Government

Scalia’s Constitution: Essays on Law and Education. Paul E. Peterson, Michael W. McConnell. Palgrave Macmillan, 151 pages. 2018.

This book explores the application of Scalia’s textualism and originalism to education law and reflects upon Scalia’s teachings and his pedagogy. Education law may seem to be an odd vehicle for considering Scalia’s constitutional approach, but thinking about schools requires attention to political fundamentals—freedom of speech, free exercise of religion, equality of opportunity, federalism, and the proper role of the expert. Legal scholars, philosophers, and political scientists provide both critiques and apologies for Scalia’s approach.

The End of the Bush-Obama Regulatory Approach to School Reform. Paul E. Peterson. Education Next, 16(3). 2016.

At the turn of the 21st century, the United States was trying to come to grips with a serious education crisis. The country was lagging behind its international peers, and a half-century effort to erode racial disparities in school achievement had made little headway. Many people expected action from the federal government.

The 2015 EdNext Poll on School Reform. Michael B. Henderson, Paul E. Peterson, Martin R. West. Education Next, 16(1). 2016.

The American public is displaying its independent streak. Critics of testing will take no comfort from the findings of the 2015 Education Next poll—but neither will supporters of the Common Core State Standards, school choice, merit pay, or tenure reform. The unions will not like the public’s view on their demands that nonmembers contribute financially to their activities.

Teachers versus the Public - What Americans Think about Schools and How to Fix Them. Paul Peterson, Michael Henderson, Martin R. West. Brookings Institution Press, 177 pages. 2014.

A comprehensive exploration of 21st Century school politics, Teachers versus the Public offers the first comparison of the education policy views of both teachers and the public as a whole, and reveals a deep, broad divide between the opinions held by citizens and those who teach in the public schools. Among the findings:

• Divisions between teachers and the public are wider and deeper than differences between other groups often thought to contest school policy, such as Republicans and Democrats, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, or African Americans and whites.

The Global Debt Crisis: Haunting U.S. and European Federalism. Paul Peterson, Daniel Nadler. Brookings Institution Press, 240 pages. 2014.

Stockton, California, recently became the largest American city in history to declare bankruptcy, having incurred a debt as high as $1 billion. Since 2010, seven U.S. cities, towns, or counties have filed for bankruptcy, while many more teeter on the brink of insolvency. Not since the Great Depression has America witnessed such grand-scale municipal bankruptcies. The Global Debt Crisis looks at this growing crisis and its implications for governance and federalism, both domestically and internationally.

The New American Democracy, Alternate Edition (7th Edition). Morris P. Fiorina, Paul Peterson, Bertram Johnson, William G. Mayer. Pearson, 7th edition, 624 pages. 2011.

Updated in a new 7th edition, The New American Democracy offers a stimulating, analytical approach to American government and a unique perspective on contemporary politics with an emphasis on elections and their importance in the American political system. The authors -- among the most well-known and well-respected scholars working in political science today --propose in their text that politicians today are perpetually engaged in the election process—a “permanent campaign”—which has profoundly affected how our government functions today.

America's New Democracy. Morris P. Fiorina, Paul Peterson, Bertram Johnson, William G. Mayer. Pearson Publishers, 6th edition, 608 pages. 2010.

With an emphasis on elections and their importance in our political system, this groundbreaking text offers a stimulating, analytical approach to American government that engages students as it gives them a unique understanding of their political system as it exists and functions today. (Succinct presentation of material in The New American Democracy)

The Emerging Field of Education Policy. Paul PetersonIn Gary King, Kay Lehman Schlozman, Norman H. Nie, Eds.. The Future of Political Science: 100 Perspectives. Routledge, New York. 2009.
Education. Paul PetersonIn P. Schuck and J. Wilson, Eds.. Understanding America: The Anatomy of an Exceptional Nation. Public Affairs, New York. 2008.
The President’s Dominance in Foreign Policy Making. Paul PetersonIn Cohen, Jeffrey and David Nice, Eds.. The Presidency: Classic and Contemporary Readings. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2003.

This article is a revised version of “The International System and Foreign Policy” in The President, the Congress, and the Making of Foreign Policy (Norman OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994), 3-22.

While America Slept. Paul PetersonIn Dennis L. Dresain et al. American Government In a Changed World: The Effects of September 11, 2001. 2002.
U.S. Budgetary Politics at the Close of the Cold War Era. Paul PetersonIn Herbert Dittgen and Michael Minkenberg, Eds.. The American Impasse. United States Domestic and Foreign Policy after the Cold War. Pittsburgh University Press, PA, 177-197. 1996.
Budget Deficits and the Race to the Bottom. Paul PetersonIn Sheila B. Kamerman and Alfred J. Kahn, Eds.. Report I: Whither American Social Policy?. New York: Cross-National Studies Research Program, Columbia University School of Social Work, 43-63. 1996.
Questioning by the Foreign Policy Committees. Paul Peterson, Jay P. GreeneIn Paul E. Peterson, Ed.. The Congress, The Presidency and the Making of Foreign Policy, 74-100. 1995.
Why Presidential-Congressional Conflict is Dwindling. Paul Peterson. British Journal of Political Science. 1994.