Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> General

In the last 15 years, the prison population in the U.S. increased by more than 188 percent. The increase has been fueled largely by increases in the number of individuals convicted of drug-related offenses. These offenders constitute a disproportionate number of recidivists who, in turn, are responsible for a relatively large proportion of criminal activity in our society. The vast majority of these offenders were arrested for committing violent crimes, and most of the offenders are poor, unemployed, uneducated, come from dysfunctional families, and are African-American. Contrary to public...

Another volume in Praeger's The Military Profession series, this revised edition of the 1984 Praeger classic tells the story of infantry in the 20th century and its impact on the major conflicts of our time. Its purpose is to provide the reader--whether infantryman or not--with hitherto unavailable insights on the role that infantry plays in the larger battle and how that has helped shape the world that we live in today. Unique aspects of the book include the treatment of technical issues in non-technical language, the extensive use of German and French sources generally unavailable...

This book examines the military organization, strategy, and tactics of the Salvadoran FMLN guerrillas during their efforts to overthrow the government. It is largely based on the authors' personal collections of guerrilla documents captured in the war, interviews with former and captured guerrillas, and personal combat experience during one of the fiercest wars fought in the Western hemisphere in the 20th century. The book describes the guerrilla tactics from a technical point of view, and their evolution during the war in El Salvador.

It includes discussions of such tactical concepts...

This contributors' volume examines the ways in which public opinion affects public policy via the news media. Insofar as the media represent or characterize the public, they represent or frame policy questions and decisions. They convey--accurately or inaccurately--the overall climate of public opinion to policymakers, and are themselves used as evidence of public opinion by policymakers. This work draws together theory and original research concerning the role of the press in shaping public policy and links the fields of journalism, mass communications, and political...

This important text is the first to examine the Clinton presidency from a communication perspective. Experts in communication and presidential studies analyze the rhetoric, images, issues, and communication strategies employed by the President, the First Lady, and the administration. From the feel-good town meetings of the campaign to the exuberant days of the inauguration, from the health care crisis to the Whitewater scandal and the Republican congressional landslide, this volume attempts to separate image from reality and spin from actuality in the media presidency of William Jefferson...

We will never know the precise identity of America's first political consultant. It is likely that candidates were seeking favorable coverage in colonial newspapers as early as 1704; it is also likely that by 1745 candidates were using handbills and pamphlets to augment press coverage of campaigns; and we know that one successful candidate, George Washington in 1758, purchased refreshments for potential voters. These traditional approaches to winning votes have in recent years been amplified by consultants who have shown how cable networks, videocassettes, modems, faxes, focus groups, and...

This book uses historical and interview data to trace the development of Puerto Rican identity in the 20th century. It analyzes how and why Puerto Ricans have maintained a clear sense of distinctiveness in the face of direct and indirect pressures on their identity. After gaining sovereignty over Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898, the United States undertook a sustained campaign to Americanize the island. Despite 50 years of active Americanization and another 40 years of continued United States sovereignty over the island, Puerto Ricans retain a sense of themselves as distinctly and proudly...

Throughout American history, the press has been incredibly adept at making the public aware. The history of the press in crisis situations is in many ways the story of public attitudes and the story of America. This book looks at the press over time and the way it has functioned in times of crisis. It considers press coverage of 13 events, spanning a time frame that includes the birth of the nation, its political, economic, and social struggles as a young country, and its civil war. It tells how a young agrarian society grew into an industrial giant, and how it changed from isolationist to...

Seib explores the many ways in which news coverage shapes the design and implementation of foreign policy. By influencing the political attitudes of opinion-shaping elites and the public at large, the news media can profoundly affect the conduct of foreign policy. Seib's text analyzes important examples of press influence on foreign affairs: the news media's definition of success and failure, as in reporting the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam; how public impatience, fueled by news reports, can pressure presidents, as happened during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-81; how presidents can...

This book uses historical and interview data to trace the development of Puerto Rican identity in the 20th century. It analyzes how and why Puerto Ricans have maintained a clear sense of distinctiveness in the face of direct and indirect pressures on their identity. After gaining sovereignty over Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898, the United States undertook a sustained campaign to Americanize the island. Despite 50 years of active Americanization and another 40 years of continued United States sovereignty over the island, Puerto Ricans retain a sense of themselves as distinctly and proudly...

This book introduces the reader to the critical issues, important trends, theories, and various subdisciplines in the current manifestation of radical and critical criminology and criminal justice, including postmodernism, left realism, feminism, and peacemaking. Since its articulation in the 1960s, radical and critical criminology has matured into a diverse body of work encompassing a variety of interesting perspectives. Contributors to this volume examine emerging issues in the theory (the importance of classics in radical theory, the market economy, the introduction of anarchist theory)...

In this thought-provoking volume, experts explore the disturbing ramifications of portrayal of the Middle East by the U.S. media; analyze the stereotypes and misconceptions that Americans have of Arabs, Iranians, and other Middle Easterners; and discuss the far-reaching political and cultural impact of the United States on the Middle East. Focusing on the U.S. media (books, magazines, newspapers, motion pictures, television) coverage and portrayal of Arabs, Palestinians, the Intifada, Middle Eastern women, Iran, Islam, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf War, the book also examines the impact of...

There are more than 600 Federal district judges serving today, and they decide some 230,000 civil cases each year. About 90% of the decisions they reach are final. Lyles argues that these lower court judges not only influence the flow of information to the judicial hierarchy, but they formulate questions that influence how higher courts, including the Supreme Court, respond. As such they are key elements in the formulation and implementation of public policy. To cite a few examples, they desegregate school districts, run mental institutions and prisons, break up monopolies, and reapportion...

John F. Kennedy began his political communication in the neighborhoods of the Eleventh Congressional District of Massachusetts, using informal more than formal speaking as he learned to speak and began his career as a political leader. For 18 years he practiced the art of communication that is so intrinsic to the art of politics--speeches, small group deliberation, stump speaking in campaigns, radio and television press conferences, debates, and interviews.

Silvestri describes the political and social contexts that shaped Kennedy's earliest efforts as a communicator and politician until...

Challenging views prevalent among Western and Polish scholars, this book explains Poland's surprising success in developing effective environmental and occupational regulatory systems while achieving remarkable socioeconomic growth, despite the toxic legacy of the Communist era. It offers rich insights into the questions of how one can achieve both economic growth and improved environmental and safety protection, and of the extent to which regulatory systems can be transferred across national and cultural boundaries. The authors develop a theoretical framework for assessing regulatory...

The School-to-Work movement came together as a major national force for educational reform in the late 1980s and reached its peak in 1994 with the passage of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. Throughout the 1990s, the movement had a substantial record of creativity and accomplishment. Among other things, it hastened the spread of career development activities for all students, strengthened ties between schools and local employers, and supported the creation of many innovative work-based education programs. By the end of the decade, however, the influence of the movement had begun to...

Most discussions of the digital divide focus on the gap between African Americans and others when it comes to using, and benefiting from, the technological and business opportunities of the information age. Although many African Americans are locked out of the information revolution, others are an integral part of its development and progress. Barber profiles 26 of those leaders here, engagingly and informatively blending biography with insight and analysis.

Most discussions of the digital divide focus on the gap between African Americans and others when it comes to using, and...

With American involvement in Iraq in the forefront of national news coverage and in the minds of many citizens, questions concerning America's involvement in past conflicts have once again arisen. This is the story of how the United States has gone to war and how the evolution of the nation's war-making apparatus has mirrored the nation's rise to global power. It focuses on the president's role as commander-in-chief vis-a-vis Congress from George Washington to George W. Bush. Conflicts range from the War of 1812 to the Mexican and Civil Wars, the two World Wars, conflicts in Southeast...