R. Bruce Anderson | Florida Southern College (original) (raw)

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Papers by R. Bruce Anderson

A draft column for USA Today Network published first, in a slightly different form, as always, in the Lakeland Ledger.

The Republican party has managed something that few, in the spastic, delirious throes of the unfo... more The Republican party has managed something that few, in the spastic, delirious throes of the unforeseen complete majority of January thought it possible to do: come up completely empty, policy-wise; utterly impotent. And powerless to change the outcome. The current gang of "535 plus one" are brutally, fatally fractured, and no amount of Pollyanna happy talk can change that reality. It is failure, of the worst possible type; the record is shameless, wretched and miserable. But it is also understandable.

Lakeland Ledger USAToday Network

Until relatively recently, the idea that education decisions should be made locally was a lynchpi... more Until relatively recently, the idea that education decisions should be made locally was a lynchpin of the US Educational system: school districts raised the lion's share of the money for educating local kids, and they made the decisions about what was taught, where the emphasizes would be, and so on. Decisions like this are not easy and creating a curriculum for an entire district that would be the same in every school was contentious. Eventually, here in Florida, this gave rise to a multiplicity of options. Rather than a "uniform" curriculum, we allowed the vision of various people to create all sorts of learning choices: charter schools, academies-a huge variety choices for kids and caregivers to choose from. This also had its problems-but on the whole the experiment was worth trying. This meant not every kid was getting the same education-the emphasis was different in each school. Arts in some, STEM in others; more "traditional" stuff yet others-an explosion of choices.

Encyclopedia of U.S. Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior, Mar 13, 2013

Encyclopedia of White-Collar and Corporate Crime, Jul 31, 2013

American Politics Quarterly, Jul 1, 2000

This article addresses the problem of the causes of party conflict in former one-party legislatur... more This article addresses the problem of the causes of party conflict in former one-party legislatures. Some argue that as the minority party gains ground in the legislature, partisan floor conflict will rise. Yet, literature on committees and the changing status of the committee system seems to suggest that conflict is lowered in chambers where the minority party participates in committee decision making. This study is based on tests of data from a 10-year time period. The author reports that the proportion of minority party membership on committees has a direct dampening effect on the level of conflict on the floor. This analysis also finds that the effect is variable by bill type and that the overall effect on conflict is greater than the effect of chamber share in determining the level of party conflict in the chamber.

Learning Communities Research and Practice, 2015

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization o... more The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade shifted abortion-policy decision-making from the national level to the state level and opened the door for states to individually determine the level of protection for reproductive rights. We examine state actions following Dobbs and discuss the near-term implications of the decision for federalism and state governments. One effect of the Dobbs decision, evident in actions taken by some state legislatures, has been to open a window for states to enact laws imposing greater limits on reproductive options for women. However, another effect of Dobbs has been to create a greater demand for confirming and in some cases expanding reproductive rights, as seen by state constitutional amendments, supreme court decisions, and statutes protecting reproductive rights and safeguarding access to abortion services.

Policy Making and Southern Distinctiveness, 2021

American Politics Research, Jul 1, 2000

Encyclopedia of U.S. Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior

Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics

American Politics Research, 2000