The 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one of the most significant legislative accomplishments in twentieth-century American politics. To date, legislative histories have usually argued that the ESEA's passage was the result of either auspicious political circumstances or the political skill of the Johnson White House.…

At the start of their term, the Obama administration pledged to reform two failing policy systems in the United States: immigration and health care. The Latino populations' attitudes toward these two critical policy areas are particularly relevant due to the large foreign born population in the Latino community and the large number of Latinos who…

Today, with states' near-universal adoption of the Common Core State Standards, the political system has achieved that which was not possible less than 2 decades ago. Just why this is so remains unanswered. Some observers have attributed states' embrace of the standards to the substantial financial incentives that the federal government embedded…

This study reviews research on the defeat of incumbent school board members and presents new election data on 104 southern California school districts. The findings confirm that incumbent defeat is episodic, but they challenge previous research regarding its nature and origins. (Author)

Examines four simulation games used in higher education to teach the role of elections in promoting governmental responsibility, the effects of imperfect accountability on governmental policy, and ways to make governments more accountable. These games simulate interest group lobbying, political party formation, bureaucratic policy making, and…

The federal Hope Scholarship program, designed as a middle-class tax break, required substantial negotiation and diverse, often conflicting tactics to become policy. The story of the idea's creation and its journey to policy, based on interviews with over three dozen college officials, Clinton administration aides, lawmakers, and others is…

Election of Bill Clinton as President has injected Washington, DC, with optimism, but few observers believe his promises will be accomplished without eruptions of conflict, frustration, and acrimony. The 103rd Congress must face pressing issues immediately, concerning health care and benefits, higher education financing, and research and…

The November 1996 national election pits different education philosophies against each other; republicans want more local control, fewer rules, and greater school choice, while democrats talk of more federal funding while balancing the budget. The future of the Higher Education Act, African American influence in Congress, education committee…