Lisa K. Parshall

The 2020 presidential selection process is already underway. As the political parties finalize their nominating rules and the states jostle for an advantageous contest date, potential challengers are being identified and sized up by party insiders. Once again, media and popular attention will be disproportionately focused on the candidates’ performance in the first and earliest of the state nominating contests—and on how quickly the sequence of primaries and caucuses winnows the field and identifies the presumptive nominees. But what are the implications of a sequential and front-loaded nominating calendar that gives some voters outsized influence while leaving many others with a constrained choice—or no choice—in the selection of their party’s presidential nominee?Reforming the Presidential Nominating Process: Front-Loading's Consequences and the National Primary Solution critiques the contemporary nominating process from the perspective of voters and their right to effectively participate in their parties’ selection of a presidential nominee. Employing both a common-sense and legal, rights-based framework to invite a constitutionally grounded conversation on the legitimacy of the current presidential nominating process, Lisa K. Parshall argues that timing of participation in the nomination goes hand-in-hand with the right to choose a candidate and the fairest way to restore the promise of meaningful and timely participation for all voters is by adopting a same-day national primary.Viewed from the party membership perspective, this work illuminates the fundamental interests at stake that should be considered in any potential reform of the presidential nominating system.

From Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which precipitated a radical shift in the Supreme Court’s interpretation of federalism, to Richard Nixon’s New Federalism and Ronald Reagan’s push for devolution, presidents, and presidential policies have reframed federal and state relations over time. Presidential Federalism: The Role of Presidents in Shaping National-State Relationsuniquely reframes the traditional approach to and periodization of federalism through the lens of presidential politics. It explores how modern presidents, through their policy priorities and presidential rhetoric, have shaped andshifted our understanding of federalism. Standard treatments of federalism tend to focus on judicial, legal interpretation of competing jurisdictional authority, creating periods of changeable federal-to-state authority within which political actors, including presidents, must operate. The periodization that is prevalent in the literature on federalism only loosely corresponds to specific presidential administrations and changesin presidential policy regarding the exercise of federal power. Yet, presidents also play an important role in shaping federalism–setting the policy agenda and the preferred venue (federal or state) in which policy issues are fought.Presidential Federalismcontributes to gaps in the intergovernmental relations and management perspectives of contemporary federalism that overlook or underplay executive influence in the changing understanding of federal and state relationships and the practical realities for policy actors operating withindifferent administrations.

The first comprehensive study of village government formation and dissolution in New York State.In Local Hands examines the contemporary (post-2010) village government dissolution movement and renewed state-level effort to encourage local government restructuring against the backdrop of evolving statutory authority, growing fiscal pressures, and state incentives. Drawing on multiple disciplines, Lisa K. Parshall explores the contemporary village dissolution movement in New York State, the impetus behind these reforms, and the impact of the state-level policies and incentives that are driving a growing number of local communities to consider local government reorganization through the elimination of villages as governing entities. Parshall explores the social, political, and narrative contexts in which these community-level debates occur, providing us with a study of local democracy in action and of the power of local control over the creation and dissolution of local governing entities. With its dual within and cross-case study focus on New York State villages, In Local Hands is both timeless and timely, providing valuable contributions to the study of municipal development and reorganization.

The first comprehensive study of village government formation and dissolution in New York State.In Local Hands examines the contemporary (post-2010) village government dissolution movement and renewed state-level effort to encourage local government restructuring against the backdrop of evolving statutory authority, growing fiscal pressures, and state incentives. Drawing on multiple disciplines, Lisa K. Parshall explores the contemporary village dissolution movement in New York State, the impetus behind these reforms, and the impact of the state-level policies and incentives that are driving a growing number of local communities to consider local government reorganization through the elimination of villages as governing entities. Parshall explores the social, political, and narrative contexts in which these community-level debates occur, providing us with a study of local democracy in action and of the power of local control over the creation and dissolution of local governing entities. With its dual within and cross-case study focus on New York State villages, In Local Hands is both timeless and timely, providing valuable contributions to the study of municipal development and reorganization.

Donald J. Trump ran on a platform that, among other things, promised to "drain the swamp" that is Washington, DC. Part of that draining would entail what his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, would call "the deconstruction of the administrative state." Set in the political environment of 2020, with a raging pandemic and nationwide protests, this work examines the philosophy that guides the Trump Administration’s approach and the mechanisms by which it seeks to accomplish the deconstruction. By combining journalistic accounts with presidential and public administration scholarship, the book raises questions about the impact of Trump’s approach on the future of public administration. As such, this work makes a strong contribution to public administration and presidential studies and casts a scholarly light on treatments of Trump’s contribution to governance and politics. This new edition brings the narrative up to date and speculates about the future of the administrative state and our democracy in the aftermath of January 6th under the new Biden Administration and future presidents. "A powerful defense of the administrative state and equally powerful indictment of the attempts of Donald Trump and his ilk to deconstruct it. The growing threats to our democracy go beyond the malignant acts of courts, state legislatures, and Congress. To overlook the administrative branch is to miss a large piece of the danger we face as a nation."—Thomas E. Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government & the Press, Harvard University "President Donald Trump launched an unprecedented assault on American federal government. This book provides a thorough assessment of how that assault proceeded and the dangers it posed. This is an essential guide for scholars in public administration and political science, as well as students of American history."—Alasdair Roberts, Professor of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Donald J. Trump ran on a platform that, among other things, promised to "drain the swamp" that is Washington, DC. Part of that draining would entail what his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, would call "the deconstruction of the administrative state." Set in the political environment of 2020, with a raging pandemic and nationwide protests, this work examines the philosophy that guides the Trump Administration’s approach and the mechanisms by which it seeks to accomplish the deconstruction. By combining journalistic accounts with presidential and public administration scholarship, the book raises questions about the impact of Trump’s approach on the future of public administration. As such, this work makes a strong contribution to public administration and presidential studies and casts a scholarly light on treatments of Trump’s contribution to governance and politics.

The 2020 presidential selection process is already underway. As the political parties finalize their nominating rules and the states jostle for an advantageous contest date, potential challengers are being identified and sized up by party insiders. Once again, media and popular attention will be disproportionately focused on the candidates’ performance in the first and earliest of the state nominating contests—and on how quickly the sequence of primaries and caucuses winnows the field and identifies the presumptive nominees. But what are the implications of a sequential and front-loaded nominating calendar that gives some voters outsized influence while leaving many others with a constrained choice—or no choice—in the selection of their party’s presidential nominee?Reforming the Presidential Nominating Process: Front-Loading's Consequences and the National Primary Solution critiques the contemporary nominating process from the perspective of voters and their right to effectively participate in their parties’ selection of a presidential nominee. Employing both a common-sense and legal, rights-based framework to invite a constitutionally grounded conversation on the legitimacy of the current presidential nominating process, Lisa K. Parshall argues that timing of participation in the nomination goes hand-in-hand with the right to choose a candidate and the fairest way to restore the promise of meaningful and timely participation for all voters is by adopting a same-day national primary.Viewed from the party membership perspective, this work illuminates the fundamental interests at stake that should be considered in any potential reform of the presidential nominating system.