The Politics of Information

The Politics of Information PDF Author: Frank R. Baumgartner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022619826X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
How does the government decide what’s a problem and what isn’t? And what are the consequences of that process? Like individuals, Congress is subject to the “paradox of search.” If policy makers don’t look for problems, they won’t find those that need to be addressed. But if they carry out a thorough search, they will almost certainly find new problems—and with the definition of each new problem comes the possibility of creating a government program to address it. With The Politics of Attention, leading policy scholars Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones demonstrated the central role attention plays in how governments prioritize problems. Now, with The Politics of Information, they turn the focus to the problem-detection process itself, showing how the growth or contraction of government is closely related to how it searches for information and how, as an organization, it analyzes its findings. Better search processes that incorporate more diverse viewpoints lead to more intensive policymaking activity. Similarly, limiting search processes leads to declines in policy making. At the same time, the authors find little evidence that the factors usually thought to be responsible for government expansion—partisan control, changes in presidential leadership, and shifts in public opinion—can be systematically related to the patterns they observe. Drawing on data tracing the course of American public policy since World War II, Baumgartner and Jones once again deepen our understanding of the dynamics of American policy making.

The Politics of Information

The Politics of Information PDF Author: Frank R. Baumgartner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022619826X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
How does the government decide what’s a problem and what isn’t? And what are the consequences of that process? Like individuals, Congress is subject to the “paradox of search.” If policy makers don’t look for problems, they won’t find those that need to be addressed. But if they carry out a thorough search, they will almost certainly find new problems—and with the definition of each new problem comes the possibility of creating a government program to address it. With The Politics of Attention, leading policy scholars Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones demonstrated the central role attention plays in how governments prioritize problems. Now, with The Politics of Information, they turn the focus to the problem-detection process itself, showing how the growth or contraction of government is closely related to how it searches for information and how, as an organization, it analyzes its findings. Better search processes that incorporate more diverse viewpoints lead to more intensive policymaking activity. Similarly, limiting search processes leads to declines in policy making. At the same time, the authors find little evidence that the factors usually thought to be responsible for government expansion—partisan control, changes in presidential leadership, and shifts in public opinion—can be systematically related to the patterns they observe. Drawing on data tracing the course of American public policy since World War II, Baumgartner and Jones once again deepen our understanding of the dynamics of American policy making.

The politics of freedom of information

The politics of freedom of information PDF Author: Ben Worthy
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526108526
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Why do governments pass freedom of information laws? The symbolic power and force surrounding FOI makes it appealing as an electoral promise but hard to disengage from once in power. However, behind closed doors compromises and manoeuvres ensure that bold policies are seriously weakened before they reach the statute book. The politics of freedom of information examines how Tony Blair's government proposed a radical FOI law only to back down in fear of what it would do. But FOI survived, in part due to the government's reluctance to be seen to reject a law that spoke of 'freedom', 'information' and 'rights'. After comparing the British experience with the difficult development of FOI in Australia, India and the United States – and the rather different cases of Ireland and New Zealand – the book concludes by looking at how the disruptive, dynamic and democratic effects of FOI laws continue to cause controversy once in operation.

The Politics of Attention

The Politics of Attention PDF Author: Bryan D. Jones
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226406539
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
On any given day, policymakers are required to address a multitude of problems and make decisions about a variety of issues, from the economy and education to health care and defense. This has been true for years, but until now no studies have been conducted on how politicians manage the flood of information from a wide range of sources. How do they interpret and respond to such inundation? Which issues do they pay attention to and why? Bryan D. Jones and Frank R. Baumgartner answer these questions on decision-making processes and prioritization in The Politics of Attention. Analyzing fifty years of data, Jones and Baumgartner's book is the first study of American politics based on a new information-processing perspective. The authors bring together the allocation of attention and the operation of governing institutions into a single model that traces public policies, public and media attention to them, and governmental decisions across multiple institutions. The Politics of Attention offers a groundbreaking approach to American politics based on the responses of policymakers to the flow of information. It asks how the system solves, or fails to solve, problems rather than looking to how individual preferences are realized through political action.

The Politics of Knowledge

The Politics of Knowledge PDF Author: Ellen Condliffe Lagemann
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226467801
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
The Carnegie Corporation, among this country's oldest and most important foundations, has underwritten projects ranging from the writings of David Riesman to Sesame Street. Lagemann's lively history focuses on how foundations quietly but effectively use power and private money to influence public policies.

The Politics of Information

The Politics of Information PDF Author: T. Blom
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781137325402
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This collection presents the results of a research agenda which examines how information plays a key role in policymaking. As a very dynamic environment characterized by many different modes of information gathering and processing, the EU forms a particularly interesting case to test the politics of information approach.

The Politics of Information in Early Modern Europe

The Politics of Information in Early Modern Europe PDF Author: Sabrina Alcorn Baron
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134630743
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
In its various European contexts, the invention and spread of newspapers in the seventeenth century had a profound effect on early modern culture and politics. While recent research has explored the role of the newspaper in transforming information into ideology in various European countries, this book is the first to bring this work together into a comprehensive and comparative survey.

The Truth About Us

The Truth About Us PDF Author: Sanjoy Chakravorty
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 9351950263
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
‘India...has an information space packed with numerous sources and agents – from politicians and activists to profiteers and extortionists – all competing for attention and legitimacy in a growing information market... Whom does one believe?’ The political manipulation and simplification of information about a dizzyingly complex society have fashioned certain ‘truths’ about India. These truths have resulted in the creation of major religious and caste identities, which have been the defining features of the country’s politics and history for over 200 years. An unsparing study of how this situation has come about, The Truth about Us explores answers to crucial questions: Is India a homogenous Hindu nation sprinkled with minorities, or a pluralistic, heterogeneous one? Is our knowledge of the inequalities in our society founded on facts or perceptions? What are the real origin stories of India’s social categories, and how are they being constructed and challenged today? At a time when India is in the throes of an existential debate, convulsed by contesting claims over identity and history, Hindutva and Dalit consciousness, nationalism and freedom of speech, and the rights and realities of minorities, this deeply provocative book is urgent reading for every thinking Indian.

The Politics of Information

The Politics of Information PDF Author: T. Blom
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137325410
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
This collection presents the results of a research agenda which examines how information plays a key role in policymaking. As a very dynamic environment characterized by many different modes of information gathering and processing, the EU forms a particularly interesting case to test the politics of information approach.

Ethics, Law and the Politics of Information

Ethics, Law and the Politics of Information PDF Author: Massimo Durante
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 940241150X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
This book provides a detailed discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the change driven by ICTs. Such a change is often much more profound than an emphasis on information technology and society can capture, for not only does it bring about ethical and policy vacuums that call for a new understanding of ethics, politics and law, but it also “re-ontologizes reality”, as propounded by Luciano Floridi’s philosophy and ethics of information. The informational turn is transforming our understanding of reality by challenging the conventional ways we have of thinking about our world and our identities in terms of stable and enduring structures and beliefs. The information age we inhabit brings to completion our self-understanding as informational systems that produce, process, and exchange information with other informational systems, in an environment that is itself made up of information. The present volume provides us with a better understanding of the normative nature and role of information, helping us to grasp the sense and extent to which informational resources serve as “constraining affordances” guiding our behaviours. It does so by delineating the background against which we build our beliefs about reality, make decisions, and behave, through our interactions with a multi-agent system that is increasingly dependent on ICTs. The book will be of interest to a vast audience, ranging from information technologists, ethicists, policy makers, social and legal scholars, and all those willing to embrace the following three tenets: we construct our world and ourselves informationally; by constructing our world and ourselves we thereby become aware of our limits; it is precisely these limits that make us become human beings.

Global Justice and the Politics of Information

Global Justice and the Politics of Information PDF Author: Sky Croeser
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317629833
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
The global social justice movement attempts to build a more equitable, democratic, and environmentally sustainable world. However, this book argues that actors involved need to recognise knowledge - including scientific and technological systems - to a greater extent than they presently do. The rise of the Occupy movement, the Arab Spring and the Wikileaks controversy has demonstrated that the internet can play an important role in helping people to organise against unjust systems. While governments may be able to control individual activists, they can no longer control the flow of information. However, the existence of new information and communications technologies does not in itself guarantee that peoples' movements will win out against authoritarian governments or the power of economic elites. Drawing on extensive interviews and fieldwork, this book illustrates the importance of contributions from local movements around the world to the struggle for global justice. Including detailed case studies on opposition to genetically-modified crops in the south of India, and the digital liberties movement, this book is vital reading for anyone trying to understand the changing relationship between science, technology, and progressive movements around the world. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of International Politics, Social movements, Global Justice and Internet politics.