An exciting and affordable new volume offering a unique perspective on the Oval Office The first title in a new imprint that pairs expert political analysis with rich historical news coverage, The New York Times on the Presidency is a fascinating new reference book that uses nearly 150 years of New York Times' reporting to explore the dynamic nature of the presidency in the American political system. Presidential scholar Meena Bose has selectively chosen a variety of news articles, editorials, and data from The Times for which she has written context-providing narrative that discusses the key issues, leadership challenges, and turning points in each president's administration, from Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) through George W. Bush (2001-2008). The New York Times on the Presidency provides readers with insight into the stories of 29 presidents spanning three centuries, as well as the effect The New York Times' position may have had on the issues of their day. Selected documents from the New York Times include: News stories Editorials and letters to the editor Op ed essays Pictures Public opinion polling data Obituaries The New York Times on the Presidency launches the new TimesReference series from CQ Press. The series is designed to support high school and college curricula and course work, focusing on topics in American government, U.S. history, elections, Congress, the presidency, the U.S. Supreme Court, journalism and public opinion. Just in time for the 2008 election, The New York Times on the Presidency will find a home in high school, public, and undergraduate libraries.

There remains a widespread perception among both the public and elements of academia that the Internet is "ungovernable". However, this idea, as well as the notion that the Internet has become some type of cyber-libertarian utopia, is wholly inaccurate. Governments may certainly encounter tremendous difficulty in attempting to regulate the Internet, but numerous types of authority have nevertheless become pervasive. So who, then, governs the Internet? This book will contend that the Internet is, in fact, being governed, that it is being governed by specific and identifiable networks of policy actors, and that an argument can be made as to how it is being governed. This book will present a new conceptual framework for analysis that deconstructs the Internet into four policy "layers" with the aim of formulating a new political architecture that accurately maps out and depicts authority on the Internet today. Foremost, it will seek to draw a distinction between those actors who have a demonstrable policymaking authority versus those who merely wield influence. The book will then apply this four-layer model to an analysis of U.S. national cybersecurity policy, post-9/11. Ultimately, it will seek to determine the consequences of these political arrangements and governance policies.

Following the Renaissance, democracy was still considered a dangerous form of government. Democracy was often regarded as a fool's folly and a madman's paradise. The well-wishers of the Republican Government would have fanciful debates in intellectual circles, but paternal monarchies dominated the western and eastern world. Yet in a heroic and herculean way, a group of Anglo-Saxons, who grew up under proud monarchies, rose to dethrone the English Crown and to establish the greatest democracy in history. What theories inspired these men? Why didn't they just simply create an American King? Or better yet, make themselves kings? The answers to these questions lie in the eloquent and exact writings of great American Founders, Presidents, and Enlightened Philosophers such as: James Madison, George Clinton, Edmund Randolph, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Rush, John Hancock, John Jay, Cicero, Aristotle, John Locke, Hugo Grotius, John Winthrop, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Ronald Reagan and more. Unlike other rulers, American rulers are bound to the law. There is no doubt that the Founding of America is an event of unparalleled greatness. This book allows the reader to share in the dreams and thoughts of these great men, in their own words, and allows the reader to draw informed conclusions that they surmise from reading the primary documents.

Although Indonesia is generally considered to be a Muslim state, and is indeed the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, it has a sizeable Christian minority as a legacy of Dutch colonialism, with Christians often occupying relatively high social positions. This book examines the management of religion in Indonesia. It discusses how Christianity has developed in Indonesia, how the state, though Muslim in outlook and culture, is nevertheless formally secular, and how the principal Christian church, the Java Christian Church, has adapted its practices to fit local circumstances. It examines religious violence and charts the evolution of the state's religious policies, analysing in particular the impact of the 1974 Marriage Law showing how it enabled extensive state regulation, but how in practice, rather than reinforcing religious divisions, inter-religious marriage, involving the conversion of one party, is widespread. Overall, the book shows how Indonesia is developing its own brand of secularism, neither a full-blooded Islamic state like Saudi Arabia, nor an outright secular state like Turkey.

Following the Renaissance, democracy was still considered a dangerous form of government. Democracy was often regarded as a fool's folly and a madman's paradise. The well-wishers of the Republican Government would have fanciful debates in intellectual circles, but paternal monarchies dominated the western and eastern world. Yet in a heroic and herculean way, a group of Anglo-Saxons, who grew up under proud monarchies, rose to dethrone the English Crown and to establish the greatest democracy in history. What theories inspired these men? Why didn't they just simply create an American King? Or better yet, make themselves kings? The answers to these questions lie in the eloquent and exact writings of great American Founders, Presidents, and Enlightened Philosophers such as: James Madison, George Clinton, Edmund Randolph, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Rush, John Hancock, John Jay, Cicero, Aristotle, John Locke, Hugo Grotius, John Winthrop, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Ronald Reagan and more. Unlike other rulers, American rulers are bound to the law. There is no doubt that the Founding of America is an event of unparalleled greatness. This book allows the reader to share in the dreams and thoughts of these great men, in their own words, and allows the reader to draw informed conclusions that they surmise from reading the primary documents.

The years 1990-93 were a critical moment in Russia's political development. This book provides a systematic explanation of outcomes of constitutional bargaining processes in Russia, which radically reshaped the institutions of the Russian state: removing Russia from constitutional subordination to the Soviet Union in 1990; creating a presidency and a constitutional court in 1991; and restructuring the relationship between the central state and its component federal units with the passage of three Federal Treaties in 1992. The book explores the reasons for these outcomes and identifies why there were consistent delays to the passage of a new Russian constitution as well as why negotiations eventually broke down. The book assesses the plausibility of different theoretical approaches to constitutional choice and argues that the role of uncertainty (and politician's strategic responses to uncertainty) in shaping constitutional outcomes has been under-explored by rational choices approaches to constitutional bargaining. Using a rich set of source materials - including roll call votes, parliamentary records, unpublished parliamentary and constitution commission documents, Russian newspapers - the book provides a detailed study of Russian politician's decision making about constitutional choices. It is a valuable resource to those interested in Russia and post-communist politics, the origins of political institutions, comparative government, democratisation and development studies.

This edited book, written by a collection of scholars with an interest in Northern Ireland, tracks its uneasy experience with devolution following the optimistic political period associated with the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. The volume brings together researchers from the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) 'Devolution and Constitutional Change' Programme and other experts to record four key perspectives on Northern Ireland. First, it considers the inextricable link between devolution and constitutional developments. Second, it examines how the main political parties responded to devolution and the major challenges faced by society in moving beyond conflict (such as political symbolism, the role of women, equality and human rights issues). Third, it attempts to assess some of the workings of devolved government in its short-lived form or those seeded in devolution and carried on by direct rule ministers. Finally, Northern Irelands devolved government and associated institutions are located within the wider relationships with Westminster, the Republic of Ireland and Europe. This edited volume will be of interest to students of Irish politics and public policy, but more generally, from a comparative perspective, those with an interest in devolution and constitutional change. It may even assist politicians in Northern Ireland to reflect on the real potential to restore its devolved institutions and draw back from the brink of permanently copper-fastening 'direct rule' from Westminster. -- .

A long-time U.S. policy insider's scholarly and encyclopedic history with unprecedented analysis of the official documents of the Cold War explores its Marxist-Leninist totalitarian roots, faltering pre-Reagan U.S. strategies of Containment, MAD, and Detente, and the Reagan Revolution. This book details Reagan's integrated new strategies in defense, arms control, diplomacy, information and intelligence, and support for the faiths and forces of freedom that collapsed the Soviet ideology and empire.

There has been growing concern about "failed states" around the world, and since the massacre of the Royal family in Nepal in 2001 increasing media attention has focused on the decline of the state and the rise of the Maoist rebels in this Himalayan kingdom where so many Westerners have taken trekking vacations. Development was always going to be a problem in Nepal, but few predicted the precipitous collapse of the state in rural areas in the face of the Maoist insurgency beginning in 1996 due, to a large extent, to the failure of the state to deliver promised development and benefits; instead, it became more and more authoritarian, even oppressive. Exploring the complex relationship between a modernizing, developmentalist state and the people it professes to represent, these fascinating and readable accounts of ordinary people's lives depict the various contexts out of which the Maoist insurgency grew.

The book is a compilation of the best and still-most-relevant articles published in Poverty & Race, the bimonthly of The Poverty & Race Research Action Council from 2006 to the present. Authors are some of the leading figures in a range of activities around these themes. It is the fourth such book PRRAC has published over the years, each with a high-visibility foreword writer: Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Bill Bradley, Julian Bond in previous books, Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago for this book. The chapters are organized into four sections: Race & Poverty: The Structural Underpinnings; Deconstructing Poverty and Racial Inequities; Re(emerging) Issues; Civil Rights History.

The US Supreme Court is an institution that operates almost totally behind closed doors. This book opens those doors by providing a comprehensive look at the justices, procedures, cases, and issues over the institution's more than 200-year history. The Court is a legal institution born from a highly politicized process. Modern justices time their departures to coincide with favorable administrations and the confirmation process has become a highly-charged political spectacle played out on television and in the national press. Throughout its history, the Court has been at the center of the most important issues facing the nation: federalism, separation of powers, war, slavery, civil rights, and civil liberties. Through it all, the Court has generally, though not always, reflected the broad views of the American people as the justices decide the most vexing issues of the day. The Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Supreme Court covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on every justice, major case, issue, and process that comprises the Court's work. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Supreme Court.

In Part One, the uses of divine revelation in the Western world are reviewed by recalling authors that include Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plato, Maimonides, Cervantes, Hobbes, and Milton. The challenges posed by such monstrosities as Aztec human sacrifices and the Second World War Holocaust are recalled. In Part Two, the challenges of religion for and by Americans are examined. Documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of 1787, and Presidential Farewell Addresses are recalled. The lives and thought of eminent Americans are also recalled (including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln). Recalled as well are such movements as that of the Mormons and that of the "I Am" sect. The implications both for religious developments and for religious orthodox of modern science are investigated. The Appendices reinforce these inquiries by providing reminders of how distinguished commentators and others have tried to deal with critical questions noticed in the Essays of this book.

Nature is no longer the leading cause of death; society is. This makes health care one of the most important political issues today. This book looks at the reasons behind the declining condition of our bodies, as governments across the world choose to neglect the health of the majority of their citizens. Using hard data taken from service users, Lee Humber constructs a sharp analysis that gets to the heart of inequality in health care today, showing that 'wealthy means healthy'. Life expectancy for many in the UK and US is worse than it was 100 years ago, and more and more communities across the world can expect shorter and less healthy lives than their parents. Humber also suggests radical strategies for tackling this degenerative situation, providing a compelling vision for how we can shape our health and that of future generations.

Ask the average American who takes over in the event something happens to the President of the United States, and you're likely to receive the correct answer. However, what about succession beyond the vice presidency? Fortunately, our nation has an established line of presidential succession that is meant to ensure continuity in the nation's highest office. Unfortunately, there are several fundamental flaws in the model. This work begins by examining the fascinating history of presidential disability and succession, an issue that has impacted our nation's highest office since the very beginning. After highlighting the reoccurring nature of this problem, it then provides an analysis of the alarming state of our current disability and succession guidelines, many of which are dangerously outdated, especially when it comes to the threat of terrorism. It then explores these flaws, specifically the glaring problems associated with including members of Congress in the line of succession. Along with questions concerning suitability and preparedness, statistics detailing the partisan composition of Congress over the last half-century illustrate that a sudden shift in party control of the presidency is not only possible, but likely. Finally, it concludes by highlighting an inherent flaw in a line of succession in which every member is located in one small area that happens to be the most attractive target for a would-be terrorist. While the issues explored in this work have been present for more than a half-century, the combination of an increased partisan divide between the executive and legislative branches, as well as the dangers of terrorist attack, combine to require immediate action. Just as the average American may be surprised to discover the Speaker of the House stands second in the line of succession, they would likely be shocked at the potential for chaos and confusion that could unfold in a battle for the presidency. Therefore, it is vitally important to address these concerns now, before they play out in front of a national audience.

The international economic crisis has hit Europe, especially its 'periphery', remarkably hard, and has had deep consequences at the economic and political levels. Since its onset, parties in parliament (especially those in opposition) have found themselves faced with a dilemma: choosing between the need to cooperate with the government in order to overcome the crisis and the opportunity provided by a weakened government to stress their adversarial position, so as to be more easily re-elected and possibly get into power. What have they decided to do? This is a crucial question, for which there is no easy or intuitive answer. The present volume introduces a collection of works exploring this dilemma in southern European countries, by examining the opposition behaviour in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain; and in the European Parliament. In so doing, we shall try to understand not only what kind of impact the crisis has had on the level of consensus in parliament in the four countries mentioned, but also whether differences are observable across cases. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.

This book describes the conduct of the US-led post-9/11 war in Afghanistan. Adopting a long-term perspective, it argues that even though Washington initially had an opportunity to achieve its security goals and give Afghanistan a chance to enter a new era, it compromised any possibility of success from the very moment it let bin Laden escape to Pakistan in December 2001, and found itself locked in a strategic overreach. Given the bureaucratic and rhetorical momentum triggered by the war on terror in America, the Bush Administration was bound to deploy more resources in Afghanistan sooner or later (despite its focus on Iraq). The need to satisfy unfulfilled counter-terrorism objectives made the US dependent on Afghanistan's warlords, which compromised the country's stability and tarnished its new political system. The extension of the US military presence made Washington lose its leverage on the Pakistan army leaders, who, aware of America's logistical dependency on Islamabad, supported the Afghan insurgents - their historical proxies - more and more openly. The extension of the war also contributed to radicalize segments of the Afghan and Pakistani populations, destabilizing the area further. In the meantime, the need to justify the extension of its military presence influenced the US-led coalition into proclaiming its determination to democratize and reconstruct Afghanistan. While highly opportunistic, the emergence of these policies proved both self-defeating and unsustainable due to an inescapable collision between the US-led coalition's inherent self-interest, hubris, limited knowledge, limited attention span and limited resources, and, on the other hand, Afghanistan's inherent complexity. As the critical contradictions at the very heart of the campaign increased with the extension of the latter's duration, scale, and cost, America's leaders, entrapped in path-dependence, lost their strategic flexibility. Despite debates on troops/resource allocation and more sophisticated doctrines, they repeated the same structural mistakes over and over again. The strategic overreach became self-sustaining, until its costs became intolerable, leading to a drawdown which has more to do with a pervasive sense of failure than with the accomplishment of any noble purpose or strategic breakthrough.

Although there is no doubt that the constitution has been significantly reformed since the election of New Labour in 1997 the degree to which these reforms have altered the nature of democracy in the United Kingdom remains highly contested. A major problem within this debate is that it has become polarized around a binary distinction between power-sharing and power-hoarding models of democracy when the contemporary situation is actually far more complex. This book draws upon theories and methods from comparative political analysis in order to argue and then demonstrate three central and inter-related arguments.
Firstly, that the distinctive element of New Labour's approach to constitutional engineering is not that it has shifted the nature of democracy in the United Kingdom from one model to another but has instead sought to apply different models at the periphery and core: bi-constitutionality.
Secondly, that contemporary evidence of both increasing levels of public disengagement from conventional politics and falling levels of public trust in politicians, political institutions and political processes originate from the 'expectations gap'. This 'gap' is created by the process of political competition artificially increases public expectations; only for these expectations to be dashed as the elected party either seeks to renege upon certain pre-election commitments or fails to achieve them.
Finally, democracy in the United Kingdom is currently drifting. The old rules do not appear to suit the new game, and yet the government continues to insist that the old rules still apply. The critical challenge for any future government, of any political complexion, will be to articulate a new form of constitutional morality with the capacity to clarify exactly what its reforms in the sphere of constitutional reform and democratic renewal are seeking to achieve.
The analysis offered in this book focuses on the evolution of democracy in the United Kingdom since the election of New Labour in 1997. However in order to achieve both depth and breadth this analysis is then located within the contours of much broader longitudinal and comparative analyses. This involves examining the trajectory of democracy in the United Kingdom from 1945 onwards, and then comparing this long-term view within a much broader comparative perspective to examine the degree to which recent developments in the United Kingdom fit within global democratic trends.

With an Introduction by Mishtooni Bose. More's Utopia is a complex, innovative and penetrating contribution to political thought, culminating in the famous 'description' of the Utopians, who live according to the principles of natural law, but are receptive to Christian teachings, who hold all possessions in common, and view gold as worthless. Drawing on the ideas of Plato, St Augustine and Aristotle, Utopia was to prove seminal in its turn, giving rise to the genres of utopian and dystopian prose fiction whose practitioners include Sir Francis Bacon, H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. At once a critique of the social consequences of greed and a meditation on the personal cost of entering public service, Utopia dramatises the difficulty of balancing the competing claims of idealism and pragmatism, and continues to invite its readers to become participants in a compelling debate concerning the best state of a commonwealth.

It is commonplace that political power is becoming more centralized and remote: faceless people, sometimes in unknown places, determine our circumstances and our opportunities. This ground breaking book argues that this happened through a slow development which began before globalization. Power in Business and the State queries our freedom to make our own history. Current circumstances may be so far from our own choosing that our history is now being made for us, rather than something we control ourselves. Political power is so centralized, and economic power so concentrated, that popular control of democratic government has become increasingly difficult. The sheer magnitude of the author's research underpinning this book, and the uncluttered methodological framework in which it is presented, provides a highly readable text.

Many theoretical explanations had been offered for the rise of the European Community, but none had used historical analysis to draw out the deeper significance of the events that surrounded Maastricht. However, in this book, first published in 1993, the authors explored the process of European integration, and its future, drawing on extensive empirical research into the national archives of the member states. The authors brought their findings together in this consistently argued book to provide a new and coherent theory of European integration, which threw a fresh light on unexplored aspects of EC policy. The debate over the Treaty of Maastricht shows how ill-understood are the issues involved, and this book is intended to improve that understanding. It is essential reading to students of history, international relations and political science.

For the last two centuries, the nation state has posed a formidable challenge to multinational empires. It has served as a base for modernisation, secularisation and democratisation -- and also for the formation of totalitarian regimes. Today, the nation state faces challenges from multiple directions. National minorities demand self-determination while religious forces challenge secular governments, and global migration movements undermine the cultural uniformity once considered essential for the formation and preservation of nation states. This is the third of a three-volume set (detailed below) which addresses key challenges facing the contemporary nation state from a global perspective but with special emphasis on the Middle East and Israel. Publication reflects research conducted under the auspices of The Israel Democracy Institute's "Nation State Project", which analyses Israel's complex reality in which a Jewish majority contends with an Arab minority, ultra-Orthodox religious forces reject the authority of the nation state, and an immigrant society exhibits substantial cultural and ethnic variance. Volume III explores the cultural, social and political effects of immigration on the contemporary nation state -- its character, cohesion, and possible future, as well as on contemporary liberal democracy. Contributions deal with such issues as different liberal approaches to the issue of immigration and immigrant integration, nation-building narratives and their implications for immigrants and minorities, citizenship tests and integration policy in the United States and in Europe, as well as Israel's Law of Return and the debate about it and other aspects of immigration policy.

Written in response to violent conflict in many of the former socialist countries and unease about European integration in the West, this informative and contemporary book presents a multi-sectoral assessment of the future of the nation state in Europe.The 13 articles included in The Future of the Nation State in Europe offer a wide-ranging, insightful analysis by an international group of distinguished scholars who argue that the question of the nation state in Europe will remain one of the foremost issues confronting social scientists. Contributions by Paavo Vayrynen, Ernst Gellner, Aira Kemilainen and Jyrki Iivonen on the concept of 'nation state' and its definition, are followed by two historical articles by Giovanni Arrighi and Erik Allardt, the former discussing the development of historical capitalism while the later connects the question of the nation state to different forms of technology. Later essays deal with various contexts of the nation state, including articles by Jaan Kaplinski on the future of national cultures in Europe, by Ali Kazancigil on the effects of unification on the national state, by Allan Rosas on the decline of sovereignty in international law and by Raimo Vayrynen on the relationship between territory and nation state. The volume concludes by examining the effects of regional changes on ethnic developments in Europe with articles by Thomas Henschel on German unification, Risto Alapuro on Russian civil society and Mate Szabo on East European Political development. Offering perspectives drawn from history, sociology, anthropology, law and political science, this major volume will be welcomed by political scientists, commentators and all those concerned with questions of European statehood.

In May 1798, after Congress released the XYZ Affair dispatches to the public, a raucous crowd took to the streets of Philadelphia. Some gathered to pledge their support for the government of President John Adams, others to express their disdain for his policies. Violence, both physical and political, threatened the safety of the city and the Union itself. To combat the chaos and protect the nation from both external and internal threats, the Federalists swiftly enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Oppressive pieces of legislation aimed at separating so-called genuine patriots from objects of suspicion, these acts sought to restrict political speech, whether spoken or written, soberly planned or drunkenly off-the-cuff. Little more than twenty years after Americans declared independence and less than ten since they ratified both a new constitution and a bill of rights, the acts gravely limited some of the very rights those bold documents had promised to protect. In The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Terri Diane Halperin discusses the passage of these laws and the furor over them, as well as the difficulties of enforcement. She describes in vivid detail the heated debates and tempestuous altercations that erupted between partisan opponents: one man pulled a gun on a supporter of the act in a churchyard; congressmen were threatened with arrest for expressing their opinions; and printers were viciously beaten for distributing suspect material. She also introduces readers to the fraught political divisions of the late 1790s, explores the effect of immigration on the new republic, and reveals the dangers of partisan excess throughout history. Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, Halperin's book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union.

Many conservative extremists have argued that Obama was advancing a socialist agenda, immersing himself in African-American radicalism, and pushing big government liberal policies during his first term. The Republican Party, we once knew, has been pushed to the extreme right and has rendered itself unwilling to compromise with the first African American president in order to credit him with any degree of success. The Party's chief goal was to take back the White House in the 2012 presidential election by any means necessary to push their radical agenda, as some have boldly stated. With the help of Republican governors in certain swing states, the Republican Party knew it had a chance to win the White House by passing voter suppression ID laws. Consequently, from white church pulpits to the political arena, conservative radicals have divided the American electorate and have played on the irrational apocalyptic fears of many that Obama will destroy the exceptional nature of America. Conservative radicals have shaped our national debate and have driven our discourse with eliminationist and racialized rhetoric against the Obama presidency. Consequently, many anti-Obama narratives have hit the bookstores and have consumed the intellectual life of an overly suspicious, low information general public where many lack the critical and political thought about ways they need to know to emancipate themselves from destructive prevailing ideologies. Obama's Political Saga serves as a counter-narrative to the paranoid politics of anti-intellectual and anti-science radicals and hopefully provides a reasonable discussion about Obama's political saga in his first term. These anti-Obama narratives have resurrected themselves from the Jim Crow era, influencing a segment of the conservative base to believe that equal rights for African Americans, other Americans of color, and women would threaten the social order by diminishing white (male) privilege. Therefore, we need counter-narratives to help us engage in genuine political and intellectual debate about the first African American president and his legacy.

This volume on penitentiary systems in the Americas offers a long-overdue look at the prisons that exist at the forefront of the ongoing struggle against drugs and violence throughout North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. From Haiti to Bolivia, the authors examine the conditions in these systems, and allow several common themes to emerge, including the alarming prevalence of lengthy pre-trial detention and the often abysmal living conditions in these institutions. Taken together, this comprises the first comparative overview of the use and abuse of prisons in the Americas.