University of Chicago Press
Rules and Restraint: Government Spending and the Design of Institutions
Key Metrics
- David M Primo
- University of Chicago Press
- Paperback
- 9780226682600
- 8.91 X 6.26 X 0.53 inches
- 0.68 pounds
- Political Science > Public Policy - Economic Policy
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
One reason budget rules are ineffective, David Primo shows, is that politicians often create and preserve loopholes to protect programs that benefit their constituents. Another reason is that legislators must enforce their own provisions, an arrangement that is seriously compromised by their unwillingness to abide by rules that demand short-term sacrifices for the sake of long-term gain. Convinced that budget rules enacted through such a flawed legislative process are unlikely to work, Primo ultimately calls for a careful debate over the advantages and drawbacks of a constitutional convention initiated by the states--a radical step that would bypass Congress to create a path toward change. Rules and Restraint will be required reading for anyone interested in institutional design, legislatures, and policymaking.
Author Bio
Professor David M Primo's research interests cover American politics, campaign finance, corporate political strategy, corporate social responsibility, fiscal policy, and political bargaining.
Primo's most recent project on campaign finance is the focus of his fourth book, Campaign Finance and American Democracy: What the Public Really Thinks and Why It Matters, co-authored with Jeff Milyo (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming June 2020).
His first book, The Plane Truth: Airline Crashes, the Media, and Transportation Policy (Brookings Institution Press, 2003) , co- authored with Roger Cobb, examines governmental responses to plane crashes. His second book, Rules and Restraint: Government Spending and the Design of Institutions (University of Chicago Press, 2007), focuses on the design and enforcement of budget rules and received the 2008 Alan Rosenthal Prize awarded by the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association. His third book, A Model Discipline: Political Science and the Logic of Representations (Oxford University Press, 2012), co-authored with Kevin Clarke, studies the role of models, both theoretical and statistical, in social science research.
Primo has published articles in over a dozen journals including the American Journal of Political Science, Election Law Journal, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, Journal of Politics, and Strategic Management Journal, as well as in several edited volumes. Primo's work has been supported by several organizations, including the National Science Foundation.
His op-eds have appeared in national newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and he's been interviewed on radio and television stations including Bloomberg and National Public Radio. Primo has testified before Congress multiple times on the subject of constitutional budget rules and budget process reform, and his campaign finance research was cited in 2011 by Chief Justice John Roberts in a US Supreme Court decision regarding the public funding of elections. In 2014, Primo created the Politics and Markets Project, which fosters education, research, and debate about the appropriate relationship between business and government in the 21st century. Primo teaches courses in American politics, corporate political strategy, and innovation and global business.
He is a recipient of the Goergen Award for Distinguished Achievement and Artistry in Undergraduate Education, the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award given by the University of Rochester Students' Association. Primo served as the Political Science Department's Director of Graduate Studies from 2010-2017.
- Education
Stanford University
• PhD, Political Science, June 2002
• MA, Economics, January 2001
Brown University
• MA, Political Science, May 1998
• BA with highest degree distinction, Economics and Honors Political Science, May 1998
• Phi Beta Kappa, 1997
Source: University of Rochester
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