Thinking About Political Reform
How to Fix, or Not Fix, American Government and Politics

Thinking About Political Reform is the only genuinely comprehensive book on reforming American government and politics available to students and instructors. Covering elections, institutions, political processes, and behavior, it invites readers to go beyond the "what" of government and politics that typically is covered in both introductory and advanced American government courses to consider "what's wrong", "why", "so what", and "what if" questions, encouraging them to examine the failures and flaws of the governing process and to ponder potential solutions and their likely consequences. In addressing issues from the role of citizens to elections to the three branches of government, it treats both the causes and consequences of structural, procedural, and behavioral problems, offering a variety of common and sometimes not so common reform proposals that are assessed from the perspectives of political science, economics, law, journalism, and politics. The book asks readers to ground their thinking about reform in seven criteria or standards that should characterize sound democratic government in the United States, pointing out that such criteria are not always compatible and urging readers to prioritize their values before attacking reform issues. Throughout, it applies those standards and an up-to-date review of the scholarly literature and current events to the reform agenda, suggesting several approaches to evaluate, for example, the tensions between Congress and the presidency, election systems, or political parties. Each chapter offers readers specific questions to help them formulate their own views on reform and reminds them that reforms are linked

Dr. John ("Jack") Johannes received a B.S., summa cum laude, from Marquette University, in Mathematics and Political Science, and the A.M. and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. He joined the Marquette faculty in 1970, progressing to the rank of Professor of Political Science in 1984. Before coming to Villanova as Vice President for Academic Affairs (1995-2010), he chaired the Political Science Department at Marquette (1980-88), was the founding Executive Director of Marquette's Bradley Institute for Democracy and Public Values (1986-88), and served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1988-93). He was a visiting professor at Harvard in the summers of 1972, 1976, and 1984. Dr. Johannes served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Political Science (1982 85) and Legislative Studies Quarterly (1983-86) and was a member of the Executive Council of the Midwest Political Science Association. He has served as a member of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the Wisconsin Legislative Council's Committee on Campaign Finance Reform, and the Radnor (Pa.) Commission on Charter Review; and currently is a commissioner of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Professor Johannes has lectured at the London School of Economics, Rice University, the University of Nebraska, and Arcadia University, and received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Association, the Everett Dirksen Center for the Study of Congressional Leadership, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.