Politics in States and Communities, 15th edition

• Chapter Opening “Questions to Consider”—new entry(ies) in each chapter.
• Chapter Highlights—concise chapter summaries updated.
• New Visuals to enhance state comparisons—50-state maps on marijuana legalization, school superintendent pay, abortion law restrictiveness, voter ID requirements, professionalism in state legislatures, jointly-elected lieutenant governors, workers’ right-to-work laws, the death penalty, the 2012 presidential election results, unauthorized immigrants, use of public transportation, sales tax rates, and same sex marriage laws.

The fifteenth edition presents more in-depth and up-to-date coverage of:

• Demographics is destiny—one of the dominant themes of the 2012 post-presidential election coverage; the political impact of changing demographics and political cultures across and within states; changes in participation rates and party affiliations of Hispanics and Asians; changing racial/ethnic composition of younger voters and their growing share of the electorate.
• Generational politics—the growing political clout of the Millennial generation, especially in swing states; higher turnout, election of more young mayors and state legislators, bigger role as key staffers for state legislators; clashes between young and old on moral and economic issues, the future solvency of Social Security and other age-based programs; upswing in age discrimination cases: Baby Boomers v. the Millennials; role reversal—older Americans now voting more Republican, Millennials voting more Democratic but more independent leaning than strongly attached to parties.
• Immigration—how one becomes a citizen; conflicts over immigration reform; state laws dealing with undocumented immigrants’ access to drivers licenses and college tuition; state DREAM Acts.
• Shifting opinions on moral issues—same sex marriage, recreational use of marijuana, online gambling, contraceptives, abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and gun control; growing ideological and public policy divide between red and blue states.
• Privacy and individual rights debates—state and local government use of drones, security cameras, red light cameras; release of gun ownership and registration data; protection of privacy rights in government records (cybersecurity).
• Campaigns and Elections—Lower turnout rates in swing states—possible impact of negative ad saturation; the impact of early voting on campaigns; “big data” and micro-targeting in Get-Out-The-Vote efforts; polling flaws; campaign spending reform battles; continued debate over the presidential primary “first” position of the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary—led by diverse states.
• The “nationalization” of judicial, mayoral, and school board races; infusion of outside interest group money into in local races focused on ideologically-divisive issues national in scope.
• Continuing election system controversies—voter IDs, voter eligibility (felons, non-citizens), online and same day registration, early voting, polling place location, time in line, mail ballots, absentee voting; partisan priorities: Democrats focused on preventing voter suppression, Republicans on preventing voter fraud.
• Changing media habits—of voters, elected officials; reduced presence of state public affairs networks and the capitol press corps.
• Increased violence against judicial system officials and at public schools and universities (shootings, bullying); renewed demands for more funding and support for better mental health programs.
• The Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements—the disappearance of street-level protests, the incorporation of key ideas into major parties’ platforms (Tea Party—national debt; Occupy Wall Street—income inequality).
• Declining party competition in state legislatures; more safe seats; fewer states with divided party control (governor v. legislature).
• State exasperation with federal inaction on critical issues; the emergence of the new “bottoms-up” phase of federalism; state-initiated lawsuits challenging federal policies.
• Reforms of institutions and policies aimed at improving the effectiveness of state and local government service delivery; of reforms aimed at improving education (charter schools; No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Virtual Schools, Common Core Standards, college tuition hikes, differential funding for majors with more job potential); welfare ( means-tested federal-state assistance programs; incentive programs; Medicaid expansion; the wealth gap); transportation (high speed rail, bus rapid transit, MAP-21; mega-commuters); the environment (Keystone pipeline, CAFÉ standards, smart growth, recycling, hazardous waste removal and storage); health care (ObamaCare; Medicare).
• Battles over public employee unions, right-to-work laws, and privatization of prisons.
• Lingering effects of the Great Recession— municipal bankruptcies; state takeovers of failing cities and school districts; employee cutbacks; public employee pension restructuring and benefit reduction; service mergers; taxes; debt; the financial resiliency goal.
• The punishment versus rehabilitation debate; pendulum swings toward rehabilitation; community alternatives to jail; probation; parole; declining crime rates.
• Affirmative action policies; battles over university admission policies; government contracting policies.
• Direct democracy—citizen-led efforts to expand the initiative and recall processes in some states; efforts to limit them in others.
• Money in politics—the Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission ruling; the rise of self-financed candidates; escalating campaign costs; new efforts at campaign finance reform—more-detailed and timely disclosure laws, Clean Election laws, public financing; court rulings on contributions to judicial candidates.
• Redistricting—controversies over methods (legislative v. independent commission); impacts of post-2010 redistricting; racial and partisan gerrymandering.
• Civil rights policy—the expansion of civil rights battlefields beyond just race to gender, disability, age, and sexual preference issues; new court rulings on race and gay rights (LGBT).
• Fraud and corruption—concerns about absentee balloting and online voting; scandals involving big state governors; ethics laws and regulations; ethics training for elected officials and public employees.
• Lieutenant governors—more visibility; how selected; relationship to governor; roles and responsibilities; clearer gubernatorial succession laws (who steps in when a vacancy occurs).
• Expanded responsibilities of attorneys general, secretaries of state, auditors, comptrollers, and treasurers.
• The rise of independents and third parties—more registering as independents; the rise of independent candidates for major state offices; party-switching candidates and what the public thinks of them; difficulties faced by newly-emerging third parties.
• Metropolitics—changes in the social distance between cities v. suburbs; rebirth of downtowns as magnets for young residents; shrinking employment-resident gap in suburbs.
• Growing emphasis on citizens’ quality of life—Gallup’s new “well-being” ratings; commute lengths; the urban sustainability movement; disaster-proofing disaster-prone areas.