An Exercise of Critique on Published Legal Writings: Coming up with Better Topic Sentences Published Writing: Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy by Robert Putnam Chapter 1, page 7
Institutions have been an enduring concern of political science since ancient times, but recently theorists have attacked institutional questions with renewed vigor and creativity in the name of the New Institutionalism. The tools of game theory and rational choice modeling have been put to use, casting institutions as games in extensive form, in which actors behavior is structured by the rules of the game. Organization theories have emphasized institutional roles, routines, symbols, and duties. Historical Institutionalists have traced continuities in government and politics and emphasized timing and sequences in institutional development.
TOPIC SENTENCE: Institutions have been an enduring concern of political science since ancient times, but recently theorists have attacked institutional questions with renewed vigor and creativity in the name of the New Institutionalism.
PREFERRED TOPIC SENTENCE: Over the years, a lot of studies and inquiries regarding the evolution, and transformation of institutions, and bureaucracies were made in the attempt to comprehend and assess the traditional political culture to pave way for the new reform- oriented movement called, New Institutionalism.
Chapter 2, page 46 Meanwhile, as the regions began to exercise their newfound powers of supervision over local governments, tussles between regional and local government began to take the place of the older simplicities of center-periphery conflict. In the intergovernmental triangle among central, regional and local officials, new alignments and complicated three-cornered strategies began to evolve. To the consternation of some Italian jurists, the Italian system moved in the direction of the marble cake model of intergovernmental relations, rather than the neater layer cake model.
TOPIC SENTENCE: Meanwhile, as the regions began to exercise their newfound powers of supervision over local governments, tussles between regional and local government began to take the place of the older simplicities of center-periphery conflict. PREFERRED TOPIC SENTENCE: As a consequence of the newly vested authority upon the regions to control and supervise over local government, a lot of conflicts arose between the said parties arose, because of the vague and indeterminate parameters of the said power to regulate the political interaction between the regions and local governments.
Chapter 2, page 57 What Italians want is not more limited regional government, but a more effective regional government. No doubt an important part of the explanation is that most Italians are even more skeptical about the performance of the central authorities than they are about the regions. However, another part of the explanation may be that many citizens are still willing to give the benefit of the doubt to new regional institution. The Italians gradually increasing satisfaction with the regional government correspond to real differences in performance TOPIC SENTENCE: What Italians want is not more limited regional government, but a more effective regional government. PREFERRED TOPIC SENTENCE: As manifested in the survey, its clear that Italians are leaning towards the ideal of an effective regional government rather than a more limited regional government, because of their trust on New Institutionalism as practice, and their new regional institutions, as authorities.
Chapter 2, page 60 By these demanding evidential standards, the regional reform has significantly affected grassroots politics in Italy. As a result of this institutional change, Italian political leaders pursue different career paths, espouse different ideals, address social ills in different terms, struggle with different rivals, and collaborate with different partners. Italian citizens and community leaders depend on different agencies for government action. Often they receive improved service, though certainly not always, and when they dont, they address their complaints to different officials.
TOPIC SENTENCE: By these demanding evidential standards, the regional reform has significantly affected grassroots politics in Italy. PREFERRED TOPIC SENTENCE: Because of these regional reforms, the politics in Italy, specifically in the grassroots level, has been significantly altered, as to how politicians think and interact, how local governments function, and the overall political norms and practices.