This book examines the legal and policy issues surrounding congressional investigations through a series of case studies, with an emphasis on the second half of the twentieth century to date. The new and updated second edition covers significant developments from the Obama and Trump administrations, including the two Trump impeachments, the January 6 Committee investigation of the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and recent Supreme Court decisions on congressional investigative powers. The book is organized by case study topic, with each chapter using two or three case studies to introduce and analyze a discrete area of legal authorities and policy issues. The central thesis and organizing principle of the book is the importance of effective congressional oversight and investigative activities in our American democratic system of government, especially in the aftermath of the disputed 2020 presidential election. In addition to collecting legal authorities, the book includes relevant historical information and structural analysis of government functions, with an emphasis on separation of powers issues. The use of a case study format, rather than a traditional law school casebook format, is intended to present the subject matter in a way that can be used to teach undergraduate and graduate school courses as well as law school courses. The authors combine original congressional and judicial source materials with book excerpts and explanatory text, as well as notes and questions for each case study, to make the subject matter accessible to graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in government and political science courses, as well as to law students.

The purpose of the book is to investigate parliaments’ capacity to oversee government activities, policies and budget legislation. By analysing the survey data that the World Bank Institute in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union collected from 120 parliaments, Pelizzo and Stapenhurst show what tools are available to parliaments worldwide, which tools are more or less common, how oversight capacity can be estimated, how oversight capacity is related to other institutional and constitutional factors. In addition to discussing the conditions under which oversight capacity is greater, the authors perform some analyses to assess the policy implications of oversight capacity. Specifically, they look at the impact of oversight capacity on the quality of democracy and on the level of good governance.

A central bank needs authority and a sphere of independent action. But a central bank cannot become an unelected czar with sweeping, unaccountable discretionary power. How can we balance the central bank's authority and independence with needed accountability and constraints? Drawn from a 2015 Hoover Institution conference, this book features distinguished scholars and policy makers' discussing this and other key questions about the Fed. Going beyond the widely talked about decision of whether to raise interest rates, they focus on a deeper set of questions, including, among others, How should the Fed make decisions? How should the Fed govern its internal decision-making processes? What is the trade-off between greater Fed power and less Fed independence? And how should Congress, from which the Fed ultimately receives its authority, oversee the Fed? The contributors discuss whether central banks can both follow rule-based policy in normal times but then implement a discretionary do-what-it-takes approach to stopping financial crises. They evaluate legislation, recently proposed in the US House and Senate, that would require the Fed to describe its monetary policy rule and, if and when it changed or deviated from its rule, explain the reasons. And they discuss to best ways to structure a committee—like the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates—to make good decisions, as well as offer historical reflections on the governance of the Fed and much more.

Oversight answers the question of whether black and Latino legislators better represent minority interests in Congress than white legislators, and it is the first book on the subject to focus on congressional oversight rather than roll-call voting. In this important book, Michael Minta demonstrates that minority lawmakers provide qualitatively better representation of black and Latino interests than their white counterparts. They are more likely to intervene in decision making by federal agencies by testifying in support of minority interests at congressional oversight hearings. Minority legislators write more letters urging agency officials to enforce civil rights policies, and spend significant time and effort advocating for solutions to problems that affect all racial and ethnic groups, such as poverty, inadequate health care, fair housing, and community development. In Oversight, Minta argues that minority members of Congress act on behalf of broad minority interests--inside and outside their districts--because of a shared bond of experience and a sense of linked fate. He shows how the presence of black and Latino legislators in the committee room increases the chances that minority perspectives and concerns will be addressed in committee deliberations, and also how minority lawmakers are effective at countering negative stereotypes about minorities in policy debates on issues like affirmative action and affordable housing.

"Exciting, exhilaring, scary and moving in equal measure, The Oversight is a teeming world of dark deeds and dark magics, brilliantly realized." -- M. R. Carey The Oversight of London has been sworn for millennia to prevent the natural and the supernatural worlds from preying on each other. Now, at its lowest ebb, with its headquarters destroyed and its last members scattered far and wide, this secret society will battle for survival and face the harshest foe it has ever met: itself.

A handy guide to problems of confused or disputed usage based on the critically acclaimed Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Over 2,000 entries explain the background and basis of usage controversies and offer expert advice and recommendations.

Spoiler Alert! The following blurb contains spoilers for Insight, book one of The Community. Holden Payne has it all . . . or so he thinks. As heir to the founder of the Community--an organization that finds, protects, and manages psychics--he's rich, powerful, and treated like royalty. But after a series of disappearances and murders rock the Community, he's branded the fall guy for the scandal and saddled with a babysitter. Sixtus Rossi is a broad-shouldered, tattooed lumbersexual with a man-bun and a steely gaze. He's also an Invulnerable--supposedly impervious to both psychic abilities and Holden's charms. It's a claim Holden takes as a challenge. Especially if sleeping with Six may help him learn whether the Community had more to do with the disappearances than they claimed. As Holden uncovers the truth, he also finds himself getting in deep with the man sent to watch him. His plan to seduce Six for information leads to a connection so intense that some of Six's shields come crashing down. And with that comes a frightening realization: Holden has to either stand by the Community that has given him everything, or abandon his old life to protect the people he loves.

This book investigates Parliaments’ capacity to oversee government activities, policies and expenditures. Utilising a comparative approach, the book presents a new examination of oversight tools and discusses the conditions under which such tools are employed effectively. The result of a 9-year collaboration between the authors, this book draws from the findings of survey data collected by the World Bank Institute and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, analysing information from 120 parliaments. The book represents a rigorous attempt to test whether international organizations are correct in claiming that the quality of democracy and good governance can be improved by strengthening the oversight capacity of legislatures. It discusses the tools available to parliaments worldwide, and taking a comparative approach considers which tools are more or less common, how oversight capacity can be estimated, how oversight capacity is related to other institutional and constitutional factors, and above all what ensures that oversight tools are used effectively. This analysis reveals that while the quality of democracy and good governance benefit from effective oversight, oversight effectiveness cannot be reduced to oversight capacity. The book urges policy makers and reformers to change their approach from strengthening capacity to securing that the capacity is put to good use. Parliamentary Oversight Tools will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners of legislative politics and governance.

Exploring the complex and controversial topic of civilian oversight of police, this book analyzes the issues and debates entailed by civilian oversight by using worldwide perspectives, in-depth case studies, and a wealth of survey data. Integrating and summarizing decades of research from many locations around the globe, Civilian Oversight of Polic