Books in the Chicago Studies in American Politics (CHUP) series

Responds to the growing chorus of critics who fear that the politics of running for office undermine judicial independence. The author presents a comprehensive study of the impact of campaigns on public perceptions of fairness, impartiality, and the legitimacy of elected state courts - and his findings are both counterintuitive and controversial.

Combining existing research with novel data from US presidential archives, this book shows that presidents make policy by largely ignoring the views of most citizens in favor of affluent and well-connected political insiders. It is suitable for those interested in US politics, public opinion, democratic theory, and more.

Shows us the undeniable realities of mass migration to which we have turned a blind eye: how it has driven down workers' wages and driven up inequality; how it has fostered unsafe working conditions; and how it has stalled our economic maturity by keeping us ever-focused on increasing consumption.

When the author's sister-in-law, Marcella Wagner, was run off the freeway by a hit-and-run driver, she was left paralyzed from the chest down. Like so many Americans, neither Marcella nor her husband, Dave, had health insurance. Using Marcella and Dave's situation as a case in point, the author reveals the system's many shortcomings.

One-third of America's adult population has passed through the criminal justice system and now has a criminal record. This book argues that the broad reach of the criminal justice system has recast the relation between citizen and state, resulting in a sizable - and growing - group of second-class citizens.

The United States routinely has one of the lowest voter turnout rates of any developed democracy in the world. This book places contemporary reforms in historical context and explores how state electoral institutions have shaped voting behavior throughout the twentieth century.

Eight of the last twelve presidents were millionaires when they took office. Why is it that most politicians in America are so much better off than the people who elect them - and does the social class divide between citizens and their representatives matter? The author answers this question with a resounding - and disturbing - yes.

Drawing on experiments and survey data, this title shows that Americans who watch partisan programming do become more certain of their beliefs and less willing to weigh the merits of opposing views or to compromise.

The United States imprisons far more people, total and per capita, than any other country in the world. Among the more than 1.5 million Americans incarcerated, minorities and the poor are disproportionately represented. The author offers evidence that living in a high-imprisonment neighborhood significantly decreases political participation.

We live in an age of media saturation, where with a few clicks of the remote - or mouse - we can tune in to programming where the facts fit our ideological predispositions. This title demonstrates that the strong effects of media exposure found in past research are simply not applicable in today's more saturated media landscape.

How did Bill Clinton's clever dexterity help him recover from the Monica Lewinsky scandal? How did Barack Obama draw on his experience as a talented community activist to overcome his inexperience as a national leader? This title provides insights into American politics.

Surveying critical episodes in the development of American political parties, this book shows how they address three fundamental problems of democracy: how to regulate the number of people seeking public office, how to mobilize voters, and how to achieve and maintain the majorities needed to accomplish goals once in office.

With the 2012 presidential election upon us, will voters cast their ballots for the candidates whose platforms and positions best match their own? Or will the race for the next president of the United States come down largely to who runs the most effective campaigning? This book reveals how both factors come into play.

Barack Obama's presidential victory naturally led people to believe that the United States might finally be moving into a post-racial era. This title argues that the 2008 election was more polarized by racial attitudes than any other presidential election on record.

Drawing on the analysis of counterterrorism in the years after 9/11 - including the issuance of terror alerts and the decision to invade Iraq - this title presents a case that the Bush administration hyped fear, while obscuring civil liberties abuses and concrete issues of preparedness.

The Obama administration has been criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. This title argues that this difficulty is not merely a failure of communication; rather it is endemic to the formidable presence of the 'submerged state.'

In the modern Congress, one of the highest hurdles for major bills or nominations is gaining the sixty votes necessary to shut off a filibuster in the Senate. But this wasn't always the case. This title shows that filibustering is a game with slippery rules in which legislators who think fast and try hard can triumph over superior numbers.

Ethnocentrism - our tendency to partition the human world into in-groups and out-groups - pervades societies around the world. This book explains how ethnocentrism shapes American public opinion.

Backed by careful analysis of public opinion surveys, the authors show how, despite changing American politics, those issues that receive extended coverage in the national news become more important to viewers, while those that are ignored lose credibility.

Lays out the underlying logic of contemporary poverty governance in the United States. This book argues that poverty governance - how social welfare policy choices get made, how authority gets exercised, and how collective pursuits get organized - has been transformed in the United States by two significant developments.

We are not just social animals, but social citizens whose political choices are significantly shaped by peer influence. Drawing upon data from settings as diverse as South Los Angeles and Chicago's wealthy North Shore, the author shows that social networks do not merely inform citizens' behavior, they can - and do - have the power to change it.

Although their leaders and staff are not elected, bureaucratic agencies have the power to make policy decisions that carry the full force of the law. This book explores an issue central to political science and public administration: How do Congress and the president ensure that bureaucratic agencies implement their preferred policies?

As Washington elites drifted toward ideological poles over a few decades, did ordinary Americans follow their lead? This book reveals that we have responded to this trend - but not, for the most part, by becoming more extreme ourselves.

In a democracy, we have come to assume that people know the policies they prefer and elect like-minded officials who are responsible for carrying them out. But does this actually happen? This book looks at citizens' views on candidates both before and after periods of political upheaval, including campaigns, wars, and natural disasters.