Best of
Political-Science

1996

Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion


David Barton - 1996
    Filled with hundreds of the Founders' quotes revealing their beliefs on the role of religion in public affairs, the proper role of the courts, the intended limited scope of federal powers, and numberous other current issues.

Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism


Mahmood Mamdani - 1996
    Many writers have understood colonial rule as either direct (French) or indirect (British), with a third variant--apartheid--as exceptional. This benign terminology, Mamdani shows, masks the fact that these were actually variants of a despotism. While direct rule denied rights to subjects on racial grounds, indirect rule incorporated them into a customary mode of rule, with state-appointed Native Authorities defining custom. By tapping authoritarian possibilities in culture, and by giving culture an authoritarian bent, indirect rule (decentralized despotism) set the pace for Africa; the French followed suit by changing from direct to indirect administration, while apartheid emerged relatively later. Apartheid, Mamdani shows, was actually the generic form of the colonial state in Africa. Through case studies of rural (Uganda) and urban (South Africa) resistance movements, we learn how these institutional features fragment resistance and how states tend to play off reform in one sector against repression in the other. Reforming a power that institutionally enforces tension between town and country, and between ethnicities, is the key challenge for anyone interested in democratic reform in Africa.

Authoritarian Specter


Bob Altemeyer - 1996
    But aren't authoritarians Nazi types, kooks, the Klan? These are just the extreme examples, he argues. The Authoritarian Specter shows that many ordinary people today are psychologically disposed to embrace antidemocratic, fascist policies.The book presents the latest results from a prize-winning research program on the authoritarian personality—a victory for the scientific method in the struggle to understand the worst aspects of ourselves. It connects for the first time the many ways authoritarianism undermines democracy. Many of our biggest problems, seemingly unrelated, have authoritarian roots. The scientific studies demonstrating this are extensive and thorough; their powerful findings are presented in a conversational, clear manner that engages readers from all backgrounds.This is an important, timely work. It explains a growing movement to submit to a "man on horseback," to attack those who are different, to march in lockstep. Altemeyer reveals that these sentiments are strongly held even by many American lawmakers. These discoveries deserve careful attention in a presidential election year.

Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think


George Lakoff - 1996
    For this new edition, Lakoff adds a preface and an afterword extending his observations to major ideological conflicts since the book's original publication, from the impeachment of Bill Clinton to the 2000 presidential election and its aftermath.

Qur'an Liberation and Pluralism: An Islamic Perspective of Interreligious Solidarity Against Oppression


Farid Esack - 1996
    This work details how South African Muslims were brought into conflict with the Qu'ran, which denied virtue outside Islam, and so did not allow them to co-operate with other oppressed groups. It reflects on passages from the Qu'ran and provides interpretations which support solidarity for change, combining social history, politics and theology.

The Disadvantages of Being Educated & Other Essays


Albert Jay Nock - 1996
    Nock (1870-1945) explores some of his most cherished themes.

Freedom of Expression in Islam


Mohammad Hashim Kamali - 1996
    Freedom of Expression in Islam offers the first and only detailed presentation in English of freedom of expression from both the legal and moral perspectives of Islam. This work is a pioneering attempt in examining both the evidence on freedom of expression in the sources of the Shari'ah and the limitations, whether moral, legal or theological, that Islam imposes on the valid exercise of this freedom. Freedom of Expression in Islam is informative not only on the subject of the possibilities of freedom of expression within Islam, but also on the cultural tradition of Islam and its guidelines on social behaviour. Freedom of Expression in Islam is part of a series dedicated to the fundamental rights and liberties in Islam and should be read in conjunction with The Dignity of Man: An Islamic Perspective and Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam.

Earth Community, Earth Ethics


Larry L. Rasmussen - 1996
    With environmental ethics as its primary focus, Larry Rasmussen brings together insights from diverse sources on the state of the environment -- and what can be done, now, to halt the degradation of life.Larry Rasmussen first scans our global situation and the threats to life posed by the modern world. Next, he turns to the realms of religious faith and human symbolism, gleaning from them the resources for a "conversion to earth" needed for global survival. Finally, Rasmussen offers a constructive ethic, a program of "Earth Action" that can shape a global movement toward sustainable community.For all those concerned with the environment, religion, and society, Earth Community, Earth Ethics provides a deeply nuanced and brilliantly illuminating vision of where we are, and where we must go from here.

The Meaning of Race: Race, History, and Culture in Western Society


Kenan Malik - 1996
    There still exists a general abhorrence about discriminating between people according to their race. And yet, people are continually categorized according to their race--Afro- Caribbean, white, Jewish--though we often have difficulty in defining just what race is. Everything from criminality to the entrepreneurial spirit is given a racial connotation--witness stereotypes of black muggers or Asian shopkeepers.The Meaning of Race argues that the social meaning of race in modern society emerges from the contradiction between an ideological commitment to equality and the persistence of inequality as a practical reality. Kenan Malik here follows the development of racial ideology over the past two hundred years, tracing the different forms it has taken, from biological theories of race to the relationship between race and culture. Specific attention is focused on the impact of the break up of the postwar order and the end of the Cold War and the concomitant repoliticization of the notion of racial difference. Malik goes on to critique the poststructuralist and postmodern theories of difference which have become the backbone of contemporary antiracist discourse, and to examine the possibility of transcending the discourse of race.

The Temper of Our Time


Eric Hoffer - 1996
    Self-taught, his appetite for knowledge--history, science, mankind--formed the basis of his insight to human nature. The Temper of Our Time examines the influence of the juvenile mentality, the rise of automation, the black revolution, the regression of the back-to-nature movement, the intellectual vs. learning, and other relevent issues.

Leo Strauss and Nietzsche


Laurence Lampert - 1996
    Among Strauss's most enduring legacies is a strongly negative assessment of Nietzsche as the modern philosopher most at odds with that tradition and most responsible for the sins of twentieth-century culture—relativism, godlessness, nihilism, and the breakdown of family values. In fact, this apparent denunciation has become so closely associated with Strauss that it is often seen as the very core of his thought.In Leo Strauss and Nietzsche, the eminent Nietzsche scholar Laurence Lampert offers a controversial new assessment of the Strauss-Nietzsche connection. Lampert undertakes a searching examination of the key Straussian essay, "Note on the Plan of Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil." He shows that this essay, written toward the end of Strauss's life and placed at the center of his final work, reveals an affinity for and debt to Nietzsche greater than Strauss's followers allow. Lampert argues that the essay comprises the most important interpretation of Nietzsche ever published, one that clarifies Nietzsche's conception of nature and of human spiritual history and demonstrates the logical relationship between the essential themes in Nietzsche's thought—the will to power and the eternal return.

Political Philosophy


Jean E. Hampton - 1996
    In this lively and readable survey, Jean Hampton has created a text for our time that does justice both to the great traditions of the field and to the newest developments. In a marvelous feat of synthesis, she links the classical tradition, the giants of the modern period, the dominant topics of the twentieth century, and the new questions and concerns that are just beginning to rewrite contemporary political philosophy.Hampton presents these traditions in an engaging and accessible manner, adding to them her own views and encouraging readers to critically examine a range of ideas and to reach their own conclusions. Of particular interest are the discussions of the contemporary liberalism-communitarianism debates, the revival of interest in issues of citizenship and nationality, and the way in which feminist concerns are integrated into all these discussions.Political Philosophy is the most modern text on the topic now available, the ideal guide to what is going on in the field. It will be welcomed by scholars and students in philosophy and political science, and it will serve as an introduction for readers from outside these fields.

Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth


Jeffrey Satinover - 1996
    Based on his understandings of habit, compulsion, and addiction he concludes that homosexuality, "is one of the many forms of soul sickness that is innate to our fallen nature.

Willie Brown: A Biography


James Richardson - 1996
    Audacious, driven, talented—Brown has dominated California politics longer and more completely than any other public figure. James Richardson, a senior writer for The Sacramento Bee, takes us from Brown's childhood, through his years as Speaker of the State Assembly, to his election as San Francisco's mayor. Along the way we get a riveting, behind-the-scenes account of three decades of California politics.

The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior: The Nobel Lecture


Gary S. Becker - 1996
    Becker, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and University Professor of Economics and Sociology at the University of Chicago. In announcing the award, Gary was cited for Extending "the domain of microeconomic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interaction, including nonmarket behavior." In the lecture he delivered as part of the 1992 Nobel Prize award ceremony, Gary discussed four topics--discrimination against minorities, crime and punishment, the development and accumulation of human capital, and the structure of families--that are emblematic of his innovative approach to the economic analysis of social issues.

The Road to War in Serbia: Trauma and Catharsis


Nebojša Popov - 1996
    The authors highlight major issues which to date had remained neglected.

Later Political Writings


Karl Marx - 1996
    All are in new translations, and the collection is introduced by the leading Marx scholar Terrell Carver. Unlike other collections, the works are presented complete, according to their earliest edition or manuscript text, and include the Manifesto of the Communist Party, and the little-known Notes on Adolph Wagner. These texts allow the close contact between Marx and contemporary politics to emerge in a clearer light.

The Principles of Representative Government


Bernard Manin - 1996
    Challenging the conventionally held views on the subject, Professor Manin reminds us that while today representative institutions and democracy appear as virtually indistinguishable, when representative government was first established in Europe and America, it was designed in opposition to democracy proper. The author identifies the essential features of democratic institutions and reviews the history of their application.

The Psychology of Political Communication


Ann N. Crigler - 1996
    Meaning refers to what one intends to convey especially through language, as well as to what is actually conveyed and reflects the processes of message creation and interpretation. People communicate and interpret messages and meanings in the context of current and prior information according to the authors.The first part of the book focuses on the construction of political messages in the media and considers the roles played by the press, the president, political consultants, and campaign staffs. In the second part of the book, the authors look at individuals and how they construct political meanings from available messages.Contributors to the volume include Dean E. Alger, W. Lance Bennett, Timothy E. Cook, Ann Crigler, Michael X. Delli Carpini, Robert M. Entman, William A. Gamson, Doris A. Graber, August E. Grant, Roderick Hart, Marion Just, John Llewellyn, W. Russell Neuman, Richard M. Perloff, Deborah Smith-Howell, and Bruce A. Williams.". . . a laudable effort to examine political communication processes within a constructionist framework. . . . Here we have a picture of audiences who hold contradictory opinions, change their minds, get influenced by friends and colleages, draw images from the media but revise these constructions according to their own experiences and accumulated popular wisdom and select representatives as much because they've projected images of being 'nice guys' as because there are specific issues that motivate their choices. The book opens a number of doors to a better understanding of this process. . . ." --International Journal of Public Opinion ResearchAnn Crigler is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Southern California.

New Ethnicities And Urban Culture: Racisms And Multiculture In Young Lives


Les Back - 1996
    

This Time We Knew: Western Responses to Genocide in Bosnia


Thomas Cushman - 1996
    For half a century, Western politicians and intellectuals have so explained away their inaction in the face of genocide in World War II. In stark contrast, Western observers today face a daily barrage of information and images, from CNN, the Internet, and newspapers about the parties and individuals responsible for the current Balkan War and crimes against humanity. The stories, often accompanied by video or pictures of rape, torture, mass graves, and ethnic cleansing, available almost instantaneously, do not allow even the most uninterested viewer to ignore the grim reality of genocide.And yet, while information abounds, so do rationalizations for non-intervention in Balkan affairs--the threshold of real genocide has yet to be reached in Bosnia; all sides are equally guilty; Islamic fundamentalism in Bosnia is a threat to the West; it will only end when they all tire of killing each other--to name but a few.In This Time We Knew, Thomas Cushman and Stjepan G. Mestrovic have put together a collection of critical, reflective, essays that offer detailed sociological, political, and historical analyses of western responses to the war. This volume punctures once and for all common excuses for Western inaction. This Time We Knew further reveals the reasons why these rationalizations have persisted and led to the West's failure to intercede, in the face of incontrovertible evidence, in the most egregious crimes against humanity to occur in Europe since World War II.Contributors to the volume include Kai Erickson, Jean Baudrillard, Mark Almond, David Riesman, Daniel Kofman, Brendan Simms, Daniele Conversi, Brad Kagan Blitz, James J. Sadkovich, and Sheri Fink.

The Uncommon Wisdom of Ronald Reagan: A Portrait in His Own Words


Bill Adler - 1996
    Gathers quotations by President Reagan about his childhood, education, political career, opinions on public issues, and perspectives on coping with illness and retirement.

Ideologies and Political Theory: A Conceptual Approach


Michael Freeden - 1996
    However, no one has been able to explain the nature of ideologies themselves. In this important new book, Freeden offers a ground-breaking approach to the subject. Drawing on the political experience ofBritain, France, Germany, and the USA over the last two hundred years, the author provides an in-depth examination of all the key political ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, socialism, feminism, and green political thought.

Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political


Seyla BenhabibSheldon S. Wolin - 1996
    From nationalist and ethnic revivals in the countries of east and central Europe to the former Soviet Union, to the politics of cultural separatism in Canada, and to social movement politics in liberal western-democracies, the negotiation of identity/difference has become a challenge to democracies everywhere. This volume brings together a group of distinguished thinkers who rearticulate and reconsider the foundations of democratic theory and practice in the light of the politics of identity/difference. In Part One J�rgen Habermas, Sheldon S. Wolin, Jane Mansbridge, Seyla Benhabib, Joshua Cohen, and Iris Marion Young write on democratic theory. Part Two--on equality, difference, and public representation--contains essays by Anne Phillips, Will Kymlicka, Carol C. Gould, Jean L. Cohen, and Nancy Fraser; and Part Three--on culture, identity, and democracy--by Chantal Mouffe, Bonnie Honig, Fred Dallmayr, Joan B. Landes, and Carlos A. Forment. In the last section Richard Rorty, Robert A. Dahl, Amy Gutmann, and Benjamin R. Barber write on whether democracy needs philosophical foundations.

Radical Democracy


C. Douglas Lummis - 1996
    Douglas Lummis writes as if he were talking with intelligent friends rather than articulating political theory. He reminds us that democracy literally means a political state in which the people (demos) have the power (kratia). The people referred to are not people of a certain class or gender or color. They are, in fact, the poorest and largest body of citizens. Democracy is and always has been the most radical proposal, and constitutes a critique of every sort of centralized power. Lummis distinguishes true democracy from the inequitable incarnations referred to in contemporary liberal usage. He weaves commentary on classic texts with personal anecdotes and reflections on current events. Writing from Japan and drawing on his own experience in the Philippines at the height of People's Power, Lummis brings a cross-cultural perspective to issues such as economic development and popular mobilization. He warns against the fallacy of associating free markets or the current world economic order with democracy and argues for transborder democratic action. Rejecting the ways in which technology imposes its own needs, Lummis asks what work would look like in a truly democratic society. He urges us to remember that democracy should mean a fundamental stance toward the world and toward one's fellow human beings. So understood, it offers an effective cure for what he terms the social disease called political cynicism. Feisty and provocative, Radical Democracy is sure to inspire debate.

Politics and Society in the Third World: An Introduction


Peter Calvert - 1996
    The approach is interdisciplinary, and the book based around the twin themes of 'environment' and 'development'. Topic coverage is broad, starting with a definition of the Third World and moving through social, economic and cultural contexts to political institutions, political participation and policy issues.

The Vampire State: And Other Myths and Fallacies about the U.S. Economy


Fred L. Block - 1996
    In engaging prose, Fred L. Block argues that many familiar metaphors, such as the image of the government as a vampire sucking the lifeblood from our economy, are patently false and based on bad economics. He explains why balancing the federal budget will not solve our economic problems, shows the flaws in the arguments for a global free trade regime, and uses a series of counter-metaphors to suggest reforms we desperately need.

A Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington's Farewell Address and the American Character


Matthew Spalding - 1996
    On the 200th anniversary of George Washington's 1796 Farewell Address, one of the most influential but misunderstood expressions of American political thought, this book places the Address in the full context of American history and explains its enduring relevance for the next century.

The Reluctant Modernism of Hannah Arendt


Seyla Benhabib - 1996
    Arguing against the standard interpretation of Hannah Arendt as an anti-modernist lover of the Greek polis, author Seyla Benhabib contends that Arendt's thought emerges out of a double legacy: German Existenz philosophy, particularly the thought of Martin Heidegger, and her experiences as a German-Jewess in the age of totalitarianism. This important volume reconsiders Arendt's theory of modernity, her concept of the public sphere, her distinction between the social and the political, her theory of totalitarianism, and her critique of the modern nation state, including her life long involvement with Jewish and Israeli politics.

Revolution and War


Stephen M. Walt - 1996
    In Revolution and War, Stephen M. Walt explains why this is so, and suggests how the risk of conflicts brought on by domestic upheaval might be reduced in the future. In doing so, he explores one of the basic questions of international relations: What are the connections between domestic politics and foreign policy?Walt begins by exposing the flaws in existing theories about the relationship between revolution and war. Drawing on the theoretical literature about revolution and the realist perspective on international politics, he argues that revolutions cause wars by altering the balance of threats between a revolutionary state and its rivals. Each state sees the other as both a looming danger and a vulnerable adversary, making war seem both necessary and attractive.Walt traces the dynamics of this argument through detailed studies of the French, Russian, and Iranian revolutions, and through briefer treatment of the American, Mexican, Turkish, and Chinese cases. He also considers the experience of the Soviet Union, whose revolutionary transformation led to conflict within the former Soviet empire but not with the outside world. An important refinement of realist approaches to international politics, this book unites the study of revolution with scholarship on the causes of war.

The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis


Herbert Kitschelt - 1996
    The first study of its kind based on a wide array of comparative survey data, The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis provides a unifying framework to explain why rightist parties are electorally powerful in some countries but not in others. The book argues that changes in social structure and the economy do not by themselves adequately explain the success of extremist parties. Instead we must look to the competitive struggles among parties, their internal organizational patterns, and their long-term ideological traditions to understand the principles governing their success.Radical right authoritarian parties tend to emerge when moderate parties converge toward the median voter. But the success of these parties depends on the strategy employed by the right-wing political actors. Herbert Kitschelt's in-depth analysis, based on the experiences of rightist parties in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Britain, reveals that the broadest appeal is enjoyed by parties that couple a fierce commitment to free markets with authoritarian, ethnocentric--or even racist--messages. The author also shows how a country's particular political constituency or its intellectual and organizational legacies may allow right-wing parties to diverge from these norms and still find electoral success. The book concludes by exploring the interaction between the development of the welfare state, cultural pluralization through immigrants, and the growth of the extreme right.Herbert Kitschelt is Professor of Political Science at both Duke University and Humboldt University, Berlin. Anthony McGann is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Duke University.

Traditional Politics and Regime Change in Brazil


Frances Hagopian - 1996
    Unlike most books about contemporary Brazilian politics that focus on promising signs of change, this book seeks to explain remarkable political continuity in the Brazilian political system. It attributes the persistence of traditional politics and the dominance of regionally-based, traditional political elites in particular to the manner in which the economic and political strategies of the military, together with the transition to democracy, reinforced the clientelistic, personalistic, and regional basis of state-society relations. The book focuses on the political competition and representation in the state of Minas Gerais.

Neither Capitalism Nor Socialism: Theories of Bureaucratic Collectivism


Ernest E. HaberkernHal Draper - 1996
    The analysis was extended to include the new states that arose in the post WWII era, particularly Mao's China and Tito's Yugoslavia. Perhaps of more contemporary importance is the attempt to understand what was happening to modern capitalism. Of particular interest is the discussion of the "Permanent Arms Economy" and its effect on capitalism.

The Heroic and Creative Meaning of Socialism


José Carlos Mariátegui - 1996
    This collection of essays is an attempt to introduce the breadth and depth of Mariategui's thought to a new generation of English-speaking students of history, philosophy, literature, radical theory and practice.

Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in and After the Soviet Union: The Mind Aflame


Valery Tishkov - 1996
    This book draws on his inside knowledge of major events and extensive primary research.Tishkov argues that ethnicity has a multifaceted role: it is the most accessible basis for political mobilization; a means of controlling power and resources in a transforming society; and therapy for the great trauma suffered by individuals and groups under previous regimes. This complexity helps explain the contradictory nature and outcomes of public ethnic policies based on a doctrine of ethno-nationalism.

Participation in Congress


Richard L. Hall - 1996
    The first has been thoroughly studied. But little is understood about the second. In this landmark book, a leading scholar of congressional studies draws on extensive interviews and congressional documents to uncover when and how members of congress participate at the subcommittee, committee, and floor stages of legislative decision making. Richard L. Hall develops an original theory to account for varying levels of participation across members and issues, within House and Senate, and across pre- and postreform periods of the modern Congress. By closely analyzing behavior on sixty bills in the areas of agriculture, human resources, and commerce, Hall finds that participation at each stage of the legislative process is rarely universal and never equal. On any given issue, most members who are eligible to participate forego the opportunity to do so, leaving a self-selected few to deliberate on the policy. These active members often do not reflect the values and interests evident in their parent chamber. A deeper understanding of congressional participation, the author contends, informs related inquiries into how well members of congress represent constituents' interests, what factors influence legislative priorities, how members gain legislative leverage on specific issues, and how well collective choice in Congress meets democratic standards of representative deliberation.

Social Groups And Identities (International Series In Social Psychology)


W. Peter Robinson - 1996
    Each has been profoundly influenced by Tajfel, an influence which has encouraged a diversity of approaches, as well as the development of social identity theory itself. Students, academics and professionals will find in this book the living debate around the developing ideas which are Tajfel's legacy. It is also a fitting tribute to Henri Tajfel, which acknowledges and builds on his major contribution to social psychology in Europe.

A Culture Of Deference: Congress' Failure Of Leadership In Foreign Policy


Stephen R. Weissman - 1996
    An inside look at how congressional deference to the presidency and State Department has led to such foreign policy failures as Somalia, Bosnia and Iraq.

Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Legal Perspectives


Johan D. van der Vyver - 1996
    In this volume -- the companion to Religious Human Rights in Global Perspective: Religious Perspectives -- Jimmy Carter, John Noonan Jr., and a score of leading jurists assess critically and comparatively the religious rights laws and practices of the international community.

The Algerian Crisis: Policy Options for the West


Andrew Pierre - 1996
    The crisis has now spread to France, where Muslim groups have engaged in terrorist activities. Throughout the Maghreb and Western Europe, there is fear that the struggle in Algeria, if left untended, could destabilize North Africa, unsettle Southern Europe, and adversely affect the growth of democratic politics in the Middle East. This book dissects the complex roots of the Algerian crisis. The authors make new policy proposals for the United States-- jointly with France and the European Union--many of which should be implemented in cooperation with France and the European Union, to encourage Algeria's leaders to undertake political and economic reform.

Comparing Policy Networks: Labor Politics in U.S., Germany, and Japan


David Knoke - 1996
    Comparing Policy Networks reports the results of collaborative research by three teams investigating the social organization and policymaking processes of national labor policy domains in the United States, Germany, and Japan during the 1980s. Through interviews with more than 350 key labor policy organizations in all three countries, the authors reveal similar conflict divisions between business and labor interests but also distinctive patterns within each nation.

Challenging the State: Crisis and Innovation in Latin America and Africa


Merilee S. Grindle - 1996
    Using case studies of Mexico and Kenya this book shows how a decade of deep and sustained crisis also became a decade of innovations in ideas, policy directions, political coalitions, and government institutions. Merilee Grindle argues that political leadership and structures of political power, while frequently part of the problem of underdevelopment, are also part of the solution in building more efficient, effective and responsive governments.