Partisan priorities : how issue ownership drives and distorts American politics / Patrick J. Egan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Egan, Patrick J.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political parties--United States--Platforms.

Political parties.

Politics and government.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--21st century.

Physical Description:

xi, 251 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Summary:

"Americans consistently name Republicans as the party better at handling issues like national security and crime, while they trust Democrats on issues like education and the environment - a phenomenon called "issue ownership." Partisan Priorities investigates the origins of issue ownership, showing that in fact the parties deliver neither superior performance nor popular policies on the issues they "own." Rather, Patrick J. Egan finds that Republicans and Democrats simply prioritize their owned issues with lawmaking and government spending when they are in power. Since the parties tend to be particularly ideologically rigid on the issues they own, politicians actually tend to ignore citizens' preferences when crafting policy on these issues. Thus, issue ownership distorts the relationship between citizens' preferences and public policies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction; 2. Consensus issues: admidst polarization, shared goals; 3. The measure and meaning of issue ownership; 4. Ruling out the policy and performance hypotheses; 5. Partisan priorities: the source of issue ownership; 6. How issue ownership distorts American politics; 7. Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-246) and index.

ISBN:

9781107042582

1107042585

9781107617278

1107617278

OCLC:

845349310

Online:

Cover image