Search

Begin New Search Topic Government Publication Year within 10 Years Publication Year within 25 Years

31. Two Factions Walk into a Budget Session

Author:
Jason McConnell and Robert Schuhmann
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
California Journal of Politics and Policy
Institution:
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Abstract:
The 67th Wyoming Legislature’s 20-day budget session was convened Thursday, February 8, 2024, for the beginning of its work in Cheyenne. This year, outside of its typical budget work, over 360 bills were brought forward by both legislative committees and individual legislators. These bills ranged from property tax relief to health care. In the end, on Friday March 8th, the final biennial General Fund budget was close to $3.8 billion – up approximately $100 million from the previous biennium. Deep ideological divides within the state’s dominant Republican Party drove much debate and show no signs of abating before next year’s general session.
Topic:
Government, Budget, State Legislature, and Republican Party
Political Geography:
North America, United States of America, and Wyoming

32. How Are Minority Staffers Utilized? Evidence from the California State Assembly

Author:
Michelangelo Landgrave
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
California Journal of Politics and Policy
Institution:
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Abstract:
Legislative staffers are among legislators’ most valuable assets and their appointment by legislators is strategic. Past research has focused on how legislative staffer appointments help legislators meet policy or constituency service goals. In this article I advance the literature by theorizing how minority staffers are utilized. I hypothesize, and show using novel data from the California State Assembly, that state legislators disproportionally place Hispanic and Asian American Pacific Islander staffers in constituency service positions. This may be done as an effort to provide a form of surrogate descriptive representation. Concerningly, because minority staffers are more likely to be placed in constituency service positions, minority staffers are less likely to be placed in policy orientated positions where they might have the most influence over substantive policymaking. This leads to a situation where minority staffers are placed in visible constituency service appointments but continue to be underrepresented in key policy appointments.
Topic:
Government, Minorities, State Legislature, and Staffers
Political Geography:
California, North America, and United States of America

33. U.S. Democratic Backsliding in Comparative Perspective

Author:
McKenzie Carrier and Thomas Carothers
Publication Date:
08-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The global democratic recession of the past twenty years has been marked by numerous cases of elected leaders incrementally dismantling democracy through a steady centralization of power and undercutting of checks and balances—what political scientists label as executive aggrandizement. Under the second Donald Trump presidency, the United States is showing clear signs of following such a path, leading many commenters to draw arresting but often relatively glancing comparisons with other prominent recent cases of democratic erosion, like Hungary, India, Poland, and Türkiye. This paper examines U.S. political developments since the return of Trump to power in an in-depth, comparative light, seeking to illuminate the similarities and differences between the unfolding U.S. context and the experience of other troubled democracies. The paper establishes that the Trump administration’s overall political project conforms to the general model of executive aggrandizement, and is best understood as taking place at three interrelated levels: Establishing the president as supreme within the executive branch: Trump’s team seeks an extreme form of presidential concentration of power within the executive branch. It has weakened accountability institutions and regulations, tightened presidential control over independent agencies and the executive bureaucracy, decreased the political independence of the civil service, and purged perceived opponents from the branch. Making the executive branch dominant over other parts of government: The administration is forcefully seeking dominance over the judiciary, Congress, and states. It has defied court orders, criticized judicial rulings, and constrained individual judges. It has circumvented congressional policies and undermined its powers. And it has attacked and constrained state governments that do not align with administration policies. Weakening societal constraints on executive power: Trump has stymied civil society opposition by attacking independent media, punishing lawyers and law firms perceived to be oppositional, and constraining civic and educational organizations. His team has undermined vertical checks on the executive by weakening voting rights and the independence of election administration. Broadly, Trump is pursuing widespread retribution against perceived opponents and critics. The paper then compares the path of U.S. politics under Trump to seven other recent or ongoing cases of democratic backsliding—Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hungary, India, Poland, and Türkiye—highlighting distinctive features along three comparative dimensions: Focus: The Trump team’s agenda has several priorities that set it apart from other backsliding cases. These include its unique emphasis on intra-executive dominance, delegitimization rather than institutionalized attacks on horizontal checks, and coercive use of the robust federal funding ecosystem to pressure U.S. civil society. Rapidity: The administration has carried out its political program with striking speed. Compared to other backsliding cases, it has sought to centralize power with greater momentum and rapidity. And while other leaders often eroded democratic checks piece by piece, Trump’s team is working to weaken such checks across multiple levels all at once. Severity: The degree of democratic erosion in the United States is not yet as severe as that of most of its backsliding peers. The country has not yet seen the deep-rooted institutional changes that have characterized many of the comparative cases. And repressive measures like coercive force or criminalization have been limited by U.S. democratic norms and institutions. While some comfort can be taken from the fact that the relatively deeply rooted U.S. democratic norms and institutions compared to those in the other cases have resulted in a less institutionalized process of backsliding thus far, the distinctive speed and aggressiveness of Trump’s aggrandizement agenda is cause for serious concern. Numerous avenues and sources of resistance to democratic erosion continue to exist, but U.S. democracy is being put to the test as never before in the country’s modern history.
Topic:
Government, Domestic Politics, Donald Trump, and Democratic Backsliding
Political Geography:
Turkey, India, Poland, Brazil, Hungary, North America, Ecuador, El Salvador, and United States of America

34. Indigenous Communities in Putumayo Resist Canadian Oil

Author:
Luis Aparicio Díaz and Joshua Collins
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
The Nasa’s fight against Gran Tierra Energy reveals the links between extraction and armed conflict, and the limitations of the government’s reforms.
Topic:
Government, Reform, Indigenous, Armed Conflict, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:
Canada, Colombia, South America, and North America

35. Does a weak social safety net hold back private consumption in China?

Author:
Nicholas R. Lardy
Publication Date:
12-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
Abstract:
Many experts see China’s economy as constrained because of a weak social safety net, especially the retirement system, resulting in anemic domestic consumption spending. This view is out of date. Recent data indicate that China has expanded many parts of its social safety net and that consumption spending has accelerated. Social expenditures in China have more than doubled as a share of GDP since 2010 and are on par with Mexico and Turkey. But given China’s aging population, safety net spending and domestic consumption spending will need to expand further to put China’s economy on a more sustainable path. The latest data should clear the cobwebs of misunderstanding that have led to both complacency and unnecessary alarm about China’s economic prospects among observers in the United States and other countries. China’s government is hardly unaware of the importance of stronger household consumption and has announced policies to increase consumer spending, including more generous pension benefits for farmers and rural migrant workers. If these initiatives are implemented, the growth of household consumption is likely to accelerate.
Topic:
Government, Economic Growth, Safety Net, and Consumer Behavior
Political Geography:
China and Asia

36. Azerbaijan’s Multilateralist Posture

Author:
Yalchin Rafiyev
Publication Date:
08-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Baku Dialogues
Institution:
ADA University
Abstract:
We are honored to feature an interview with Mr. Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Lead Negotiator for COP29. The general topic of this conversation is multilateralism and Azerbaijan’s growing involvement in various multilateral forums. Mr. Deputy Foreign Minister, let’s focus the bulk of our time together on the newer multilateral organizations—the ones that are contributing to a transformation of the way that the world sees multilateralism. Perhaps a good starting point is for you to outline Azerbaijan’s overall posture toward multilateralism, which, of course, begins with the UN, the world’s sole universal multilateral, inter‑governmental institution.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Government, Multilateralism, and Interview
Political Geography:
Caucasus and Azerbaijan

37. “Unitary Social Democracy” and Lyuh Woon-hyung’s Relationship with the American Military Government in Korea, 1945-1947

Author:
Kyu-hyun Jo
Publication Date:
08-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
This article will argue that “Unitary Social Democracy” had its roots in egalitarianism as emphasized by Tonghak and Christian Humanism and aimed to promote social democracy through a mixture of democratic electoral politics and a Socialistic welfare system; it was due to such a radical amalgamation of Left-wing and Right-wing ideas which earned Lyuh the American military government’s ire and led Lyuh to an ultimate failure in finding a satisfactory agreement with American officials who refused and could not understand Lyuh’s objectives. However, despite American reluctance to understand his philosophy, Lyuh never gave up on his quest to realize an equitable system of land and property distribution guided by democracy and socialism, and he never relinquished his firm belief that the only solution to eradicating the Manicheanism of the Cold War was through seeking the American military government’s cooperation. This article will also argue that Lyuh showed a highly consistent and dedicated commitment to realizing his ideals such that he never changed or forfeited his philosophy even after north Korea was established in September 1945, keeping his creed intact until his announcement of the Seven Principles for Left-Right Unification in October 1946 and untimely assassination in July 1947.
Topic:
Government, Politics, History, Welfare, and Social Democracy
Political Geography:
Asia, Korea, and United States of America

38. Unnecessary Relics: The Surgeon General and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Author:
Jeffrey A. Singer, Akiva Malamet, Bautista Vivanco, and Michael F. Cannon
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The US surgeon general has morphed from an apolitical supervisor of medical personnel to a divisive activist who undermines public health. Successive administrations have turned the Office of the Surgeon General into a highly political platform that opines on divisive non–public health issues ranging from gun control and social media to labor and housing policy. Such mission creep undermines the effectiveness of legitimate government public health activities. The surgeon general oversees the 6,000-member Public Health Service Commissioned Corps—a uniformed, noncombatant service that provides personnel for various federal agencies, including many non–public health roles. The Commissioned Corps takes longer to deploy than civilian alternatives, and many of its functions are redundant. A 2010 report from the Department of Health and Human Services estimated that employing Corps officers costs 15 percent more than hiring civilians. Replacing Corps officers with equivalent civilian employees could save $1.3 billion annually. Eliminating the surgeon general’s divisive political advocacy would be a step toward restoring trust in public health officials. Congress should dissolve the Office of the Surgeon General and the Commissioned Corps, eliminate their non–public health activities, and reassign any legitimate public health activities to other agencies.
Topic:
Government, Budget, Public Health, Public Spending, and Surgeon General
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

39. Still "Thatcher's Britain"? The Thatcher Legacy, 1925-2025

Author:
Robert Saunders, Gillian Shephard, Simone Finn, and Philip Cowley
Publication Date:
11-2025
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
A century after her birth, and thirty-five years after she left office, the memory of Margaret Thatcher continues to loom over British politics. Kemi Badenoch, Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Nigel Farage have all, in different ways, sought to position themselves as Thatcher’s inheritor. Keir Starmer promised to lead a government as radical as Margaret Thatcher’s, but sparked controversy when he moved her portrait out of his office in Number 10. In this event at ‪Queen Mary University of London‬, to mark the centenary of her birth, the ‪Mile End Institute asked why Margaret Thatcher continues to cast such a shadow across British politics. We considered how her reputation has changed, whether she is misremembered today and what lessons – good or bad – might be drawn from her time in power. Dr Robert Saunders, Reader in British History at Queen Mary and editor of Making Thatcher’s Britain, was joined by Gillian Shephard, a minister in the Thatcher and Major governments and author of The Real Iron Lady; Simone Finn, Conservative peer and deputy chief-of-staff to the prime minister from 2021 to 2022; and Philip Cowley, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London.
Topic:
Government, Politics, History, and Margaret Thatcher
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

40. Infrastructural Capture: How Big Tech's Dependency Loop Is Reshaping American Statecraft

Author:
Johannes Späth
Publication Date:
12-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP)
Abstract:
This Policy Analysis examines the emergence of a self-reinforcing "privatization-dependency loop" through which major technology corporations have become structurally embedded within core functions of the US federal government. Unlike historical forms of privatization, where the state contracted specific services to private actors, contemporary Big Tech firms now provide the digital infrastructure, computational capacity, and increasingly the cognitive architecture through which the state operates. This creates unprecedented forms of dependency that translate into political leverage, enabling these firms to shape subsequent rounds of policy and procurement in ways that deepen their integration into state operations. This structural dependency is amplified by Big Tech's influence across all stages of the policy process: from agenda-setting through research funding and algorithmic curation of public discourse, to direct legislative drafting through industry-funded fellows and revolving-door appointees, to implementation through proprietary platforms that execute government functions. The paper argues that absent strategic intervention, these accumulated dependencies risk coalescing into a path-dependent form of state capture. For Europe, the implications extend beyond concerns about market concentration or data sovereignty. As the US state becomes more tightly coupled with private technology infrastructures, European reliance on American alliance commitments faces a new uncertainty: the predictability of US action may increasingly depend on the strategic calculations of a handful of corporations whose interests are not necessarily aligned with transatlantic security or democratic norms. The paper concludes that digital sovereignty, ensuring core governmental functions operate on publicly accountable infrastructure, should be elevated to the same strategic priority as energy or defense autonomy.
Topic:
Government, Privatization, Science and Technology, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:
Europe, North America, and United States of America