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The Promise Of Party In A Polarized Age.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London England: 2014. h Hardcover with dustjacket. Brand new book.
At the root of America's broken politics is hyperbolic partisanship. It distorts perceptions, inflames disagreements, and poisons the democratic process. Citizens pine for a time when liberals and conservatives compromised with one anotheror they yearn for a post-partisan future when the common good trumps ideology and self-interest. Russell Muirhead argues that better partisanship, not less partisanship, is the solution to America's political predicament. Instead of striving to overcome our differences, we should learn how to engage them. The political conflicts that provide fodder for cable news shows are not simply manufactured from thin air. However sensationalized they become in the retelling, they originate in authentic disagreements over what constitutes the common welfare. Republicans vest responsibility in each citizen for dealing with bad decisions and bad luck, and want every individual and family to enjoy the benefits of good decisions and good luck. Democrats ask citizens to stand together to insure one another against the worst consequences of misfortune or poor judgment, and especially to insure children against some of the consequences of their parents' bad decisions or lack of opportunities. These are fundamental differences that fantasies of bipartisan consensus cannot dissolve. Disagreement without parties is disempowering, Muirhead says. The remedy is not for citizens and elected officials to learn to "just get along" but for them to bring a skeptical sensibility even to their own convictions, and to learn to disagree as partisans and govern through compromise despite those disagreements. Russell Muirhead is Robert Clements Associate Professor of Democracy and Politics at Dartmouth College. "Muirhead combats the negative connotations of partisanship in the United States. Although he treasures his friends who agree with him on vital issues decided by legislatures, presidents and judges, the author also values his friends who disagree with him. Their thinking, he writes, provokes him to marshal his arguments and stimulate his mind to consider alternatives. To Muirhead, political disagreements should be resolved through dialogue and active discussion whenever practical. In this philosophical but clearly written book, the author examines how party loyalists can reach common ground, providing ample real-world examples of successful bipartisanship."Kirkus Reviews "Muirhead brings us a thoughtful consideration of partisanship in American politics, which by his lights 'encounters fewer limits' than in the past and 'threatens to render the government incapable of governing.' Party politics 'have lost their veneer of civility and mutual respect' and are less bridled by 'constitutional propriety.' The common good, he warns, is the loser in all this. Muirhead dissects the ambition of power seekers, mindset of moral purists, and unreason of zealots of all persuasions This sensible, readable book deserves more than an academic audience. It might serve as remedial fare for elected officials and party leaders with a vested interest in self-promotional polarities."Publishers Weekly "At a time of partisan gridlock, Russ Muirhead challenges conventional wisdom and offers a bold, compelling defense of 'party spirit.' The solution to the polarized politics of today is not bipartisan or post-partisan politics, he argues, but a better kind of partisanship. This illuminating account of the role party loyalties should play in democratic life will find its place among the classics of the fieldSamuel Beer, E. E. Schattschneider, Woodrow Wilson, Edmund Burke."Michael J. Sandel, author of What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Price:
33.25 USD
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AMERY, L.S. Thought On The Constitution.
Oxford University Press, London: 1964. s Softcover. Fair condition. Cover has slight scratches. Some writing on cover page.
Established itself as a cogent and illuminating study of the nature and working of the Bristish Constitution, and it has been in continuous and steady demand. Includes an Index.
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9.26 USD
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ANDRAIN, CHARLES & SMITH, JAMES T. Political Democracy, Trust And Social Justice: A Comparative Overview.
Northeastern University Press, Boston: 2005. 1555536468 / 9781555536466 s Softcover. Brand new book.
A rigorous explanation of connections among confidence in government institutions, popular support for democracy, and social justice in societies around the world. How healthy are modern democratic institutions? In Political Democracy, Trust, and Social Justice, Charles F. Andrain and James T. Smith seek explanations for political alienation and discontent within democracies throughout the world. Basing their research on the 1995-1997 World Values Survey, the authors explore information about eight established democracies (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, West Germany, the United States, Japan, Spain) and seven democratizing societies, including three (East Germany, Bulgaria, Russia) that formerly had state socialist systems and four (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile) where the military has played a crucial role. Andrain and Smith's keen analysis identifies general cultural values and structural conditions linked to political participation, popular support for democracy, and perceptions of justice in specific societies across the globe. Teachers and students of democratic theory, comparative politics, and political sociology will welcome this penetrating new study. General readers concerned about the current strength of political democracy will find numerous stimulating ideas. This third volume in the Democratization and Political Development Series increases our understanding of "democratization"the process of realizing full civil and political rights in a viable, representative system. Methodologically sound, concise, insightful, and a model for further inquiry, this innovative book will become a seminal work in comparative political studies. TheTable of Contents of this book is as follows: List of Tables Preface Introduction Political Trust and Democracy Types of Political Systems Formation of Hypotheses Conclusion Neoliberalism, Policy Performance, and Economic Outcomes Rise of Neoliberalism Economic Outcomes Impact of Economic Conditions Conclusion Political Participation and Social Capital Theory of Social Capital Origins of Participation Impact of Participation on Institutional Confidence Impact of Participation on Support for Democracy Conclusion Cultural Concepts of Justice Philosophical Views toward Justice The Cultural Values Impact of Cultural Values Conclusion Attitudes of the Democratic Citizen Attitudes, Trust, and Democracy Attitudes toward Personal Life Attitudes toward Political Life Impact of Attitudes toward Personal and Political Life Conclusion Dilemmas of Modern Democracies Theoretical Dilemmas Ethical Dilemmas Policy Dilemmas Conclusion Appendix A: Measurement of Attitudes Appendix B: Samples References Index. Charles F. Andrain is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at San Diego State University. He has published nine books on comparative political sociology, political psychology, and cross-national public policy. James T. Smith, an expert on American political behavior, the political process, public opinion, and survey research, has been a Visiting Research Fellow at The Catholic University Life Cycle Institute. He has taught at The American University, Rollins College, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His coauthored articles have appeared in American Politics Research and Political Research Quarterly. "A book whose interdisciplinary and comparative approach makes a valuable (and timely) contribution to the political science literature."The Law and Politics Book Review
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24.70 USD
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ARNOLD, JASON ROSS. Secrecy In The Sunshine Era: The Promise And Failures Of U.s. Open Government Laws.
University Press of Kansas, Lawrence: 2014. h Hardcover with dustjacket. Brand new book.
A series of laws passed in the 1970s promised the nation unprecedented transparency in government, a veritable sunshine era. Though citizens enjoyed a new arsenal of secrecy-busting tools, officials developed a handy set of workarounds, from over classification to concealment, shredding, and burning. It is this dark side of the sunshine era that Jason Ross Arnold explores in the first comprehensive, comparative history of presidential resistance to the new legal regime, from Reagan-Bush to the first term of Obama-Biden. After examining what makes a necessary and unnecessary secret, Arnold considers the causes of excessive secrecy, and why we observe variation across administrations. While some administrations deserve the scorn of critics for exceptional secrecy, the book shows excessive secrecy was a persistent problem well before 9/11, during Democratic and Republican administrations alike. Regardless of party, administrations have consistently worked to weaken the systems legal foundations. The book reveals episode after episode of evasive maneuvers, rule bending, clever rhetorical gambits, and downright defiance; an army of secrecy workers in a dizzying array of institutions labels all manner of documents top secret, while other government workers and agencies manage to suppress information with a sensitive but unclassified designation. For example, the health effects of Agent Orange, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria leaking out of Midwestern hog farms are considered too sensitive for public consumption. These examples and many more document how vast the secrecy system has grown during the sunshine era. Rife with stories of vital scientific evidence withheld, justice eluded, legalities circumvented, and the public interest flouted, Secrecy in the Sunshine Era reveals how our information society has been kept in the dark in too many ways and for too long. Jason Ross Arnold is assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has previously published articles on public ignorance, corruption, and public opinion. George de Mohrenschildt was born in 1911 in the present-day Republic of Belarus, and immigrated to the United States in 1938, sixteen years after his family escaped to Poland from the Soviet Union. Fluent in several languages and already well-educated, he received a masters degree in petroleum geology from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1945. In 1952, he moved to Dallas, where he livedwith a few years sojourn in Haitiuntil 1977, when, shortly after learning that a congressional committee investigating the assassinations of the 1960s wanted him to testify, he took his own life. "Arnold details the extent to which administrations since the adoption of sunshine legislation have worked, not so quietly, to find ways around those laws." Choice "Arnolds powerful analysis of the unanticipated consequences of sunshine era legislation, from Reagan-Bush through Obama-Biden, is a must-read for anyone interested in current debates about transparency and accountability."Katherine Scott, Ph.D., author of Reining in the State: Civil Society and Congress in the Vietnam and Watergate Eras
Price:
37.95 USD
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7 |
BANFIELD, EDWARD C.; WILSON, JAMES Q. City Politics.
Vintage Books, New York: 1963. s Softcover. Fair condition. Remainder mark on bottom edge.
"...well written and provides valuable insight into the political system of cities not found in the typical city-government textbook." -Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. Includes an Index.
Price:
15.91 USD
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8 |
BARBER, SOTIRIOS A. Constitutional Failure.
University Press of Kansas, Lawrence: 2014. h Hardcover with dustjacket. Brand new book.
Americans err in thinking that while their politics may be ailing, their Constitution is fine. Sick politics is a sure sign of constitutional failure. This is Sotirios Barbers message in Constitutional Failure. Public attitudes fostered by a consumer culture, constitution worship, the lack of a trusted leadership community, and academic historicism and value skepticismthese, this book tells us in clear and bracing terms, are at the root of our political dysfunction. Barber characterizes the Constitution as a plan of governmenta set of means to public purposes like national security and prosperity. He argues that if the government is failing, its fair to conclude that the plan is failing and that laws that are supposed to serve as means cant in reason continue to bind when they no longer work. He argues further that constitutional success depends ultimately on a stratum of diverse and self-critical citizens, who see each other as moral equals and parts of one national community. These citizens, with the politicians among them, would be good-faith contestants regarding the meaning of the common good and the most effective means to secure it. In this wayshowing how the success of a constitutional democracy is more a matter of political attitudes than of institutional performanceBarbers book upends the conventional understanding of constitutional failure. In Barbers analysis, the apparent stability of formal constitutional institutionsusually interpreted as evidence of constitutional healthmay actually indicate the defining element of constitutional failure: a mentally inert citizenry no longer capable of constitutional reflection and reform. At once concise and thorough in its analysis of the concept of constitutional failure and its accounts of a healthy politics, the corrosive impact of Madisonian checks and balances (as a substitute for trust-worthy leadership), and the outlook for meaningful reform, this book offers a carefully reasoned and provocative assessment of the viability of constitutional governance in the United States. Sotirios A. Barber is professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of several books including Welfare and Constitution, On What the Constitution Means, and The Fallacies of States Rights. "[Barber] contends the constitutional system is not coping with fiscal problems and global warming, and is not serving a permanent underclass. Constitutional malady goes deeper than fixing partisan gerrymandering and campaign finance. In particular, he addresses the ARticle V provision No State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. This provision enables a small percentage of the population to veto vital policies." ---Choice "Barbers provocative Constitutional Failure makes us confront the fact that the American Constitution might be failing. Yet in taking this prospect seriously Barber helps us think more clearly about what it means for the Constitution to succeed. In doing so, he also reveals that the best defenders of the Constitution are those who are willing to take its shortcomings seriously." ---George Thomas, author of The Madisonian Constitution
Price:
28.45 USD
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9 |
BARNET, RICHARD J. Real Security: Restoring American Power In A Dangerous Decade.
Simon and Schuster, New York: 1981. 0671431668 / 9780671431662 A Touchstone Book. First Edition. s Softcover. Reading copy. Name of previous owner appears in front of book.
Argues persuasively that nuclear superiority, even if it were achievable would not assure world peace. Makes the case that arms limitation agreements can create a positive political climate. Includes an Index.
Price:
3.80 USD
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BOLTON, LINDA. Facing The Other: Ethical Disruption And The American Mind.
Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge and London: s Softcover. Brand new book.
Linda Bolton uses six extraordinarily resonant moments in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American history to highlight the ethical challenge that the treatment of Native and African persons presented to the new republic's ideal of freedom. Most daringly, she examines the efficacy of the Declaration of Independence as a revolutionary text and explores the provocative question "What happens when freedom eclipses justice, when freedom breeds injustice?" Guided by the intellectual influence of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, Bolton asserts that the traditional subject-centeredor "I"concept of freedom is dependent on the transcendent presence of the "Other," and thus freedom becomes a privilege subordinate to justice. There can be no authentic freedom as long as others, whether Native or African, are reduced from full human beings to concepts and thus properties of control and power. Bolton begins with J. Hector St. John de Crvecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer, Thomas Paine's incendiary political treatises, and Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence in tracing the celebrations of the a priori right to freedom at America's founding. She then explores three critiques of the ideal of freedom insofar as it allows the persecution of others: Frederick Douglass's oratories, Native American Sarah Winnemucca's stage performances as an Indian princess, and radical abolitionist John Brown's violent raid on Harpers Ferry. Bolton shows that it is the "face of the other" that interrupts the American discourse on freedom to reveal freedom's limits and its obligation to justice. An eloquent and thoughtful re-reading of the U.S. touchstones of democracy, this book argues forcefully for an ethical understanding of American literary history.
Price:
23.70 USD
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BOULDING, KENNETH E. (EDITOR) Peace And The War Industry.
Aldine Publishing: 1971. This is Transaction Book 11. First Edition. s Softcover. Reading copy.
The essays in this book originally appeared in Trans-action Magazine. Collectively, these articles present the most serious questions social scientistshave been asking about problems of war and peace, and offer hope that the present international system, dangerous and appallingly costly as it is, may offer enough stability to give us time to transform it into something that better serves human needs.
Price:
11.16 USD
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BOZEMAN, ADDA B. Politics And Culture In International History.
Princeton University Press, Princeton: 1960. First Edition. s Softcover. Good condition.
Presenting a completely new way of looking at international affairs, this book addresses itself to the intellectual and political crises that have ensued from the encounter of different, often antagonistic, civilizations, and to the need of locating widely meaningful principles of unity and agreement. It views history as an indivisible whole, a universally shared fund of human experience. Includes an Index.
Price:
27.79 USD
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CAMPBELL, CHARLES S. The Transformation Of American Foreign Relations 1865-1900.
Harper & Row, New York: 1976. 0060106182 / 9780060106188 First Edition. h Hardcover with dustjacket. Reading copy. Some fraying at bottom edge of dustjacket.
Explains vividly and authoritatively how and why transformations occurred in American / Foreign relations, giving the details of the great debate on overseas expansion and of the intricate diplomacy, including international arbitration, that led to the settlement of the disputes with the British.
Price:
41.18 USD
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