The Politics of Military Base Closings: Not in My District

by Goren, Lilly J.

• ISBN13: 9780820455242
• ISBN10: 0820455245
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Peter Lang Pub Inc

Summary

This book investigates new patterns of « evasive delegation and « dedistributive policymaking by the U.S. Congress, whereby Congress delegates its decision-making power to ad hoc commissions or implements constraints that compel it to make decisions within prescribed limits. Elected public officials seem unwilling to make, or believe themselves unable to be « held responsible for, « dedistributive policy. Thus, means are devised to actually make the decisions, while allowing elected officials to evade responsibility. The Base Realignment and Closing Commission (BRAC), which aimed to get politics out of military base closings, is a quintessential example of such means. At the heart of these considerations is the question of with whom or where responsibility should rest. The American people are left to decide whether to hold unelected and more or less « unsupervised individuals, commissions, and the like responsible for their greater well being while officially elected individuals quietly cede responsibility.

Author Biography

Lilly J. Goren is Chair and Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	xi
Dedistributive Decision Making and Evasive Delegation: The Story of the Base Realignment and Closing Commission	1	(12)
The Evolution of Congressional Delegation: Constitutional Context, History, and Recent Variations	13	(20)
Mounting Disputes: How Base Closure Became Impossible	33	(17)
A Solution Appears: Representative Dick Armey's Idea	50	(14)
The 1988 Base Realignment and Closing Commission: Closed-Door Decision Making	64	(15)
The Return of Politics to the Process: Rounds Two, Three, and Four	79	(29)
The Future of Evasive Delegation in a Political System	108	(17)
Notes	125	(24)
Bibliography	149	(8)
Index	157