An overview of the process of university participation in state politics is provided, including the way in which a university interacts with the governor's office and the way it competes with other universities and other agencies for budget dollars. The following 23 articles are included: "The Influence of State Constitutional Conventions on the Future of Higher Education" (Samuel K. Gove and Susan Welch); "State Constitutions--An Update" (Leonard E. Goodall); "Constitutional Autonomy for Universities: The Current State of Judicial Opinions" (Richard B. Crockett); "Governors and Higher Education" (Samuel K. Gove); "University Reorganization in Wisconsin" (Allen Rosenbaum); "The State Story: Administrative Centralization" (Malcolm Moos and Francis E. Rourke); "Legislators and Academicians" (Heinz Eulau and Harold Quinley); "Lobbying for Limited Resources" (John W. Hicks); "How To Play the State Capitol Game" (Dan Angel); "Public Universities and the New State Politics" (E. Terrence Jones); "Long-Term Expectations for Financing Higher Education" (M. M. Chambers);"State Tuition Policies and Public Higher Education" (Allan W. Ostar); "The Management of Universities of Constant or Decreasing Size" (Richard M. Cyert); "Should States Support Private Colleges--Yes!" (Steven Muller); "Should States Support Private Colleges--No!" (Bill J. Priest); "The Public-Private Debate" (Frank H. T. Rhodes); "Trends in Statewide Planning and Coordination" (Patrick M. Callan and Richard W. Jonsen); "Ambiguities in the Administration of Public University System: An Organizing Perspective" (Lawrence K. Pettit); "Who's Afraid of the Statewide Board?" (James A. Norton); "The Point of the Discourse" (M. M. Chambers); "Memo to a Multicampus Trustee from a Flagship CEO" (Barry Munitz); "The Future of the Land-Grant University" (Malcolm Moos); and "State Colleges: An Unsettled Quality" (Robert Birnbaum). References included with each chapter. (KM)

Historically, many faculty and administrators in higher education have regarded themselves as above the fray--part of the national interest, not a special interest--and considered lobbying a dirty business unworthy of their lofty enterprise. Now that academia no longer enjoys all the respect and good will that federal policy makers once afforded it, that attitude has changed. The Republican sweep of the 1994 Congressional elections served as a wake-up call for the higher education community. In response, it made a spirited effort to gain attention for its own policy preferences. Lobbying for Higher Education is about how the major higher education associations and the constituent American colleges and universities try to influence federal policy, especially congressional policy. In clear prose Cook explains how the higher education community organizes itself in Washington, how it lobbies, and how its major interest groups are perceived both by their own members and by public officials. The book focuses on the crucial development in 1995-1996 of a new lobbying paradigm, which included the greater use of campus-based resources and ad hoc coalitions. The most engrossing part of its story is higher education's creative response to the policy turmoil and disruption of the status quo that resulted from the shift in congressional party control. The author, Constance Cook, uses sources unique to this project: over 1,500 survey responses from college and university presidents (a 62% return rate) and nearly 150 interviews with institutional and association leaders. Fortuitously, the 1994 electoral upheaval provided her with an opportunity to capture, analyze, and interpret the responses of her subjects in a period of unusually sweeping change. Lobbying for Higher Education is a timely book with an interesting and important story at its core.

This book provides a comprehensive description of the federal government's relationship with higher education and how that relationship became so expansive and indispensable over time. Drawing from constitutional law, social science research, federal policy documents, and original interviews with key policy insiders, the author explores the U.S. government's role in regulating, financing, and otherwise influencing higher education. Natow analyzes how the government's role has evolved over time, the activities of specific governmental branches and agencies that affect higher education, the nature of the government's influence today, and prospects for the future of federal involvement in higher education. Chapters examine the politics and practices that shape policies affecting nondiscrimination and civil rights, student financial aid, educational quality and student success, campus crime, research and development, intellectual property, student privacy, and more. Book Features: Provides a contemporary and thorough understanding of how federal higher education policies are created, implemented, and influenced by federal and nonfederal policy actors. Situates higher education policy within the constitutional, political, and historical contexts of the federal government. Offers nuanced perspectives informed by insider information about what occurs behind the scenes in the federal higher education policy arena. Includes case studies illustrating the profound effects federal policy processes have on the everyday lives of college students, their families, institutions, and other higher education stakeholders.

Originally published in 2007, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in America: the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. A work of major importance, it remains as relevant today as it was in the immediate aftermath of the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006. Mearsheimer and Walt describe in clear and bold terms the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel and argues that this support cannot be fully explained on either strategic or moral grounds. This exceptional relationship is due largely to the political influence of a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. They provocatively contend that the lobby has a far-reaching impact on America's posture throughout the Middle East―in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict―and the policies it has encouraged are in neither America's national interest nor Israel's long-term interest. The lobby's influence also affects America's relationship with important allies and increases dangers that all states face from global jihadist terror. The publication of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy led to a sea change in how the U.S-Israel relationship was discussed, and continues to be one of the most talked-about books in foreign policy.