Andreas Anter reconstructs Max Weber's fragmentary theory of the modern state showing its relationship to contemporary theories and its significance for today's political science. The book consists of six chapters: The first analyses Weber's concept of the state, the second relates the theory of the state to the sociology of rule and domination, the third and fourth discuss Weber's hermeneutics and his doctrine of value-judgements, the fifth deals with the history of the modern state, and the final chapter focuses on Weber's metaphor of the state as 'machine'. Anter reveals the ambivalence of Weber's political thought: the oscillation between an etatiste position, mainly oriented to the reason of state, and an individualistic one, focussed on the freedom of individuals. He shows how much worse off we would be without Weber's theory, not at least by indicating its impact upon later authors.

With experience as both a trial and appellate judge, Charles Benjamin Schudson knows the burdens on judges. With engaging candor, he takes readers behind the bench to probe judicial minds analyzing actual trials and sentencings-of abortion protesters, murderers, sex predators, white supremacists, and others. He takes us into chambers to hear judges forging appellate decisions about life and death, multimillion-dollar damages, and priceless civil rights. And, most significantly, he exposes the financial, political, personal, and professional pressures that threaten judicial ethics and independence. As political attacks on judges increase, Schudson calls for reforms to protect judicial independence and for vigilance to ensure justice for all. Independence Corrupted is invaluable for students and scholars, lawyers and judges, and all citizens concerned about the future of America's courts.

By comparing the importance of representative democracy to the EU as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty with the political systems in the EU's newest member states, this study explores whether representative democracy can really exist in an enlarged EU and explores the constraints and opportunities for political parties operating the in the EU.

From Walt Whitman's "genius of America"-a common person-comes an uncommon analysis of an American tragedy; the failure of its political system to produce government that truly governs, not simply rules.

Average Americans increasingly are losing faith in our attenuating political parties. It doesn't seem to matter which party holds the reins of power, there's no difference in results. The status quo is locked in place, though America generally expresses dissatisfaction. The consequence: Political Independents-increasing numbers of political Independents. Many people say the American Dream is no longer attainable. As an expression of lack of confidence in government, that's crystal clear; as a verdict on the ability of our political system to deliver good, effective government, that's unacceptable. "The Gathering of the Clan" explores the need for change in politics and shares innovative constructs to revitalize our two-party system. Thomas Richard Harry tackles the whos, whats, and whys of such issues as: Connection between public perception and the phenomenon of political Independents Roles of government and those who govern Values and ideologies and how they affect us individually and collectively Philosophical gorge between democracy and capitalism Fading relationship between political trust and political loyalty

This book explores the inter-relationship between the President and the Bureaucratic establishment in the United States. It begins with an examination of the office of the Presidency and various theories on Leadership and Presidential power. The American System is unique among democratic societies in terms of the number of constraints on the Executive, especially in domestic policies. These include, Separation of Powers, Federalism, Weak Political Parties and a culture that is skeptical of authority. The Three major theories that are presented are Transactional, Authoritarian and Transformational. Each is presented and its applicability to the American System is analyzed and evaluated. The book then moves to what is commonly referred to as The Politics of Bureaucracy. In this section, the role and inter-relationship of Interest Groups, Congressional Sub-Committees and Bureaus is explicated. It is very difficult for a President to successfully challenge when there is agreement among its constituent members. This arrangement is often referred to as Iron Triangles. Presidents are rarely successful when they challenge these Iron Triangles. He either loses or must expend tremendous political resources to prevail. This work investigates how bureaucracies use not only their own material political resources but also develop Ideologies that allow them to compete in the area of values and ideas. Ideologies provide deeply ingrained emotional support among the citizens and other political leaders that allows these bureaus to compete with the President and other political actors in the arena of ideas for predominance in their policy area. Bureaus utilize both material and ideological techniques in three area of interaction, namely: Advice, Implementation and Propaganda. Each of these areas provides bureaus with ample opportunity to not only defend their interest but often to expand their political power. Each bureau has its unique strengths and weaknesses to explo

The Origins of the English Parliament is a magisterial account of the evolution of parliament, from its earliest beginnings in the late Anglo-Saxon period. Starting with the national assemblies which began to meet in the reign of King AEthelstan, it carries the story through to the fully fledged parliament of lords and commons of the early fourteenth century, which came to be seen as representative of the whole nation and which eventually sanctioned the deposition of the king himself in 1327.
Throughout, J. R. Maddicott emphasizes parliament's evolution as a continuous process, underpinned by some important common themes. Over the four hundred years covered by the book the chief business of the assembly was always the discussion of national affairs, together with other matters central to the running of the state, such as legislation and justice. It was always a resolutely political body. But its development was also shaped by a series of unforeseen events and episodes. Chief among these were the Norman Conquest, the wars of Richard I and John, and the minority of Henry III. A major turning-point was reached in 1215, when Magna Carta established the need for general consent to taxation -- a vital step towards the establishment of parliament itself in the next generation.
Covering an exceptionally long time span, The Origins of the English Parliament takes readers to the roots of the English state's central institution, showing how the more familiar parliament of late medieval and early modern England came into being and illuminating the close relationship between particular political episodes and the course of institutional change. Above all, it shows how the origins of parliament lie not in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, as has usually been argued, but in a much more distant past.

This book describes what the authors identify as an emerging political crisis in U.S. politics: the possible winning of the presidency by a candidate with far fewer votes than his or her opponent. David W. Abbott and James P. Levine stress both the irrationality and peculiar nature of the current electoral system, emphasizing recent and current political developments. On the basis of their computer analysis of past elections and modern political realities, the authors predict that within twenty years it is very likely that the United States will produce a wrong winner. In explaining how this phenomenon could occur, Abbott and Levine introduce the concept of the wasted vote; winning lopsided majorities in states is worth no more than winning states by one vote, due to the antiquated winner-take-all principle.

The book gives a brief historical overview of the electoral college and the structure of the existing electoral system. In addition to a detailed discussion of the wrong winner problem, the authors also explain that if no candidate gets a majority of votes in the electoral college because of the presence of a third party candidate, the House of Representatives must choose the president under an odd set of ground rules. This creates the potential for all kinds of nefarious political shenanigans. The authors conclude that the only satisfactory solution to the electoral systeM's shortcomings is the total abolition of the electoral college and a shift to direct election of the president by the people. "Wrong Winner" will be an excellent supplementary text in American Government, Parties, Voting, and Public Choice courses. It will also be of interest to political professionals, journalists, and political scientists.

This book examines the frequency, causes and management of divided government in comparative context, identifying the similarities and differences between the various experiences of this increasingly frequent form of government. The countries studied include Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Poland, and the US.

Current international discourse on the new state of South Sudan seems fixated on the "state construction." This book aims to broaden the debate by examining the character of regulatory authority in South Sudan's borderlands in both contemporary and historical perspective. The contributions gathered here show that emerging border governance practices challenge the bounded categorization of "state" and "non-state," especially in the complex interactions between state, military, and business actors and power structures. It thus provides a timely and sophisticated contribution to the literature on African borderlands, examining a new state in creation at its borders, and providing an anthropologically and historically informed view of a rapidly evolving situation.

It is the rare reorganization that has a substantial impact on the output of affected agencies or on the delivery of public services. Empirical evidence in Federal Narcotics Enforcement sheds new light on both the history and politics of American drug enforcement efforts and the reasons behind the generally dismal record of large-scale government reorganization. This book demonstrates how the objectives of reorganization in the drug enforcement area failed and extends the lesson of failure to show that more substantive planning and operational level changes are required for real improvement.

When the Berlin Wall fell, so did the East German communist regime. Then began the complex task of creating a single German state. This work is a readable and informative narrative written for high school and college students and the general public. A series of essays presents the social and political forces that shaped the 1989 revolution and the political decisions of both Eastern and Western Germans in the twelve hectic months before unification in 1990. Following a timeline of events, a narrative historical overview places the revolution in the context of post-World War II German history. Other topical essays address the effect of mass emigration from East to West Germany, the role of the Protestant clergy in the revolution, foreign reactions to the revolution, the social and economic effects of unification, and an assessment of the future of a united Germany and its position in the European community. Ready-reference features include biographical essays on key individuals, the text of key primary documents relating to the revolution and unification, a glossary of terms, and an annotated bibliography.

Richard Leiby, who teaches German history at Rosemont College, uses both primary and secondary sources to examine the background, sequence of events, and assessment of German unification in a readable narrative for students and interested readers. The text of primary documents and the biographical sketches drawn from both English sources and German sources in English translation will help students to understand the positions of those involved. This work is ideal for student research and understanding of recent German and European affairs.

Thirty years after the "Watergate Babies" promised to end corruption in Washington, Julian Zelizer offers the first major history of the demise of the committee-era Congress and the rise of the contemporary legislative branch. Based on research in more than a hundred archival collections, this book tackles one of the most enduring political challenges in America: barring a wholesale revolution, how can we improve our representative democracy so as best to fulfill the promises of the Constitution? Whereas popular accounts suggest that major scandals or legislation can transform government institutions, Zelizer shows that reform is messy, slow, and involves many institutions coming together at the right time. The short period of reform in the 1970s--one that rivaled the Progressive Era--revolved around a coalition that had worked for decades, a slow reconfiguration of the relationship among political institutions, shifts in the national culture, and the ability of reformers to take advantage of scandals and elections. Zelizer presents a new look at the origins of the partisanship and scandal warfare that characterize today's politics. The book also offers a warning to the next generation of reformers by showing how a new political environment can radically transform the political impact of government reforms, as occurred when the conservative movement--during its rise to power in recent decades--took advantage of reforms that had ended the committee era. Julian Zelizer teaches political history at Boston University. His book, Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975 (Cambridge, 1999), was awarded the Organization of American Historian's 1998 D.B. Hardeman Prize.He is the co-editor of The Democratic Experiment (Princeton University Press, 2003) and the editor of The American Congress: The Building of Democracy (Houghton-Mifflin, 2005).

This edited volume compares the internal dimension, politics and society in Kurdistan-Iraq and Palestine. In particular, it focuses on internal processes in Kurdistan-Iraq and Palestine (Palestinian Territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip) in their specific shaping, development and transformation. The contributing authors analyze the transformation processes of the internal power structures, the economic basics, and the civil societies and provide an overview of the current political, economic and societal situation and challenges in both regions. The book presents the similarities and differences between both de facto states with regard to a set of guidelines: legitimacy, power relations, transformation of politics and society. It provides empirical explanations and contributes to a better understanding of both de facto states.

"Democratic constitutional engineering is tricky, yet consequential, nowadays more than ever. I can hardly think of a better proof of this double assertion than the one provided by the latest book by Giovanni Sartori, possibly the most astute and passionate student of constitutional engineering . . . Mine is an invitation to read the book, indeed to unwrap and savor it. Rarely has constitutional engineering been more salient to the future of expanding democracy."
--G. DiPalma, "The Review of Politics"

"Delightfully written, this monograph will be a staple of courses on comparative constitutional design . . . I can think of no better example of contemporary political "engineering" than this, and it is precisely this product of research that students of comparative politics must attempt."
--Peter C. Ordeshook, "Political Science Quarterly"

"Despite the seemingly endless volume of literature on democratic institutions, no text even comes close to formulating the kind of comprehensive and critical synthesis one finds in this elegant new book by Sartori."
--P. Vannicelli, "Los Angeles Monthly"

"Giovanni Sartori, internationally recognized political scientist, has written a pathbreaking, highly innovative comparative study of state building."
--"The Commentator"

"The last book of Giovanni Sartori is a beautiful work that ranks among his very best writings. It is very concise, for it deals only with essentials, and yet covers all the basics of his subject matter; and Sartori always takes a crystal-clear stand on the many controversies that he covers."
--G. Bognetti, "Il Sole/24 Ore"

The second edition of this pathbreaking, highly innovative comparative study instate-building by a major political scientist is a fully updated examination of the problems of making democratic government work.

Sartori begins by assessing electoral systems. He attacks the conventional wisdom that their influence cannot be predicted and also disputes the view that proportional representation is always best and will deliver 'consensus democracy'. He argues that the double-ballot formulas deserve more consideration for their ability to facilitate governability in adverse circumstances.

His comparative assessment of presidential and semi-presidential systems and the variety of formulas that are categorized, sometimes misleadingly, as parliamentary, looks at the conditions that allow a political form to perform as intended.

He concludes with a detailed proposal for a new type of government: alternating presidentialism. This meets the need for strong parliamentary control and efficient government, with safeguards against both parliamentary obstructionism and government by decree, and so could help to avoid political paralysis in Latin America, in the post-communist countries of Europe and in countries with dysfunctional parliamentary systems such as Italy and Israel.

The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is central to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe. Initiated by Germany in 1995 and adopted in 1997, it regulates the fiscal policies of European Union Member States. Following numerous violations of its deficit reference value, the Pact s Excessive Deficit Procedure was suspended in 2003. The decision to suspend was brought before the European Court of Justice in 2004 and the SGP then underwent painstaking reform in 2005. After a period of economic prosperity and falling budgetary deficits, the global economic crisis is putting the system under renewed stress. Ruling Europe presents the first comprehensive analysis of the political history of the SGP as the cornerstone of EMU. It examines the SGP through different theoretical lenses, offering a fascinating study of European integration and institutional design. One cannot understand the euro without first understanding the SGP."

While globalization and the European construction increasingly undermine the model of the nation-state in the Mediterranean world, conversions reveal the capacity of religion to disrupt, and unsettle previous understandings of political and social relations. Converts' claims and practice are often met with the hostility of the state and the public while converts can often be perceived either as traitors or as unconscious and weak tools of foreign manipulation. Based on first-hand ethnographical research from several countries throughout the Mediterranean region, this book is the first of its kind in studying and analyzing contemporary conversions and their impact on recasting ideas of nationalism and citizenship. In doing so, this interdisciplinary study confronts historical, anthropological, political science and sociological approaches which offers an insight into the national, legal and political challenges of legislating for religious minorities that arise from conversions. Moreover, the specific examination of contemporary religious conversion contributes more widely to debates about the delinking of religion and culture, globalization, and secularism.

Through the prism of the U.S. Constitution and other foundational documents, Edd Applegate's Political and Social Changes in the United States will discuss major transformations in American social and political life since the Founding, beginning with England's expansion in North America, the War of Independence, and the early national period. It proceeds through industrialization, the Civil War, economic growth, progressivism, and the emergence of the United States on the world stage. It concludes with considerations of the Cold War and post-Cold War worlds and new threats and challenges to the United States and its institutions.

This study of five key policy areas, from welfare reform to foreign policy, demonstrates that the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition failed to fulfil its promise to reverse the rising power of the State. It exercised more subtle forms of 'soft power', often in partnership with the private sector, and to the detriment of ordinary citizens.

An examination of the political participation of the six member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia paying particular attention to the popular demands within these countries for individual representation and the subsequent consequences of the establishment of national councils in response. The results of these actions have been mixed; in Kuwait and Bahrain the elected national assemblies have been suspended although the consultative councils in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman have afforded some measure of success. It concludes that despite their limitations, the national councils have performed a number of functions including state legitimation, legislative review, government accountability and the legitimation of minority political participation.

The United States Constitution has already been interpreted to provide a variety of family-related protections which, if applied consistently, also protect same-sex couples and their children. Only by radically reformulating and severely undermining existing protections can courts and commentators justify the claim that the Federal Constitution does not offer a wealth of family protections, including the right to marry a same-sex partner.

Discussing the constitutional implications of civil unions with a special focus on how they might be treated in the interstate context, Strasser explains how the courts and commentators have reworked and significantly weakened a variety of constitutional protections in their attempts to establish that same-sex couples are not afforded constitutional protections. He further suggests that the constitutional protections for religion support rather than undermine the constitutional protection of same-sex unions.

More than two billion dollars. That's how much money was spent in the 2012 presidential campaign-the most expensive campaign in history. Each party raised and spent more than one billion dollars as the traditional boundaries of campaign financing were ignored. Both parties could do so because they were playing in a game with new rules-rules that largely developed after the 2010 Supreme Court ruling known as Citizens United. That case removed many restrictions on donation limits, particularly for corporations and unions. The result was the development of a new set of political players called "Super PACs" that were allowed to enter the political arena and spend an unlimited amount of money on behalf of clients. This book looks at how Super PACs raised and spent money and influenced the 2012 election. It provides an insightful look at how both right- and left-leaning groups approached the election and impacted the political process.

From the mind of legendary political insider Roger Stone, here is the sensational New York Times bestseller that reveals the truth about who was behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. From the mind of consummate political insider Roger Stone, unofficial adviser to Donald Trump and subject of the documentary Get Me Roger Stone, comes a compelling case that Lyndon Baines Johnson had the motive, means, and opportunity to orchestrate the murder of JFK. Stone maps out the case that LBJ blackmailed his way on the ticket in 1960 and was being dumped in 1964 to face prosecution for corruption at the hands of his nemesis attorney Robert Kennedy. Stone uses fingerprint evidence and testimony to prove JFK was shot by a long-time LBJ hit man-not Lee Harvey Oswald. President Johnson would use power from his personal connections in Texas, from the criminal underworld, and from the United States government to escape an untimely end in politics and to seize even greater power. President Johnson, the thirty-sixth president of the United States, was the driving force behind a conspiracy to murder President Kennedy on November 22, 1963. In The Man Who Killed Kennedy, you will find out how and why he did it. Legendary political operative and strategist Roger Stone has gathered documents and uses his firsthand knowledge to construct the ultimate tome to prove that LBJ was not only involved in JFK's assassination, but was in fact the mastermind.

Have you ever thought about the meaning of the phrase in Pres. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, where he refers to ..".a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, ..."? The author believes that our present system - by allowing money to influence the process - is not truly a government by the people; but is rather a government by a wealthy elite, operating primarily for their own benefit. He believes that for a government to truly be "by the people," all people should have equal power, and play an active role in determining government policy. He also believes that this can not come about until the government is freed from all outside influences; particularly the power of wealth. This book proposes two protocols: one to remove the power of money and wealth, and the other, an easy to implement procedure that will put all motivated individuals in control of decision-making processes within all areas of government; from neighborhoods, to cities, to states, and to the nation. Herein is a viable way for all people to obtain governance that truly serves all. That way is through cooperative unity.

"Supreme Decisions: Great Constitutional Cases and Their Impact," Volumes 1 and 2, covers twenty-four Supreme Court cases (twelve per volume) that have shaped American constitutional law. Interpretive chapters shed light on the nuances of each case, the individuals involved, and the social, political, and cultural context at that particular moment in history. Discussing cases from nearly every decade in a two-hundred-year span, Melvin I. Urofsky expounds on the political climate of the United States from the country's infancy through the new millennium. Featuring "Marbury v. Madison, Dred Scott v. Sandford, Miranda v. Arizona, Brown v. Board of Education, " and many more, this text covers foundational rulings and more recent decisions. Written with students in mind, Melvin I. Urofsky's voice offers compelling and fascinating accounts of American legal milestones.
"Supreme Decisions" can be purchased as a single combined volume or conveniently split into two volumes, providing a breadth of information for survey courses in U.S. Constitutional History.