Political Science Books - Page 16

The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain

George Lakoff

Amazon Price: $17.13 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 72 new & used starting at $6.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Federal Government
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Practical Politics
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> U.S.

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In What’s the Matter with Kansas?, Thomas Frank pointed out that a great number of Americans actually vote against their own interests. In The Political Mind, George Lakoff explains why.

As it turns out, human beings are not the rational creatures we’ve so long imagined ourselves to be. Ideas, morals, and values do not exist somewhere outside the body, ready to be examined and put to use. Instead, they exist quite literally inside the brain—and they take physical shape there. For example, we form particular kinds of narratives in our minds just like we form specific muscle memories such as typing or dancing, and then we fit new information into those narratives. Getting that information out of one narrative type and into another—or building a whole new narrative altogether—can be as hard as learning to play the banjo. Changing your mind isn’t like changing your body—it’s the same thing.

But as long as progressive politicians and activists persist in believing that people use an objective system of reasoning to decide on their politics, the Democrats will continue to lose elections. They must wrest control of the terms of the debate from their opponents rather than accepting their frame and trying to argue within it.

This passionate, erudite, and groundbreaking book will appeal to readers of Steven Pinker and Thomas Frank. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in how the mind works, how society works, and how they work together.

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

Amazon Price: $11.20 List Price: $14.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Grove Press Amazon Marketplace: 66 new & used starting at $6.43

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Oil & Energy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> U.S.
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 216 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

James Howard Kunstler's The Long Emergency was an underground hit, going into nine printings of the hardcover edition. His shocking vision for our post-oil future caught the attention of environmentalists and business leaders and was the subject of much debate, stimulating discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels. Now in paperback, with a new afterword, The Long Emergency is set to reach an even larger audience.

The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind, much of it based on the exploitation of cheap, nonrenewable fossil-fuel energy. But the oil age is at an end. Life as we know it is about to change radically, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after we pass the point of global peak oil production and the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore.

The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates (Mentor)

Ralph Ketcham

List Price: $7.99 By: Signet Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $2.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> Colonial Period -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> Revolution & Founding -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Origin of our Bill of Rights 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

"The Anti-Federalist Papers" along with the "Federalist Papers" is an excellent way to really learn about how our Constitution came about. Pseudonyms like The Centinel, The Pennsylvania Farmer, John DeWitt, Cato, et.al. set forth the cons against why various provisions of our Constitution should be viewed with great suspicion, and they offered counter proposals to safeguard our freedoms from ultimate despotism. I haven't read all the papers as I am also studying the Federalist Papers along with this book; but I am finding that many of the warnings the Anti-Federalists expressed have either come true or have come a long way toward becoming true.

I surely recommend purchasing this book if you want to learn the truth behind the reasons for our Constitution being as it is, and if you want to finally understand this very important basis for our government.

Editorial Review:

The dissenting opinions of Patrick Henry and others who saw the Constitution as a threat to our hard-won rights and liberties.

Edited and introduced by Ralph Ketcham.

America Speaks: The Historic 2008 Election with DVD

USA Today, ABC News, Foreword by Charles Gibson, Preface by Ken Paulson

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Benchmark Pr Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $9.33

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 21st Century
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Elections
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Political Parties

Editorial Review:

Triumph Books has joined forces with ABC News and USA TODAY to create a commemorative volume that will be on the wish list of every voter -- America Speaks, a comprehensive, up-to-the-minute wrap-up of the historic 2008 presidential election. Packed with gorgeous color photographs and buoyed by the insightful journalism of two of the world's news giants, this must-have book will examine every aspect of the riveting campaign. Readers will also travel through "50 States in 50 Days" on the historic joint ABC News/USA TODAY tour of the nation, which captures the voices of the voters as they weigh the merits of the candidates and the challenges being faced by the nation.

In addition to Gibson's foreword and Paulson's preface, a special introductory section will feature essays by some of ABC's most popular journalists reflecting on their campaign experiences, including:

Robin Roberts, anchor, Good Morning America
Cynthia McFadden, anchor, Nightline
Jake Tapper, chief political correspondent, ABC News
Ron Claiborne, anchor, Good Morning America Weekend
David Muir, anchor, World News Weekend
Dan Harris, anchor, World News Weekend
Kate Snow, anchor, Good Morning America Weekend

America Speaks also includes a companion DVD introduced by Charles Gibson of ABC News that provides a summary of the very best of "50 States in 50 Days.".

Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient (Penguin Modern Classics)

Edward W. Said

List Price: $22.70 By: Penguin Classics Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $12.32

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Asia -> General
Subjects -> History -> Asia -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 71 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Unfortunately, Unhistory and a misfed Pretense of facts. 1 out of 5 stars.
9 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Dr. Said missed the track completely with this supposed historical analysis that is neither historical nor good analysis. While I won't write pages of critique, here are just a few examples of poor work to make points not supported by fact (nor faith).

1. The British and French controlled the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the 17th century. False - the Ottomans controlled that area; French and British merchants needed permission to trade. None of the lands of the Eastern Med. were ever colonies. At most they were protectorates in which the real rulers were the local people. (Even true up to the pre-WW II phase.) This is common history for anyone who tried to look at such.

2. Muslim armies conquered Turkey before over-running northern Africa. False - The Arab armies did not "take" Turkey; they went straight to North Africa. The so cited areas remained Christian (Eastern Orthodox) until overrun by the Seljuck Turks in the 11 th century. Same comment as last sentence in #1, above.

3. Westerners get our history wrong. Only we muslims can interpret our religion correctly (paraphrase). I'm sorry, but there is a long history of intellectuals of all religions studying each other. Just because many do not accept that the Koran is god-given (faith) as opposed to man written (fact) does not make non-moslems wrong (some muslims believe it is a man-written document).

What other religion on this earth makes such a claim of perfectness and superiority untouchable by anyone? Why, muslims themselves argue about what the Koran means (unless he is Wahabbi - then of course there is no argument). Fanaticism and fact twisting in the name of religion is a vice.....

Editorial Review:

"Orientalism" is one of the greatest and most influential of books of ideas to be published since the end of the European empires. For generations now it has defined our understanding of colonialism and empire and with each passing year its influence becomes if anything even greater. To mark its 25th anniversary, "Orientalism" rightfully takes its place as a Pengun Modern Classic.

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming (Vintage)

Bjorn Lomborg

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Vintage Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $7.42

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Political Science -> Public Policy
Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Environment -> Conservation
Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Earth Sciences -> Environmental Science

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 97 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

"Skeptical" is a good title word 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Bjorn Lomborg is an intelligent man. He does get a lot of things right. But be wary of his fact-twisting and deception with numbers. Many of the quotes used are taken completely out of context. For more information, check out this link:
http://www.lomborg-errors.dk/coolit.htm

Editorial Review:

A startling book that reshapes the debate about global warming and offers a moderate approach to meeting its challenges.

Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and expensive actions now being considered—the Kyoto Protocol, for example—have a staggering potential cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, but, ultimately, will have little impact on the world's temperature. He suggests that rather than institutionalizing these programs to “cool” the earth's temperature 100 years from now, we should focus our resources on some of the world's most pressing immediate concerns, such as: fighting malaria and HIV/AIDS, and maintaining a safe, fresh water supply. And he considers why and how this debate has developed an atmosphere in which dissenters are immediately demonized.

American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century

Howard Blum

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Crown Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $12.50

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> State & Local -> California

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the hospital triage units consulted, twenty-one people were declared dead and dozens more injured. But as it turned out, this was just a prelude to the devastation that was to come.

In American Lightning, acclaimed author Howard Blum masterfully evokes the incredible circumstances that led to the original “crime of the century”—and an aftermath more dramatic than even the crime itself.

With smoke still wafting up from the charred ruins, the city’s mayor reacts with undisguised excitement when he learns of the arrival, only that morning, of America’s greatest detective, William J. Burns, a former Secret Service man who has been likened to Sherlock Holmes. Surely Burns, already world famous for cracking unsolvable crimes and for his elaborate disguises, can run the perpetrators to ground.

Through the work of many months, snowbound stakeouts, and brilliant forensic sleuthing, the great investigator finally identifies the men he believes are responsible for so much destruction. Stunningly, Burns accuses the men—labor activists with an apparent grudge against the Los Angeles Times’s fiercely anti-union owner—of not just one heinous deed but of being part of a terror wave involving hundreds of bombings.

While preparation is laid for America’s highest profile trial ever—and the forces of labor and capital wage hand-to-hand combat in the streets—two other notable figures are swept into the drama: industry-shaping filmmaker D.W. Griffith, who perceives in these events the possibility of great art and who will go on to alchemize his observations into the landmark film The Birth of a Nation; and crusading lawyer Clarence Darrow, committed to lend his eloquence to the defendants, though he will be driven to thoughts of suicide before events have fully played out.

Simultaneously offering the absorbing reading experience of a can’t-put-it-down thriller and the perception-altering resonance of a story whose reverberations continue even today, American Lightning is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.

Kids Are Americans Too

Bill O'reilly, Charles Flowers

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: William Morrow Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $8.34

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Children's Books -> People & Places -> Social Issues -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> People & Places -> Social Issues -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Reference & Nonfiction -> Politics & Government

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Good Kid Primer 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book for Kids on being a Citizen. Non-political and great examples of where rights of each individual overlap. I bought 10 copies for the Boy Scouts to read while earning their Citizenship Merit Badges.

Editorial Review:

Four-time #1 bestselling author and veteran television news journalist Bill O'Reilly has more than 5 million copies of his books in print to date! His first book for young fans, The O'Reilly Factor for Kids, held the honorable distinction of being the #1 bestselling nonfiction title for kids in 2005 according to Nielsen's The Book Standard.

Back again with a dialogue on rights that will have everyone talking, O'Reilly and his coauthor Charles Flowers dole out the kind of blunt, cogent, commonsense commentary you count on them for. Together they explore timely questions being debated in and out of courts today, including:

• Can a kid wear an anti-gay T-shirt on campus?
• Does a school newspaper have the right to bad-mouth a principal?
• Does a mother have the right to eavesdrop on her daughter's telephone conversations?

Some of the answers will surprise you. Some will empower you. All will make you think.

Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter

Rick Shenkman

Amazon Price: $16.50 List Price: $25.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Basic Books Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $13.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 21st Century
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Levees break in New Orleans. Iraq descends into chaos. The housing market teeters on the brink of collapse. Americans of all political stripes are heading into the 2008 election with the sense that something has gone terribly wrong with American politics. But what exactly? Democrats blame Republicans and Republicans blame Democrats. Greedy corporate executives, rogue journalists, faulty voting machines, irresponsible defense contractors-we blame them, too. The only thing everyone seems to agree on, in fact, is that the American people are entirely blameless. In Just How Stupid Are We?, best-selling historian and renowned myth-buster Rick Shenkman takes aim at our great national piety: the wisdom of the American people. The hard truth is that American democracy is more direct than ever-but voters are misusing, abusing, and abdicating their political power. Americans are paying less and less attention to politics at a time when they need to pay much more: Television has dumbed politics down to the basest possible level, while the real workings of politics have become vastly more complicated. Shenkman offers concrete proposals for reforming our institutions-the government, the media, civic organizations, political parties-to make them work better for the American people. But first, Shenkman argues, we must reform ourselves.

How to Ruin the United States of America

Ben Stein, Phil DeMuth

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: New Beginnings Press Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $7.66

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Political
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> International -> Relations
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

On the heels of his very successful books, How to Ruin Your Life, How to Ruin Your Love Life, and How to Ruin Your Financial Life, Ben Stein, in collaboration with his pal Phil DeMuth, has tongue firmly in cheek once again as he comes up with surefire ways to ruin the greatest nation in the history of the human race.

Try a few of these on for size:

·       Trust the United Nations to protect us and our security.

·       Make it unlawful to worship God or even to show images of the Ten Commandments.

·       Convert our universities into fortresses of anti-Americanism, hatred of freedom, and centers of confusion and ignorance.

·       Encourage contempt for the family and for the community.

·       Allow Hollywood to brainwash us into believing that only suckers and criminals fight for their country.

·       Treat the military, the police, firefighters, and teachers as losers and pay them starvation wages.

Hey, does any of this sound familiar? Maybe that’s because it’s already happening! Ben and Phil give you all the information you’ll ever need in order to successfully ruin the USA even further! Sardonic, humorous, but also angrily emphatic, this is a book every old-fashioned patriot really needs to read!