Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> Political Process - General

Contributors:

Joseph Cropsey * Benjamin R. Barber * Richard Hofstadter * Martin Diamond * Gordon S. Wood * Robert A. Goldwin * Wilson Carey McWilliams * Robert A. Dahl * James Ceaser * Walter Berns * Herbert J. Storing * Will Morrisey * Michael P. Zuckert

The emergence of the two-party system in the 1830s led to the democratization of the nation and to decades of heated dispute about democracy. In Democratizing the Old Dominion, the first comprehensive study of antebellum Virginia politics, William G. Shade demonstrates that Virginia typified the nation more closely than did any other state both in the emergence and development of the two-party system and in economic development.

If journalism is the first draft of history, then independent journalists are surely its most daring composers.

Along such celebrated and high-profile figures as Christiane Amanpour and Wolf Blitzer, there exists a stratum of journalistsself-employed, working under dire conditions, and with minimal resourceswho often place themselves at ground zero of world events. In this gripping account, Anthony Collings takes us into the world of independent journalists, and the daily challenges they face confronting dictators, hostile military, and narcoterrorists. Unfettered by any ties to...

The period since the reunification of Germany has been the most tumultuous since the end of World War II. Uneasy relations between East and West, new immigrants and native Germans, left and right, and labor and business mark this phase of German history. As Kohl's Christian Democrats yield power after sixteen years, Germany's destiny is in a state of flux.

The Federal Republic of Germany at Fifty makes sense of these dizzying changes. Twenty-six essays by leading scholars deal with topics such as the role of the Greens, women in the new German intellectual and literary scene,...

The period since the reunification of Germany has been the most tumultuous since the end of World War II. Uneasy relations between East and West, new immigrants and native Germans, left and right, and labor and business mark this phase of German history. As Kohl's Christian Democrats yield power after sixteen years, Germany's destiny is in a state of flux.

The Federal Republic of Germany at Fifty makes sense of these dizzying changes. Twenty-six essays by leading scholars deal with topics such as the role of the Greens, women in the new German intellectual and literary scene, and the...

If we were to rely on what the pundits and politicians tell us, we would have to conclude that America is a deeply conservative nation. Americans, we hear constantly, detest government, demand lower taxes and the end of welfare, and favor the death penalty, prayer in school, and an absolute faith in the free market.

And yet Americans believe deeply in progressive ideas. In fact, progressivism has long been a powerful force in the American psyche. Consider that a mere generation ago the struggle for environmentally sound policies, for women's rights, and for racial equality were...

If we were to rely on what the pundits and politicians tell us, we would have to conclude that America is a deeply conservative nation. Americans, we hear constantly, detest government, demand lower taxes and the end of welfare, and favor the death penalty, prayer in school, and an absolute faith in the free market.

And yet Americans believe deeply in progressive ideas. In fact, progressivism has long been a powerful force in the American psyche. Consider that a mere generation ago the struggle for environmentally sound policies, for women's rights, and for racial equality were...

State governments are spending a lot, accomplishing too little, and failing to meet their responsibilities to the public. In this book, John Brandl argues that the usual remedies for ineffective government bureaucracy--cutting or adding to budgets, urging civil servants to become more entrepreneurial, hiring tougher managers, or appointing smarter bureaucrats--won't provide substantial, long-term improvement. Examining public schools Brandl points out that although real spending per student has tripled in the last 30 years and the average class size has shrunk from 27 to 17, educational...

The war on terrorism has raised profound questions of domestic governancenot primarily about power or policy, but about the capacities of government agencies, their personnel, procedures, work habits and styles, and ability to interface with each other. These are the "workways of governance." As the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, made very clear, shortcomings and defects in the workways of governance are all too often manifested only in times of crisis or scandalafter the damage is done. How much better it would be to design for government a version of the periodic...

The civil war that has intermittently raged in the Sudan since independence in 1956 is, according to Francis Deng, a conflict of contrasting and seemingly incompatible identities in the Northern and Southern parts of the country. Identity is seen as a function of how people identify themselves and are identified in racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious terms. The identity question related to how such concepts determine or influence participation and distribution in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of the country.

War of Visions aims at shedding light on...

Foreign policy in the postcold war era is profoundly complex, and so too are the institutions that share the responsibility to guide and manage America's relations with other countries. Policymakers struggle within porous and fragmented institutions, in which policy is driven more powerfully by clusters of like-minded individuals than by disciplined organizations. The nation's political parties face deep divisions over foreign policy and are unable to forge a coherent vision for the future. Congress is increasingly polarized along ideological lines, while traditional internationalist...