During the chaos of the eurozone crisis, few mainstream commentators have stopped to question the purpose of the European Union itself, and whose interests it serves. Corporate Europe goes beyond the divisions between nation-states, focusing instead on the division between the corporate elite and the peoples of Europe. David Cronin spent a year investigating the privileged access that big business enjoys in Brussels. In this book, he reveals how the EU's policies on health, climate change, armaments and food safety have been tailored to please an unaccountable elite. Making extensive use of previously unpublished documents, he explores how ideologically blinkered lobbyists have seized on the financial crisis of recent years to entrench the casino capitalism that caused the crisis in the first place. What emerges is a powerful expose of how vested interests in the EU have manipulated opportunities to introduce ideologically-driven reforms.

The Confederation Paysanne, one of France's largest farmers' unions, has successfully fought against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but unlike other allied movements, theirs has been led by producers rather than consumers. In "Food, Farms, and Solidarity," Chaia Heller analyzes the group's complex strategies and campaigns, including a call for a Europe-wide ban on GM crops and hormone-treated beef, and a protest staged at a McDonald's. Her study of the Confederation Paysanne shows the challenges small farms face in a postindustrial agricultural world. Heller also reveals how the language the union uses to argue against GMOs encompasses more than the risks they pose; emphasizing solidarity has allowed farmers to focus on food as a cultural practice and align themselves with other workers. Heller's examination of the Confederation Paysanne's commitment to a vision of alter-globalization, the idea of substantive alternatives to neoliberal globalization, demonstrates how ecological and social justice can be restored in the world.

Where politics is dominated by two large parties, as in the United States, politicians should be relatively immune to the influence of small groups. Yet narrow interest groups often win private benefits against majority preferences and at great public expense. Why? The "vulnerability thesis" is that the electoral system is largely to blame, making politicians in two-party systems more vulnerable to interest group demands than politicians in multiparty systems. Political scientist Lorelei Moosbrugger ranks democracies on a continuum of political vulnerability and tests the thesis by examining agrochemical policy in Austria, Britain, Germany, Sweden, and the European Union.

In this pathbreaking work, Elisabeth S. Clemens recovers the social origins of interest group politics in the United States. Between 1890 and 1925, a system centered on elections and party organizations was partially transformed by increasingly prominent legislative and administrative policy-making as well as the insistent participation of non-partisan organizations.
Clemens sheds new light on how farmers, workers, and women invented strategies to circumvent the parties. Voters learned to monitor legislative processes, to hold their representatives accountable at the polls, and to institutionalize their ongoing participation in shaping policy. Closely analyzing the organizational politics in three states--California, Washington, and Wisconsin--she demonstrates how the political opportunity structure of federalism allowed regional innovations to exert leverage on national political institutions.
An authoritative statement on the changes in American politics during the Progressive Era, this book will interest political scientists, sociologists, and American historians.

Examines what happens to the targets of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and what is happening to public participation in American politics. This book offers solutions for preventing, managing, and curing SLAPPs at various levels of government.

From the world's largest nonprofit networking website?a resource that gives readers the tools they need to make a difference.
Part career guide, part activist's handbook, "The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World" provides tools and inspiration for anyone who wants to make a difference but doesn?t know where to start. Inspired by Idealist.org's 600,000-member online community and their ongoing search for work that gives back to the world, this practical reference walks readers through the different ways they can get involved and the range of possibilities for applying one's interests and skills to meet their community's needs.
Idealist.org's staff gives a comprehensive understanding of the issues, options, organizations, and resources so readers can be proactive, whether it's through one's current job, volunteering, donating, personal spending, board service, starting an organization, or changing careers.

"Political Power in Alabama" is the sequel to Anne Permaloff and Carl Grafton's "Big Mules and Branchheads," a biography of the populist governor "Big Jim" Folsom. Encompassing the years from 1958 to 1970 and the gubernatorial terms of John Patterson, George Wallace, Lurleen Wallace, and Albert Brewer, the present volume offers a full account of the breakup of the Big Mule Alliance, the elite coalition of Alabama's largest industrial and agricultural interests, and the subsequent effects on the state's political environment.

Dominating Alabama politics for most of the century through disenfranchisement and control of the legislature, the "Big Mules" wanted low taxes, a minimally effective school system, no effective labor unions, a small electorate, and racial segregation. By 1958, however, the Big Mules' urban and rural elements had grown disaffected with one another, and outside forces were driving them apart. In a few years, the legislature and the electorate would be drastically restructured. Although this period could have been a time to set new policy directions for the state, say Permaloff and Grafton, many opportunities for change were squandered, establishing the politics of Alabama today and the problems facing the state.

"Political Power in Alabama" covers an extraordinarily complex set of issues and events, including the civil rights struggle, urban-rural disparities, the lack of party competition, the structure of the tax system, and the economic and cultural gaps separating Alabama and the rest of the South from the nation.

America spends more than any other developed nation on healthcare--$2.1 trillion in 2007 alone. But 47 million Americans remain uninsured, and of those Americans who are insured, many suffer from poor health. In his ground-breaking proposal, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel offers up a plan to comprehensively restructure the delivery and quality of our healthcare. By eliminating employer-healthcare and establishing an independent program to evaluate healthcare plans and insurance companies, he offers a no-nonsense guide to how government can institute private insurance options that will allow each of us a choice of doctor and plan. With the rate of healthcare costs rapidly outpacing our gross domestic product, we can no longer afford to maintain our fragmented delivery of care, or entertain reforms that seek to patch, rather than cure, a fractured system. Accessible, straightforward, and revolutionary in its approach, "Healthcare, Guaranteed" is an inarguable guide to lasting healthcare reform.

The United States boasts scores of organizations that offer crucial representation for groups that are marginalized in national politics, from women to racial minorities to the poor. Here, in the first systematic study of these organizations, Dara Z. Strolovitch explores the challenges and opportunities they face in the new millennium, as waning legal discrimination coincides with increasing political and economic inequalities "within" the populations they represent.
Drawing on rich new data from a survey of 286 organizations and interviews with forty officials, Strolovitch finds that groups too often prioritize the interests of their most advantaged members: male rather than female racial minorities, for example, or affluent rather than poor women. But Strolovitch also finds that many organizations try to remedy this inequity, and she concludes by distilling their best practices into a set of principles that she calls affirmative advocacy--a form of representation that aims to overcome the entrenched but often subtle biases against people at the intersection of more than one marginalized group. Intelligently combining political theory with sophisticated empirical methods, "Affirmative Advocacy" will be required reading for students and scholars of American politics.

Pressure Groups are an increasingly important feature of the political landscape and they are active on many levels, local, national or European. They reflect a diverse compass of interests from the well-known (the National Farmers' Union) to the less familiar (the Zip Fastener Association) and interact with a wide range of political players in different parts of the political system: parties, the media, government and parliament. They are involved at every stage of the political process, from raising issues and agenda setting to policy implementation and monitoring. Subjects covered include: *Classifying pressure groups *How pressure groups operate *Pressure group resources *Trends in pressure group activity *Protest politics and direct action *Pressure groups and the Scottish Parliament *Pressure groups and the European Union *The abolition of hunting with dogs *Pressure groups and democracy This book provides an accessible guide to the role of Pressure Groups in our democracy, establishing clear definitions and analysing their role and performance. It includes the findings of recent research into the workings of British pressure groups in the European Union and of the ways in which lobbyists consult with the devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The New American Revolution A controversial and powerful manifesto for twenty-first-century American Patriots"It's time to swing back the curtains and invite the light in. And that light is American Nationalism, perennially shunned by the Left, condemned by Socialists, and without any special interest group fighting for its rebirth. It has no legitimate advocates. And yet it is the very idea that will save not only our nation, but the rest of the world as well," declares Tammy Bruce.With this remarkable book, the bestselling author, activist, and independent pundit pulls no punches, illustrating how a new American revolution is upon us -- a revolution based on American Nationalism and Individualism.Grounded in reason, classical philosophy, and hard-earned experience, Bruce explores the dramatic shift in American attitudes since the tragedy of September 11. She illustrates how in our effort to take this nation back from nihilistic extremists, American Nationalism, individualism, gun ownership, the tearing down of liberal institutions, personal activism, and knowing the enemy are the new tools for today's Patriot.The "Hate America First" ideology has prevailed for far too long, says Bruce, and she now offers a powerful prescription to reverse the moral and cultural decay wrought by Leftist extremists for four decades. This power to stem the tide resides squarely within the reawakened American founding concept of E Pluribus Unum, or "Out of Many, One." It is this ingrained individualist spirit of the average American that makes this country the best nation on earth, and now fuels the noble fight against the scourge of the Collectivist Left.In a positive framework with empowering ideas, insight, and tools for direct action, Bruce has captured a watershed moment in American history.

As witnessed in the 2004 elections, Americans feel the influence of interest groups today more than ever before. In races for the presidency, Congress, state legislatures, and even local school boards, interest groups help-in both major and minor ways-elect (or reelect) candidates who support their views. Interest Groups in American Campaigns is the only book to focus specifically on the role of interest groups in elections. Rozell, Wilcox, and Madland show that communication channels-from monetary donations to candidates and web pages for citizens-are the bedrock of interest group leverage on political parties, individual candidates, and voters. This second edition goes well beyond a straightforward update and spotlights the major changes in the way interest groups are now active in modern campaigns. Continuing the tradition of the first edition, the authors draw on interviews with interest group leaders, coverage of campaign finance filings, and election surveys in their extensive analysis. In addition to current data and updated examples and cases throughout the book, new coverage includes: the effects of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, the first finance reform package in a generation the rise of 527s in campaign advertising in light of campaign finance reform restrictions the successes and failures of George W. Bush and John Kerry to woo powerful interest groups

The book, which has drawn praise for its inviting and accessible style, thoroughly examines the lobbying scene: the settings in which lobbying takes place, the types and styles of lobbyists, the broad range of approaches and techniques used by lobbyists, and the role and influence of lobbying in our system of representative democracy. A favorite among professors and students alike, The Third House is a great choice as a supplement for courses on state politics or interest groups.

Can grassroots interest groups ever win the wars they wage in the political arena against big business in America? Praised by some as a crucial component of the democratic system and criticized by others as stubborn, single-issue factions that pose a threat to the equitable progress of political change, interest groups are considered by many detractors to have a success rate directly related to their alliance with wealthy, powerful corporations. As Ronald T. Libby asserts in "Eco-Wars," viable strategies are available to environmental, food safety, animal rights, gun control, and other organizations that seek to challenge business interests in the political arena. Employing newly released documents culled from five non-business-related alliances with mostly social concerns, known today as "expressive" interest groups, Libby examines how they confront powerful industries. "Eco-Wars" investigates an antibiotechnology campaign aimed at drug companies; an animal rights effort directed against the agricultural industry; an anti-pesticide campaign focused on the chemical industry; a property rights fight against environmental groups; and a secondhand smoke campaign opposing tobacco companies. Drawing upon previously classified files, "Eco-Wars" also draws from interviews with both activists and the industry representatives they oppose.With his balanced analysis, Libby goes beyond the polemical nature of much work on this subject, offering a new avenue for research in the social sciences and a useful tool for interest groups.

This book considers the ways in which working people in the nineteenth century sought justice through the Chartist movement. Richard Brown poses fundamental questions about the movement and considers them through the interpretations of both contemporary and later historians. Central themes and episodes covered include a study of the emergence of Chartism, the Chartists and their leaders and an account of the three phases of Chartism from 1836 to 1848.

At a time when the American labor movement is mobilizing for a major resurgence through new organizing, here, at last, is a book about research on union organizing strategies. Previous studies have focused on factors contributing to union decline, devoting little attention to the organizing process itself. The twenty chapters in this volume dramatically increase understanding of the range and effectiveness of new organizing strategies and their potential contribution to the revitalization of the labor movement.

The introduction defines the context of the current organizing climate. Major sections of the book cover strategic initiatives in union organizing, overcoming barriers to worker support for unions, community-based organizing, building membership and public support for organizing, and organizing initiatives by industry or by sector. Individual chapters focus on topics such as organizing outside the NLRB process, the role of clergy, local labor councils, and rank-and-file volunteer organizers.

This masterful biography by one of America's foremost historians of women tells the story of Florence Kelley, a leading reformer in the Progressive Era. The book also serves as a political history of the United States during a period of transforming change when women worked to end the abuses of unregulated industrial capitalism. Kelley's story shows how changes in women's public culture combined with changes in men's public culture to produce results that neither could have achieved alone. In this volume, the first of two, Kathryn Kish Sklar explores the decades between 1830 and 1900, an era when women's organizations lent unprecedented power to their activism. After analyzing how earlier generations set the stage for women's centrality in the 1890s, she depicts the first forty years of Florence Kelley's life, telling of her childhood as a member of an elite Philadelphia family, her graduation from Cornell University in 1882, her immersion in European socialism, her search for a meaningful place within American political culture, and her rise to extraordinary public power in Chicago as a resident at Jane Addams's Hull House. Kelley's long career demonstrates that women's activism embodied the most deeply rooted characteristics of the American polity, particularly American traditions of voluntarism and limited government, the weakness of class as a vehicle for political mobilization, and the strength of gender. During the crisis-ridden years of massive immigration, industrialization, and urbanization between 1870 and 1900, Florence Kelley and other women offered an effective alternative to the male-dominated status quo.

During the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906 to 1911 a variety of forces played key roles in overthrowing a repressive regime. Afary sheds new light on the role of ordinary citizens and peasantry, the status of Iranian women, and the multifaceted structure of Iranian society.

Camcorder AIDS activism is a prime example of a new form of political expression--an outburst of committed, low-budget, community-produced, political video work made possible by new accessible technologies. As Alexandra Juhasz looks at this phenomenon--why and how video has become the medium for so much AIDS activism--she also tries to make sense of the bigger picture: How is this work different from mainstream television? How does it alter what we think of the media's form and function? The result is an eloquent and vital assessment of the role media activism plays in the development of community identity and self-empowerment.
An AIDS videomaker herself, Juhasz writes from the standpoint of an AIDS activist and blends feminist film critique with her own experience. She offers a detailed description of alternative AIDS video, including her own work on the Women's AIDS Video Enterprise (WAVE). Along with WAVE, Juhasz discusses amateur video tapes of ACT UP demonstrations, safer sex videos produced by Gay Men's Health Crisis, public access programming, and PBS documentaries, as well as network television productions.
From its close-up look at camcorder AIDS activism to its critical account of mainstream representations, AIDS TV offers a better understanding of the media, politics, identity, and community in the face of AIDS. It will challenge and encourage those who hope to change the course of this crisis both in the 'real world' and in the world of representation.

"[Fogel's] exceedingly careful testing of all possible sources and his pioneering methodological approach have allowed [him] both to increase our knowledge of an institutions operation and disintegration and to renew our methods of research." —from the citation to Robert William Fogel for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Over the past quarter-century, Robert William Fogel has blazed new trails in scholarship on the lives of the slaves in the American South. Now he presents the dramatic rise and fall of the "peculiar institution," as the abolitionist movement rose into a powerful political force that pulled down a seemingly impregnable system.

"Few historians have more skillfully integrated economic with social, intellectual, and political history. . . . Pleasurable as well as instructive reading for anyone interested in the most fateful of our national crimes and the most fearful of our national crises. . . . [A] splendid book." —Eugene D. Genovese, Los Angeles Times Book Review

In this groundbreaking study, Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr examines the origins, historical development, and political strategies of one of the oldest and most influential Islamic revival movements, the Jama'at-i Islami of Pakistan. He focuses on the inherent tension between the movement's idealized vision of the nation as a holy community based in Islamic law and its political agenda of socioeconomic change for Pakistani society.
Nasr's work goes beyond the exploration of a single party to examine the diverse sociopolitical roots of contemporary Islamic revivalism, challenging many of the standard interpretations about political expressions of Islam.

On June 12, 1962, sixty young student activists drafted a manifesto for their generation--"The Port Huron Statement"--that ignited a decade of dissent. "Democracy Is in the Streets" is the definitive history of the major people and ideas that shaped the New Left in America during that turbulent decade. Because the 1960s generation is now moving into positions of power in politics, education, the media, and business, their early history is crucial to our understanding. James Miller, in his new Preface, puts the 1960s and them into a context for our time, claiming that something of value did happen: "Most of the large questions raised by that moment of chaotic openness--political questions about the limits of freedom, and cultural questions, too, about the authority of the past and the anarchy of the new--are with us still."

The history of reform movements in postwar Eastern Europe is ultimately ironic, inasmuch as the reformers' successes and defeats alike served to discredit and demoralize the regimes they sought to redeem. The essays in this volume examine the historic and present-day role of the internal critics who, whatever their intentions, used Marxism as critique to demolish Marxism as ideocracy, but did not succeed in replacing it. Included here are essays by James P. Scanlan on the USSR, Ferenc Feher on Hungary, Leslie Holmes on the German Democratic Republic, Raymond Taras on Poland, James Satterwhite on Czechoslovakia, Vladimir Tismaneanu on Romania, Mark Baskin on Bulgaria, and Oskar Gruenwald on Yugoslavia. In concert, the contributors provide a comprehensive intellectual history and a veritable Who's Who of revisionist Marxism in Eastern Europe.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall less than four weeks apart in 2005. Months later, much of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast remained in tatters. As the region faded from national headlines, its residents faced a dire future. Emmanuel David chronicles how one activist group confronted the crisis. Founded by a few elite white women in New Orleans, Women of the Storm quickly formed a broad coalition that sought to represent Louisiana's diverse population. From its early lobbying of Congress through its response to the 2010 BP oil spill, David shows how members' actions were shaped by gender, race, class, and geography. Drawing on in-depth interviews, ethnographic observation, and archival research, David tells a compelling story of collective action and personal transformation that expands our understanding of the aftermath of an historic American catastrophe.