Globalizing L.A.: Trade, Infrastructure, and Regional Development. By Steven P. Erie. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004. 336p. $55.00 cloth, $21.95 paper.

Perhaps the dominant political rhetoric of our time is that which divides society into a self-correcting market and a government, one is the necessary and primary cause of our social ills. Government programs designed to mitigate or solve problems, we are told, unfailingly make the target problem worse and create additional, unforeseen problems. Better to leave well enough alone, even if later we lack the means to travel from our driveway to a workplace nearly one hour away on a good day.

Restructuring Territoriality: Europe and the United States Compared. Edited by Christopher K. Ansell and Guiseppe di Palma. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 316p. $70.00 cloth, $24.99 paper.

This interesting and thought-provoking book, based on a cross-national research project involving both U.S. and European scholars, provides a sustained meditation on the “restructuring of territoriality” in both the United States and the European Union. From initial starting points, such as John Ruggie's “unbundling of territoriality” and other writing on the challenges to the modern state system, from domestic privatization to globalization, the authors focus on the contemporary challenge to the sovereignty of the nation-state and the rebundling of territoriality associated with the development of the EU, reflecting a central concern with how the relationship between territory and governance is changing.

Free Market Democracy and the Chilean and Mexican Countryside. By Marcus J. Kurtz. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 264p. $70.00.

Marcus Kurtz makes his contribution to a sizable body of works examining the impact of economic liberalization on political opening in Latin America, arguing that the countryside in Latin America offers us a crucial piece of the puzzle of why transitions to democracies may succeed despite widening social inequalities. The answer to this paradox, Kurtz argues, is that “competitive national-level democracy [is] based in part on conservative hegemony and peasant quiescence in the countryside” (p. 21). He contends that processes put in place by market-based policies, rather than coercion or clientelism, explain why peasants and rural workers continued to back the politicians who initiated and deepened programs of credit deregulation, price liberalization, and trade opening. Thus, the grim lesson of Free Market Democracy and the Chilean and Mexican Countryside: If those with the most to lose in neoliberal conditions are quickly atomized and dispossessed by transitions to market-based conditions, competitive multiparty electoral systems will endure at national levels. Or, in a semantic twist worthy of Alice in the rabbit hole, in modern conditions, democracy thrives on a certain lack of it.

Self-Policing in Politics: The Political Economy of Reputational Controls on Politicians. By Glenn R. Parker. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 192p. $35.00.

With his latest book, Glenn Parker continues to take us along on his personal odyssey exploring the motivations of political officials and their consequences for our institutions and the quality of representation found in the American political system. Following his work that assumes legislators seek to maximize discretion and that explores how they structure their institutions to achieve that goal (Institutional Change, Discretion, and the Making of the Modern Congress, 1992) and his analysis of Congress in a rent-seeking environment (Congress and the Rent-Seeking Society, 1996), Parker, in this work, explores his concern for constraining the behavior of members of Congress who are increasingly “seeking material gain” (p. 12).

The Dubious Link: Civic Engagement and Democratization. By Ariel C. Armony. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. 312p. $55.00.

Ariel Armony's work provides a useful corrective to some of the more extravagant claims made on behalf of civil society, associationism, social capital, and “the third sector.” In particular, the crude claim that is sometimes made—namely, that high membership in voluntary associations leads uniquely to a higher quality of democracy—is roundly and justly criticized. “Civil society may or may not lead to democracy,” the author claims, “because what matters is the context in which people associate, not because association is inherently and universally positive for democracy” (p. 2).

Privileging Industry: The Comparative Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy. By Fiona McGillivray. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 224p. $55.00 cloth, $19.95 paper.

Of the various transnational economic linkages, international trade is the most explicitly and persistently political. It is also very closely tied to industrial and investment policies in domestic political economies. In this tightly and clearly argued book, Fiona McGillivray comes to terms with the political dimensions of trade and industrial policy by focusing on how electoral rules, strength of political parties, and industrial geography affect trade policy, and she provides a persuasive argument about the conditions under which politicians act to redistribute income toward particular industrial sectors.

Greasing the Wheels: Using Pork Barrel Projects to Build Majority Coalitions in Congress. By Diana Evans. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 280p. $60.00 cloth, $21.99 paper.

A variety of recent studies of American politics and public policy focuses on the role of entrepreneurs in the agenda-setting process. While the focus is quite often on the role of entrepreneurs as architects of policy change, or as sources of policy disequilibrium (Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones, Agendas and Instability in American Politics, 1993; Mark Schneider, Paul Teske and Michael Mintrom, Public Entrepreneurs: Agents for Change in American Government, 1995; Adam D. Sheingate, “Political Entrepreneurship, Institutional Change, and American Political Development,” Studies in American Political Development 17 [Fall 2003]: 185–203), entrepreneurs may also work to maintain policy equilibria through the maintenance of majority coalitions. (Although this might be the difference between entrepreneurial and leadership activity, the former is interested in assembling a coalition to challenge the policy status quo, while the latter focuses on coalition maintenance in support of the status quo.) Whether they are engaged in “creative acts of destruction” (Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, 1942) or are attempting to maintain a policy equilibrium, a major factor shaping the decision to pursue entrepreneurial activity, as well as the chances of success of such efforts, is the perceived costs associated with assembling a winning coalition. Successful entrepreneurs are those who are able to overcome the collective-action problem associated with coalition maintenance.

Saving Open Space: The Politics of Local Preservation in California. By Daniel Press. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. 197p. $49.95 cloth, $18.95 paper.

This book poses two questions: “Why do some communities preserve more open space than others? More specifically, what are the conditions for creating innovative, effective land preservation institutions at the local level?” (p. 1). Daniel Press systematically answers these questions with respect to a single state, California, arguing that its experience offers lessons for all states, inasmuch as “California's experience with rapid growth and land preservation resembles that of the rest of the nation” (p. 50).

Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Edited by Henry E. Brady and David Collier. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. 384p. $72.00 cloth, $27.95 paper.

This essay collection is an exceptionally important book that establishes a pluralistic vision of social science methodology. Until a few years ago, the discipline equated methods with quantitative methods and formal modeling; qualitative research was often seen as lacking precision and rigor and therefore as undeserving of the “methods” label. How things have changed—and for the better! The American Political Science Association now has a flourishing section on Qualitative Methods, which has attracted a rapidly increasing membership.

Democrats, Republicans, and the Politics of Women's Place. By Kira Sanbonmatsu. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. 328 pages. $50.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

In her book, Kira Sanbonmatsu provides a compelling and evenhanded analysis of how political parties have come to embrace issues of gender. She provides a penetrating longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of this response of political parties against a backdrop of the women's movement. With elections since 1992 focusing on women as voters and candidates, and with a growth of interest in parties due to their apparent polarization on issues and their newfound ways around campaign finances laws, her timely study contributes to a broader understanding of party realignment and adds to recent scholarship (e.g., see Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting, 1997).

The Money Primary: The New Politics of the Early Presidential Nomination Process. By Michael J. Goff. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. 228p. $70.00 cloth, $26.95 paper.

As the amount of money raised by those who win the major parties' nominations for president has soared out of sight, scholars, the media, and even the general public have become seriously concerned. Michael Goff's book examines the “money primary,” fund-raising before a single primary or caucus vote has even been cast. He sees it, along with media attention and poll rankings, as crucial in determining the viability and eventual success of candidates. The interrelatons of these factors can be seen in his three main hypotheses. Strong fund-raising predicts survival and “success in the early nomination process” (p. 11). Extensive early fund-raising organization and activity increase the possibility of success. Media coverage of these activities forecasts candidate viability and success. In other words, money is important not only for what it can buy but as an early indicator of comparative candidate strength.

The British Regulatory State: High Modernism and Hyper-Innovation. By Michael Moran. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 256p. $65.00.

Drawing on experienced scholarly observation, Michael Moran has written a strikingly critical evaluation of Britain's recent development of state regulatory authority. Its now legalistic form more nearly resembles the long-prevalent American pattern. Perhaps the British development would seem to follow from the privatization of industries in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Enterprises like railroads, telecommunications, and electricity are no longer government corporations but privately owned “public utilities,” to use the American term for businesses especially affected by the public interest. For Moran, however, other forces also help account for the growth of regulation in Britain. He persuasively argues that legal regulatory authority has also been extended to several enterprises not previously nationalized and then privatized.

Deserving and Entitled: Social Constructions and Public Policy. Edited by Anne L. Schneider and Helen M. Ingram. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. 416p. $89.50 cloth, $29.95 paper.

Anne Schneider and Helen Ingram have assembled 11 essays by scholars who examine how Americans' understandings of social groups shape both the process and substantive outcomes of policymaking. Explaining how such meanings are made and what they imply proves to be a challenge for the contributors to this edited volume. Because the central concepts here are rather amorphous—group entitlement and deservingness—much room remains for argument about how much of either quality the target groups enjoy. The stated purpose of the book, “to explain, examine, and criticize the social construction of deservedness and entitlement in public policy,” is useful and ambitious (p. 2). Though rich in descriptive content on topics such as Revolutionary War pensions, policies toward Japanese-Americans, housing discrimination law, welfare, and microenterprise development, most of the essays raise many more questions than they answer regarding how socially constructed meanings come to be, how they matter for policy development, and the conditions under which such understandings significantly matter. Examining how public policies enhance or hinder the development of full citizenship is the central question running through these thought-provoking chapters.

Gender and Human Rights Politics in Japan: Global Norms and Domestic Networks. By Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. 240p. $45.00.

This is an admirably constructed book. It is clear, concise, and forceful, with good evidence and examples that illustrate observations and arguments. It is also a book that challenges many of the conventional paradigms of the study of Japanese politics. One of the tenacious tenets of the paradigms is that Japanese society, Japanese politics, and Japanese culture are resistant to forces coming from outside and that they try to keep their organic whole with cohesion and consistency. Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien says no, at least not always yes, to this conventional wisdom.

Expression vs. Equality: The Politics of Campaign Finance Reform. By J. Tobin Grant and Thomas J. Rudolph. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 2004. 144p. $59.95 cloth, $21.95 paper.

Through a series of experiments embedded in a national survey, J. Tobin Grant and Thomas J. Rudolph systematically examine attitudes toward campaign finance reform in a very interesting and compelling manner. In a thorough analysis, they examine the commitment citizens have to the competing democratic values of political equality and political expression, finding that opinion varies depending upon perceptions of whose rights are being threatened. The central thesis of the research, which is well established with a comprehensive literature review and theoretical analysis, is that public opinion on campaign finance reform is group-centric, a function of the views individuals have toward groups that are thought to be affected by the proposed reform. If individuals feel positively about a group that is seen as being threatened by the reform, they will be negatively inclined toward the reform. Conversely, if individuals view the group with suspicion or negativity, they will favor the reforms. The research represents a systematic analysis of public opinion on campaign finance reform on a nation level, examining the factors that impact opinions and the dynamic manner in which opinions are formed and maintained.

Electoral Engineering: Voting Rules and Political Behavior. By Pippa Norris. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 390p. $70.00 cloth, $25.99 paper.

Over 20 years ago, William Riker proposed that the study of electoral systems and their consequences constituted the best-developed research program in contemporary political science. Scores of scholars followed Maurice Duverger's lead, emphasizing how institutions affect the strategic environment facing political actors and the contours of party systems. Other researchers followed Seymour Martin Lipset's and Stein Rokkan's lead, privileging social cleavages as the main features influencing party system development. Recently, scholars have attempted to reconcile or integrate the competing approaches. Pippa Norris's new book fits into this trend by evaluating the two schools of thought side by side, harnessing valuable data produced by the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES).

Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the Litigation Crisis. By William Haltom and Michael McCann. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. 332p. $55.00 cloth, $20.00 paper.

If you, or anyone you know, believes that America is in the midst of a litigation crisis, then you must read this book.

The Economic Effects of Constitutions. By Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003. 320p. $35.00.

Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini have produced the most ambitious study yet that attempts to identify and estimate the effects of constitutional design on economic outcomes. They draw on data from more than 80 countries and control for demographic, historical, regional, and economic characteristics. The purpose is to determine whether the shape of political institutions has measurable impact on economic policies (e.g., fiscal balance, social welfare spending), on government performance (e.g., corruption indices, protection of property rights), and on direct measures of economic performance (e.g., productivity of capital and labor). The political institutions that draw the most attention are constitutional regime type and the method of electing legislators.

The Formation of National Party Systems: Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India and the United States. By Pradeep K. Chhibber and Ken Kollman. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2004. 272p. $50.00 cloth, $24.95 paper.

The question of the role institutions play in party aggregation has tended to be dominated by discussions of the role and effects of different electoral systems. In a refreshing change from this preoccupation with electoral systems, Pradeep Chhibber and Ken Kollman turn our attention to the impact of federalism, or, more appropriately, the degree of centralization or devolution of power in governmental systems, on the fragmentation of party systems. Their focus is dynamic: They are interested in the formation of national party systems and in how party systems change over time with respect to their extent of nationalization and in relation to the migration of political authority to the center or from the center to states, provinces, or regions. Highly nationalized party systems are ones in which parties receive similar vote shares across different levels of vote aggregation: district, regional, and national. Conversely, in weakly nationalized party systems, parties are differentially competitive across levels.

Defining Americans: The Presidency and National Identity. By Mary E. Stuckey. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004. 404p. $35.00.

This is a powerful, ambitious book on the connection between American presidents and American identity. Mary Stuckey argues that through their rhetoric, American presidents reduce an often contradictory and always complex set of national identities into a single overarching one. Presidents present this idealized universal in attempts to unify and preserve existing political structures and beliefs and to minimize differences in the national debate. They offer this national identity while also attempting to maintain their political coalitions and address certain pressing policy problems.