Elaine Kamarck
Lecturer in Public Policy
AP Photo
February 23, 2011
"Make Politics Safe for Moderates"
Op-Ed, Politico
By William Galston and Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"If moderates are such a crucial and coherent political force, why is U.S. politics so polarized? The answer lies in three structural features of the political system that reduce moderates' influence: the primary system, the congressional redistricting system and the congressional leadership system."
AP Photo
August 17, 2010
"Midterm Advice for Congress: Tax Carbon Instead of Jobs"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Robert J. Shapiro and Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"To deal with climate change, we have to move our entire economy to low-carbon sources of energy. Tying a carbon fee to lower payroll taxes for workers on a permanent basis can not only take the sting out of what has to be done for the climate, it also can help create thousands of jobs and stimulate more innovation. The current favored approach for climate, cap-and-trade, is dying in the Senate, because its proponents can never guarantee that it won't turn into one more playground for Wall Street traders."
AP Photo
April 1, 2010
"Health Care Could Help Climate Bill"
Op-Ed, Politico
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Climate policy should set us on a path to transform our energy supply. It should not be a deficit-reduction tool. This realization was evident in the White House's new budget, which no longer showed cap-and-trade revenues....Energy price volatility in the European carbon trading system sent shivers down the spines of American utilities and manufacturing sectors, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups. So now Congress is discussing measures that aim to reduce volatility."
AP Photo
December 9, 2009
"A Carbon Tax Would Provide a Sunnier Forecast"
Op-Ed, Politico
By Robert J. Shapiro and Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Politically, a tax shift can help neutralize the glaring political liability of all climate programs: that they raise everyone's energy costs. Just as important, a tax-based climate program can provide stronger and more stable incentives than the Senate's cap-and-trade approach to get businesses and households to transition to low-carbon technologies and fuels. The critical aspect of using a tax shift to address climate change is that it applies a known price to carbon, so companies can figure out how much they might earn by developing climate-friendly fuels and technologies, and other businesses — along with the rest of us — can calculate how much could be saved by adopting them."
September 2009
Primary Politics: How Presidential Candidates Have Shaped the Modern Nominating System
Book
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
In Primary Politics, political insider Elaine Kamarck explains how the presidential nomination process became the often baffling system we have today. Her focus is the largely untold story of how presidential candidates since the early 1970s have sought to alter the rules in their favor and how their failures and successes have led to even more change. She describes how candidates have sought to manipulate the sequencing of primaries to their advantage and how Iowa and New Hampshire came to dominate the system. She analyzes the rules that are used to translate votes into delegates, paying special attention to the Democrats' twenty-year fight over proportional representation.
AP Photo
August 3, 2009
"Gore's Carbon 'Tax Shift' Beats Cap-and-Trade"
Op-Ed, Roll Call
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"At the core of the cap-and-trade approach is a new financial market in carbon permits. The economics of a cap mean that permit prices will be very volatile, inviting a frenzy of financial speculation by Wall Street. As Americans suffer through the worst recession in their lifetimes, they will find it hard to trust the fate of the planet to the same individuals who brought us credit default swaps, subprime mortgage securities and other exotic financial instruments."
AP Photo
June 2009
"Addressing the Risks of Climate Change: The Politics of the Policy Options"
Paper
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
Dr. Kamarck's paper explores some of the politics and pitfalls surrounding climate change policy, specifically carbon tax and cap-and-trade solutions. A carbon tax would directly tax the carbon content of fuels. A cap-and-trade system would set an overall cap for emissions and allow trading of emission permits between companies that more than meet their caps with those that don't. The analysis is intended to help decision makers and the public better understand some of the pros and cons associated with these particular climate policies.
AP Photo
Spring 2009
"Reinventing Reform"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Reforming government is a difficult and thankless task. Political leaders find that reform is almost always unpopular in the short term because it disrupts existing power arrangements. And if they manage to produce reforms that bear lasting and positive results in the long run, they are often out of power by the time the reforms bear fruit. I should know—I’ve been there."
AP Photo
November 29, 2008
"Look to the Internet to Fight Poverty"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"Internet innovation has transformed business, entertainment, and even government. In an Obama administration, it can transform approaches to poverty at home and abroad. The government's efforts should be focused on expanding access to Internet and other technologies for as many Americans as possible while continuing to develop our national broadband capacity. An expanded technological infrastructure will help Obama make good on a broad social justice agenda as he confronts the myriad problems he has inherited."
AP Photo
August 27, 2008
"Political Conventions are Just as Fun on TV"
Op-Ed, Newsday
By Elaine Kamarck, Lecturer in Public Policy
"...[T]here's only one thing I'm missing by not being in Denver, and that's the ability to walk around outside and say to the Hillary/McCain supporters, "What are you thinking!?"
I've been bombarded by their e-mails for months now and frankly, I'm mystified. When you're a loyal member of an American political party, as they claim to be, you sign up to be inside a big tent, where compromise is the name of the game. When parties have real divisions, they're usually over big, ideological issues. It's hard to see where all this venom is coming from...."
