Democracy Books - Page 6

Reaganism & the Death of Representative Democracy

Walter Williams

Amazon Price: $26.95 List Price: $26.95 Usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks By: Georgetown University Press Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $9.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> Practical Politics
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This is a reasoned but passionate look at how Reaganism - the political philosophy of Ronald Reagan - has severely damaged representative democracy as created by America's founders. According to Williams, Reagan and his foremost disciple George W. Bush have created a plutocracy where the United States is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people but is ruled by the wealthiest individuals and corporate America. Unafraid to point out that Reaganism's anti-government fundamentalism stands on feet of clay, Walter Williams asks that Americans move from their political apathy to pay attention to the politicians and the corporations lurking behind the power curtain to see the dangers they represent to the true essential of the American way of life. Williams' most important contribution is his extended analysis of the central role the key institutions - the presidency, Congress, the federal agencies - must play for the US government to be capable in both sustaining representative democracy and protecting the safety and economic security of the American people. A clear result of the weakened institutions has been the grossly inadequate homeland security effort following September 11, and the massive corporate fraud revealed by Enron and other large firms that robbed the nation of hundreds of billions of dollars in stock values and depleted the pension savings of millions of people. The initial destructive blow that damaged the institutions of governance can be traced to Ronald Reagan and his simplistic antigovernment philosophy that fostered rapacious business practices and personal greed. The book also takes the media to task, criticizing the dismal record of failing to investigate the political and corporate chicanery that has brought us to this pass. Keenly argued and scrupulously documented, Walter Williams has written a stinging wake-up call to the dangers of the demise of representative democracy and the rise of plutocracy that American citizens can ignore only at their peril.

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe

Juan J. Linz, Alfred Stepan

Amazon Price: $19.75 List Price: $21.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: The Johns Hopkins University Press Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $11.50

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Law -> Perspectives on Law -> Non-US Legal Systems
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since their classic volume The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes was published in 1978, Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan have increasingly focused on the questions of how, in the modern world, nondemocratic regimes can be eroded and democratic regimes crafted. In Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, they break new ground in numerous areas. They reconceptualize the major types of modern nondemocratic regimes and point out for each type the available paths to democratic transition and the tasks of democratic consolidation. They argue that, although "nation-state" and "democracy" often have conflicting logics, multiple and complementary political identities are feasible under a common roof of state-guaranteed rights. They also illustrate how, without an effective state, there can be neither effective citizenship nor successful privatization. Further, they provide criteria and evidence for politicians and scholars alike to distinguish between democratic consolidation and pseudo-democratization, and they present conceptually driven survey data for the fourteen countries studied.

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation contains the first systematic comparative analysis of the process of democratic consolidation in southern Europe and the southern cone of South America, and it is the first book to ground post-Communist Europe within the literature of comparative politics and democratic theory.

"This is an important volume by two major scholars on a central topic -- one of broad interest to people in comparative politics, to those interested in democracy, and to regional specialists on Southern Latin America and on Central and Eastern Europe. The book will unquestionably be a major contribution to the literature on constructing democratic governance." -- Abraham F. Lowenthal, University of Southern California

In Defense of Anarchism (with a New Preface)

Robert Paul Wolff

Amazon Price: $17.05 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $7.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Philosophy -> Political
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Philosophy -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Title misleads and there are better books! 2 out of 5 stars.
11 of 15 people found this review helpful.

This book, at 80 pages, had me really excited at the halfway point. HIs critiques of the existing systems of government- especially direct, representitive, and majoritarian democracy are deft and well formulated. I figured that as the author had presented his case against the state pretty well by page 40, he'd have a great affirmitive case for anarchism.

WRONG!! There was no case. Once he'd laid down his anti-government case, he simply repeated most of what he'd wrote one more time. Even the last sub-chapter 'Utopian Glimpses of a World Without States" didn't attempt anything. That in mind, the books title is not only misleading, it is a fabrication. AS there is no defences of anarchism here, it might best be called 'Critiques of the Idea of Government."

Well, the two stars I gave it were for amazing clarity in writing. This book, under a worse writer, could've easily been two hundred or more pages but Wolff keeps it short and energetic. Also, his critiques of the state (especially on voting procedure and inadequacies in district-representation) were great.
To Close, I must mention that there are many books similar to this one that are far superior to this one. For a great deffense of anarchism (favoring the market) read Randy Barnett's "Structure of Liberty." For a good defense of anarchism (favoring no market) read Proudhon's "What is Property" and for a book questioning the legitamacy of the state coming to a minarchist- libertarian- conclusion, the true classic is Robert Nozick's "Anarch, State and Utopia."

Editorial Review:

Once more available in paperback, and with a new Preface, here is Robert Paul Wolff's classic 1970 analysis of the foundations of the authority of the state and the problems of political authority and moral autonomy in a democracy.

The Revolt of the Elites: And the Betrayal of Democracy

Christopher Lasch

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $2.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> U.S.
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The failure of ideology 3 out of 5 stars.
20 of 26 people found this review helpful.

In this his last book, Christopher Lasch, as so many conservative readers observe in these reviews, identifies a cultural "elite" whose scorn for all things middle American is the cause of a great rift in American society which, if left unchecked, will undo American democracy. Writing against what he perceived to be the excesses of American liberalism, Lasch manages to thoroughly and skillfully map the cultural elitism of the urban managerial caste but, it seems, his own ideological commitments become an obstacle to seeing the role of corporatist neo-Liberalism in manufacturing and exploiting the middle American "concensus" and "values" for which the coastal elites have so little regard.

Lasch did not live to see the rise of the current political regime with its numb lip-service to family values, the work ethic, religious fundamental truths and Freedom, all seemingly "natural" elements of middle American culture. But these values, like those of the cultural elites that Lasch decries, are manufactured, orchestrated by powerful forces in the media and economy that benefit from their dissemination and survival. Surely a man of Lasch's intellect could not have missed the steady shift of the government towards "values" at precisely the moment when the Neo-Liberal agenda was so thoroughly gutting the foundational underpinnings of what we then knew as American society with a purely economic, "bottom-line" rationale for its policies. His fails to see that the true ruling "elites" (those that actually rule) could painlessly embrace a stock catalogue of "social conservative" views while maintaining a status quo of massive wealth redistribution upward which ultimately is more destabilizing to our democratic project than all of the social liberalism of the coasts. Furthermore, as anyone who pays attention well knows, the cultural elite project is simultaneously repudiated and massively consumed by the middle in the form of popular entertainment and the circus of bar room-brawl politics around so-called hot button issues like abortion.

In the end, it is not the latte-drinking intellectual and social elites who will divide and destroy America, it is the greedy corporatists who, using the government they so thoroughly control, shamelessly amass corporate and personal profit while unraveling the societal network that has provided a safety net to the "average American" since the Great Depression. These new elites are a much more dangerous lot, since they operate a government that conspicuously sounds the warning bells of the decline of American society to deflect attention from their organized theft of our national patrimony and personal, economic and social security.

In other words, why should a Christian from Idaho care if her kids don't have good schools, her corporate-controled healthcare consumes an ever larger portion of her shrinking (in real dollars)income, her future employment is uncertain, she has massive and increasing debt, and even the most rudimentary public services are being privatized for corporate profit? Look the other way! Gay guys are getting married in Cambridge!

Because he fails to address corporatism's unrelenting attack on the social fabric, Lasch's work largely serves as part of the smoke screen behind which this criminal transfer of wealth takes place.

Editorial Review:

In this spirited work, Lasch calls out for a return to community, schools that teach history not self-esteem, and a return to morality and even the teachings of religion. Writing in a nonpartisan manner, he looks to lessons of American history, castigating those in power for the widening gap between the economic classes.

The Democracy Owners' Manual: A Practical Guide to Changing the World

Jim Shultz

Amazon Price: $59.00 List Price: $59.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Rutgers University Press Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $43.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Civics
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Public Affairs & Administration

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For citizens seeking to take an active role in the affairs of their community - whether improving local schools, forcing clean-up of a polluted river, or weighing in on the debate over economic globalization - the challenge of activism can be daunting. Civic activists need to understand both the issues involved and how to take effective public action, often against enormous odds. The Democracy Owners' Manual is a unique, hands-on guide for people who want to change public policy at the local, state, or national level. A combination of policy and advocacy basics, the book offers a clear presentation of the issues and debates activists are likely to encounter as well as a lucid, example-rich guide to effective strategies and actions. Newcomers to advocacy work will find Jim Shultz's book an invaluable treasure chest of ideas and stimulating stories to help them tackle the issues they care about. Veterans of public advocacy and activism will find the book to be a valuable source for fresh ideas and an indispensable tool for teaching and training others in the art of social activism. Uniquely, the book also lends itself for use in university courses in political science, public administration, social work, public health, environmental studies, and other disciplines that touch on public policy and political change.

MODELS OF DEMOCRACY

DAVID HELD

By: POLITY PRESS Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $24.07

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Political Science -> Political Doctrines -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Political Science -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Social Sciences -> Political Science -> General AAS

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

good introduction into political theory 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Excellent introduction into political theory, giving good background on the current political debates. However, the solution proposed, a "cosmopolitian democracy", does not seem very concrete.

Superb 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a superb book as an entry road into democratic theory. It is far-reaching but not too superficial, the analysis and interpretation are spot on, and the critical lines persued are persuasive and important. Although the solution is not fully expanded Held makes it clear that this is not his intention as this is primarily a survey of democratic theory over the years rather than a constructive thesis.

Models of Democracy 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 16 people found this review helpful.

I was very satisfied with the book. It came in excellent condition and I didn't wait long to receive it. I would purchase from this seller again.

Models of Democracy (David Held) 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I found this book to be a useful analysis of the differing interpretations of what democracy should be, from ancient civilisations to modern times. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in thinking about democracy.

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My professor selected this book to supplement my government class. This is an excellent book that teaches its audience about democracy. I love how Held talks about each model of democracy without siding with any model. However, you must have patience to understand the book because the language is a bit complex. My professor picked an excellent book for government class!!

New American Democracy, Alternate Edition, The (4th Edition)

Morris P. Fiorina, Paul E. Peterson, Bertram Johnson, D. Stephen Voss

List Price: $73.20 By: Longman Amazon Marketplace: 64 new & used starting at $0.05

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Civics
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Politics -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Clarification 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

In response to the review posted above, this book was actually primarily written by Morris P. Fiorina, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. The Hoover Institution based at Stanford University is the predominate conservative academic thinktank in the United States, so to claim that the book was written by "ivory tower liberals" is a completely unfounded assumption.

Terrible book, full of bias and gross errors 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 9 people found this review helpful.

The online portion of this book actually urges students to join a political advocacy organization, Common Cause. While I have nothing against that particular organization, I do have a problem with the authors/publishers urging our kids to join it as part of a required textbook for courses taught in a public universities.

As an example of bias, the authors make the claim, in the textbook, that no one can support the logic of being against abortion and for the death penalty. Nevermind the logic of protecting the innocent. Also, the authors make the claim that there are less "undocumented immigrants" in this country today than there were before the 1987 amnesty.

This book was clearly written by ivory tower liberals who have no idea what objectivity or accuracy mean. This book represents everything that is wrong in today's American universities.

Parents, a word of advice, pay attention to the indoctrination your children are getting in school! This book is the worst I have seen.

The Deepening Darkness: Patriarchy, Resistance, and Democracy's Future

Carol Gilligan, David A. J. Richards

Amazon Price: $19.79 List Price: $29.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cambridge University Press Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $13.74

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> Social Psychology & Interactions
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Government -> Democracy
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Philosophy -> General

Editorial Review:

Why is America again unjustly at war? Why is its politics distorted by wedge issues like abortion and gay marriage? Why is anti-Semitism still so powerfully resurgent? Such contradictions within democracies arise from a patriarchal psychology still alive in our personal and political lives in tension with the equal voice that is the basis of democracy. The book joins a psychological approach with a political-theoretical one that traces both this psychology (based on loss in intimate life) and resistance to it (based on the love of equals) to the Roman Republic and Empire and to three Latin masterpieces: Virgil's Aeneid, Apuleius's The Golden Ass, and Augustine's Confessions. Democratic resistance in religion, psychology, the arts, and politics rests on free voices challenging patriarchal restrictions on the love of equals. In addition to examining why we are at war, this book explains many other aspects of our present situation including why movements of ethical resistance are often accompanied by a freeing of sexuality and why we are witnessing an aggressive fundamentalism at home and abroad.

The Seduction of Common Sense: How the Right Has Framed the Debate on America's Schools (Teaching for Social Justice)

Kevin K. Kumashiro

Amazon Price: $40.00 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 7 to 11 days By: Teachers College Press Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $40.00

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Education Theory -> Administration
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

''This is one of the most thoughtful books on education I have ever read. Kevin Kumashiro condemns fear as a hallmark in our conversations about schools, and promotes instead a spirit of freedom and democracy.''
--Studs Terkel

''A brilliant and concise guide to Right-wing trends and their impact in the classroom, as well as a much-needed map for a broad Left to reframe its approach to teaching and social change. Everyone who cares about teaching and our common future must read this book!''
--Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People

Critical of both the Right and the Left, Kevin Kumashiro examines how these two political perspectives have ''framed'' the debate on education in the United States. Showing us a new way to look at this hotly contested terrain, Kumashiro offers concrete implications for policy and practice that can draw together a broader coalition on the Left to achieve social justice in education. Timely, accessible, and thoroughly researched, The Seduction of Common Sense exposes the insidious nature of current educational reforms and offers promising directions for anti-oppressive change.

Book features:

* In-depth analysis of specific ''frames'' the Right is using, successfully, to influence the general public on education's hot topics.

* An examination of how the Christian Right is institutionalizing anti-LGBTQ bias by appropriating frames from the Left.

* A look at how the rhetoric of the Left has failed to achieve its goals, especially regarding racial disparities in schools.

* Suggestions for how the Left can ''reframe'' important education initiatives in time for the 2008 presidential election.

Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11

Kathryn S. Olmsted

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 17 new & used starting at $14.97

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 -> 21st Century

Editorial Review:

Many Americans believe that their own government is guilty of shocking crimes. Government agents shot the president. They faked the moon landing. They stood by and allowed the murders of 2,400 servicemen in Hawaii--or 3,000 civilians in New York. In their zeal to cover up their crimes, they killed witnesses, faked evidence, and stole into secure offices to snatch incriminating documents from the files.
Although the paranoid style has been a feature of the American scene since the birth of the Republic, in Real Enemies Kathryn Olmsted shows that it is only in the twentieth century that strange and unlikely conspiracy theories have become central to American politics. While Americans had worried about bankers, Jews, and Catholics for decades, Olmsted sees World War I as a critical turning point for conspiracy theories. As the federal government expanded, Americans grew more fearful of the government itself--the military, the intelligence community, and even the President.
Perhaps more important, Olmsted examines why so many Americans believe that their government conspires against them, why more people believe these theories over time, and how real conspiracies by government officials--such as the infamous Northwoods plan--have fueled our paranoia about the government. She analyzes Pearl Harbor, Cold War and anticommunist plots, the JFK assassination, Watergate, and 9/11. Along the way, she introduces readers to a lively cast of characters, from the Nobel prize-winning scientist who became a leading conspiracist to a housewife who believed she could unlock the secrets of the JFK assassination.
Polls show that thirty-six percent of Americans think that George W. Bush knew in advance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Real Enemies, an engaging work on a timely, important topic, sheds light on such theories, revealing how the rampant fear of conspiracy at once invigorates and undermines American democracy.