DOCSLIB.ORG

Obama's Fractured Legacy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Obama's Fractured Legacy Obama’s Fractured Legacy 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd i 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM New Perspectives on the American Presidency Series Editors: Michael Patrick Cullinane and Sylvia Ellis, University of Roehampton Published titles Constructing Presidential Legacy: How We Remember the American President Edited by Michael Patrick Cullinane and Sylvia Ellis Presidential Privilege and the Freedom of Information Act Kevin M. Baron Donald Trump and American Populism Richard S. Conley Trump’s America: Political Culture and National Identity Edited by Liam Kennedy Obama’s Fractured Legacy : The Politics and Policies of an Embattled Presidency Edited by François Vergniolle de Chantal Obama v. Trump: The Politics of Rollback Clodagh Harrington and Alex Waddan Forthcoming titles The White House, the War on Poverty and the GOP Mark McLay Midterms and Mandates Patrick Andelic, Mark McLay and Robert Mason Harry S. Truman and Higher Education Rebecca Stone Series website: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/new- perspectives-on-the-american-presidency.html 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd iiii 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM OBAMA’S FRACTURED LEGACY The Politics and Policies of an Embattled Presidency Edited by François Vergniolle de Chantal 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd iiiiii 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © editorial matter and organisation François Vergniolle de Chantal, 2020 © the chapters their several authors, 2020 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 11/13 Adobe Sabon by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd, and printed and bound in Great Britain. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 5493 3 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 5495 7 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 5494 0 (paperback) ISBN 978 1 4744 5496 4 (epub) The right of François Vergniolle de Chantal to be identifi ed as the editor of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd iivv 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM Contents Notes on Contributors vii Acknowledgments xiii Introductio n: Obama and the exhaustion of progressive presidentialism 1 François Vergniolle de Chantal and Jean-Christian Vinel Part 1: INSTITUTIONS 1. Barack Obama and the promise of transformative leadership 31 Stephen Skowronek 2. Obama and the administrative presidency: Finding new meanings in old laws 54 Andrew Rudalevige 3. Congressional gridlock reconsidered: The emergence of a “conducive coalition”? 93 Alix Meyer 4. Federalism: Barack Obama’s accidental devolution revolution 118 Thad Kousser Part 2: POLICIES 5. “Our immigration system is broken”: Barack Obama and the challenge of comprehensive immigration reform 145 Isabelle Vagnoux v 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd v 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM content s 6. War and peace in cyberspace: Obama’s multifaceted legacy 181 Frédérick Douzet and Aude Géry 7. A decent-sized foundation: Obama’s urban policy 209 Thomas J. Sugrue 8. From Clinton to Obama to Trump: The politics and political economy of health insurance reform 236 Nelson Lichtenstein Part 3: MOVEMENT POLITICS 9. Criticize and thrive: The American left in the Obama years 269 Michael Kazin 10. “Stop killing us”: Mobilizing against structural racism in the United States from Black Lives Matter to the Movement for Black Lives 289 Audrey Célestine and Nicolas Martin-Breteau 11. The Obama administration’s labor and employment legacy 314 David Bensman and Donna Kesselman 12. Why wasn’t there a twenty-fi rst-century “new” New Deal? Historical perspectives for the hope for and reality of Obama’s presidency 352 Elizabeth T. Shermer 13. Coda – Obama’s fractured legacy 388 Sidney M. Milkis Bibliography 425 Index 443 vi 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd vvii 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM Contributors David Bensman, in memoriam: Professor of History at Rutgers University where he studied American labor history, education reform, and the impact of global economic integration on working people. He was the author of Central Park East and its Graduates: Learning by Heart (Teachers College Press, 2000) and of Rusted Dreams: Hard Times in a Steel Community (McGraw-Hill, 1987). He was also one of the co-authors of Who Built America? Volume II (Bedford/St Martin’s, 2007). Audrey Célestine is Associate Professor in Political Science at Lille 3 University (CERAPS – UMR 8026) and a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (2016–2021). In 2018, she published La fabrique des identités. L’encadrement politique des minorités caribéennes à Paris et New York (Paris, Karthala) and Une famille française. Des Antilles à Dunkerque en passant par l’Algérie (Paris, Textuel). Frédérick Douzet is Professor of Geopolitics at the University of Paris 8, Director of the French Institute of Geopolitics research team (IFG Lab) and Director of the Center Geopolitics of the Datasphere (GEODE). She is a Commissioner of the Global Com- mission on the Stability of Cyberspace. In 2017, she was part of the drafting committee for the Strategic Review of Defense and National Security. Frédérick was nominated junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (2006–2011) and received several awards for her research, including three book prizes (Society of vii 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd vviiii 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM contributors Geography, Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, Interna- tional Cybersecurity Forum), the France-Berkeley Fund Award for Outstanding Young Scholar (2014), and the best paper award from the Urban Affairs Association (2009). Her current research deals with the geopolitics of cyberspace. Aude Géry is a PhD candidate in international law at Rouen Univer- sity (France) and is affi liated to the Castex Chair in Cyberstrategy. Her research deals with the consequences of cyber weapons for international law. Michael Kazin is Professor of History at Georgetown University and co-editor of Dissent. He specializes in the history of politics and social movements in the United States. Kazin writes frequently for such publications and websites as The New York Times, The Wash- ington Post, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, and The New Republic. His most recent book is War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914–1918 which was awarded the Elise M. Boulding Prize for the best book on peace history published in 2017 and 2018 by the Peace History Society. It was also an Editor’s Choice of The New York Times Book Review. Kazin is also the author of Ameri- can Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, The Populist Persuasion: An American History, Barons of Labor: The San Francisco Building Trades and Union Power in the Progressive Era, and, with Mau- rice Isserman, America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s (6th edition, 2020). He was also editor-in-chief of The Princeton Ency- clopedia of American Political History. Kazin has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, and Japan and has received various honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, an NEH Fellowship, a fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Center, two Fulbright fel- lowships, and a fellowship from the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton. Kazin is currently at work on a history of the Demo- cratic Party, under contract with Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Donna Kesselman is Professor of American Studies at Université Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC – IMAGER – EA 3958). Her research deals with the evolution of work and social rights in the United viii 66510_de510_de CChantal.inddhantal.indd vviiiiii 222/08/202/08/20 66:43:43 PPMM contributors States and in a comparative perspective. She was project manager for a French national grant program (ANR) on new employment norms in France, the United States, and Brazil. Her most recent publication is a co-edited e-book Women at Work in the Americas Today (Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2016). Thad Kousser is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at UC San Diego. He has authored or edited The Logic of American Politics, 9th edition (CQ/Sage, 2019), Politics in the American States, 11th edition (CQ/Sage, 2018), The Power of American Governors (Cambridge University Press, 2012), The New Political Geography of California (Berkeley Public Policy Press, 2008), Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legis- lative Professionalism (Cambridge University Press, 2005), and Adapting to Term Limits: Recent Experiences and New Direc- tions (Public Policy Institute of California, 2004). Nelson Lichtenstein is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. There he directs the Cen- ter for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy. He is the edi- tor, with Gary Gerstle and Alice O’Connor, of Beyond the New Deal Order: U.S. Politics from the Great Depression to the Great Recession (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019). He is writing a book on the economic policy of the Clinton administration. Nicolas Martin-Breteau is Associate Professor of US History at the University of Lille 3, France. He specializes in contemporary African American history, on which he has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has recently translated and published the fi rst French edition of W. E. B. DuBois’s 1899 classic The Philadelphia Negro (Paris, La Découverte, 2019). He is cur- rently editing the manuscript of his forthcoming book, tentatively entitled Bodies Politic: Sport in African American Struggles for Justice in Washington, D.C.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Pakistan-U.S. Relations
    Order Code RL33498 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Pakistan-U.S. Relations Updated October 26, 2006 K. Alan Kronstadt Specialist in Asian Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress Pakistan-U.S. Relations Summary A stable, democratic, economically thriving Pakistan is considered vital to U.S. interests. U.S. concerns regarding Pakistan include regional terrorism; Pakistan- Afghanistan relations; weapons proliferation; the ongoing Kashmir problem and Pakistan-India tensions; human rights protection; and economic development. A U.S.-Pakistan relationship marked by periods of both cooperation and discord was transformed by the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the ensuing enlistment of Pakistan as a key ally in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. Top U.S. officials regularly praise Islamabad for its ongoing cooperation, although doubts exist about Islamabad’s commitment to some core U.S. interests. Pakistan is identified as a base for terrorist groups and their supporters operating in Kashmir, India, and Afghanistan. Since late 2003, Pakistan’s army has been conducting unprecedented counterterrorism operations in the country’s western tribal areas. Separatist violence in India’s Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state has continued unabated since 1989, with some notable relative decline in recent years. India has blamed Pakistan for the infiltration of Islamic militants into Indian Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. The United States reportedly has received pledges from Islamabad that all “cross-border terrorism” would cease and that any terrorist facilities in Pakistani-controlled areas would be closed. Similar pledges have been made to India.
    [Show full text]
  • As Israel's Political Parties Fight for Role of Kingmaker, Religious
    Selected articles concerning Israel, published weekly by Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim’s (Baltimore) Israel Action Committee Edited by Jerry Appelbaum ( [email protected] ) | Founding editor: Sheldon J. Berman Z”L Issue 8 8 1 Volume 2 1 , Number 1 2 Parshas Vayikra March 20 , 20 2 1 As Israel’s Political Parties Fight for Role of Kingmaker, Religious - Secular Divide Comes to the Fore By Haviv Rettig Gur timesofisrael.com March 15, 2021 Two very different parties have found in each other lawmakers and some Haredi party activists sharing p hotos the perfect enemies. of emaciated bodies being carried on wheelbarrows during Eight days to election day, the race between the pro - the Holocaust. and anti - Netanyahu camps is close. So close, in fact, that The video clip of that line went viral on Hebrew - neither side can hope to piece together an effective language social media. Few noticed the exchange that government. followed, in which Liberman went on to explain If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu manages to something important about his campaign strategy — he eke out a slim majority, it will likely b e so slim that he will needs to boost support by driving secular voters to the find himself forced to cater to the whims of the most polls. right - wing lawmakers on the ballot. Netanyahu’s Challenged again by Asayag that he cannot push both opponents, meanwhile, theoretically led by Yair Lapid of Netanyahu and the Haredi parties out of government Yesh Atid, may well be too divided and diverse to produce simultaneously and will end up “hugging [Shas leader a manageable coa lition.
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
    E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 165 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019 No. 187 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. and was I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HAS NO called to order by the Speaker. United States of America, and to the Repub- FACTS lic for which it stands, one nation under God, f indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (Mr. KELLER asked and was given PRAYER f permission to address the House for 1 minute.) The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, we J. Conroy, offered the following prayer: The SPEAKER. The Chair will enter- are now in week 2 of the ‘‘public phase’’ Eternal God, we give You thanks for tain up to five requests for 1-minute of Speaker PELOSI’s and Chairman giving us another day. Send Your spirit speeches on each side of the aisle. SCHIFF’s impeachment inquiry. of peace and calm, that all might have f What comes to mind is a song from confidence in Your faithfulness to us, 1980 by REO Speedwagon. I am not HOUSE DEMOCRATS WORK FOR and that no matter what lies ahead, going to do this any justice, but here it THE PEOPLE Your grace is abundantly available. is: ‘‘I heard it from a friend who heard Now we approach a week during (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given it from a friend who heard it from an- which all Americans will gather to re- permission to address the House for 1 other .
    [Show full text]
  • Mason Williams
    City of Ambition: Franklin Roosevelt, Fiorello La Guardia, and the Making of New Deal New York Mason Williams Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2012 © 2012 Mason Williams All Rights Reserved Abstract City of Ambition: Franklin Roosevelt, Fiorello La Guardia, and the Making of New Deal New York Mason Williams This dissertation offers a new account of New York City’s politics and government in the 1930s and 1940s. Focusing on the development of the functions and capacities of the municipal state, it examines three sets of interrelated political changes: the triumph of “municipal reform” over the institutions and practices of the Tammany Hall political machine and its outer-borough counterparts; the incorporation of hundreds of thousands of new voters into the electorate and into urban political life more broadly; and the development of an ambitious and capacious public sector—what Joshua Freeman has recently described as a “social democratic polity.” It places these developments within the context of the national New Deal, showing how national officials, responding to the limitations of the American central state, utilized the planning and operational capacities of local governments to meet their own imperatives; and how national initiatives fed back into subnational politics, redrawing the bounds of what was possible in local government as well as altering the strength and orientation of local political organizations. The dissertation thus seeks not only to provide a more robust account of this crucial passage in the political history of America’s largest city, but also to shed new light on the history of the national New Deal—in particular, its relation to the urban social reform movements of the Progressive Era, the long-term effects of short-lived programs such as work relief and price control, and the roles of federalism and localism in New Deal statecraft.
    [Show full text]
  • Theda Skocpol
    NAMING THE PROBLEM What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight against Global Warming Theda Skocpol Harvard University January 2013 Prepared for the Symposium on THE POLITICS OF AMERICA’S FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING Co-sponsored by the Columbia School of Journalism and the Scholars Strategy Network February 14, 2013, 4-6 pm Tsai Auditorium, Harvard University CONTENTS Making Sense of the Cap and Trade Failure Beyond Easy Answers Did the Economic Downturn Do It? Did Obama Fail to Lead? An Anatomy of Two Reform Campaigns A Regulated Market Approach to Health Reform Harnessing Market Forces to Mitigate Global Warming New Investments in Coalition-Building and Political Capabilities HCAN on the Left Edge of the Possible Climate Reformers Invest in Insider Bargains and Media Ads Outflanked by Extremists The Roots of GOP Opposition Climate Change Denial The Pivotal Battle for Public Opinion in 2006 and 2007 The Tea Party Seals the Deal ii What Can Be Learned? Environmentalists Diagnose the Causes of Death Where Should Philanthropic Money Go? The Politics Next Time Yearning for an Easy Way New Kinds of Insider Deals? Are Market Forces Enough? What Kind of Politics? Using Policy Goals to Build a Broader Coalition The Challenge Named iii “I can’t work on a problem if I cannot name it.” The complaint was registered gently, almost as a musing after-thought at the end of a June 2012 interview I conducted by telephone with one of the nation’s prominent environmental leaders. My interlocutor had played a major role in efforts to get Congress to pass “cap and trade” legislation during 2009 and 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Transcript
    BOOK-2020/02/24 1 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION FALK AUDITORIUM CODE RED: A BOOK EVENT WITH E.J. DIONNE JR. Washington, D.C. Monday, February 24, 2020 Conversation: E.J. DIONNE JR., W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution ALEXANDRA PETRI Columnist The Washington Post * * * * * ANDERSON COURT REPORTING 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 600 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 519-7180 Fax (703) 519-7190 BOOK-2020/02/24 2 P R O C E E D I N G S MR. DIONNE: I want to welcome everybody here today. I’m E.J. Dionne. I’m a senior fellow here at Brookings. The views I am about to express are my own. I don’t want people here necessarily to hang on my views. There are so many people here. First, I want to thank Amber Hurley and Leti Davalos for organizing this event. I want to thank my agent, Gail Ross, for being here. You have probably already seen one of the 10,500,000 Mike Bloomberg ads; you know the tagline is “Mike Gets it Done.” No. Gail gets it done (laughter), so thank you for being here. One unusual person I want to -- also, another great book that you have to read, my friend, Melissa Rogers, who’s a visiting scholar here, we worked together for 20 years, her book, “Faith in American Public Life,” which has a nice double meaning, is a great book to read. And, I can't resist honoring my retired Dr. Mark Shepherd who came here today.
    [Show full text]
  • President Obama's Indiana Legacy
    V22, N21 Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 President Obama’s Indiana legacy night, praying their kids Auto industry saved and don’t get sick. We’re revived, but Hoosiers talking about families who’ve lost the home loathe Obamacare, and that was the corner, their foundation for Democrats decimated their American Dream. “Those are the By BRIAN A. HOWEY stories I heard when INDIANAPOLIS – On Feb. 9, 2009, I came to Elkhart six President Barack Obama came to Elkhart, months ago, and those a city where he had campaigned several are the stories that I times during his 2008 campaign. While he carried with me to the didn’t carry Elkhart County, losing 55-44%, White House. I have he won Indiana’s 11 Electoral College not forgotten them,” votes. The jobless rate in Elkhart had gone Obama said. “And I from 4.7% in 2008 to 15% as the Great promised you back Recession took aim at the recreational then that if elected I’d vehicle and domestic auto industries. do everything I could Noting the 3.6 million jobs lost to help this community since September 2008, and 600,000 during Candidate Barack Obama at the American Legion Mall in recover, and that’s why the month he was sworn in, Obama said at Indianapolis in May 2008. (HPI Photo by A. Walker Shaw) I came back today, be- Concord High School, “We’re talking about cause I intend to keep people in the audience here today. We’re my promise. But you know, the work is going to be hard.
    [Show full text]
  • DECLARACIÓN JURADA De Julian Paul Assange
    DECLARACIÓN JURADA de Julian Paul Assange Yo, Julian Paul Assange, ciudadano de Australia, editor, y refugiado político bajo la protección de la Embajada de Ecuador en Londres, HAGO CONSTAR Q!E" So# el Editor de $ikiLeaks # un director de or&ani'aciones asociadas en un número de pa)ses inclu#endo Australia e Islandia+ Hago esta declaración jurada en relación al monitoreo de mis actividades periodísticas por la inteli&encia militar de EE+!!+ en Alemania entre el -. de diciembre del -//0 # el 1/ de diciembre del 2009 el cual fue utili'ado para asistir en el enjuiciamiento de una presunta fuente de $i%iLeaks, el oficial de inteli&encia militar de EE+!!+ Bradle# 5anning, 6uien fue sentenciado a 17 años en prisión militar el -9 de agosto del -/91: # en relación a la probable incautación ile&al de propiedad perteneciente al declarante # a $ikiLeaks mientras se encontraba bajo el control de las autoridades aeroportuarias de Arlanda (Estocolmo) o Te&el (Berl)n) el -= de septiembre del 2010, inter alia tres ordenadores port>tiles cifrados conteniendo materiales period)sticos # le&ales incluyendo evidencia de un crimen de guerra: # esta declaración jurada establece hechos 6ue conforman la base de mi entender 6ue la propiedad antes mencionada fue sujeta a un registro e incautación ile&al # 6ue el monitoreo de mis acti,idades en Alemania tambi@n fue ile&al+ 5e asesoran mis abogados 6ue, adem>s de los derechos 6ue gozan los individuos, como editor # periodista, mi trabajo se encuentra protegido por los derechos # libertades correspondientes, los cuales son vinculantes para Suecia y Alemania+ Escribo esta declaración jurada para ejercer mi derecho a una solución jur)dica e2ecti,a+ Hago esta declaración jurada según mi leal saber y entender+ Índice • 1 Resumen de reclamos • 2 Estado actual • 3 Operaciones de inteli&encia conocidas antes de viajar a Suecia • 4 Estancia eBtendida en Suecia • 5 Presunta confiscación de maleta, EstocolmoDBerl)n • 6 Esfuerzos por recuperar la maleta y presentar una denuncia ante la polic)a • 7 Esfuerzos ininterrumpidos de EE+!!.
    [Show full text]
  • REPOWERING AMERICA: Transmission Investment for Economic Stimulus and Climate Change
    REPOWERING AMERICA: Transmission investment for economic stimulus and climate change May 2021 Prepared for: London Economics International LLC 717 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A Boston, MA 02111 www.londoneconomics.com Disclaimer The analysis London Economics International LLC (“LEI”) provides in this study is intended to illustrate the potential economic benefit of transmission investment in terms of GDP and employment for the American economy (to support economic recovery), and as a potential public policy tool (to support longer term environmental goals to reduce carbon emissions, which will itself create positive economic benefits). While LEI has taken all reasonable care to ensure that its analysis is complete, the interplay of electric infrastructure investment and dynamics of local economies are highly complex, and thus this illustrative analysis does not quantify all tradeoffs and substitution effects, nor attempt to quantify various positive effects from reduced carbon emissions and containment of damages from Climate Change. Furthermore, certain recent developments in the US economy and transmission investment plans of various regions of the US may or may not be included in LEI’s illustrative analysis. This report is not intended to be an evaluation of any specific transmission investment or a definitive assessment of future economic conditions in the US. The opinions expressed in this report as well as any errors or omissions, are solely those of the authors and do not represent the opinions of other clients of London Economics International LLC. ii London Economics International LLC 717 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 1A Boston, MA 02111 www.londoneconomics.com Table of contents ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................................................... VI 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Senate in Transition Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nuclear Option1
    \\jciprod01\productn\N\NYL\19-4\NYL402.txt unknown Seq: 1 3-JAN-17 6:55 THE SENATE IN TRANSITION OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE NUCLEAR OPTION1 William G. Dauster* The right of United States Senators to debate without limit—and thus to filibuster—has characterized much of the Senate’s history. The Reid Pre- cedent, Majority Leader Harry Reid’s November 21, 2013, change to a sim- ple majority to confirm nominations—sometimes called the “nuclear option”—dramatically altered that right. This article considers the Senate’s right to debate, Senators’ increasing abuse of the filibuster, how Senator Reid executed his change, and possible expansions of the Reid Precedent. INTRODUCTION .............................................. 632 R I. THE NATURE OF THE SENATE ........................ 633 R II. THE FOUNDERS’ SENATE ............................. 637 R III. THE CLOTURE RULE ................................. 639 R IV. FILIBUSTER ABUSE .................................. 641 R V. THE REID PRECEDENT ............................... 645 R VI. CHANGING PROCEDURE THROUGH PRECEDENT ......... 649 R VII. THE CONSTITUTIONAL OPTION ........................ 656 R VIII. POSSIBLE REACTIONS TO THE REID PRECEDENT ........ 658 R A. Republican Reaction ............................ 659 R B. Legislation ...................................... 661 R C. Supreme Court Nominations ..................... 670 R D. Discharging Committees of Nominations ......... 672 R E. Overruling Home-State Senators ................. 674 R F. Overruling the Minority Leader .................. 677 R G. Time To Debate ................................ 680 R CONCLUSION................................................ 680 R * Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy for U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. The author has worked on U.S. Senate and White House staffs since 1986, including as Staff Director or Deputy Staff Director for the Committees on the Budget, Labor and Human Resources, and Finance.
    [Show full text]
  • Topics in Us Government and Politics: American Political Development
    POL 433/USA 403: TOPICS IN U.S. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO WINTER 2019 Dr. Connor Ewing [email protected] Schedule: Monday 10:00am-12:00pm Location: OI 7192 Office Hours: Mon. & Tues. 12:00-2:00 pm, Larkin 215 Course Description This course explores the substance, nature, and study of American political development. It will begin by examining the methodology, mechanisms, and patterns of American political development from the founding to the present. Emphasis will be placed on divergent perspectives on the nature of political development, particularly narratives of continuity and discontinuity. Taking an institution-based approach, the course will then examine the central institutions of American politics and how they have developed over the course of American political history. Relevant to these institutional developments are a host of topics that students will have the opportunity to explore further in various written assignments. This include, but are not limited to, the following: the Constitution and the founding; political economy, trade, and industrialization; bureaucracy and administration; citizenship and inclusion; race and civil rights; law and legal development; and political parties. Course Objectives This course is intended to: • provide students with an understanding of key themes in and approaches to American political development; • expose students to multiple methods of political analysis, with an emphasis on the relationship and tensions between qualitative and quantitative methods; and • develop written and oral communication skills through regular classroom discussions and a range of writing assignments. Course Texts • The Search for American Political Development, Karen Orren and Stephen Skowronek (Yale University Press, 2004) • The Legacies of Losing, Nicole Mellow and Jeffrey Tulis (University of Chicago Press, 2018) All other readings will be available on the course website.
    [Show full text]
  • Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, and the 1980 Presidential Election Matthew Ad Vid Caillet Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2011 "Are you better off "; Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, and the 1980 Presidential election Matthew aD vid Caillet Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Caillet, Matthew David, ""Are you better off"; Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, and the 1980 Presidential election" (2011). LSU Master's Theses. 2956. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/2956 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ―ARE YOU BETTER OFF‖; RONALD REAGAN, LOUISIANA, AND THE 1980 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Department of History By Matthew David Caillet B.A. and B.S., Louisiana State University, 2009 May 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people for the completion of this thesis. Particularly, I cannot express how thankful I am for the guidance and assistance I received from my major professor, Dr. David Culbert, in researching, drafting, and editing my thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Wayne Parent and Dr. Alecia Long for having agreed to serve on my thesis committee and for their suggestions and input, as well.
    [Show full text]