George Washington's Inauguration in April 1789 marked the beginning of government under the new United States Constitution. What few Americans realize is that there had been a fully functioning national government prior to 1789. It was called the Continental Congress and it was, in every respect, the First American Republic (1774-1789).

It began on September 5, 1774, when elected delegates from eleven of the American colonies first assembled in Philadelphia. Surprisingly, that First American Republic is most often dismissed in textbooks and popular history as a failed attempt at self-government. And yet, it was during that fifteen year period that the United States won the war against the strongest empire on Earth, established organized government as far west as the Mississippi River, built alliances with some of the great powers of Europe and transformed thirteen separate entities into a national confederation.

When the Continental Congress initially met in 1774, its very first order of business was to elect one of its own members to serve as President. He functioned as Head of State, much as the Presidents of Germany and Italy do today. He signed all official documents, received all foreign visitors and represented the emerging nation at official events and through extensive correspondence. While Congress retained all other executive, legislative and judicial functions, the President even presided over its deliberations. Eventually, a house, carriage and servants were provided for the President as a sign of national pride and respect.

In all, fourteen distinguished individuals were chosen by their peers for this unique and awesome responsibility. They were the giants of their age, men of power, wealth and experience who often led their new nation through extremely difficult days largely on the strength of their character. For far too long they have been lost to history.

This is their story.

This book provides the first book-length study of the political and economic ideas of the British left's Alternative Economic Strategy in the 1970s and early 1980s. Discussing the AES's approaches to capitalism, the nation state and the working class, it argues that existing academic accounts have significantly overstated the radicalism of the strategy. Perhaps more notable, especially in the light of its stated 'revolutionary' aims, was the extent of its moderation - its continuities with post-war Labour revisionism, its marked reluctance to look beyond the market economy, the degree of its preoccupation with Britain's global-economic status, and its inability to break with Labourist politics of class co-operation in the national interest. While the book argues that the AES was the last 'class politics' socialist initiative in mainstream British politics, it also explores the ways in which its ideas perhaps prepared the way for New Labour in the 1990s, and its relationship with 'Corbynism' since 2015.

The downfall of the United States of America has been expedited by the recent election of Barack Hussein Obama. The country may not survive his regime, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, author Shawn O'Reilly describes him as "The Next-to-Last American President." O'Reilly, a proud conservative who is deeply worried about America's survival, describes a future date when the country no longer exists in this political satire that is only half joking around. He details the downfall, aftermath, and most importantly, the rebirth of the American people. It's still possible for the country to recover from the economic, social, and moral decay being promoted by Obama and his band of liberals. The new government, however, must resemble what the founding fathers envisioned-a land that has few regulations and taxes and no violations of personal freedoms. The end is approaching, and it's time to prepare if you want to survive. Take every step necessary to ensure the well being of you and your family with "The Next-to-Last American President."

Is Euroscepticism still suited to analyze the variegated nature of opposition to the EU? Starting from this question, this book critically reviews Euroscepticism, reconceptualizes it in terms of political opposition and discovers, disentangles and explains patterns of EU-opposition within the European Parliament (EP). Distinguishing between "what the EU does" and "what the EU is", the research elaborates an index of parties' positioning "measuring" it through the speeches that parties' deliver in the EP. The EP is the "perfect laboratory" where decisions concerning EU-policies are taken and the future EU-trajectories are shaped. Besides delineating a set of guidelines categorizing parties, the book concludes that their positioning varies along two main axes: the pro-anti-EU-system and the pro-anti-EU-establishment. From a normative perspective, the research argues for the growing importance of the "cumulation hypothesis": if criticism remains unheard within the European elitist construct, such criticism will transform itself into rejection.

This book presents an overview of European migration policy and the various institutional arrangements within and between various actors, such as local councils, local media, local economies, and local civil society initiatives. Both the role of local authorities in this policy field and their cooperation with civil society initiatives or networks are under-explored topics for research. In response, this book provides a range of detailed case studies focusing on the six main groups of national and administrative traditions in Europe: Germanic, Scandinavian, Napoleonic, Southeastern European, Central-Eastern European and Anglo-Saxon.

National constitutions allow citizens to exercise full citizenship rights, leading to a growing importance in understanding these laws. This knowledge, more widespread thanks to the ever-growing use of digital networks, allows for more enlightened national citizens in every corner of the world. Constitutional Knowledge and Its Impact on Citizenship Exercise in a Networked Society is a pivotal reference source that analyzes how constitutional awareness occurs in various countries and how citizenship participation is encouraged through the use of digital tools. While highlighting topics such as mobile security, transparency accountability, and constitutional awareness, this publication is ideally designed for professionals, students, academicians, and policymakers seeking current research on citizens' lack of awareness of their rights.

For a whole generation of Malaysians, no proper closure to the traumas of the racial riots of May 13, 1969 has been possible. But then came March 8, 2008 The surprising results of the General Election on that special day have started eclipsing the fears linked for so long to that spectral night forty years ago. All the three researchers from ISEAS who each authored separate chapters for this book were in different parts of Malaysia monitoring its 12th General Election during the thirteen days of campaigning. Their analyses provide new insights into the phenomenon that Malaysians now simply refer to as "March 8." Ooi Kee Beng scrutinizes in detail the electoral campaign in the state of Penang, Johan Saravanamuttu studies the case of Kelantan state and the elections in general, while Lee Hock Guan examines changes in the voting pattern in the Klang Valley.

This book presents a navigating framework of legal culture and legality to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the English and Australian determination of the grounds of judicial review. This book facilitates tangible process of how and why jurisdictional error, jurisdictional fact, proportionality and substantive legitimate expectations are debatable in English law, while they are either completely rejected or firmly entrenched in Australian law. This book argues that these differences are not just random. Legality is not just a fig-leaf, but is profoundly rooted in legal systems' legal culture; hence, it dictates the way in which courts empower, justify, constrain or limit the scope of judicial review. This book presents evidence that courts differ in legal systems and apply diverse ways to determine the scope of judicial review based on their deep understanding of legality, which is embedded in the legal culture of their legal system. This book uses comparative methodology and develops this framework between English and Australian law. Although obvious and important, this book presents a kind of examination that has never been undertaken in this depth and detail before.

Politically and economically, the future of the United States is at stake. In "Restore the Future," author Donald H. Young seeks to galvanize the American people to guarantee a traditional future for our children and grandchildren through participation in a nonviolent Second American Revolution.

This Revolution of the people is as justified as the first one, and it would be accomplished by using the extraordinary voting power granted to them by the Constitution to restore constitutional government. Without this Revolution, it can truly be said that the best days of the United States are behind it.

In this treatise, he:

reviews historical forms of government and shows how the founding documents created the pinnacle of the development of government to date;

follows the outline of the Declaration of Independence in describing the many grievances we have with our government today, based on its extraordinary departures from the founding documents, which justify the Revolution;

discusses religion, its importance to the Founders, the elemental morality it provides, and the importance of morality to the necessary function of society;

discusses the nature of liberty, how it is different from freedom, and why maximizing liberty is one of the primary responsibilities of government;

outlines the derivation of and the importance of the rule of law to the functioning of a society;

highlights the tragic failure of American education by global standards;

communicates the rationale for and critical importance of free enterprise and free trade and why free enterprise is the greatest engine for economic growth and personal development in the history of the world;

provides a roadmap for the accomplishment of the Revolution.

Democratic governments are increasingly under pressure from populists, and distrust of governmental authority is on the rise. Economic causes are often blamed. Making a 21st Century Constitution proposes instead that constitutions no longer provide the kind of support that democracies need in today's conditions, and outlines ways in which reformers can rectify this. Frank Vibert addresses key sources of constitutional obsolescence, identifies the main challenges for constitutional updating and sets out the ways in which constitutions may be made suitable for the the 21st century. The book highlights the need for reformers to address the deep diversity of values in today's urbanized societies, the blind spots and content-lite nature of democratic politics, and the dispersion of authority among new chains of intermediaries. This book will be invaluable for students of political science, public administration and policy, law and constitutional economics. Its analysis of how constitutions can be made fit for purpose again will appeal to all concerned with governance, practitioners and reformers alike.

Political institutions profoundly shape political life and are also gendered. This groundbreaking collection synthesises new institutionalism and gendered analysis using a new approach -- feminist institutionalism -- in order to answer crucial questions about power inequalities, mechanisms of continuity, and the gendered limits of change.

Worldwide newspaper headlines in recent years have covered political unrest in many East Asian nations. Citizens in these nations have become more vocal about their governments and the populace's role in those governments. Democracy is not the dominant form of government in many of these nations. However, as nations have evolved, social change and economic developments have brought increasingly pro-democratic forces to the forefront. Examining the forces of economic growth and social modernization and their impact on democratization provides the basis of this timely study. Using China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam as case studies, this book delves into these nations' Confucian cultural heritage and how that heritage allows for careful comparison of variables which affect societal values. Will East Asian nations embrace democracy? Will the nations already democratic become stronger? This book offers insightful responses to these critical questions. Democratization in East Asia is an important addition for collections in political science and Asian studies.

This book discusses the building of comprehensive community support systems, which constitutes a key issue in social security reforms in Japan. The book comprises three parts: (I) Mapping Social Security in Japan, (II) Community-Based Integrated Care Systems in Japan, and (III) A Prospect of Community-Based Inclusive Society in Japan. The chapters in this book were composed on the basis of research into community-based integrated care systems and community-based inclusive society, conducted by members of the Association of Japanese Geographers' Study Group "Regional Issues Related to the Birthrate Decline and Population Aging." Choosing local governments with different regional characteristics, the authors conducted empirical research to uncover the characteristics of comprehensive community support systems, building processes, and challenges in the respective local governments. Non-Japanese readers will acquire an understanding of the characteristics of social security and the trends of the reforms in Japan. To support its use as a reference book, chapters in Part I include numerous maps and figures with the themes of welfare, medical care, and health levels in Japan.

This book offers readers a comprehensive introduction to the functions of the government in contemporary China. Further, it creates a framework to describe urban governance in today's China, which consists of four basic modes: the omnipotent government mode, autonomous governance mode, integrated governance mode and cooperative governance mode. The book defines a "city" as a gathering place for high-quality public service resources, and the basic task of urban governance is to provide high-quality public services and maintain the sustainability of fiscal revenues. By focusing on current "hot topics" in urban governance in China, including the institutional development of urban governance, model interpretation, city/county relationship, cross-border governance, cross-sectoral coordination, street management, community service provision, and municipal performance evaluation, it clarifies a number of common misunderstandings in the field of urban management and practice. Lastly, the book analyses the current integrated governance model used in Chinese cities, which relies on the authority of the government and integrates the market and social subjects across borders by means of qualification identification, resource support, elite absorption, party-group embeddedness, and project cooperation. However, this model is currently facing several problems. In order to address the potential risks of integrated governance, the book argues that we need to develop new institutional arrangements based on collaborative governance.

The interdependencies between politics, governance and technology have created a 'virtual state'. The author analyses this development within the framework of postmodernism in order to illustrate the importance of adopting a postmodern perspective to understand the theory and practice of public administration and politics. This book examines the special connections linking politics, administration and technology in the 'information society'. Paul Frissen describes recent developments both within public administration and in postmodernism and uses examples from Dutch public administration in order to emphasise the importance of the postmodern perspective. Finally, the author considers the role of politics in the virtual state. This book will prove to be invaluable to scholars of public and social policy, public administration and politics. The translation was funded by NWO, the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research.

With the ubiquitous nature of modern technologies, they have been inevitably integrated into various facets of society. The connectivity presented by digital platforms has transformed such innovations into tools for political and social agendas. Politics, Protest, and Empowerment in Digital Spaces is a comprehensive reference source for emerging scholarly perspectives on the use of new media technology to engage people in socially- and politically-oriented conversations and examines communication trends in these virtual environments. Highlighting relevant coverage across topics such as online free expression, political campaigning, and online blogging, this book is ideally designed for government officials, researchers, academics, graduate students, and practitioners interested in how new media is revolutionizing political and social communications.

This innovative book proposes a new institutional arrangement for government to fulfil the needs of its citizens as well as possible. Existing aspects of federalism and direct democracy in Europe are strengthened, and as a result future developments arising in the region are coped with better. In this book Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger propose a new model of federalism which includes new types of governmental units established by citizens from below. These units are called functional, overlapping and competing jurisdictions as they extend over task-specific areas and therefore overlap. They also provide competitive governance via direct and representative democratic institutions, and as jurisdictions they have independent power over taxation policy. This new model is more responsive to citizens' preferences and adjusts more dynamically to provide public services efficiently. The authors suggest that this new system should be allowed to develop in Europe to safeguard diversity and ensure that decentralization emerges effectively. It would also allow for the flexible integration of East European transition economies into the European Union and may also combine with traditional modes of government in developing countries. This book will be warmly welcomed by economists, political scientists and sociologists interested in the future of the European Union, by all those studying federal systems of government, and by those interested in the prospects for improving democratic institutions throughout the world.

The successful creation of the Constitution is a suspense story. "The Summer of 1787" takes us into the sweltering room in which delegates struggled for four months to produce the flawed but enduring document that would define the nation -- then and now.

George Washington presided, James Madison kept the notes, Benjamin Franklin offered wisdom and humor at crucial times. "The Summer of 1787" traces the struggles within the Philadelphia Convention as the delegates hammered out the charter for the world's first constitutional democracy. Relying on the words of the delegates themselves to explore the Convention's sharp conflicts and hard bargaining, David O. Stewart lays out the passions and contradictions of the often painful process of writing the Constitution.

It was a desperate balancing act. Revolutionary principles required that the people have power, but could the people be trusted? Would a stronger central government leave room for the states? Would the small states accept a Congress in which seats were alloted according to population rather than to each sovereign state? And what of slavery? The supercharged debates over America's original sin led to the most creative and most disappointing political deals of the Convention.

The room was crowded with colorful and passionate characters, some known -- Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph -- and others largely forgotten. At different points during that sultry summer, more than half of the delegates threatened to walk out, and some actually did, but Washington's quiet leadership and the delegates' inspired compromises held the Convention together.

In a country continually arguing over the document's original intent, it is fascinating to watch these powerful characters struggle toward consensus -- often reluctantly -- to write a flawed but living and breathing document that could evolve with the nation.