Super PACs

Super PACs

Author: Louise I. Gerdes

Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC

Published: 2014-05-20

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13: 0737768649

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The passage of Citizens United by the Supreme Court in 2010 sparked a renewed debate about campaign spending by large political action committees, or Super PACs. Its ruling said that it is okay for corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want in advertising and other methods to convince people to vote for or against a candidate. This book provides a wide range of opinions on the issue. Includes primary and secondary sources from a variety of perspectives; eyewitnesses, scientific journals, government officials, and many others.


Independent Agencies in the United States

Independent Agencies in the United States

Author: Marshall J. Breger

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 578

ISBN-13: 0199812128

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It is essential for anyone involved in law, politics, and government, as well as students of the governmental process, to comprehend the workings of the federal independent regulatory agencies of the United States. Occasionally referred to as the "headless fourth branch of government," these agencies do not fit neatly within any of the three constitutional branches. Their members are appointed for terms that typically exceed those of the President, and they cannot be removed from office in the absence of some sort of malfeasance or misconduct. They wield enormous power over the private sector, and they have foreign analogues. In Independent Agencies in the United States, Marshall Breger and Gary Edles provide a full-length study of the structure and workings of federal independent regulatory agencies in the US. This book focuses on traditional multi-member agencies that have a significant impact on the American economy, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Labor Relations Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission. This work recognizes that the changing kaleidoscope of modern life has led Congress to create idiosyncratic administrative structures consisting of independent agencies squarely within the Executive Branch, including government corporations and government-sponsored enterprises, to establish a new construct of independence to meet the changing needs of the administrative state. In the process, Breger and Edles analyze the general conflict between political accountability and agency independence. This book also compares US with EU and certain UK independent agencies to offer a unique comparative perspective. Included is a first-of-its-kind appendix describing the powers and procedures of the more than 35 independent US federal agencies, with each supplemented by a selective bibliography of pertinent materials.


Optimizing the Process for Establishing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Optimizing the Process for Establishing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-12-16

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 0309453607

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Federal guidance on nutrition and diet is intended to reflect the state of the science and deliver the most reliable recommendations possible according to the best available evidence. This guidance, updated and presented every 5 years in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), serves as the basis for all federal nutrition policies and nutrition assistance programs, as well as nutrition education programs. Despite the use of the guidelines over the past 30 years, recent challenges prompted Congress to question the process by which food and nutrition guidance is developed. This report assesses the process used to develop the guidelines; it does not evaluate the substance or use of the guidelines. As part of an overall, comprehensive review of the process to update the DGA, this first report seeks to discover how the advisory committee selection process can be improved to provide more transparency, eliminate bias, and include committee members with a range of viewpoints for the purpose of informing the 2020 cycle.