Kirjahaku

The 2000 election showed that the mechanies of voting, such as ballot design, can make a critical difference in the accuracy and fairness of our elections. But as Dennis F. Thompson persuasively shows, more fundamental issues must be addressed to ensure that our electoral system is fair. Just Elections argues that three central democratic principles - equal respect, free choice, and popular sovereignty - underlie our electoral institutions and should inform any assessment of the justice of elections. To create a fair electoral system, we must deliberate together about these principles and take greater control of the procedures that govern our elections.

The 2000 election showed that the mechanies of voting, such as ballot design, can make a critical difference in the accuracy and fairness of our elections. But as Dennis F. Thompson persuasively shows, more fundamental issues must be addressed to ensure that our electoral system is fair. Just Elections argues that three central democratic principles - equal respect, free choice, and popular sovereignty - underlie our electoral institutions and should inform any assessment of the justice of elections. To create a fair electoral system, we must deliberate together about these principles and take greater control of the procedures that govern our elections.

This 1970 study examines the implications of empirical studies in the social sciences with reference to various strands of American and British democratic theory. In presenting his case Professor Thompson provides an extremely valuable critical synthesis of a very large body of theoretical and empirical literature in this field. He weaves together in an original way the works of more than a dozen twentieth-century political theorists and several hundred empirical studies by political scientists, sociologists and social psychologists.

In this important collection of essays Dennis Thompson argues for a more robust conception of responsibility in public life than prevails in contemporary democracies. He suggests that we should stop thinking so much about public ethics in terms of individual vices (such as selfishness or sexual misconduct) and start thinking about it more in terms of institutional vices (such as abuse of power and lack of accountability). Combining theory and practice with many concrete examples and proposals for reform, these essays could be used in courses in applied ethics or political theory and will be read by professionals and graduate students in schools of political science, public policy, law, public health, journalism and business.

In this important collection of essays Dennis Thompson argues for a more robust conception of responsibility in public life than prevails in contemporary democracies. He suggests that we should stop thinking so much about public ethics in terms of individual vices (such as selfishness or sexual misconduct) and start thinking about it more in terms of institutional vices (such as abuse of power and lack of accountability). Combining theory and practice with many concrete examples and proposals for reform, these essays could be used in courses in applied ethics or political theory and will be read by professionals and graduate students in schools of political science, public policy, law, public health, journalism and business.

Are public officials morally justified in threatening violence, engaging in deception, or forcing citizens to act for their own good? Can individual officials be held morally accountable for the wrongs that governments commit? Dennis Thompson addresses these questions by developing a conception of political ethics that respects the demands of both morality and politics. He criticizes conventional conceptions for failing to appreciate the difference democracy makes, and for ascribing responsibility only to isolated leaders or to impersonal organizations. His book seeks to recapture the sense that men and women, acting for us and together with us in a democratic process, make the moral choices that govern our public life.Thompson surveys ethical conflicts of public officials over a range of political issues, including nuclear deterrence, foreign intervention, undercover investigation, bureaucratic negligence, campaign finance, the privacy of officials, health care, welfare paternalism, drug and safety regulation, and social experimentation. He views these conflicts from the perspectives of many different kinds of public officials—elected and appointed executives at several levels of government, administrators, judges, legislators, governmental advisers, and even doctors, lawyers, social workers, and journalists whose professional roles often thrust them into public life.In clarifying the ethical problems faced by officials, Thompson combines theoretical analysis with practical prescription, and begins to define a field of inquiry for which many have said there is a need but to which few have yet contributed. Philosophers, political scientists, policy analysts, sociologists, lawyers, and other professionals interested in ethics in government will gain insight from this book.

Although Mill regarded Considerations on Representative Government as a mature statement of his theory of democracy, critics have tended to treat it less seriously than most of his other major works. Dennis Thompson argues that this neglect has led to inadequate interpretations of Mill's thought on democracy. Drawing where appropriate on other writings by Mill, the author restores a balanced view by studying the structure of the theory expounded in Representative Government. Representative Government is shown to be more coherent and systematic than has generally been assumed. In the first two chapters the author examines separately Mill's views of political participation and competence. He then considers the philosopher's effort to combine participation and competence at any particular time in a theory of government and to reduce conflict between them over time in a theory of development. Basic features of Mill's view are subjected to critical scrutiny, and modifications are suggested to overcome the deficiencies noted. Throughout, Mill's claims are compared with the ideas and findings of recent social science, leading to the conclusion that his theory remains a valuable resource for contemporary thinking about democracy. Originally published in 1976. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Although Mill regarded Considerations on Representative Government as a mature statement of his theory of democracy, critics have tended to treat it less seriously than most of his other major works. Dennis Thompson argues that this neglect has led to inadequate interpretations of Mill's thought on democracy. Drawing where appropriate on other writings by Mill, the author restores a balanced view by studying the structure of the theory expounded in Representative Government. Representative Government is shown to be more coherent and systematic than has generally been assumed. In the first two chapters the author examines separately Mill's views of political participation and competence. He then considers the philosopher's effort to combine participation and competence at any particular time in a theory of government and to reduce conflict between them over time in a theory of development. Basic features of Mill's view are subjected to critical scrutiny, and modifications are suggested to overcome the deficiencies noted. Throughout, Mill's claims are compared with the ideas and findings of recent social science, leading to the conclusion that his theory remains a valuable resource for contemporary thinking about democracy. Originally published in 1976. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

"More members of Congress have been investigated and sanctioned for ethical misconduct in the past decade and a half than in the entire previous history of the institution. But individual members are probably less corrupt than they once were. Stricter ethics codes and closer scrutiny by the press and public have imposed standards no previous representatives have had to face. Dennis Thompson shows how the institution itself is posing new ethical challenges, how the complexity of the environment in which members work creates new occasions for corruption and invites more calls for accountability.Instead of the individual corruption that has long been the center of attention, Thompson focuses on institutional corruption which refers to conduct that under certain conditions is an acceptable part of the job of a representative. Members are required to solicit campaign contributions, and they are expected to help constituents with their problems with government, but some ways of doing these jobs give rise to institutional corruption. The author moves the discussion beyond bribery, extortion, and simple personal gain to delve into implicit understandings, ambiguous favors, and political advantage.Thompson examines many major ethics cases of recent years. Among them: the case of David Durenberger, accused of supplementing his income through book promotions; the case of the Keating Five, accused of using undue influence with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board on behalf of Lincoln Savings and Loan owner Charles Keating; and the case of House Speaker James Wright, accused of several offenses.Thompson shows why neither the electoral process nor the judicial process is sufficient and argues for stronger ethics committees and the creation of a new quasi-independent body to take over some of the enforcement process. He offers more than a dozen recommendations for changes in the procedures and practices of ethics in Congress.The book features a listing of ethics charges, classified by type of corruption, considered by Congress from 1789 to 1992.Selected by Choice as an Outstanding Book of 1995"