed avenues for addressing environmental racism through the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Private Members Bills, Senate Bills or the new Federal Housing Advocate position associated with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. It also examines a number of grassroots initiatives taking action against environmental racism. The article argues that having the right to a healthy environment encoded in the Charter is the best option for policy reform and that grassroots organizations working in coalitions continue to make meaningful social change as the policy battle continues. 
 
 How it fits theme:
 The political power of the Canadian government has important implications for all citizens, but that power is not exerted equally against all sectors of society. There is implicit power in policy and practice that has lived consequences for those living in communities that experience systemic inequalities in healthcare, employment, and environment. However, these systemic barriers do not render individuals powerless. Grassroots movements are the fundamental origin of all civil rights victories experienced thus far, and will continue to have an integral role in changing the balance of power for generations to come. The example of environmental racism in Canada is a good place to examine the role of state power in racialized communities. At the same time, the individuals fighting against environmental racism through policy and social movements simultaneously are an inspiring example of resistance in praxis.

«КАЗУС СУДИСЛАВА»: ОПЫТ ГИПОТЕТИЧЕСКОЙ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИИ

This work is devoted to the consideration of some details of the historical plot connected with the fate of the younger brother of the famous Prince Yaroslav the Wise - Sudislav Vladimirovich, who spent about 24 years in prison on a knowingly false charge. Traditionally, the details of this historical plot were considered in the context, first of all, of Russian history - the history of Old Rus itself as an administrative-political system and its own as a center for the consolidation of East Slavic ethno-political formations. Rarely have its researchers addressed the issues of the functioning of old Rus statehood in a broad context - as an integral and integral part of a single Eastern and Southern European military-political "symphony". It should be noted that, according to a number of researchers, the first half of the 11th century in Russian history was a time during which the plots of local Russian history were closely intertwined with numerous issues of foreign and domestic political topics - from the Balkan and North Caucasian issues to the Baltic and West Slavic problems. The author of this article considers it possible to pay attention when considering the stated topic to some of its indirect and not always obvious connections and contexts. An analysis and comparison of currently available sources and hypotheses allows us to assume an unobvious influence on the events under consideration of a number of factors - from traditional family inheritance to specific features of foreign policy battles traditional on the East European Plain. The term “hypothetical” accentuated in the title indicates the author’s desire to note the possibility and even some necessity of the emergence of a discussion aimed at increasing the degree of actualization of the plot considered in this article.

Is Internet Voting Trustworthy? The Science and the Policy Battles

Is Internet Voting Trustworthy? The Science and the Policy Battles

Bulawayo Breaks Ranks: Bureaucratic Battles over African Housing and Urban Citizenship in Late Colonial Zimbabwe, 1949–77

By the end of the Second World War, housing for ‘African’ workers in the major urban areas of Southern Rhodesia had become critically congested and inadequate, and ‘European’ settlers’ long-standing primordialist assertion that these ‘tribespeople’ did not really ‘belong’ in urban space had become untenable. Government passed new laws obliging municipalities to increase construction of housing and amenities conducive to long-term African urban settlement and productivity. But when the Rhodesian Front came to power in 1962, it revived the earlier conception of urban areas as essentially ‘white spaces’ and sought to curtail African housing and tenure rights. Social historians have documented how these shifting approaches to post-war housing and urban citizenship were contested by African townspeople ‘from below’, in organised and everyday ways. This article shows how they were also subject to considerable ideological contestation between actors at different levels of the colonial state. It does this by analysing the contested post-war housing programme of the second largest city, Bulawayo, until the dismantling of de jure segregation in 1977. This programme was directed by Dr Hugh Ashton, an anthropologically trained municipal administrator on a paternalistic mission of helping African migrant workers to ‘detribalise’ and become ‘responsible’, propertied citizens within the segregated townships of Bulawayo. Ashton’s modernist vision, backed by councillors and implemented by a cadre of zealous administrative staff, increasingly diverged from that of the central government, whose authority Ashton began to challenge. Tensions heightened when the Rhodesian Front came to power, advancing what Ashton perceived as a ‘thinly veiled form of apartheid’. In the ensuing policy battles, universalist ideas of social change confronted racial essentialism. Bulawayo’s development vision also diverged from the more segregationist vision of the capital, with which some comparisons are made. Finally, the article points out how many of the African officers in Bulawayo’s subtly insubordinate township administration went on to run the city council after independence, which speaks to wider debates about the varied, complex legacies of late colonial urbanism.

No longer a ‘Christian nation’: why Australia’s Christian Right loses policy battles even when it wins elections

ABSTRACT This contribution explains the declining policy influence of the Christian Right in Australia, especially compared to its more powerful American counterpart. Despite seven years of conservative federal government in Australia featuring prominent Christian conservatives, including two prime ministers, the Christian Right has had continuous defeats on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion. This contribution argues the Christian Right in Australia is weakened by the lack of a popular sense of Australia as a ‘Christian nation’, even if it still has a majority of Christian identifiers. Unlike the United States, where a Christian nation discourse is an important political resource for the Christian Right, in Australia the relative lack of such a discourse weakens the link between the Christian Right’s policy agenda and broader exclusionary nationalism. Even when repelling out-groups is politically popular, Christianity is no longer privileged as the national in-group. This contribution empirically examines the use of the term ‘Christian nation’ in recent public discourse in Australia to show why it lacks political power.

DOES POLICY UNCERTAINTY AFFECT EQUITY, COMMODITY, INTEREST RATES, AND CURRENCY MARKETS? EVIDENCE FROM CBOE’S VOLATILITY INDEX

Economic policy drives investment, production, employment, and other macroeconomic indicators of the economy. The study examines the equity, commodity, interest rates, and currency markets, taking into consideration the US economic policy uncertainty (EPU) index. The present work determines the association among policy uncertainty and volatility index, expressed in terms of generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity and period of empirical work spanning from 2000 to 2018. The results suggest that equity markets’ volatility tends to be very high based on a high degree of policy uncertainty. The findings on the commodity market indicate that crude oil and gold prices remain more volatile during the presidential election and financial crisis. One of the essential results shows that the 2000s boom, early credit crunch, Lehman’s collapse and recession, and fiscal policy battles have significantly affected the equity, currency, and commodity markets. The interest rates and currency markets have responded considerably to Feds’ and EPU index. The empirical outcome provides evidence that implied volatility index is a forward looking expectation of future stock market volatility, and it uncovers that policy uncertainty affects investor sentiment. The present work holds some practical implications for the government to formulate policies to regulate the US market.

Interest Groups in Multi-Level Contexts: European Integration as Cross-Cutting Issue in Party-Interest Group Contacts

Policy-specific actor-constellations consisting of party- and group-representatives commonly drive the effective establishment of new policy programmes or changes in existing policies. In the EU multi-level system, the creation of such constellations is complicated because it practically requires consensus on two dimensions: the European public policy at stake and the issue of European integration. This means that, for interest groups with interests in particular policy domains, and with limited interest in the actual issue of European integration, non-Eurosceptic parties must be their main ally in their policy battles. We hypothesise that interest groups with relevant European domain-specific interests will ally with non-Eurosceptic parties, whereas interest groups whose interests are hardly affected by the European policy process will have party-political allies across the full range of positions on European integration. We assess this argument on the basis of an elite-survey of interest group leaders and study group-party dyads in several European countries (i.e., Belgium, Lithuania, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Slovenia) in a large number of policy domains. Our dependent variable is the group-party dyad and the main independent variables are the European policy interests of the group and the level of Euroscepticism of the party. We broadly find support for our hypotheses. The findings of our study speak to the debate concerning the implications of the politicisation of European integration and, more specifically, the way in which party-political polarisation of Europe may divide domestic interest group systems and potentially drive group and party systems apart.

The Sources and Consequences of Political Rhetoric

AbstractHow do political actors use rhetoric after an initial policy battle? We explore factors that lead Supreme Court justices to integrate disagreeable rhetoric into opinions. Although disagreeable language has negative consequences, we posit that justices pay this cost for issues with high personal significance. At the same time, we argue that integrating disagreeable rhetoric has a deleterious effect on the institution by reducing majority coalition size. Examining opinions from 1946 to 2011 using text-based measures of disagreeable rhetoric, we model the language of opinion writing as well as explore the consequences for coalition size. Our findings suggest serious implications for democratic institutions and political rhetoric.

Strategic Sensationalism: Why Justices Use Emotional Appeals in Supreme Court Opinions

Why do justices use emotional appeals in their opinions? I explain this strategic decision using a theory based on conflict and audience. In non-salient cases, justices primarily speak to legal audiences. As cases become more salient, justices also cater to increasingly relevant non-legal audiences. This is especially true for dissenters, who seek to expand conflict and mobilize opposition through the use of emotional appeals when they find themselves in the losing coalition. My results confirm these expectations. They suggest that justices are engaged in a policy battle that does not end upon publication of Supreme Court opinions. Each coalition continues to fight for their position through the content of opinions they write, by playing to the strengths and biases of relevant audiences.

Returning Trafficking Prevalence to the Public Policy Debate: Introduction to the Special Issue

ABSTRACTThe clandestine nature of trafficking for sexual exploitation has prevented the development of reputable prevalence data, resulting in warring factions and battles over data that have hindered efforts to focus on combating trafficking. Articles in this special issue address the problem by discussing data sources and research practices that could help break the log jam. This introduction explains the policy agendas behind the prevalence wars. It also describes the many recent policy battles around legalization/decriminalization of the sex-trade industry that have broken out in the past few years in the European Union, Canada, Scotland, and the United Kingdom, where competing data assertions have been prevalent. Policy proposals made in advance of adequate knowledge about trafficking for sexual exploitation make new and better research a high priority.

The march toward marriage equality: Reexamining the diffusion of same-sex marriage among states

The issue of same-sex marriage and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality has received considerable attention from policy scholars. This is unsurprising given the issue is one of the defining social policy battles of the last decade. State governments at the forefront of this battle have responded by proposing a multitude of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-related policies. In this study, we comparatively assess the diffusion of two of these policies across US states: the legal recognition of same-sex marriages and state constitutional amendments defining marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman. While previous studies have examined the diffusion of same-sex marriage bans across states, none have offered a comparative examination of how both sides of this contentious issue have advanced their policy preferences alongside each other. Using event history analysis, we analyze a unique set of covariates to test two diffusion hypotheses: learning and imitation. We find that for both policies, policy learning is the primary mechanism occurring, suggesting that policymakers learn from one another for the same policy area, even if the policies have different motives or objectives. However, the effect of learning is more prominent for anti-gay policies, suggesting there are differences between policies.

How we built an alumni advocacy programme befitting a great university

The state of Wisconsin is the single largest donor to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Maintaining strong and positive relationships with elected officials — who determine the level of that funding — is vital. In early 2015 Wisconsin governor Scott Walker proposed a significant cut to the university budget. Engaging alumni advocates to fight that proposal was a key component of the university budget strategy. Luckily, the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) was prepared. In this paper readers will learn how WAA rallied alumni and parents to be advocates, utilising a variety of outreach tools. The paper also outlines methods for setting goals and measuring outcomes. Lastly, new trends and ideas in grassroots alumni advocacy are explored. Any organisation that supports higher education will find the methods WAA utilised, and the successes and failures of their efforts, to be useful for their own state and federal public policy battles.

The policy battle over information and digital policy regulation: a canadian perspective

AbstractMany countries find their information and digital policies still dominated by traditional stakeholders, particularly the content industry, major telecom companies, and marketing groups, yet Canada has experienced a notable shift in perspective with a strong and influential public interest voice. This shift toward public interest and participation in the development of Canadian information and digital policies has led to legislation, regulation, and policy outcomes that once seemed highly unlikely. This Article seeks to better understand the changing role of the public in Canadian information and digital policymaking by framing the developments as an ongoing policy development process featuring a series of closely linked changes and responses. The emergence of public participation on information and digital policy issues occurred across a spectrum of issues, yet the traits were strikingly similar: grassroots efforts reliant on social media and the Internet to capture media and public attention and focus it on consumer perspectives, minimal interest from government and regulators; and initial dismissal giving way to hostility from incumbent stakeholders. The Article identifies some of the reasons behind the shift, including the growing importance of information and digital policies, the impact of digital advocacy tools, and the shifting policy pyramid in which users have now largely leapfrogged corporate interests as policy influencers. While the shift does not mean the public interest wins on every issue, it does suggest an important change in influence with long-term ramifications for the development of information and digital policy in Canada that others may seek to emulate.

Learn, Frame and Deploy? Cross-National Policy Ideas and Comparisons in Turkey’s Health Reform

ABSTRACTComparative analysis in health policy not only helps us learn about the organization of health care systems and reforms in other countries but also addresses the difficulties of drawing cross-national policy lessons. This case study on the Turkish health reform of 2003 focuses on the national policy discourse to identify how cross-national ideas and comparative analyses are used by policymakers and other key stakeholders. Building on the ideational perspectives and Kingdon’s streams approach, it explores agenda setting and ideological framing activities. The results provide evidence for the political nature of the process whereby cross-national ideas were deployed in domestic policy battles.

The Whiteness of Wisconsin's Wages: Racial Geography and the Defeat of Public Sector Labor Unions in Wisconsin

In 2011, the passage of Wisconsin Act 10 eliminated substantive collective bargaining rights for public employees in Wisconsin. How did politicians in Wisconsin invoke racial symbolism in the policy contest over public sector collective bargaining rights? To what extent did this policy battle reconstruct racial identities of blackness and whiteness? In this analysis, we leverage a multi-method approach to speak to these questions. We use a historical analysis of race in Milwaukee and current public opinion around support for public sector cuts to frame a discourse analysis of political rhetoric employed by the Walker campaign. We join critical race perspectives to examine how politicians play on existing inequalities as a method of gaining political and electoral legitimacy and achieving a retrenchment of the modern state. Moreover, we build a case supporting the claim that Governor Walker and his allies activated the racial animus of white workers.

America’s Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform

This contribution is a recording of the CAMRI research seminar held at the University of Westminster on November 19, 2014, in which Victor Pickard presented his book "America’s Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and the Future of Media Reform": http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/americas-battle-media-democracy-triumph-corporate-libertarianism-and-future-media-reformWhy do American media have so few public interest regulations? How did the American media system become dominated by a few corporations, and why are structural problems like market failures routinely avoided in media policy discourse? By tracing the answers to many of these questions back to media policy battles in the 1940s, Victor Pickard explains how this happened and why it matters today. Drawing from extensive archival research, the book uncovers the American media system’s historical roots and normative foundations. His book charts the rise and fall of a forgotten media reform movement to recover alternatives and paths not taken. As much about the present and future as it is about the past, the book proposes policies for remaking media based on democratic values for the digital age. Victor Pickard is an assistant professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously he taught media studies at NYU and the University of Virginia, and he worked on media policy in Washington, D.C. as a Senior Research Fellow at the media reform organization Free Press, the public policy think tank the New America Foundation, and Congresswoman Diane Watson’s office. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on the history and political economy of media institutions and media reform activism. His op-eds on media policy debates and the future of journalism have appeared in news outlets like The Guardian, The Seattle Times, The Huffington Post, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is the editor (with Robert McChesney) of Will the Last Reporter Please Turn out the Lights, and the author of America’s Battle for Media Democracy. He tweets at @VWPickard.