How has Barack Obama done in his first term as a "progressive president," especially in relation to his campaign assertions? This book analyzes the performance of Obama and his administration in promoting progressive causes in a wide range of policy areas, including the economy, education, immigration, healthcare reform, criminal justice, and foreign affairs. Grading the 44th President: A Report Card on Barack Obama's First Term as a Progressive Leader is written in clear language that is free of jargon and from a leftist perspective, offering a comprehensive analysis and critique of Obama's performance as a progressive president during his first term. The authors provide in-depth analyses with respect to Obama's handling of specific issues, including the economy, education, healthcare, criminal justice policy, the environment, immigration, Iraq and Afghanistan, race relations, gender issues, and gay/lesbian issues, covering topics in detail that general biographies of Obama and examinations of his political career miss. This book presents clear, accessible information for general readers, and contains in-depth discussion of topics useful to high school, college, and university students of sociology, government, political science, philosophy, and history.

E-Government is a hot topic. The integration of Information and Communication Technologies into public service delivery worldwide offers a number of promising opportunities. This text refers in particular to the benefits derived from ubiquitous access to and delivery of government services to citizens, business partners and employees. This book analyses the fundamental technical and non-technical concepts that are essential for successful implementation of e-Government in diverse environments, especially in developing countries. This book is an indispensable resource for both e-Government practitioners and researchers in that it brings to the fore scholarly scrutiny, scientific debate, and best practice in e-Government. The author has a background in computer and information science and accentuates the multi-disciplinary nature of the issues surrounding e-Government.

American Judicial Power: The State Court Perspective is a welcome addition to the breadth of studies on the American legal system and provides an accessible and highly illuminating overview of the state courts and their functions.The study of America's courts is overwhelmingly skewed toward the federal government, and therefore often overlooks state courts and their importance. Michael Buenger and Paul De Muniz fill this gap in the study of American constitutionalism, as they examine the wide and distinctive powers these courts exercise, and their role in administering the bulk of the nation's justice system. This groundbreaking work covers many critical topics pertaining to the state courts, including: a comparison of the role of state and federal courts, the history of America's state courts, the judicial selection processes utilized in the states, the unique roles assigned to state courts and the varying structure of those courts, the relationship between state judicial power and state legislative power, and the opportunities and challenges that are and will be facing the state courts. With an insightful foreword from Sanford Levinson, this revolutionary book will be of interest to students, educators, and researchers in the fields of law, political science, and government. Constitutional law experts will also benefit from an analysis of the state courts and their powers.

Students of twentieth-century Colombia and Venezuela will find in the essays useful information on events taking place there through the mid-1980s. Teachers of Latin American government and politics will be able to use these essays as case studies of consociational democracy in the region. And all Latin Americanists will welcome the advent of scholarly writing informed by the consociational model that provides us an approach to contemporary Latin American politics that is at once enlightening and convincing. "Southeastern Latin Americanist"

Venezuela and Columbia both have two-sided structures of democracy. They combine the Liberal Democratic/Anglo-American model and the Latin American model. The first includes the procedural norms of free elections, citizen participation, individual rights, and multi-interest groups. The second comprises the substantive norms of economic development and social justice. The contributors address the following questions: Is one or the other model more significant? How much of a blending or overlap, if any, exists between these two models? Is there a third model that is more significant? In answering these questions, the contributors examine such principal components as national structures and societal evolution, political parties, economic development, the state and the military, guerilla movements, international relations and foreign policy, and the drug trade. Editor Donald L. Herman concludes this study by offering a prognosis for the two respective regimes for the rest of the twentieth century.

James D. Startt previously explored Woodrow Wilson's relationship with the press during his rise to political prominence. Now, Startt returns to continue the story, picking up with the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and tracing history through the Senate's ultimate rejection in 1920 of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson, the Great War, and the Fourth Estate delves deeply into the president's evolving relations with the press and its influence on and importance to the events of the time. Startt navigates the complicated relationship that existed between one of the country's most controversial leaders and its increasingly ruthless corps of journalists. The portrait of Wilson that emerges here is one of complexity-a skilled politician whose private nature and notorious grit often tarnished his rapport with the press, and an influential leader whose passionate vision just as often inspired journalists to his cause.

In William Howard Taft's Constitutional Progressivism Kevin J. Burns makes a compelling case that Taft's devotion to the Constitution of 1787 contributed to his progressivism. In contrast to the majority of scholarship, which has viewed Taft as a reactionary conservative because of his constitutionalism, Burns explores the ways Taft's commitment to both the Constitution and progressivism drove his political career and the decisions he made as president and chief justice. Taft saw the Constitution playing a positive role in American political life, recognizing that it created a national government strong enough to enact broad progressive reforms. In reevaluating Taft's career, Burns highlights how Taft rejected the 'laissez faire school,' which taught that 'the Government ought to do nothing but run a police force.' Recognizing that the massive industrial changes following the Civil War had created a plethora of socioeconomic ills, Taft worked to expand the national government's initiatives in the fields of trust-busting, land conservation, tariff reform, railroad regulations, and worker safety laws. Burns offers a fuller understanding of Taft and his political project by emphasizing Taft's belief that the Constitution could play a constructive role in American political life by empowering the government to act and by undergirding and protecting the reform legislation the government implemented. Moreover, Taft recognized that if the Constitution could come to the aid of progressivism, political reform might also redound to the benefit of the Constitution by showing its continued relevance and workability in modern America. Although Taft's efforts to promote significant policy-level reforms attest to his progressivism, his major contribution to American political thought is his understanding of the US Constitution as a fundamental law, not a policy-oriented document. In many ways Taft can be thought of as an originalist, yet his originalism was marked by a belief in robust national powers. Taft's constitutionalism remains relevant because while his principles seem foreign to modern legal discourse, his constitutional vision offers an alternative to contemporary political divisions by combining political progressivism-liberalism with constitutional conservatism.

SOCIAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL / GENERAL Womanhood is an embodiment of love, motherhood, blessings, better presidency and compassionate leadership. Femininity is indispensable. Women motivational abilities make them outstanding managers of human and economic resources. They represent the magic wand for progress and development, stability, peace and prosperity. They do better in education, health-care, socio-economics, politics and focus better with political savvy and sagacity, transparency, security and spirituality. They excel in diplomacy, peaceful conflict resolution, love, empathy, sincerity, responsibility and discrimination-free irrespective of race, color, religion, gender or disability. Antithetically, manhood characterizes war presidency, defensiveness, negligence and staying the course with failed policies, prosecuting avoidable wars instead of diplomacy to win hearts and peace. Unwittingly, they sacrificed over 3,000 US soldiers, 20,000 wounded, over $500 billion and created scandals and civil war. If the first woman 'Eve' turned the world up-side-down, great women world-wide should realign it upward and forward moving. Unequivocally, a woman US President can speedily restore America's image which is at its lowest ebb. GOD BLESS AMERICA

Since the mid-1970s American presidents have, with growing frequency, claimed that they have the power to ignore any law they believe is unconstitutional. Beginning with a review of the English constitutional backdrop against which the U.S. Constitution was framed, this book demonstrates that the Founders did not intend to confer on the president a power equivalent to the royal prerogative of suspending the laws, which was stripped from the English Crown in 1689. The author examines each of the nearly 150 instances in which presidents from George Washington to Jimmy Carter have objected to the validity of a law, in order to determine whether or not the president then ignored the law in question. This examination of the historical record reveals that prior to the mid-1970s the White House only rarely failed to honor a law that it believed to be unconstitutional.

The United States is under assault by the progressive attitudes and actions of the liberal Left. At this critical time in our history, it is imperative that conservatives stand united against this assault. The majority of Americans are not progressive liberals, so why should we have to live with progressive liberal policies? Charles Gross thinks it's time to fi ght for individual liberties and America's future. He makes a case for the following:

Liberals consistently say one thing and do another. Liberal politicians blatantly promote racism and divisiveness. Progressive liberal concepts enable the Islamic agenda of global domination. Many moderate Americans support liberal candidates, voting against their own best interests. Republican politicians contribute to the problem by failing to act with integrity and according to the Constitution.

Gross proposes achievable solutions to restore traditional American values. By reducing the size of the federal government, reforming taxation, maintaining a strong national defense, and applying the tenets of the United States Constitution along with common sense, it is possible to save America from progressive liberalism.

REVELATIONS FOR A CHANGING EARTH AND EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SURVIVE

The book you hold in your hand has the answer to any dilemma you might face under life-shattering changes that may be ahead for America and the Earth. DreamMyst, a Universal Light Being, shares with the world her absolute wisdom and insights about the future for Americans.

- Is the United States headed toward martial law and a revolution? - Will solar flares disrupt our electrical power for more than a year? - Will the dollar crash, causing gold and silver to skyrocket in value? - Where will you get food when the supermarkets are empty? - Would you go hungry? - In desperation, will you loot to save your family, or be the victim of looters?

Her honesty will open your mind to the certainty of what is really happening in the United States. DreamMyst unveils the alarming truth about:

- The declining economy - A corrupt government - Why there will be greater natural disasters

How can you prepare for these potential events?

By using the knowledge in this book, your answer will be... 'Yes, I am prepared.' 'I know what to do. I have comprehensive information and simple instructions. I know how to survive, and how to thrive. My family and I are ready to create a new life and new future.'

With co-author, Susan Norgren, DreamMyst provides practical, lifesaving information with real facts and resources. To prepare, thrive, and prosper in the years ahead, she reveals the Timeline of Future Events for America.

WHEN THE GOLDEN EGG CRACKS... is about creating history while enjoying the adventure.

"It all begins with you." DreamMyst

Since Illinois became a state in 1818, it has been a microcosm of the country at every stage of its development, from its status as a "free" state in antebellum America to a state rich in agriculture and industry whose goods and services now travel the world. Illinois' four state constitutions have reflected its changing values. Illinois is currently one of the few states that have adopted a new constitution since World War II. This 1970 constitution has become a model for countries in Central and Eastern Europe seeking examples of modern American constitutions.
The Illinois State Constitution traces the history of the state's constitution from its statehood in 1818 to the adoption of the state's fourth constitution in 1970. Ann M. Lousin, who has been involved in Illinois constitutional development and government for over four decades, provides provision-by-provision commentary and analysis of the state's current constitution, covering the Preamble, the Bill of Rights, and the various articles and amendments, including a survey of case law under each provision. Previously published by Greenwood, this title has been brought back in to circulation by Oxford University Press with new verve. Re-printed with standardization of content organization in order to facilitate research across the series, this title, as with all titles in the series, is set to join the dynamic revision cycle of The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States.

The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States is an important series that reflects a renewed international interest in constitutional history and provides expert insight into each of the 50 state constitutions. Each volume in this innovative series contains a historical overview of the state's constitutional development, a section-by-section analysis of its current constitution, and a comprehensive guide to further research.
Under the expert editorship of Professor G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University, this series provides essential reference tools for understanding state constitutional law. Books in the series can be purchased individually or as part of a complete set, giving readers unmatched access to these important political documents.

This volume explores the theoretical value of applying rational choice theory to questions of regional integration. As with other questions of conflict and cooperation in the field of international politics, studies of European integration are divided largely between the realist and liberalist perspectives. Yet neither of these schools of thought aptly explains the dynamics characterizing this process, that is, the major advances in regional integration and the long periods of paralysis. The contributions in this volume work their way from the most general questions and macro-processes down to particular policy problems of the European Union and the micro-foundations of interstate cooperation. The work will be of interest to scholars and policymakers in international relations, international economics, and European studies.

The landmark legal document of the United States, the U.S. Constitution comprises the primary law of the Federal Government. Signed by the members of the Consitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, the Constitution outlines the powers and responsibilities of the three chief branches of the Federal Government, as well as the basic rights of the citizens of the United States. This beautiful gift edition contains the complete text of the United States Constitution, as well as all of its amendments. It is a treasure for Americans of all ages.