Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: Bolingbroke was an unconventional liberal whose pioneering theories of the roles of political opposition are part of a larger theory about the place of political leadership in modern government.

Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: One of the primary questions in the field of political communication is the extent to which the news media in Western countries provide sufficient time and space for oppositional forces to be heard. The amount of access granted to oppositional forces varies among countries and it is useful to consider the variables that can explain such difference. The Politics-Media-Politics (PMP) principle claims that political variations lead to variations in media performance that then lead to changes in the political process. It is argued that one of the most important political variables influencing oppositional access is the nature of the nature of a country's party system. The party systems in Israel and the United States represent polar opposite systems in that Israel is a polarized multi-party system and the U.S. is a two party system. Data was collected based on news stories about major political waves that took place in the two countries during three different years. While oppositional voices tended to dominate these debates in Israel, they were much less likely to be heard in the American press.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Despite the assumption that U.S. foreign policy is ruled by an imperial president, two recent cases show Congress can act by consensus and pass foreign policy legislation against the wishes of the executive. The Goldwater-Nichols act restructured the Defense Department, while the Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998 was used by a future administration to press support for invasion. What international, domestic, and local conditions and interests are necessary for Congress to act against the president and create foreign policy? Further, how do such interventions affect presidential predominance in foreign policy? This study focuses on the two cases cited above, where Congress initiated foreign policy in opposition to the executive. It examines the parochial interests that may (or may not) have led key lawmakers to act; the intrainstitutional factors allowing the legislation to develop; the interinstitutional factors that led lawmakers into conflict with the president; and the international system at the time of the legislation. It finds that the key factor in congressionally led foreign policy is the executive-legislative cleavage, as well as the blunting of divisions within the legislature. At the same time, it finds that these congressional initiatives at best maintained or even increased executive authority, and further marginalized Congress's role. Presidential weakness is not enough to overturn the imperial presidency, which will require presidential action.