This book examines how legislators have juggled their passions over abortion with standard congressional procedures, looking at how both external factors (such as public opinion) and internal factors (such as the ideological composition of committees and party systems) shape the development of abortion policy. Driven by both theoretical and empirical concerns, Scott H. Ainsworth and Thad E. Hall present a simple, formal model of strategic incrementalism, illustrating that legislators often have incentives to alter policy incrementally. They then examine the sponsorship of abortion-related proposals as well as their committee referral and find that a wide range of Democratic and Republican legislators repeatedly offer abortion-related proposals designed to alter abortion policy incrementally. Abortion Politics in Congress reveals that abortion debates have permeated a wide range of issues and that a wide range of legislators and a large number of committees address abortion.
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Part I. Strategic Incrementalism and the Political Backdrop for Abortion Politics in Congress: 1. Some of the politics surrounding abortion policy; 2. The strategic foundations for incrementalism in legislatures; 3. The nature of Congress and incrementalism in abortion politics: views from the inside and views from the outside; 4. A short legislative history of abortion; Part II. Abortion in the House: 5. Sponsors of abortion policies; 6. Playing the field: committee referrals of abortion-related proposals; 7. Conclusion.
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'This book proposes a new understanding of why political actors with extreme opinions might support only marginal adjustments to existing policies. The case of abortion would seem to preclude half-way positions, but Ainsworth and Hall's 'strategic incrementalism' explains what previously appeared a puzzle. The work will have a major impact on how we think of how politicians stake out their public positions on issues of controversy.' Frank Baumgartner, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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This book examines how legislators have juggled their passions over abortion with standard congressional procedures.
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780521515818
Publisert
2010-12-13
Utgiver
Vendor
Cambridge University Press
Vekt
450 gr
Høyde
235 mm
Bredde
158 mm
Dybde
18 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
240