Growing up in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, author Tim Schilke knew that his concerns about some generally accepted suburban truths were often left unanswered. He later learned that a carefully crafted Red-suburban version of reality isolated him from nearly everything real.

"Red truth" was a strange morph of God, Patriotism, and Republicans. When this uniquely Red-suburban mentality played a role in winning President George W. Bush a second term in late 2004, Schilke began an investigation into the driving factors behind his Red upbringing, which still persist and thrive today in suburban and rural America.

From carefully-guarded moral relativism, to the Army's questionable recruiting techniques; from Major League Baseball's tainted home run records, to the myth of the Ownership Society; Schilke maps these current events back into the perspective of his Red upbringing.

Why does Red-suburban middle-America consistently vote against its own interests in election after election? "Growing Up Red" attempts to show that, in Red America, it is simply the patriotic thing to do. In Red America, raw Faith trumps Knowledge. Carefully-tweaked irrational fear drives never-ending consumption. A Republican President marches arm-in-arm with God down Main Street every Fourth of July.

What happens when actual reality starts to bleed through the carefully-protected fences of suburbia? Find out in "Growing Up Red."

An updated and revised edition of a lively account of British Conservativism, illuminated throughout by a concentration upon the men, and woman, who have led the Conservative party.This book is written by a big name author with trade acumen and a lively and engaging writing style. It offers detailed history and analysis from 1830 to the present day, including a new chapter on David Cameron's leadership. It provides revisionist accounts of Peel, Disraeli and Churchill.The second edition of this successful text has been thoroughly updated to take into account recent research, and now begins at 1830. Charmley examines the history of the party and takes the story through the recent 'wilderness years' following the 1997 election fiasco, right up to David Cameron's leadership.

A critical assessment of the "New Labour" phenomena. It assesses the impact of Labour's "modernizers" in three crucial areas: changes within the Labour party itself; the reformation of the British state; and the influence on particular areas of policy. The essays do not seek to provide unequivocal answers to the questions raised by the arrival of New Labour and their initial period in office, but provide a debate between the contributors over the nature and significance of these changes. The book is a wide ranging and accessible account of the political phenomena which will lead Britain into the 21st century.

This book offers an in-depth examination of party finance and political corruption in a variety of political contexts. Its central focus is on the relationship between different forms of raising party finance and the consequent implications for improper influence over policy making and implementations. It presents both a general discussion of the issues and a set of case studies which illuminate the particular experiences of Britain, the United States, Russia, Italy, Germany and Southeast Asia.

The extraordinary swings in the scope and content of the policy agenda during the first Clinton administration revealed a fundamental partisan divide over the social role of the federal government. This book argues that the recent conflicts over social policy represent key elements in strategies that parties designed in an attempt to consolidate their hold over the federal government. Long frustrated by divided government, each party exceeded its electoral mandate in hopes of enacting major policy reforms aimed to shift politics in their direction for the foreseeable future.

The book traces the overreaching and limited legislative success that characterized the first Clinton administration's approach to three distinctive features of politics and policymaking: the polarization of political elites; the predominance of advertising campaigns and intense interest group politics as political parties have ceased to mobilize ordinary people; and the unprecedented role that budgetary concerns now play in social policymaking. Although neither party managed to enact its major transforming agenda, Congress did pass new policies--most notably welfare reform--that together with a host of other changes in the states and the private sector altered the landscape for social policy. The poor have been the biggest losers as Democrats and Republicans have fought to win the middle class over to their vision of the future.

The authors first analyze the institutions and tools of policymaking, including Congress, the political use of public opinion polling, and the politics of the deficit. They then consider policies designed to win over the middle class, including health care policy, employer-provided social benefits, wages and jobs, and crime policy. Last, they address policies targeted at the disadvantaged, including welfare, affirmative action, and urban policy.

In addition to the editor, the contributors include John Ferejohn, Lawrence R. Jacobs, Robert Y. Shapiro, Paul Pierson, Mark A. Peterson, Cathie Jo Martin, Ann Lin, R. Kent Weaver, Linda Williams, and John Mollenkopf.

Copublished with the Russell Sage Foundation

This book looks at the organization and strategy of state-wide parties from across some of the most important multi-layered countries in Western Europe. The volume provides the first systematic attempt to study the strategy of state-wide parties on the basis of the comparative literature on issue voting.

Political culture and institutions may cause the development of authoritarian party organizations. Yet, what constitutes their structure and what explains their changing patterns across time and space? Conducting a comparative case study among four parties in the Turkish political system and utilizing the principal-agent approach to party governance, this study shows how the variance in interest configurations and the power resources of local party activists constitute these changing patterns. Musil argues that exit from intra-party authoritarianism is always a possibility not only because the party leaders choose to do so, but because the local party activists can challenge the existing structures by cultivating their own power resources.

The Republican Party currently enjoys an edge. The advantage can be seen in Congress, state politics, judicial rulings, foreign and domestic policy, party finances, the media, public attitudes, and economic and demographic developments. Yet the Republicans do not seem capable of translating this into a durable electoral majority. Conditions now exist within American politics that will facilitate the establishment of Republican rule. Many of these conditions have ripened during the past decade. They include rules governing elections and campaign finance, shifts in core political values among the public that are consistent with Republican philosophy, and fundamental social and economic changes in American society that are likely to increase the ranks of Republican voters. The author explains in lucid, engaging terms how Republicans have taken control of both houses of Congress and experienced a remarkable resurgence at the state level. He explores how conservatives are utilizing the courts to simultaneously move policy rightward and mobilize sympathetic parts of the electorate. He also examines social and economic changes to show how racial politics, religiosity, and the nature of work and wealth benefit today's Republican Party. Republican rule should not be confused with Republican realignment. These conditions will advantage Republicans in future elections and bring about consistent Republican control of government at all levels—federal, state, and local, executive, legislative, and judicial. However, current conditions do not guarantee the kind of enduring Republican majority many journalists and strategists have predicted. Taylor explains the factors that will prohibit the Republicans from fully exploiting their advantages and dominating American politics the way the Democrats did in the 30 years following the New Deal. These factors include internal and intractable tensions within the Republican Party, the parties' sophisticated political information gathering strategies, and the innate risk aversion of the campaign industry.

The "Dictionary of Labour Biography" has an outstanding reputation as a reference work for the study of nineteenth and twentieth-century British history. Volume XII maintains this standard of original and thorough scholarship. Each entry draws on primary sources, engages with the most recent historiography and is supported by an appropriate bibliography. The coverage emphasizes the ethnic and national diversity of British labor, the contribution of women, and neglected political traditions including Trotskyism. Special notes on Keep Left and the Nenni Telegram offer new insights into the politics of the 1940s.

This study offers the first detailed examination of the varied means by which parliament through its committees and the work of individual members has sought to scrutinise the British intelligence and security agencies and the government's use of intelligence.

Contributors to this Hansard Society/Palgrave volume consider how British government and politics changed as Tony Blair gave way to Gordon Brown. "Gordon at the Helm" looks at a range of factors under Brown such as public opinion, party and opposition politics, British government and administration, public policy, local government and foreign policy.

This book analyses social movements and radical political parties' strategies in Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy from 2008 to today. Events in 2011 such as the Arab Spring and the indignados movement in Spain initiated a new cycle of social protest. This book explores how the economic crisis and policies of austerity have transformed and continue to transform social movements, trade unions and radical political parties in Southern Europe. The economic crisis has led to a rise in protest movements, which confront political institutions and conventional forms of democracy, and develop new spatial and organisational strategies. This book examines these cases, in addition to those groups who, contrastingly, have used institutional politics to achieve their aims, such as new political parties like Podemos in Spain or Movimento 5 Stelle in Italy. Analysing the extent to which there has been a change in approach when it comes to contesting neo-liberal capitalism, this book makes an important contribution to the study of social movements and radical politics. With a comparative perspective and an emphasis on studying the largely unexplored recent social and political dynamics in the European periphery, this book is essential reading for students, scholars and activists interested in social movements, radical politics and European politics more generally.

Based on a unique series of surveys conducted during the 1990s, this book examines changes in the social backgrounds, attitudes, beliefs, and political activities of Labor party members. It addresses questions such as: What do Labor party members think of New Labor and its policies? How important are the members to the party? Are they becoming more or less active over time? Can the party dispense with its membership and still remain viable?

Volume XIII of the Dictionary of Labour Biography maintains the standard of original and thorough scholarship for which the series has earned its outstanding reputation. A unique study of nineteenth and twentieth century British history, each entry is written by a specialist and engages with recent developments in the field of labour history.

Fianna Fail was for most of the 20th century the democratic world's most successful political party. It dominated the politics of Ireland from 1932, when it first took power, until 2011 when it became a prominent electoral victim of the Great Recession. This book provides original research that explains how Fianna Fail became dominant and managed its coalitions of support to maintain that position for eight decades. It gathers prominent political scientists who focus on a variety of factors including its ideological flexibility, control of state resources and the venue for decision making, the party's leadership, its organisation and communications strategies. In addition the book takes a comparative approach to understanding the position of dominant parties in democratic countries, and uses empirical data to understand the sources of its support and decline. It is a book that will be of interest not only to scholars of Ireland, but also to those who wish to understand the sources of power of dominant political parties and the impact of the Great Recession on democratic politics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

Although Canada is regarded as one of the least corrupt countries, this volume draws on wide ranging evidence and innovative research from scholars around the world to challenge this assumption. Corruption, defined as the "abuse of entrusted power for private gain," is often understood as being caused by internally motivated greed leading to prohibited acts in contravention of laws, rules and regulations. It can also be defined as "dishonest action that destroys people's trust." These traditional forms of corruption pose problems for Canada in a variety of policy domains, as well as "institutional corruption" evidenced by deception and financial inconsistency that undermine the effectiveness and transparency of policy objectives. This volume contains chapters that investigate various areas of corruption in Canada, ranging from corruption amongst the First Nations, to the armed forces, to the delivery of foreign assistance. It also offers suggestions to reduce future outbreaks of corruption. Each chapter provides detailed empirical analysis evidenced through real world examples that highlight key lessons amidst the numerous challenges posed by corruption. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal.

This book focuses on cultural policy in the UK between 1997 and 2010 under the Labour party (or 'New Labour', as it was temporarily rebranded). It is based on interviews with major figures and examines a range of policy areas including the arts, creative industries, copyright, film policy, heritage, urban regeneration and regional policy.

What does our future hold? Will the ANC split within the next five years? Could the DA rule the country in 2024? Will the EFF form an alliance with the ANC? What should we do to make our economy grow at levels that will impact on poverty and inequality? Will we become a more tolerant or a more violent society?

In Fate of the Nation scenario expert Jakkie Cilliers answers all these and many other questions. He has developed three detailed scenarios for our immediate future and beyond – Bafana Bafana, Nation Divided and Mandela Magic.

According to Cilliers the ANC is in many ways paralysed by the power struggle between what he calls the Traditionalists (supporters of Jacob Zuma) and the Reformers (led by Cyril Ramaphosa and others). This power struggle leads to policy confusion, poor leadership and general ineptitude in the civil service. Key to which scenario will become our reality is who will be elected to the ANC’s top leadership at their national conference in December 2017. Whichever group wins will determine what our future holds. We could also see a compromise grouping being selected, Cilliers says, in which case the Bafana Bafana scenario – where we simply muddle along as a country – is the strongest possibility.

A book for all concerned South Africans.

In the post-war era one of the most significant transformations in the democratic process throughout Western Europe has been the widespread introduction of regional elections. Symptomatic of this decentralization has been the shift of various legislative powers to regional governing bodies. As a result, electorates throughout Western Europe now have more opportunities to express their preferences and air their grievances across electoral arenas while the dynamics of electoral competition have become increasingly multifarious and complex. Voters can now use regional elections to articulate their discontent with the policies of the national government or can elect based on the political offer in the regional electoral arena.This book brings together leading experts on elections who analyze differences between regional and national electoral outcomes in thirteen West European countries between 1945 and 2011. It extends existing insights by providing new empirical evidence and by presenting alternative accounts for differences between the regional and national vote across Western Europe.

Following a normative approach that suggests international norms and standards for elections apply universally, regardless of regime type or cultural context, this book examines the challenges to electoral integrity, the actors involved, and the consequences of electoral malpractice and poor electoral integrity that vary by regime type. It bridges the literature on electoral integrity with that of political regime types. Looking specifically at questions of innovation and learning, corruption and organized crime, political efficacy and turnout, the threat of electoral violence and protest, and finally, the possibility of regime change, it seeks to expand the scholarly understanding of electoral integrity and diverse regimes by exploring the diversity of challenges to electoral integrity, the diversity of actors that are involved and the diversity of consequences that can result. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of electoral studies, and more broadly of relevance to comparative politics, international development, political behaviour and democracy, democratization, and autocracy.

"Aging Political Activists" is at once a series of political autobiographies, a set of personal narratives of social commitment, a model for qualitative research, and a challenge to current theory and practice in the social and behavioral sciences. It presents and examines the life stories of four individuals--close friends and former members of the Communist Party USA--revealing the ways they have developed and sustained their personal values and political outlook through a lifetime of involvement in movements for social change. Shuldiner approaches the interviews as a collaborative effort with his subjects who both describe their identities and experiences and critique the interview process, offering alternate readings of the content of their narratives or new directions for inquiry. These portraits of older activists challenge notions about the role of the personal in the development of political identity, while shifting the debate among gerontologists between activity versus disengagement in old age to a discussion of the dialectical relationship of these two aspects of human behavior throughout a lifespan.

Anika Gauja examines the complexities and tensions in the relationship between party members and parliamentarians through an in-depth analysis of the structures and processes that shape the development of party policy, and the respective role of members and parliamentarians in the formulation of policy and its transferral to the legislative arena. Providing a timely contribution to the current scholarly and public debate on the future of political parties, the book presents significant new evidence on the challenges facing both established and emerging political parties in encouraging citizen participation in policy development and counters some of the overly simplistic judgments that are often made about participation and disengagement by revealing the complexity of the relationships that are involved in modern party systems.

Russia held its first multiparty election in over 75 years in the hope that it would usher in a new democratic political order. However, the success of right-wing populist Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and other anti-reform forces shocked the world. This study analyzes the background, events and main players of the elections, and examines their significance for the Russian political system. Describing in detail the December 1993 voting, it provides historical, political, regional and sociocultural interpretations of the elections and their results. The work attempts to answer such questions as: what were the keys to Zhirinovsky's success?; who are the new players on Russia's political scene?; what role will the new institutions play in Russian politics; and who actually holds power in Russia?

Volume XI of the Dictionary of Labour Biography maintains the strengths of earlier contributions to this well established and authoritative series. It incorporates many scholarly and original studies of Labor movement figures from a variety of periods and backgrounds together with special notes on related and neglected topics. Volume XI pays particular attention to the role and contributions of women and the multi-nationality of the British Labor movement. Each entry is accompanied by a thorough bibliography and incorporates the most recent historical scholarship in the field.