Social Policy Books - Page 3

The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream

Jacob S. Hacker

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Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

America's leaders say the economy is strong and getting stronger. But the safety net that once protected us is fast unraveling. With retirement plans in growing jeopardy while health coverage erodes, more and more economic risk is shifting from government and business onto the fragile shoulders of the American family.
In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob S. Hacker lays bare this unsettling new economic climate, showing how it has come about, what it is doing to our families, and how we can fight back. Behind this shift, he contends, is the Personal Responsibility Crusade, eagerly embraced by corporate leaders and Republican politicians who speak of a nirvana of economic empowerment, an "ownership society" in which Americans are free to choose. But as Hacker reveals, the result has been quite different: a harsh new world of economic insecurity, in which far too many Americans are free to lose.
The book documents how two great pillars of economic security--the family and the workplace--guarantee far less financial stability than they once did. The final leg of economic support--the public and private benefits that workers and families get when economic disaster strikes--has dangerously eroded as political leaders and corporations increasingly cut back protections of our health care, our income security, and our retirement pensions.
Blending powerful human stories, big-picture analysis, and compelling ideas for reform, this remarkable volume will hit a nerve, serving as a rallying point in the vital struggle for economic security in an increasingly uncertain world.

Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, Peter Mitchell

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Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (The New York Times). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's recent talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power. In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions, all published here for the first time, Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during Vietnam to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and the decline of domestic social services, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Understanding Power offers a sweeping critique of the world around us and is definitive Chomsky. Characterized by Chomsky's accessible and informative style, this is the ideal book for those new to his work as well as for those who have been listening for years.

Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How President Bill Clinton Endangered America's Long-Term National Security

Robert Patterson

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Total reviews: 487 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Raises Troubling Points! 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

"Dereliction of Duty" was written to summarize the author's concerns that arose while serving as a military aide to President Clinton. Examples follow, but first a bit of insight into "the football."

The football is a hard-cased container, about 2'X3' and concealed in a leather outer case and weighing about 45 lbs. It contains nuclear launch plans, options, and codes. An aide with the football is on duty at all times, within feet of the president.

Another interesting tidbit - Air Force 1 (747) has room for 68 people, including the first family.

Patterson opens by relating an instance when President Clinton declined to respond to his National Security Advisor's request for authorization for airstrikes on Iraq. The president was too wrapped up in a golf tourney at which he was a spectator. Similarly, in the fall of 1998, Clinton dithered so long thinking about an opportunity to strike or capture bin Laden that the opportunity passed.

Other problems include Clinton's losing the nuclear codes, Hillary and her brothers abusiveness towards all staff (especially the military), and Clinton's foreign travel costing about $500 million over his 8 years (per a GAO report) - not including those of Mrs. Clinton. A 1998 trip to Africa totaled 1,302 people.

Once President Clinton inappropriately touched one of the female stewards on Air Force I; often donors were invited along. Patterson is also upset that Clinton forced integration of women into combat and pilot roles, reduced the military by 1/3 - 1/2, denied tank and armored vehicles to those in Somalia, and supported Gore's decision to NOT profile airline passengers.

Patterson is particularly incensed that Clinton did not respond aggressively towards various terrorist attacks - eg. Somalia and the U.S.S. Cole, and compares Clinton negatively to President Reagan. However, Patterson's comparison is more than a bit selective, forgetting Reagan's failure to respond to two large bombings in Lebanon that killed over 300 people.

Editorial Review:

Here is the ultimate insider's account from the highest and most sensitive levels of the Clinton administration, revealing how the irresponsible use of power can lead to a terrible price paid by all Americans.

Anarchism And Other Essays

Emma Goldman

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Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Emma Goldman's essays collected 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful.

I've heard from many people who are interested in reading books about anarchism (allthough i think the term "anarchism" is incorrect) that most books about anarchy are "heavy" and difficult to get through much less understand because they aim their content to readers that have a good backround of political understanding (its terminologies, its "schools" of thought, its currents and so forth..).

If this happens to be your problem then this book will be ideal if you want to discover what this political philosophy stands for and what its issues are and, indeed, have been for a long time.

Emma Goldman, a woman with as fiery a personality as they come, has put together here a number of essays about anarchy that are easy to comprehend and definately thought inspiring.
Despite this book having been first published in 1917 it loses nothing of its importance in the current state affairs as all of the issues Goldman deals with not only remain unsolved but they have -in the meantime- become a social burden or a social disaster much worse than back in her time. Oh, and back in her time things already looked bad enough.

What you get here is, summarily, the following:
-anarchy, what is it and what does it stand for? Beyond the mainstream media cliches anarchy stands for personal and societal freedom of the highest conceivable order. A freedom, anarchists insist, that is not a utopia. It's basically a hard lesson in crushing your illusions and opening unthought of doors of perception of what freedom really means. That would be then something other than being in a cage and having food thrown in. Even if the cage is invisible..

-Hard punching essays about the prison system and the everself-destructing notion of patriotism.. Funny how every line one reads in there could've been written yesterday. Not much has changed. After decades and decades of the imprisonment system has society become more law-abiding? That would be a thundering no. Why is that? As for patriotism, the incredible notion of dying for your country the same one that might be killing you slowly while draining you of all your resources and enslaving you in a wage system and a daily mindless-toil called "work" . here, Emma has to say a lot. There's always a reason to die if someone is going to make money out of it (that would be NOT you) and dress the whole "cause" up as patriotic..

-The hypocrisy of puritanism as well as the seemingly eternal joke of marriage and "love" are also given the treatment they deserve. In a society based on hypocrisy alltogether, you have to start on a personal level. You have to lose your personal chains before you attempt to free others. Your personal chains begin with the things you've been taught to hold most sacred (as is generally the case). The morals that are not yours. Whom do they really serve? The institutions that everyone notices they have fail and yet most continue to serve them. Why? How can this possibly be?

These are just some of the issues dealt with in Emma's essays.
A classic book that will basically reprogram your brain if you honestly think about the issues in it. But reprogrammed into what? Well, it will only reprogram you into thinking for yourself. For once. If you do, you'll find that the illusion you've been living in does indeed serve someone. Your long hard road to becoming an individual will thus commence.

Editorial Review:

This title is the classic collection of Emma Goldman essays which were originally published in 1910. Emma Goldman is widely known as the first major female radical and became the female face of leftist politics in the early 20th century. Anarchism and Other Essays should be read by anyone interested in early works on women's rights or the origins of leftist female politics.

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America

Larry Elder

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Total reviews: 198 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern, America tunes in to its radio hosts both on the air and between covers, accepting them as truth-tellers without agendas, the perfect gadflies for the age of too much information. In an era where everyone seems bought and paid for, they cut through it all to tell it like it is. For Fall 2000--just in time to enter the fray for the presidential election season-St. Martin's is happy to present the most unfettered voice of all, Larry Elder.

Larry Elder has been igniting passions and conversations for five years at the top of the competitive drive-time radio heap, KABC in Los Angeles-the "Sage from South Central" punctures pretensions, refuses to accept the accepted wisdom, and puts everyone on notice that the status quo needs to be shaken up. From his outrage over the entrenched "victicrat" society and how it keeps believers spinning their wheels, to his trenchant observations on work, leadership, race, special interests, politics and more, Larry is a clarion voice that cuts through what the usual suspects say and hear.

"Bad schools, crime, drugs, high taxes, the social security mess, racism, the health care crisis, unemployment, welfare state dependency, illegitimacy. What do these issues have in common? Politicians, the media and our so-called leaders lie to us about them. They lie about the cause. They lie about the effect. They lie about the solutions." -- Larry Elder

The Ten Things You Can't Say In America:

Blacks are More Racist than Whites
White Condescension is as Real as Black Racism
The Media Bias: It's Real, It's Widespread, It's Destructive
The Glass Ceiling: Full of Holes
America's Greatest Problem: Illegitimacy
The Big Lie: Our Health Care Crisis
The Welfare State: Helping Us to Death
Republican v. Democrat: Maybe a Dime's worth of Difference, One's for Big Government, One's for Bigger
Vietnam II: The War on Drugs, and We're Losing that One Too
Gun Control Advocates: Good Guys with Blood on Their Hands

Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age

R. Stephen Humphreys

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Middle Easterners today are caught between memories of the past and frustrated hopes for the future. They struggle to find solutions to crises of economic stagnation, political gridlock, and cultural identity. In recent decades Islam has become central to this struggle, and almost every issue involves fierce, sometimes violent debates over the role of religion in public life. R. Stephen Humphreys's new book presents a much-needed and thoughtful analysis of Islam's place in today's Middle East. In clear, accessible language, he integrates the medieval and modern history of the region to show how the sacred and secular are tightly interwoven in its political and intellectual life.
Humphreys discusses the conflicts over power and resources that engage Middle Eastern politicians and looks at the major ideologies that have shaped these conflicts. He focuses on the impact of Islam on public life and examines Muslim ways of thinking about the "secular" versus the "religious." What values does Islam put into play? What challenges does it pose to "ordinary" politics? What resources does it bring to the struggle for social justice?
Humphreys recognizes the Western tendency to dismiss Middle Eastern politics as an incoherent tale of violence and fanaticism, and his book is especially valuable for its analysis of the deeper issues behind the headlines. These issues include the region's apparent inability to evolve democratic institutions, conflicts rooted in the peace settlements after World War I, and the unresolved debates over which cultural and moral values should drive Middle Eastern policy.
Between Memory and Desire reminds us that Middle Easterners remember the past in specific ways: the shame of the colonial era; the disappointments since independence; and the glory of the Middle Ages, when Muslim achievements were respected throughout the world. Even if these memories are only partially true, in defining the past, they also define what the future ought to be.

So Much Reform, So Little Change: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools

Charles M. Payne

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This frank and courageous book explores the persistence of failure in today s urban schools. At its heart is the argument that most education policy discussions are disconnected from the daily realities of urban schools, especially those in poor and beleaguered neighborhoods. Charles M. Payne argues that we have failed to account fully for the weakness of the social infrastructure and the often dysfunctional organizational environments of urban schools and school systems. The result is that liberals and conservatives alike have spent a great deal of time pursuing questions of limited practical value in the effort to improve city schools.

Payne carefully delineates these stubborn and intertwined sources of failure in urban school reform efforts of the past two decades. Yet while his book is unsparing in its exploration of the troubled recent history of urban school reform, Payne also describes himself as guardedly optimistic. He describes how, in the last decade, we have developed real insights into the roots of school failure, and into how some individual schools manage to improve. He also examines recent progress in understanding how particular urban districts have established successful reforms on a larger scale.

Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care

Arnold Kling

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The antidote to Michael Moore 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Kling does not leap to the quick fix, but he delineates the problems that must be considered in any attempt to restructure the health care system or its funding.

This book is smart and readable, providing the reader with a great overview of parameters to consider.

Editorial Review:

In Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care, economist Arnold Kling argues that the way we finance health care matches neither the needs of patients nor the way medicine is practiced. The availability of premium medicine, combined with patients who are insulated from costs, means Americans are not getting maximum value per dollar spent. Using basic economic concepts, Kling demonstrates that a greater reliance on private saving and market innovation would eliminate waste, contain health care costs and improve the quality of care. Kling proposes gradually shifting responsibility for health care for the elderly away from taxpayers and back to the individual. The idea of matching the health care funding system to needs is very simple, Kling writes. The very poor and the very sick need help paying for health care. The rest of us do not.

Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card--and Lose

Larry Elder

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Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Is life unfair for black Americans?



Is racial equality the answer to every question of public policy?



Are a huge group of citizens being kept down by “the man”?



Radio host and bestselling author Larry Elder has made a career out of being a thorn-in-the-side of the conventional wisdom crowd. He deflates the pompous and points out the completely logical truths hidden behind the nutty rhetoric and out-of-control pandering of many of the politicians and so-called leaders of a variety of special interest groups. In Stupid Black Men, he takes on the mind-set that always captures the most media attention—as well as masses of public money—in this country: those who rail against racism as the root of all problems, and who end up hurting precisely those they claim to be helping. 



 



Whether they are demagogues like Al Sharpton, established politicians like Hillary Clinton, or entertainers like Danny Glover, no one escapes Elder’s cogent arguments and rapier wit.  His sometimes hilarious and always infuriating examples of wrong-headedness skewer not just politicians for their smugness and hypocrisy, but also actors, educators, religious leaders and the “mainscream media” for keeping the story in the headlines.



But Elder has a positive message, too: though they are fewer—and generally not as loud-mouthed—there are leaders and role models today who want to sweep away race-based whining and urge everyone in America, to share in the hard work, smart thinking and optimism that make this country great.



 

Governing Health: The Politics of Health Policy

Carol S. Weissert, William G. Weissert

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best book in print on the health policy process 4 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I have used this book for a number of years now in a class I teach on the Politics of Health Policy (along with Kingdon's classic). It provides an excellent overview of how health policy is made and the politics around it, drawing on both the academic literature as well as recent policies. The second edition is heavily revised from the first and contains up to date examples. An excellent academic overview of the health policy process.

A Look at Health Policy from a Political Science Perspective 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book takes a comprehensive look at health policy in the U.S. from a political science perspective. It addresses all the institutional influences of health policy, such as Congress, the President, interest groups, regulatory agencies, and federalism. It also addresss prominent political science theories and relates them to health policy.

This book is a must-read for any health professional or student who would like to explore the how health policy is REALLY developed. I also highly recommend this book to social scientists and students who are interested in applying governmental relationships to health policy.

Editorial Review:

Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Includes four time periods: 1965, when Medicaid and Medicare were passed: 1981, when OBRA came into being; 1994, when health care was at the forefront of the president's agenda; and 2000, when healthcare reform was central to the presidential campaign platform. Previous edition: c1996. Softcover, hardcover available.