AUTHORIZING POLICY (Parliaments & Legislatures) - Softcover

HALL, THAD

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814253210 ISBN 13: 9780814253212

Publisher: The Ohio State University Press, 2004

Synopsis

Studies of federal policy agendas seeking to explain why laws pass and why policies change typically look to the political environment, focusing on the media, congressional hearings, presidential addresses, and preferences of legislators as agents of change. However, since World War II, Congress has used simple procedure-short-term authorizations-to control the timing of policy change across the spectrum of federal policy. This book examines how short-term authorizations create periods of policy stability, when implementation can occur, by allowing policies to be reconsidered only when an authorization expires. This simple procedural mechanism allows Congress to state when certain aspects of a law-such as authorizations of appropriations-will expire. By doing this, Congress creates a schedule for when a given policy will be considered and systematically steers the management of public programs by changing the resources and tools available to policy implementers. Understanding short-term authorizations may force a reexamination of existing theories of the policy process and congressional activity. Reauthorization politics may well shape member activities (e.g., the timing of bill introductions) as well as interest group activities (e.g., the timing of coalition formation). Reauthorizations also affect the behavior of agencies, which must be responsive to these legislative changes. Thad Hall is assistant professor of political science at the University of Utah.

About this title

Review:

"This is the definitive book on congressional reauthorizations of laws, a topic that has important implications for national public policy processes. By admirably examining complex theories from two fields, Authorizing Policy advances into a new arena of congressional research: the union of theories of policy process with those of legislative behavior."

About the Author:

Thad E. Hall is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Utah. He co-authored Electronic Elections: The Perils and Promise of Digital Democracy (with R. Michael Alvarez, 2010) and Point, Click, and Vote: The Future of Internet Voting (with R. Michael Alvarez, 2004).

About this edition

• Publisher: The Ohio State University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0814253210
• ISBN 13: 9780814253212
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 164