This book, the last work of an eminent political scientist, is an innovative study of persuasion in a landmark political event: the 1787-88 campaign to ratify the United States Constitution. William Riker uses both historical and rational choice analysis to examine the rhetoric and strategic manipulations used in this campaign, and he points out patterns and principles that should be applicable to political campaigns in general. Riker examines the campaign's rhetoric and derives strategic principles that seem to guide campaigners. These principles explain, among other things, the frequent reliance on negative themes in campaigns. He also investigates what he calls "heresthetic" - how campaigners structured situations so that their preferred outcome was more likely to occur. He discusses several heresthetical maneuvers that made the Federalists' narrow victory possible, such as their proposal of a constitution that was broader than most citizens would have preferred, and their design of the ratification process as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition, so that they could prevent any ratifying state from altering it. Riker concludes by examining the relationship between rhetoric and heresthetic. He shows that both were necessary for the Federalist victory: rhetoric, to build support for Federalist positions, and heresthetic, to structure the choice process so that this level of support would be sufficient. His analysis yields a new understanding of the ratification campaign, and the tools and approaches he develops lead toward the further development of the science of political campaigns, of political rhetoric generally, and of the art and science of heresthetic.

Colonel David T. Twining and his colleagues look at the impact of glasnost and the collapse of the Soviet system on the military. The case study approach used allows for in-depth examination of a number of key issues. Within the former USSR, the remarkable record of sacrifice and valor by women in wartime has not been matched by equal opportunity during peacetime, where they are effectively excluded from meaningful military careers. The KGB, the world's largest security and intelligence organization, proved to be among the most resistant to reform, and this, the book contends, appears to have hastened its doom. The adoption of the rule of law was widely resisted in the Soviet armed forces, and reforms in military service have come from demands by parents and relatives that the military change its lethal ways. Soviet foreign military affairs have also been affected by glasnost. The volume looks at the influence of the war in Afghanistan in the reversal of Moscow's Middle East policy. Equally important, but unheralded, has been the re-establishment of ties with China. Together, the essays in this collection illustrate the impact of a stressed political system struggling to adapt to changing circumstances, caught between the exigencies of reform and revolt. Students and scholars involved in Soviet studies as well as contemporary military studies will find much to ponder.

After a landslide electoral victory in 2006, Evo Morales became the first indigenous President of Bolivia. Morales's stunning ascent was mirrored by the rising fortunes of his political party, the leftist Movimiento al Socialismo, which today continues to challenge the status quo in Bolivian politics and implement ambitious social reforms. This study examines how the state and social movements have impacted democratization in Bolivia, along with other sectors such as NGOs and the media. Soledad Valdivia Rivera's analysis helps us to understand how the movement's relationships have come to transform the Bolivian political process as we know it.

This book examines anti-gay voter initiatives from both the political science and communication perspectives. In recent years, anti-gay initiatives sponsored by conservative Christian groups have been placed on the ballot in several states. This development provides an opportunity to evaluate the initiative process as a way of resolving public policy questions on this divisive topic. Using examples and data from Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Maine, Missouri, Florida, California, and Washington, the authors discuss the emergence of the new religious right and why anti-gay initiatives are sponsored by conservative Christian groups. Interviews with the leaders of the groups opposing and supporting the anti-gay initiative in Idaho and a listing of the measures themselves are included.

State and local governments emerged as important interest groups in the 1960s, as that decade witnessed a rapid expansion of federal social programs administered at the state and local levels. The 1970s and 1980s were distinguished by attempts to give states and localities more responsibility over such programs. The present day is marked by an even more purposeful return of responsibility and policymaking to state and local governments, both because of severe deficits at the federal level and an ideological shift toward federalism. This work examines the impact state and local governments have had and can have on the federal government, asserting that they can be important factors in the creation of policy. The author looks at the intergovernmental lobbying tactics--successful and unsuccessful--of five states and local lobbying groups: the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the National Governor's Association. Her study will be of interest to scholars and policy-makers at the local, state, and federal government levels.

"They assess the effectiveness of the organizing tactics employed, casting particular scrutiny on the courts as agents of social change...The authors have presented concrete examples, all the while making clear that there are no road maps for successful organizing."
-- "New York Law Journal"

"This is an important and unusual booka].It is an academic book on an important issue
--the environmental justice movement
--that is timely and relevant."
--"Argumentation and Advocacy"

When Bill Clinton signed an Executive Order on Environmental Justice in 1994, the phenomenon of environmental racism--the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards, particularly toxic waste dumps and polluting factories, on people of color and low-income communities--gained unprecedented recognition. Behind the President's signature, however, lies a remarkable tale of grassroots activism and political mobilization. Today, thousands of activists in hundreds of locales are fighting for their children, their communities, their quality of life, and their health.

From the Ground Up critically examines one of the fastest growing social movements in the United States, the movement for environmental justice. Tracing the movement's roots, Luke Cole and Sheila Foster combine long-time activism with powerful storytelling to provide gripping case studies of communities across the U.S--towns like Kettleman City, California; Chester, Pennsylvania; and Dilkon, Arizona--and their struggles against corporate polluters. The authors effectively use social, economic and legal analysis to illustrate the historical and contemporary causes for environmental racism. Environmental justice struggles, theydemonstrate, transform individuals, communities, institutions and even the nation as a whole.

The Young Lords, who originated as a Chicago street gang fighting gentrification and unfair evictions in Puerto Rican neighborhoods, burgeoned into a national political movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with headquarters in New York City and other centers in Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, and elsewhere in the northeast and southern California. Part of the original Rainbow Coalition with the Black Panthers and Young Patriots, the politically radical Puerto Ricans who constituted the Young Lords instituted programs for political, social, and cultural change within the communities in which they operated. The Young Lords offers readers the opportunity to learn about this vibrant organization through their own words and images, collecting an array of their essays, journalism, photographs, speeches, and pamphlets. Organized topically and thematically, this volume highlights the Young Lords' diverse and inventive activism around issues such as education, health care, gentrification, police injustice and gender equality, as well as self-determination for Puerto Rico. In recovering these rare written and visual materials, Darrel Enck-Wanzer has given voice to the lost chorus of the Young Lords, while providing an indispensable resource for students, scholars, activists, and others interested in learning about this influential grassroots "street political" organization.

In a context of economic and budgetary crisis, this book presents a long-term analysis of the transformations of EU gender equality. It analyses the mechanisms of construction, consolidation and deconstruction of this policy and questions the effects of its current dismantling.

Current Events / Political Activism Take Action in 2004...
With the 2004 Presidential election right around the corner, it is time for every American disillusioned by President Bush and his administration to take action. Whether you're a first time activist or a professional campaigner, "Stop Bush in 2004: How Every Citizen Can Help" is every citizen's comprehensive action handbook. Within its pages you will learn all the effective ways of taking action during the Presidential Campaign including activism directed to hinder the Bush Campaign, aid the Democratic Campaign, improve media coverage, engage students, and affect the economy. You will learn how to choose the actions that are best for you and which actions are the most effective. "Stop Bush in 2004" provides a complete overview of all aspects necessary for taking effective action: What to know and do prior to taking action, how to successfully organize, highlights of Bush's record, and a full list of resources. It's time to participate and take responsibility for our government. Join the citizen's campaign to stop Bush and Company before four more years of harm are thrust upon us. They can be beaten. We must all take action

This resource, by a professor of ecology and environmental science, features the latest information on the global environmental crisis in the 20th century. Ideal for student research, it examines the main causes of environmental concern and the key players who raised the environmental consciousness of the public. Following a timeline of key events and a historical overview of the environmental crisis, topical essays examine each of the major areas of enviromental concern: our vanishing wilderness, pollution, overpopulation, and the long-term problem of how we can coexist with our environment without destroying it. Ready-reference features include biographical sketches, the text of key primary documents, a glossary, over 40 tables, charts and illustrations, and an annotated bibliography.

Clear explanations of the various aspects of the environmental crisis are accompanied by tables, charts, diagrams, and photographs to illustrate the scope and complexity of the problems. Biographical sketches of key environmentalists are useful for ready reference. The text of key primary documents include excerpts from important environmental legislation and treaties and declarations from environmental groups. No other work on this topic offers both analysis of a broad spectrum of environmental concerns and ready-reference materials suitable for high school and college student research.

Cramer provides a window into the world of radical environmentalism and the political process. He examines how deep ecology evolved, how its ideas influence our lives, and how it impacts our laws.

The book begins with an overview of deep ecology and traces its history in American political thought. Cramer then looks at the tactics employed by radical environmentalists and the relationship formed between activists and their political counterparts. He explains the difference between what deep ecology ultimately wants and what it strives for on a daily basis. Federal environmental legislation and congressional testimony are analyzed for trends, and media coverage of radical environmentalism is also examined. Cramer provides the first comprehensive look at the impact of deep ecology and radical environmentalism on American environmental politics and law. This book will be invaluable to scholars and researchers of contemporary American politics and law, environmental studies, and the media.

What happened to the usage of common sense in the decision making process? In "The Invisible Man" writer James Leonard Nobles offers some new perspectives on and insightful resolutions for the challenges confronting modern society in the 21st century. And he refuses to submit to the political correctness being forced upon us by the "Powerbrokers of Hypocrisy." Through persuasive arguments and satire, Mr. Nobles takes on the "Institutions" that have betrayed the American people. He says, ""The history that is written is not always the history that was, and the truth is often hidden beneath ideological propaganda."" With candor seldom shown today, Jim openly discusses the controversial issues tearing at the hearts and souls of most decent men and women. "The Invisible Man" examines the declining social values and the consequences of our choices. For we stand at the fork of fate. One path is the end and the other path is a new beginning. Choose wisely for there is no going back.

About the Author:
Author James Leonard Nobles is a new voice from a section of the population often forgotten by society. But he represents the majority of Americans who are fed up with their government, both political parties, irresponsible corporations, and the greed of a few. Born with congenital cataracts in 1960, he knows firsthand how difficult the struggles in life can be. After dropping out of college, Jim returned at the age of 40, where he became the first college graduate in his family. Graduating in August of 2005 with a B.S. in Communications and Information Technology ("New Media"), he has been working tirelessly on "The Invisible Man" for close to four years (first year writing; last three years editing and publishing).

Interest groups influence every government around the world, but what exactly are they, and how do they go about their work? This compilation of the major research, literature, and possible future directions of the study of interest groups is an excellent introductory resource for scholars and students in political science and related fields. Thoroughly cross-referenced and thematically organized, more than 200 entries detail the main topics of interest group activity in the United States and around the world. Following an introductory chapter that explains the format and content of the book, and a review of the development of interest group research, the entries are organized into 14 distinct chapters, each of which focuses on an area of significant research on various facets of group activity. A number of chapters deal with how interest groups form, dissolve, and work. More theoretically oriented chapters provide a wealth of information about the greater role interest groups play in society, and the various stances on whether those roles benefit or harm political life. Uniquely, special attention is paid to interest group activity in other countries, and to group activity that crosses international boundaries and political systems. A comprehensive bibliography concludes this useful volume.

Opposing the Money Lenders - The Struggle to Abolish Interest Slavery is a collection of writings from some of the most determined fighters against usury and the Central Banking system during the 20th Century. Those included are Arthur Nelson Field, John A. Lee, John Hargrave, Ezra Pound, Father Charles Coughlin, and Gottfried Feder, who fought and inspired mass movements that struggled to liberate their nations from the forces of what one - Gottfried Feder - aptly called "Mammonism."

The subject of the supply of our money, and who controls it, is the greatest social issue that confronts humanity today. It is the "Hidden Hand" behind history. Without dealing with the problems of banking and usury, without a people having control over its own means of credit and exchange, there can be no genuine nationhood, and no real freedom, whether personal or national.

Almost every individual, family, nation, indeed most of the world, is today in thrall to the money lenders. Despite advances in mechanisation and technology, people are working longer hours, and are more enslaved to the economic treadmill than were their ancestors in Medieval times. At the same time, despite mass education, people today understand the economic and financial system far less than their parents and grandparents. Opposing the Money Lenders examines our parasitic financial system and the means by which it might be replaced.

"Emotion, Politics and Society" critically addresses the intersection between power, politics and the emotions. This is a very timely project given the centrality of mass emotions such as fear and humiliation on the world stage today. Challenging traditional dichotomies which counterpose rationalist to non-rationalist epistemologies, it offers a sustained argument for a more complete and integrated rationalism and helps us understand emotions in contemporary social and political life, for example, racism, populism, mass grief, political protest and processes of paranoia and terror.

Grassroots Russian women's organizations faced multiple challenges in the early 1990s. Like their members, they were confronted with both potentially hostile attitudes and numerous practical difficulties. Post-Soviet ideologies of gender difference produced a gender climate which was particularly unsympathetic to female activism in support of other women. This book presents a detailed study of grassroots Russian women's organizations in 1991-96, against the background of a careful analysis of gender relations and attitudes to women's place in post-Soviet Russian society.

It is universally accepted that there has been a huge growth in EU lobbying over the past few decades. There is now a dense EU interest group system. This entirely new volume, inspired by Mazey & Richardson's 1993 book Lobbying in the European Community, seeks to understand the role of interest groups in the policy process from agenda-setting to implementation. Specifically, the book is interested in observing how interest groups organize to influence the EU institutions and how they select different coalitions along the policy process and in different policy domains.
In looking at 20 years of change, the book captures processes of institutional and actor learning, professionalization of lobbying, and the possible emergence of a distinct EU public policy style. More specifically, from the actors' perspective, the editors are interested in assessing how the rise of direct lobbying and the emergence of fluid issue-based coalitions has changed the logic of collective action, and what is the potential impact of 'venue-shopping' on reputation and influence. From an institutional perspective, the contributors explore resource and legitimacy demands, and the practical impact of consultation processes on the emergence of a distinct EU lobbying relationship. It will be essential reading for academics and practitioners alike.

Undoing the Silence offers guidance to help both citizens and professionals influence democratic process through letters, articles, reports and public testimony. Louise Dunlap, PhD, began her career as an activist writing instructor during the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. She learned that listening and gaining a feel for audience are just as important to social transformation as the outspoken words of student leaders atop police cars. "Free speech is a first step, but real communication matches speech with listening and understanding. That is when thinking shifts and change happens." Dunlap felt compelled to go where the silences were deepest because her work aimed not just at teaching but also at healing both individual voices and an ailing collective voice. Her tales of those adventures and what she knows about the culture of silence -- how gender, race, education, class, and family work to quiet dissent -- are interwoven with practical methods for people to put their most challenging ideas into words. Louise Dunlap gives writing workshops around the country for universities and social justice, environmental, and peace organizations that help reluctant writers get past their internal censors to find their powerful voice. Her insight strengthens strategic thinking and her "You can do it!" approach makes social-action writing achievable for everyone.

The American Settlement Movement was one of the most significant, broadly based reform efforts in the history of the United States, yet surprisingly few people are even aware of its existence. "American Settlement Houses and Progressive Social Reform" documents, for the first time, the history of the American Settlement Movement in an A to Z format. Included in the Encyclopedia's 230 entries are biographies of key individuals, descriptions of settlement houses and reform committees, synopses of influential writings and reports, and articles on major issues affecting the movement

The impact of political lobbyists remains highly controversial. No-one has explored when they matter. This book tells readers when lobbyists count and analyzes the relationship between lobbying, policy outcomes and the impact of external factors to reveal the professional lobbyist's limited effect on policy. On most policy issues lobbyists simply do not matter. But, on rare occasions lobbyists can make a difference and this book explains when they matter and why.

Jacoby provides a comprehensive social history of the abortion abolition campaign from its beginnings following "Roe v. Wade" through the 1996 elections. She explores the abortion abolition effort historically, sociologically, theologically, and politically, arguing for a deepened understanding of American abortion opponents.

The history of the abortion abolition effort in America is examined through three different approaches to the understanding of collective behavior. Beginning with the immediate post-"Roe" period, the movement is explored as a Catholic moral crusade, and Jacoby analyzes why Catholic Americans were particularly prone to such activity as well as why otherwise theologically compatible Protestants were not. She then examines the effort as a major social movement beginning around 1980. Finally, the late-1980s development of direct action activity, most notably in the form of Operation Rescue, is viewed in light of its connection to the theology and expectations of religious revivalism. In her conclusions, Jacoby provides a new model for understanding faith-based political action. Students, teachers, and the general public will find this book a thorough, comprehensive, and accessible examination of the movement.

The 1980s have witnessed increased concern over the impact of ethnic interest groups on foreign policy, particularly in the case of Jewish lobbying efforts in behalf of the state of Israel. In this study, Professor Goldberg presents a detailed comparison of American and Canadian Jewish lobbying organizations over the past fifteen years, offering a careful assessment of their influence on foreign policy decisions affecting the Middle East. Professor Goldberg focuses primarily on the two most prominent Jewish foreign policy interest groups: the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC). He examines the response of these organizations to a series of crisis issues, beginning with the Arab-Israeli war of 1973 and including the current Palestinian uprising. Using a set of analytical criteria, he correlates their responses with the conduct of U.S. and Canadian foreign policy during the same period. His analysis shows how the variable successes and failures of the two interest groups have been influenced both by differences in the political systems in which they operate and their own internal political and organizational characteristics. In addition to presenting significant new information on the Israel lobby, this analysis provides a groundwork for future studies of ethnic foreign policy interest groups operating in varying political systems and cultures. This volume is a valuable resource for the Jewish community as well as scholars and professionals in Middle East studies, ethnic studies, foreign policy, and related fields.

This book, which takes the form of a graphic novel, looks at political activism in the public landscape. It has a particular focus on the UK activist group Led by Donkeys which has, since late 2018, been running a campaign to expose hypocrisy in the political classes. Their approach to activism involves the use of large posters and other forms of public display, which highlight the gap between the rhetoric and actions of politicians, and how language and communication is used to manipulate opinion. The activism discussed in the book includes four major issues: Brexit, Trump, Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The book is both an innovative visual approach to the presentation of academic research and thought, and an exploration of how the linguistic landscape can be a key resource for the communication of political activism.