The Technology Pork Barrel

Author : Linda R. Cohen,Roger G. Noll
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 428 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2002-07-31
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0815723687

Get Book

The Technology Pork Barrel by Linda R. Cohen,Roger G. Noll Pdf

American public policy has had a long history of technological optimism. The success of the United States in research and development contributes to this optimism and leads many to assume that there is a technological fix for significant national problems. Since World War II the federal government has been the major supporter of commercial research and development efforts in a wide variety of industries. But how successful are these projects? And equally important, how do economic and policy factors influence performance and are these influences predictable and controllable? Linda Cohen, Roger Noll, and three other economists address these questions while focusing on the importance of R&D to the national economy. They examine the codependency between technological progress and economic growth and explain such matters as why the private sector often fails to fund commercially applicable research adequately and why the government should focus support on some industries and not others. They also analyze political incentives facing officials who enact and implement programs and the subsequent forces affecting decisions to continue, terminate, or redirect them. The central part of this book presents detailed case histories of six programs: the supersonic transport, communications satellites, the space shuttle, the breeder reactor, photovoltaics, and synthetic fuels. The authors conclude with recommendations for program restructuring to minimize the conflict between economic objectives and political constraints.

Author : Citizens Against Government Waste
Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin
Page : 212 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2013-09-17
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781466853140

Get Book

The Pig Book by Citizens Against Government Waste Pdf

The federal government wastes your tax dollars worse than a drunken sailor on shore leave. The 1984 Grace Commission uncovered that the Department of Defense spent $640 for a toilet seat and $436 for a hammer. Twenty years later things weren't much better. In 2004, Congress spent a record-breaking $22.9 billion dollars of your money on 10,656 of their pork-barrel projects. The war on terror has a lot to do with the record $413 billion in deficit spending, but it's also the result of pork over the last 18 years the likes of: - $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa - $102 million to study screwworms which were long ago eradicated from American soil - $273,000 to combat goth culture in Missouri - $2.2 million to renovate the North Pole (Lucky for Santa!) - $50,000 for a tattoo removal program in California - $1 million for ornamental fish research Funny in some instances and jaw-droppingly stupid and wasteful in others, The Pig Book proves one thing about Capitol Hill: pork is king!

Author : John Hudak
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2014-02-27
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780815725206

Get Book

Presidential Pork by John Hudak Pdf

Presidential earmarks? Perhaps even more so than their counterparts in Congress, presidents have the motive and the means to politicize spending for political power. But do they? In Presidential Pork, John Hudak explains and interprets presidential efforts to control federal spending and accumulate electoral rewards from that power. The projects that members of Congress secure for their constituents certainly attract attention. Political pundits still chuckle about the “Bridge to Nowhere.” But Hudak clearly illustrates that while Congress claims credit for earmarks and pet projects, the practice is alive and well in the White House, too. More than any representative or senator, presidents engage in pork barrel spending in a comprehensive and systematic way to advance their electoral interests. It will come as no surprise that the White House often steers the enormous federal bureaucracy to spend funds in swing states. It is a major advantage that only incumbents enjoy. Hudak reconceptualizes the way in which we view the U.S. presidency and the goals and behaviors of those who hold the nation’s highest office. He illustrates that presidents and their White Houses are indeed complicit in distributing presidential pork—and how they do it. The result is an illuminating and highly original take on presidential power and public policy.

Author : Andrew H. Sidman
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 178 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2019-08-06
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780231550406

Get Book

Pork Barrel Politics by Andrew H. Sidman Pdf

Conventional wisdom holds that legislators who bring “pork”—federal funds for local projects—back home to their districts are better able to fend off potential challengers. For more than four decades, however, the empirical support for this belief has been mixed. Some studies have found that securing federal spending has no electoral effects at best or can even cost incumbent legislators votes. In Pork Barrel Politics, Andrew H. Sidman offers a systematic explanation for how political polarization affects the electoral influence of district-level federal spending. He argues that the average voter sees the pork barrel as an aspect of the larger issue of government spending, determined by partisanship and ideology. It is only when the political world becomes more divided over everything else that the average voter pays attention to pork, linking it to their general preferences over government spending. Using data on pork barrel spending from 1986 through 2012 and public works spending since 1876 along with analyses of district-level outcomes and incumbent success, Sidman demonstrates the rising power of polarization in United States elections. During periods of low polarization, pork barrel spending has little impact, but when polarization is high, it affects primary competition, campaign spending, and vote share in general elections. Pork Barrel Politics is an empirically rich account of the surprising repercussions of bringing pork home, with important consequences in our polarized era.

Author : Joseph Paul Martino
Publisher : Transaction Publishers
Page : 414 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 1992-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 141283371X

Get Book

Science Funding by Joseph Paul Martino Pdf

Americans have become resigned to seeing Congress vote money for porkbarrel projects of all kinds-roads, dams, post offices, military installations-in the districts of influential legislators. In recent years Congress has, almost without public notice, extended this form of vote-buying and pandering into a new domain: science. Where formerly scientific funding proposals were evaluated by outside experts on the basis of merit, there is now an increasing consideration of congressional districts and "fair" geographical distribution. In this ground-breaking volume, Joseph P. Martino offers a critical examination of special-interest funding and the danger it poses to the integrity of American society as a whole, as well as to its scientific component. Science Funding is distinguished by its comprehensive approach to the structural and historical background of the current situation. It examines the history of science funding from the early twentieth century through present, public vs. to taxpayers, instances of fraud, and the effects of government funding for research in universities. Martino's survey demonstrates conclusively that government has been inefficient in its funding capacity and that the shortcomings are inherent: political criteria for the support of science, congressional micromanagement, freezing out of innovative ideas, and the favoring of massive projects-Big Science-over small, but significant experimental programs. In his concluding chapter Martino provides an agenda for new thinking on the funding of science. He proposes alternatives that suggest a plurality of approaches is preferable to the current monolithic model, and shows how industrial support, philanthropy, and contributions from the public can be made more effective. Science Funding is a major work on the interaction of science, politics, and society. It will be of interest to sociologists, policymakers, and political scientist, and the research science community.

Author : James D. Savage
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 230 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2000-11-06
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0521794617

Get Book

Funding Science in America by James D. Savage Pdf

Funding Science in America, first published in 1999, explores the pros and cons of the academic earmarking issue.

Author : Trevor Corning,Reema Dodin,Kyle Nevins
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
Page : 69 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2017-07-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780815727347

Get Book

Inside Congress by Trevor Corning,Reema Dodin,Kyle Nevins Pdf

Required reading for anyone who wants to understand how to work within Congress. The House and Senate have unique rules and procedures to determine how legislation moves from a policy idea to law. Evolved over the last 200 years, the rules of both chambers are designed to act as the engine for that process. Each legislative body has its own leadership positions to oversee this legislative process. To the novice, whether a newly elected representative, a lawmaker's staff on her first day at work, or a constituent visiting Washington, the entire process can seem incomprehensible. What is an open rule for a House Appropriations bill and how does it affect consideration? Why are unanimous consent agreements needed in the Senate? The authors of Inside Congress, all congressional veterans, have written the definitive guide to how Congress really works. It is the accessible and necessary resource to understanding and interpreting procedural tools, arcane precedents, and the role of party politics in the making of legislation in Congress.

Author : Daryl E. Chubin,Edward J. Hackett
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 1990-07-05
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780791499108

Get Book

Peerless Science by Daryl E. Chubin,Edward J. Hackett Pdf

This book examines the structure and operation of peer review as a family of quality control mechanisms and looks at the burdens placed on the various forms of peer review. Assuming that peer review is central to the functioning of U.S. science policy, Chubin and Hackett explore the symbolic and practical value of peer review in the making, implementing, and analysis of this policy.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : PURD:32754063104396

Get Book

Technology Policy by Anonim Pdf

This document contains transcriptions of testimony and prepared statements on national technology policy with a focus on President Clinton and Vice President Gore's initiatives to support the development of a national information infrastructure. On the first day of the hearing testimony was received from Edward H. Salmon, Chairman, New Jersey Board of Regulatory Commissioners; Robert Pepper, Chief, Office of Plans and Policy, Federal Communications Commission; Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President, Corporation for National Research Initiatives and President, Internet Society; Richard R. Green, President and CEO, Cable Television Laboratories, Boulder, Colorado; Brian Kushner, Vice President, Corporate Development, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austin, Texas, and E. R. Kerkeslager, Vice President, Technology and Infrastructure, AT&T, Basking Ridge, New Jersey, representing the Computer Systems Policy Proejct. Witnesses testifying on the second day were Donald A. B. Lindberg, Director, National Coordination Office for High Performance Computing and Communications, and Director, National Library of Medicine; Salim A. L. Bhatia, President, Broadband Technologies, Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Sidney Karin, Director, San Diego Supercomputer Center, San Diego, California; Stephen Gage, President, Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program, Cleveland, Ohio; T. J. Rodgers, President and CEO, Cypress Semiconductor, San Jose, California; and Jeffrey Kalb, President and CEO, MASPAR Computer Corporation, Sunnyvale, California, representing the American Electronics Association. (KRN)

Author : United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Computer networks
ISBN : 0160411505

Get Book

Technology Policy: Information infrastructure (information superhighways and high performance computing) by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation Pdf

Author : United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Computer networks
ISBN : LOC:00183587754

Get Book

Technology Policy: Surface Transportation Infrastructure R&D.: Information infrastructure (information superhighways and high performance computing) by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Subcommittee on Technology, Environment, and Aviation Pdf

Author : Jay Cost
Publisher : Encounter Books
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2016-07-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781594038686

Get Book

A Republic No More by Jay Cost Pdf

After the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” Franklin’s response: “A Republic—if you can keep it.” This book argues: we couldn’t keep it. A true republic privileges the common interest above the special interests. To do this, our Constitution established an elaborate system of checks and balances that disperses power among the branches of government, which it places in conflict with one another. The Framers believed that this would keep grasping, covetous factions from acquiring enough power to dominate government. Instead, only the people would rule. Proper institutional design is essential to this system. Each branch must manage responsibly the powers it is granted, as well as rebuke the other branches when they go astray. This is where subsequent generations have run into trouble: we have overloaded our government with more power than it can handle. The Constitution’s checks and balances have broken down because the institutions created in 1787 cannot exercise responsibly the powers of our sprawling, immense twenty-first-century government. The result is the triumph of special interests over the common interest. James Madison called this factionalism. We know it as political corruption. Corruption today is so widespread that our government is not really a republic, but rather a special interest democracy. Everybody may participate, yes, but the contours of public policy depend not so much on the common good, as on the push-and-pull of the various interest groups encamped in Washington, DC.

Author : Randall Fitzgerald,Gerald Lipson
Publisher : Cato Institute
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 1984-10-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781937184360

Get Book

Porkbarrel by Randall Fitzgerald,Gerald Lipson Pdf

When the Grace Commission on government waste issued its final report, it accused Congress of blocking attempts to cut billions of dollars from federal spending. Members of Congress, it said, tried to bring water projects and military bases to their districts and keep them there when they weren't needed. In addition, it charged Congress with interfering in administrative decisions on pay scales and employee reorganization. But the Grace Commission lost its nerve and published its final volume with all the names deleted. Now the complete, unexpurgated report is available in this volume -- containing every name in the original report along with a new introduction by the authors. Pork-barreling respects no partisan or ideological boundaries. The members of Congress cited in this book range from big spenders to fiscal conservatives. If you want to know what your congressman is really doing about waste in government -- and what we can do about it -- you need to read this book.

Author : Marc Reisner
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 674 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 1993-06-01
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9781440672828

Get Book

Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner Pdf

“I’ve been thinking a lot about Cadillac Desert in the past few weeks, as the rain fell and fell and kept falling over California, much of which, despite the pouring heavens, seems likely to remain in the grip of a severe drought. Reisner anticipated this moment. He worried that the West’s success with irrigation could be a mirage — that it took water for granted and didn’t appreciate the precariousness of our capacity to control it.” – Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times, January 20,2023 "The definitive work on the West's water crisis." --Newsweek The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecological and economic disaster. In his landmark book, Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner writes of the earliest settlers, lured by the promise of paradise, and of the ruthless tactics employed by Los Angeles politicians and business interests to ensure the city's growth. He documents the bitter rivalry between two government giants, the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in the competition to transform the West. Based on more than a decade of research, Cadillac Desert is a stunning expose and a dramatic, intriguing history of the creation of an Eden--an Eden that may only be a mirage. This edition includes a new postscript by Lawrie Mott, a former staff scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, that updates Western water issues over the last two decades, including the long-term impact of climate change and how the region can prepare for the future.

Author : Lewis M. Branscomb,James H. Keller
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 540 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0262522675

Get Book

Investing in Innovation by Lewis M. Branscomb,James H. Keller Pdf

Shortly after taking office in 1993, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore called for a shift in American technology policy toward an expansion of public investments in partnerships with private industry. The authors of this volume were invited by the Clinton administration to take a hard, nonpartisan look at how successful the new policies have been and to propose ways to make their programs more effective. The first summary report of the team's recommendations was called the "hottest technology policy property on Capitol Hill."This book, an expansion of that report, offers a new set of technology policy principles. The authors use the principles to evaluate many federal research programs and to make recommendations for change. This volume will set the terms of the debate over the national research and innovation policy for years to come.