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2. Libertarian Roots of the Tea Party
- Author:
- David Kirby and Emily McClintock Ekins
- Publication Date:
- 08-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Many people on the left still dismiss the tea party as the same old religious right, but the evidence says they are wrong. The tea party has strong libertarian roots and is a functionally libertarian influence on the Republican Party.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Economics, Politics, Insurgency, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States
3. The Case for Gridlock
- Author:
- Marcus E. Ethridge
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- In the wake of the 2010 elections, President Obama declared that voters did not give a mandate to gridlock. His statement reflects over a century of Progressive hostility to the inefficient and slow system of government created by the American Framers. Convinced that the government created by the Constitution frustrates their goals, Progressives have long sought ways around its checks and balances. Perhaps the most important of their methods is delegating power to administrative agencies, an arrangement that greatly transformed U.S. government during and after the New Deal. For generations, Progressives have supported the false premise that administrative action in the hands of experts will realize the public interest more effectively than the constitutional system and its multiple vetoes over policy changes. The political effect of empowering the administrative state has been quite different: it fosters policies that reflect the interests of those with well organized power. A large and growing body of evidence makes it clear that the public interest is most secure when governmental institutions are inefficient decisionmakers. An arrangement that brings diverse interests into a complex, sluggish decisionmaking process is generally unattractive to special interests. Gridlock also neutralizes some political benefits that producer groups and other well-heeled interests inherently enjoy. By fostering gridlock, the U.S. Constitution increases the likelihood that policies will reflect broad, unorganized interests instead of the interests of narrow, organized groups.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, Politics, Power Politics, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
4. The Libertarian Vote in the Age of Obama
- Author:
- David Kirby and David Boaz
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Libertarian—or fiscally conservative, socially liberal—voters are often torn between their aversions to the Republicans' social conservatism and the Democrats' fiscal irresponsibility. Yet libertarians rarely factor into pundits' and pollsters' analyses.
- Topic:
- Democratization and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
5. Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification: Franz Kafka's Solution to Illegal Immigration
- Author:
- Jim Harper
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- In last summer's debate over immigration reform, Congress treated a national electronic employment eligibility verification (EEV) system as a matter of near consensus. Intended to strengthen internal enforcement of the immigration laws, electronic EEV is an Internet-based employee vetting system that the federal government would require every employer to use.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
6. A Critique of the National Popular Vote
- Author:
- John Samples
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The National Popular Vote plan (NPV), introduced in more than 40 states, and adopted by 4, proposes an interstate compact to bring about direct election of the president of the United States. The proposal eliminates states as electoral districts in presidential elections by creating a national electoral district for the presidential election, thereby advancing a national political identity for the United States. States with small populations and states that are competitive may benefit from the electoral college. Few states clearly benefit from direct election of the president. NPV brings about this change without amending the Constitution, there by undermining the legitimacy of presidential elections. It also weakens federalism by eliminating the role of the states in presidential contests. NPV nationalizes disputed outcomes and cannot offer any certainty that states will not withdraw from the compact when the results of an election become known. NPV will encourage presidential campaigns to focus their efforts in dense media markets where costs per vote are lowest; many states now ignored by candidates will continue to be ignored under NPV. For these reasons, states should not join the National Popular Vote compact.
- Topic:
- Politics and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- United States
7. Two Kinds of Change: Comparing the Candidates on Foreign Policy
- Author:
- Justin Logan
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Few U.S. presidential elections have been decided on the basis of foreign policy. For the first time in decades, however, both parties have fielded candidates who have chosen to emphasize their foreign policy views.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
8. CATO Institute: The Personal Lockbox: A First Step on the Road to Social Security Reform
- Author:
- Michael Tanner
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- With President Bush's call for comprehensive Social Security reform bogged down in the morass of partisan politics, many reform advocates have suggested starting the process with smaller steps. Recently, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), and others have proposed legislation to rebate Social Security surpluses to workers in the form of contributions to personal accounts.
- Topic:
- Security, Development, Economics, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
9. CATO Institute: Uncompetitive Elections and the American Political System
- Author:
- Dennis Polhill and Patrick Basham
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- American representative government suffers from the handicap of a largely uncompetitive political system. American politics has fewer and fewer competitive elections. In arguing that political competition matters a great deal, this paper traces the increasing trend toward uncompetitiveness and details the role and nature of incumbency advantage in fostering an uncompetitive political system.
- Topic:
- Demographics, Political Economy, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
10. CATO Institute: Treating Doctors as Drug Dealers: The DEA's War on Prescription Painkillers
- Author:
- Ronald T. Libby
- Publication Date:
- 06-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- The medical field of treating chronic pain is still in its infancy. It was only in the late 1980s that leading physicians trained in treating the chronic pain of terminally ill cancer patients began to recommend that the "opioid therapy" (treatment involving narcotics related to opium) used on their patients also be used for patients suffering from nonterminal conditions. The new therapies proved successful, and prescription pain medications saw a huge leap in sales throughout the 1990s. But opioid therapy has always been controversial. The habit-forming nature of some prescription pain medications made many physicians, medical boards, and law enforcement officials wary of their use in treating acute pain in nonterminal patients. Consequently, many physicians and pain specialists have shied away from opioid treatment, causing millions of Americans to suffer from chronic pain even as therapies were available to treat it.
- Topic:
- Crime, Human Welfare, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States and America