Over the past generation, the Democratic and Republican parties have each become nationally coordinated political teams. American political institutions, on the other hand, remain highly decentralized. Laboratories against Democracy shows how national political conflicts are increasingly flowing through the subnational institutions of state politics—with profound consequences for public policy and American democracy.
Jacob Grumbach argues that as Congress has become more gridlocked, national partisan and activist groups have shifted their sights to the state level, nationalizing state politics in the process and transforming state governments into the engines of American policymaking. He shows how this has had the ironic consequence of making policy more varied across the states as red and blue party coalitions implement increasingly distinct agendas in areas like health care, reproductive rights, and climate change. The consequences don’t stop there, however. Drawing on a wealth of new data on state policy, public opinion, money in politics, and democratic performance, Grumbach traces how national groups are using state governmental authority to suppress the vote, gerrymander districts, and erode the very foundations of democracy itself.
Required reading for this precarious moment in our politics, Laboratories against Democracy reveals how the pursuit of national partisan agendas at the state level has intensified the challenges facing American democracy, and asks whether today’s state governments are mitigating the political crises of our time—or accelerating them.
1 有用 danunited 2022-09-06 23:22:30 广东
非常有意思的研究美国各州层面民主倒退的作品,挑战了联邦制研究中的一些重要观点。主要的逻辑也比较简单:民主党和共和党的全国化——活动人士、团体和两党联盟候选人之间加强了全国协调——产生了三个后果:州政府重新成为美国政策制定的中心,对立党派控制的州之间的政策学习减少,共和党控制的州发生民主倒退。当然,作者的民主党立场色彩也比较明显,共和党顺理成章地成为了背锅侠。
1 有用 danunited 2022-09-06 23:22:30 广东
非常有意思的研究美国各州层面民主倒退的作品,挑战了联邦制研究中的一些重要观点。主要的逻辑也比较简单:民主党和共和党的全国化——活动人士、团体和两党联盟候选人之间加强了全国协调——产生了三个后果:州政府重新成为美国政策制定的中心,对立党派控制的州之间的政策学习减少,共和党控制的州发生民主倒退。当然,作者的民主党立场色彩也比较明显,共和党顺理成章地成为了背锅侠。