Bøger af Andreas Polk

Lobbying is not only the subject of ongoing, heated debates in politics and the public sphere but has also been a focus of the social sciences for decades. This edited volume provides an overview of the current state of research on lobbying from the perspective of Public Choice as a subfield of political science and economics. After a brief introduction to the field, Part I provides an overview of basic concepts and political-economic theories of lobbying from the standpoints of various subfields of Public Choice. Subsequently, Part II investigates the various channels used by interest groups to influence policymakers, such as party donations, informational lobbying, hiring politicians, etc. These chapters also discuss the possibilities and limits of regulating the respective channels. Lastly, Part III sheds light on lobbying in selected regions (i.e., the United States, European Union, Russia, and China).

The US has a new first lady, but despite more than a year of heavy scrutiny for Donald Trump, we still know surprisingly little about his wife, Melania. She kept a fairly low profile during the Republican's election campaign, aside from a disastrous speech at the Republican National Convention in July, which was found to be partially plagiarised from First Lady Michelle Obama. Commentators speculated as to why Melania could not be seen stumping for her husband on the campaign trail across the country, as past wives have done. Perhaps the campaign feared her status as a foreigner - complete with a heavy accent - would undermine Trump's appeal to anti-immigrant voters. If so, they were probably wrong, says Vox, whose polling of US voters found "European immigrants are perceived very differently from Latin American or Middle Eastern immigrants". Trump's chequered marital history could also be to blame. Melania is "the first third wife to take up residence in the White House", says i24 News, and giving her a high-profile position in the campaign would risk increased media focus on Trump's two previous marriages and multiple infidelities. Or was she simply not interested in the spotlight?