Several books have been written about Sam Rayburn, but thus far there has been no attempt to analyze Rayburn's rise to power. No one has delved sufficiently into his political philosophy, his motivations, and his personal convictions regarding the pivotal events of the turbulent 1930s. This dissertation endeavors to fill that void by tracing the course of events which led Sam Rayburn to the speakership of the United States House of Representatives. It records his triumphs, his shortcomings, the concessions he made, and the people he served in order to achieve his life's ambition. The scope of this study ranges from Rayburn's first expression of interest in the speakership to his elevation to that position in 1940. Brief coverage is given to his three terms in the Texas Legislature, beginning in 1906, and his election to Congress in 1912. A more extensive analysis is made of his early congressional association with John Nance Garner and its pivotal influence on his career. A brief analysis is offered of Rayburn's political and legislative activities prior to the election of 1932. The primary emphasis of this study, however, revolves around Rayburn's activities during the years 1932-1940-- the first two terms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the period in which Sam Rayburn completed his methodical odyssey to the speakership.

No description available.

My dissertation examines gender representation in both bureaucratic agencies and standing legislative committees focusing on Corrections and Human or Social Services in eleven southern states. By examining individual public officials in both regulatory and redistributive agencies and committees, I am able to determine if active representation of women’s issues is occurring and how this impacts the policy development and implementation of domestic violence programs. Theoretical models used in examining the linkage between passive and active representation often incorporate the values and actions of public officials. The ethic of care is a theoretical approach that argues that gender differences may arise in terms of moral evaluations, perceptions of responsibilities, and the development of relationships. Therefore, care is used as a value and action in this study for two reasons. First, women’s issues, such as domestic violence, require an ethic of care to be used in assisting vulnerable populations, as victims’ needs should be addressed with care and concern. Secondly, contemporary scholarship in governance argues that emotional labor is prevalent among public officials, which suggests that care can instrumentally improve governance. This study uses a mixed method approach. Quantitative analysis explains the linkage of passive and active representation in legislative bodies. Survey instruments completed by legislators provided information on policy preferences, emotional labor, legislative responsibilities and political environment. Qualitative methods are used to develop a case study examining the link in representation in three southern state bureaucratic agencies. Administrators from these agencies were interviewed to explore their responsibilities, their ability to use care or exert emotional labor and represent women’s issues. Due to the lack of passive representation, in terms of female representation in southern governments, active representation is not reached in many units studied. However, regulatory agencies exhibit signs of active representation and the use of care and emotions in serving vulnerable populations. This study contributes to our understanding of female representation in the south as well as the impact politics have on the policy process.

No description available.

No description available.

<p dir="ltr">In this project, I explore the ways through which legislators can influence national elections in a two-party dominant political system. I find that because of the peculiar roles legislators play in new democracies, they are easily endeared to voters and their popularity can sometimes transfer to their co-partisan presidential candidates. </p>

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

倫理是有關哲學、價值及道德的研究，涉及判斷力和行為的準則，亦或是藉以建立及執行正確而又適當行為的樣準；決策則是公共行政內容中最主要的活動，公共政策本身即含有決定社會價值再分配的特性；民主國家的立法單位正是決定利益歸屬的關鍵場域，作為立法機關構成者的立法委員對倫理的認知及踐履，將反映在當代政治風氣的清明與否，利益的分配是否合於公眾對公平正義的期待？長久以來，民眾對立法院形象評價低落的原因之一，正在於部分立法委員以權牟私，特權關說等等不符倫理行為導致政治活動商業化的情事浮濫，故及早建立外部的行為規範，督促政治風氣及國會倫理趨於清明，並設置有效的監督機制，是當前國會改革工程極為艱鉅的工程。 國會的改革與政治環境關係密不可分，故本研究擬採制度比較的方法切入，主要試圖勾勒：（一）、立法委員行為與倫理對公益的關係及影響？（二）、在比較及分析我國國會利益迴避制度的同時，亦參酌美、日、英等國對國會的利益迴避制度，並比較和我國現有制度的異同？（三）、經由現正研擬中有關於利益迴避制度的分析研究，歸納出未來對立法委員行為規範的立法趨勢為何？（四）、整合前述各項差異，歸納出可能改進的方向，作為利益迴避在國會倫理法制化過程中改進的參考。 關鍵字：立法委員、利益迴避、國會倫理 / Ethics deals with value, morality, and philosophy, involving judgment and behavioral principles; it may also be the criteria for establishment and guidance of right and proper conduct. Decision-making is a primary activity of public administration and decision-making itself contains redistributive characteristics of social value. In democratic nations, legislative bodies are the key field that decides whom interests belong to. Being legislative bodies, their acknowledgement and observation of ethics may reflect whether current political atmosphere is free of corruption or not and distribution of interests meets public expectation of fairness and justice. For a long time, one of the reasons that the public rates the Legislative Yuan low lies in that legislators abuse their power to pursue their own interests as influence peddlers; this conduct is not ethical and leads to indiscriminate commercialization of political activities. Hence, setting external conduct norms as soon as possible, enforcing cleanness of political atmosphere and legislative ethics, and forming effective supervising organizations are arduous work for reforming the Legislative Yuan at present. Reformation of the Legislative Yuan and political circumstances are closely related; therefore, this study starts at comparison of system methods in an attempt to present an account: (1) What is the relations and influences of legislators’ conduct and ethics over public interests? (2) By comparison and analysis of the Legislative Yuan’s conflicts of interests and by reference to conflicts of interests systems in Britain, Japan, and U.S.A. this study tries to compare and distinguish differences in these systems. (3) On analysis and study of conflicts of interests system being prepared, legislation trends of legislators conduct norms can be concluded. (4) To summarize the above-mentioned differences, improvements are summed up for legislation for conflicts of interests in legislative ethics code as reference. Key word: legislators, conflicts of interests, Legislative Yuan’s ethics.