Ken Kollman

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Name of Periodical: Political Analysis

Volume Number: 20

Issue Number: 2

Year of Publication: 2012

The American Political System focuses on the core insights of political science that students need to understand American government. Each chapter is organized around the real-world puzzles that draw scholars and students alike to study American politics. A clear, consistent framework based on the key role of institutions helps students think analytically about...

This is the first book to establish a link between federalism and the formation of national or regional party systems in a comparative context. The authors rely on historical data spanning back to the eighteenth century from Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States to revise our understanding of why a country's party system consists of national or regional parties. They demonstrate that the party systems in these four countries have been shaped by the authority granted to different levels of government. Departing from the conventional focus on social divisions or electoral...

In Outside Lobbying, Ken Kollman explores why and when interest group leaders in Washington seek to mobilize the public in order to influence policy decisions in Congress. In the past, political scientists have argued that lobbying groups make outside appeals primarily because of their own internal dynamics--to recruit new members, for example. Kollman, however, grants a more important role to the need for interest group leaders to demonstrate popular support on particular issues. He interviewed...