Prof. Paul Burstein This is Me

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1. 1. Themis R. Kyriakides, Ph.D.

   www.yalepath.org/fmi/xsl/facul - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/10/2008   Last Visited: 1/30/2008

   1993-1998 Senior Fellow with Dr. Paul Bornstein, University of Washington

2. 2. www.religionlink.org

   www.religionlink.org/tip_07082 - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/27/2007   Last Visited: 11/25/2007

   - Paul Burstein is chairman of the Jewish studies program at the University of Washington in Seattle.He is an expert on the American Jewish community.

3. 3. American Sociological Association | Congress Is Not So Easily Bought

   asa.internetgravity.com/page.w - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/1/2003   Last Visited: 7/15/2006

   Congressional action is less a function of donations and lobbying than it is of public opinion, ideology, and party affiliation, according to University of Washington sociology professor Paul Burstein, whose work provides insights into the legislative process.
   ...
   While admitting this is not a trivial amount, Burstein believes it is not likely enough to win tremendous influence, considering the context: the average House candidate spent $700,000 and the typical Senate candidate spent $5.7 million on their 2000 campaigns.
   ...
   ,Party and ideology matter far more than campaign contributions and lobbying, The power of interest groups to get legislators to change their votes in the face of personal ideology and party commitments is real but very limited,, wrote Burstein.
   
   The impact of public opinion, too, is often far greater than the impact of lobbying.When organizations spend millions of dollars to influence public opinion,as they did on the Clinton health care plan, for example,,perhaps that is because they see public opinion as the prime mover behind policy change,, concluded Burstein.
   
   Burstein realizes that these findings go against popular conceptions of the legislative process.But people are often mistaken about who holds power, because they tend to remember egregious examples of interest group powers; cannot sort out the multiple influences on policy change; and assume their own policy preferences are those of the majority.They often think that if the government isn,t doing what they want, it must be giving in to special interests,but that,s not necessarily the case.
   
   Members of the media interested in a copy of Burstein,s article should contact Johanna Ebner in the ASA Public Information Office (202-383-9005 x332, pubinfo@asanet.org).