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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political control & freedoms > Political control & influence > Public opinion & polls

Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration (Hardcover): Catherine E. De Vries Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration (Hardcover)
Catherine E. De Vries
R3,202 Discovery Miles 32 020 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The European Union (EU) is facing one of the rockiest periods in its existence. No time in its history has it looked so economically fragile, so unsecure about how to protect its borders, so divided over how to tackle the crisis of legitimacy facing its institutions, and so under assault of Eurosceptic parties. The unprecedented levels of integration in recent decades have led to increased public contestation, yet at the same the EU is more reliant on public support for its continued legitimacy than ever before. This book examines the role of public opinion in the European integration process. It develops a novel theory of public opinion that stresses the deep interconnectedness between people's views about European and national politics, and suggests that public opinion cannot simply be characterized as either Eurosceptic or not, but rather consists of different types. This is important because these types coincide with fundamentally different views about the way the EU should be reformed and which policy priorities should be pursued. These types also have very different consequences for behaviour in elections and referenda. Euroscepticism is such a diverse phenomenon because the Eurozone crisis has exacerbated the structural imbalances within the EU. As the economic and political fates of member states diverged, people's experiences with and evaluations of the EU and national political systems also grew further apart. The heterogeneity in public preferences that this book has uncovered makes a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing Euroscepticism unlikely to be successful.

Space Force! - A Quirky and Opinionated Look at America's Newest Military Service (Hardcover): Taylor Dinerman Space Force! - A Quirky and Opinionated Look at America's Newest Military Service (Hardcover)
Taylor Dinerman
R888 Discovery Miles 8 880 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The United States Space Force has a noble mission-to protect America, to support our allies, and to support our nation's interest as we, along with other nations, move out into the little patch of the universe that is our home system. The desire to establish a US Space Force has been around for decades, in both science fiction and in the minds of people who attempt to seriously consider what our nation needs in order to deter future wars (and if necessary, to fight and win them). As an institution, the US Space Force has gotten off to a shaky start; however, prolific space writer Taylor Dinerman has great confidence that someday soon, it will find the right leadership and eventually be emancipated from the Department of the Air Force. At that point, the institution can begin to truly serve the great cause of creating a spacefaring civilization-as it was always meant to.

What Happened to the Vital Center? - Presidentialism, Populist Revolt, and the Fracturing of America (Paperback): Nicholas... What Happened to the Vital Center? - Presidentialism, Populist Revolt, and the Fracturing of America (Paperback)
Nicholas Jacobs, Sidney Milkis
R875 Discovery Miles 8 750 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Taking the reader through a long view of American history, What Happened to the Vital Center? offers a novel and important contribution to the ongoing scholarly and popular discussion of how America fell apart and what might be done to end the Cold Civil War that fractures the country and weakens the national resolve. In What Happened to the Vital Center?, Nicholas Jacobs and Sidney Milkis tackle a foundational question within American political history: Is current partisan polarization, aggravated by populist disdain for constitutional principles and institutions, a novel development in American politics? Populism is not a new threat to the country's democratic experiment, but now insurgents intrude directly on elections and government. During previous periods of populist unrest, the US was governed by resilient parties that moderated extremist currents within the political system. This began to crumble during the 1960s, as anti-institutionalist incursions into the Democratic and Republican organizations gave rise to reforms that empowered activists at the expense of the median voter and shifted the controlling power over parties to the executive branch. Gradually, the moderating influence that parties played in structuring campaigns and the policy process eroded to the point where extreme polarization dominated and decision-making power migrated to the presidency. Weakened parties were increasingly dominated by presidents and their partnerships with social activists, leading to a gridlocked system characterized by the politics of demonization and demagoguery. Executive-centered parties more easily ignore the sorts of moderating voices that had prevailed in an earlier era. While the Republican Party is more susceptible to the dangers of populism than the Democrats, both parties are animated by a presidency-led, movement-centered vision of democracy. After tracing this history, the authors dismiss calls to return to some bygone era. Rather, the final section highlights the ways in which the two parties can be revitalized as institutions of collective responsibility that can transform personal ambition and rancorous partisanship into principled conflict over the profound issues that now divide the country. The book will transform our understanding of how we ended up in our current state of extreme polarization and what we can do to fix it.

Who Cares? - Public Ambivalence and Government Activism from the New Deal to the Second Gilded Age (Hardcover): Katherine S.... Who Cares? - Public Ambivalence and Government Activism from the New Deal to the Second Gilded Age (Hardcover)
Katherine S. Newman, Elisabeth S. Jacobs
R911 Discovery Miles 9 110 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Americans like to think that they look after their own, especially in times of hardship. Particularly for the Great Depression and the Great Society eras, the collective memory is one of solidarity and compassion for the less fortunate. "Who Cares?" challenges this story by examining opinion polls and letters to presidents from average citizens. This evidence, some of it little known, reveals a much darker, more impatient attitude toward the poor, the unemployed, and the dispossessed during the 1930s and 1960s. Katherine Newman and Elisabeth Jacobs show that some of the social policies that Americans take for granted today suffered from declining public support just a few years after their inception. Yet Americans have been equally unenthusiastic about efforts to dismantle social programs once they are well established. Again contrary to popular belief, conservative Republicans had little public support in the 1980s and 1990s for their efforts to unravel the progressive heritage of the New Deal and the Great Society. Whether creating or rolling back such programs, leaders like Roosevelt, Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan often found themselves working against public opposition, and they left lasting legacies only by persevering despite it.

Timely and surprising, "Who Cares?" demonstrates not that Americans are callous but that they are frequently ambivalent about public support for the poor. It also suggests that presidential leadership requires bold action, regardless of opinion polls.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior (Paperback): Russell J. Dalton, Hans-Dieter Klingemann The Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior (Paperback)
Russell J. Dalton, Hans-Dieter Klingemann
R1,302 Discovery Miles 13 020 Ships in 9 - 17 working days

What does democracy expect of its citizens, and how do the citizenry match these expectations? This Oxford Handbook examines the role of the citizen in contemporary politics, based on essays from the world's leading scholars of political behavior research. The recent expansion of democracy has both given new rights and created new responsibilities for the citizenry. These political changes are paralleled by tremendous advances in our empirical knowledge of citizens and their behaviors through the institutionalization of systematic, comparative study of contemporary publics--ranging from the advanced industrial democracies to the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe, to new survey research on the developing world. These essays describe how citizens think about politics, how their values shape their behavior, the patterns of participation, the sources of vote choice, and how public opinion impacts on governing and public policy.
This is the most comprehensive review of the cross-national literature of citizen behavior and the relationship between citizens and their governments. It will become the first point of reference for scholars and students interested in these key issues.

Gauging Public Opinion (Paperback): Hadley Cantril Gauging Public Opinion (Paperback)
Hadley Cantril
R1,329 R1,242 Discovery Miles 12 420 Save R87 (7%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

This book furnishes the first systematic examination of the highly important and widely misunderstood new methods of surveying public opinion. The studies reported were done by Princeton's Office of Public Opinion Research under the direction of Hadley Cantril, one of the leading social psychologists in the country. The book pioneers in stimulating fashion some of the many problems involved in the determination of public opinion by modern techniques. Originally published in 1944. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Studies in Public Opinion - Attitudes, Nonattitudes, Measurement Error, and Change (Paperback): Willem E. Saris, Paul M.... Studies in Public Opinion - Attitudes, Nonattitudes, Measurement Error, and Change (Paperback)
Willem E. Saris, Paul M. Sniderman
R1,529 Discovery Miles 15 290 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

In democratic societies, opinion polls play a vital role. But it has been demonstrated that many people do not have an opinion about major issues--the "nonattitudes" problem. Also, the framing of questions in different ways can generate very different estimates of public opinion--the "framing" effect. Both dilemmas raise questions about the competence of ordinary citizens to play the role a democratic society ostensibly expects of them. Although the impact of some factors is well established, particularly political information and sophistication, much is yet to be understood.

Building on and reaching beyond themes in the work of Philip Converse, one of the pioneers in the study of public opinion, "Studies in Public Opinion" brings together a group of leading American and European social scientists to explore a number of new factors, with a particular emphasis on the structure of political choices. In twelve chapters that reflect different perspectives on how people form political opinions and how these opinions are manipulated, this book offers an unparalleled view of the state-of-the-art research on these important questions as it has developed on two continents.

The contributors include Matthew K. Berent, Jaak Billiet, George Y. Bizer, Paul R. Brewer, John Bullock, Danielle Butschi, Michael Guge, Hanspeter Kriesi, Jon A. Krosnick, Milton Lodge, Michael F. Meffert, Peter Neijens, Willem E. Saris, Paul M. Sniderman, Marco R. Steenbergen, Marc Swyngedouw, Sean M. Theriault, William van der Veld, Penny S. Visser, Hans Waege, and John Zaller."

Citizens of the World - Political Engagement and Policy Attitudes of Millennials across the Globe (Hardcover): Stella M. Rouse,... Citizens of the World - Political Engagement and Policy Attitudes of Millennials across the Globe (Hardcover)
Stella M. Rouse, Jared McDonald, Richard N Engstrom, Michael J. Hanmer, Roberto Gonzalez, …
R2,746 Discovery Miles 27 460 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The Millennial Generation, those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s, is the most educated, digitally connected, and globalized in the history of the world. Around the globe, this generation encompasses 1.8 billion people-a quarter of the world's population-and will soon produce a majority of the world's political, economic, and social leaders. Millennials grew up experiencing the terrorist attacks of September 11, the perpetual "war on terror", the global proliferation of the internet and smart phones, and the increased interconnectedness of people around the world. In many countries, Millennials' young adulthood has been marked by high rates of unemployment and underemployment that surpass those of their parents and grandparents, making them the first generation in the modern era to have higher rates of poverty than their predecessors at the same age. These factors afford a unique opportunity to explore how Millennial attitudes, compared to older adults, vary across different cultures, political settings, and economic circumstances. Citizens of the World examines the Millennial Generation from a comparative perspective, providing insight into the degree to which generational differences in political attitudes and behaviors transcend cultures and borders. The book looks at Millennial attitudes about family life, gender roles, institutions, politics, religion, lifestyle, and the future to better understand how or if governance will change under this generation and the degree of influence they currently wield in different countries. Key to this research is the finding that Millennials have developed a global identity that distinguishes them from older adults. Drawing on data from Australia, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Citizens of the World shows how this global identity has developed and how it fuels Millennials' policy attitudes and willingness to engage in the political world.

Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security - From Pacifism to Realism? (Hardcover): Paul Midford Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security - From Pacifism to Realism? (Hardcover)
Paul Midford
R2,885 R2,487 Discovery Miles 24 870 Save R398 (14%) Ships in 9 - 17 working days

In this book, Paul Midford engages claims that since 9/11 Japanese public opinion has turned sharply away from pacifism and toward supporting normalization of Japan's military power, in which Japanese troops would fight alongside their American counterparts in various conflicts worldwide.
Midford argues that Japanese public opinion has never embraced pacifism. It has, instead, contained significant elements of realism, in that it has acknowledged the utility of military power for defending national territory and independence, but has seen offensive military power as ineffective for promoting other goals--such as suppressing terrorist networks and WMD proliferation, or promoting democracy overseas.
Over several decades, these realist attitudes have become more evident as the Japanese state has gradually convinced its public that Tokyo and its military can be trusted with territorial defense, and even with noncombat humanitarian and reconstruction missions overseas. On this basis, says Midford, we should re-conceptualize Japanese public opinion as attitudinal defensive realism.

Soft News Goes to War - Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy in the New Media Age (Paperback, New Ed): Matthew A Baum Soft News Goes to War - Public Opinion and American Foreign Policy in the New Media Age (Paperback, New Ed)
Matthew A Baum
R1,029 Discovery Miles 10 290 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

The American public has consistently declared itself less concerned with foreign affairs in the post-Cold War era, even after 9/11, than at any time since World War II. How can it be, then, that public attentiveness to U.S. foreign policy crises has increased? This book represents the first systematic attempt to explain this apparent paradox. Matthew Baum argues that the answer lies in changes to television's presentation of political information. In so doing he develops a compelling "byproduct" theory of information consumption. The information revolution has fundamentally changed the way the mass media, especially television, covers foreign policy. Traditional news has been repackaged into numerous entertainment-oriented news programs and talk shows. By transforming political issues involving scandal or violence (especially attacks against America) into entertainment, the "soft news" media have actually captured more viewers who will now follow news about foreign crises, due to its entertainment value, even if they remain uninterested in foreign policy.

Baum rigorously tests his theory through content analyses of traditional and soft news media coverage of various post-WWII U.S. foreign crises and statistical analyses of public opinion surveys. The results hold key implications for the future of American politics and foreign policy. For instance, watching soft news reinforces isolationism among many inattentive Americans. Scholars, political analysts, and even politicians have tended to ignore the soft news media and politically disengaged citizens. But, as this well-written book cogently demonstrates, soft news viewers represent a largely untapped reservoir of unusually persuadable voters.

Mapping and Measuring Deliberation - Towards a New Deliberative Quality (Hardcover): Andre Bachtiger, John Parkinson Mapping and Measuring Deliberation - Towards a New Deliberative Quality (Hardcover)
Andre Bachtiger, John Parkinson
R2,939 Discovery Miles 29 390 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Deliberative democracy has challenged two widely-accepted nostrums about democratic politics: that people lack the capacities for effective self-government; and that democratic procedures are arbitrary and do not reflect popular will; indeed, that the idea of popular will is itself illusory. On the contrary, deliberative democrats have shown that people are capable of being sophisticated, creative problem solvers, given the right opportunities in the right kinds of democratic institutions. But deliberative empirical research has its own problems. In this book two leading deliberative scholars review decades of that research and reveal three important issues. First, the concept 'deliberation' has been inflated so much as to lose empirical bite; second, deliberation has been equated with entire processes of which it is just one feature; and third, such processes are confused with democracy in a deliberative mode more generally. In other words, studies frequently apply micro-level tools and concepts to make macro- and meso-level judgements, and vice versa. Instead, Bachtiger and Parkinson argue that deliberation must be understood as contingent, performative, and distributed. They argue that deliberation needs to be disentangled from other communicative modes; that appropriate tools need to be deployed at the right level of analysis; and that scholars need to be clear about whether they are making additive judgements or summative ones. They then apply that understanding to set out a new agenda and new empirical tools for deliberative empirical scholarship at the micro, meso, and macro levels.

The Good Politician - Folk Theories, Political Interaction, and the Rise of Anti-Politics (Paperback): Nick Clarke, Will... The Good Politician - Folk Theories, Political Interaction, and the Rise of Anti-Politics (Paperback)
Nick Clarke, Will Jennings, Jonathan Moss, Gerry Stoker
R917 Discovery Miles 9 170 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Surveys show a lack of trust in political actors and institutions across much of the democratic world. Populist politicians and parties attempt to capitalise on this political disaffection. Commentators worry about our current 'age of anti-politics'. Focusing on the United Kingdom, using responses to public opinion surveys alongside diaries and letters collected by Mass Observation, this book takes a long view of anti-politics going back to the 1940s. This historical perspective reveals how anti-politics has grown in scope and intensity over the last half-century. Such growth is explained by citizens' changing images of 'the good politician' and changing modes of political interaction between politicians and citizens. Current efforts to reform and improve democracy will benefit greatly from the new evidence and conceptual framework set out in this important study.

Scorched Earth - Restoring the Country after Obama (Paperback): Michael Savage Scorched Earth - Restoring the Country after Obama (Paperback)
Michael Savage
R418 Discovery Miles 4 180 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Michael Savage predicted the chaos that is Obama's legacy. Now he tells us whether the destruction can be stopped!The prophetic author of the bestselling Government Zero, Dr. Michael Savage is back with his most urgent and powerful work. Listeners to Dr. Savage's top-rated radio talk show, The Savage Nation, know him to be an articulate and engaged spokesman for traditional American values of borders, language, and culture.Now, after eight divisive years of Barack Obama, Dr. Savage lays out an irrefutable case for how our nation has been undermined by terrorists from without, by anarchists from within, by a president and politicians with contempt for the Constitution and the law, and by a complicit liberal media.With words and topics that are as insightful as they are timely, he makes an ironclad case for the dangers we face from Hillary Clinton and her fellow travelers in the progressive movement. He also explains why Donald Trump may be one of the two best hopes for America's future as we try to regain control of our government, our country, and our national soul.The other hope? As Dr. Savage explains in some of his most heartfelt and passionate words, it is we, the people: the ordinary "Eddies," as he calls them-motivated, roused, and engaged.This book is about much more than an election. It is a veteran commentator and celebrated raconteur providing a blueprint for how to regain our cherished freedoms and our national identity . . . before they are lost forever.

The Anger Gap - How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics (Paperback): Davin L. Phoenix The Anger Gap - How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics (Paperback)
Davin L. Phoenix
R744 R660 Discovery Miles 6 600 Save R84 (11%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Anger is a powerful mobilizing force in American politics on both sides of the political aisle, but does it motivate all groups equally? This book offers a new conceptualization of anger as a political resource that mobilizes black and white Americans differentially to exacerbate political inequality. Drawing on survey data from the last forty years, experiments, and rhetoric analysis, Phoenix finds that - from Reagan to Trump - black Americans register significantly less anger than their white counterparts and that anger (in contrast to pride) has a weaker mobilizing effect on their political participation. The book examines both the causes of this and the consequences. Pointing to black Americans' tempered expectations of politics and the stigmas associated with black anger, it shows how race and lived experience moderate the emergence of emotions and their impact on behavior. The book makes multiple theoretical contributions and offers important practical insights for political strategy.

The Outrage Industry - Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility (Paperback): Jeffrey M Berry, Sarah Sobieraj The Outrage Industry - Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility (Paperback)
Jeffrey M Berry, Sarah Sobieraj
R1,089 Discovery Miles 10 890 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

In early 2012, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed that Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown University law student who advocated for insurance coverage of contraceptives, "wants to be paid to have sex." Over the next few days, Limbaugh attacked Fluke personally, often in crude terms, while a powerful backlash grew, led by organizations such as the National Organization for Women. But perhaps what was most notable about the incident was that it wasn't unusual. From Limbaugh's venomous attacks on Fluke to liberal radio host Mike Malloy's suggestion that Bill O'Reilly "drink a vat of poison... and choke to death," over-the-top discourse in today's political opinion media is pervasive. Anyone who observes the skyrocketing number of incendiary political opinion shows on television and radio might conclude that political vitriol on the airwaves is fueled by the increasingly partisan American political system. But in The Outrage Industry Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj show how the proliferation of outrage-the provocative, hyperbolic style of commentary delivered by hosts like Ed Schultz, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity- says more about regulatory, technological, and cultural changes, than it does about our political inclinations. Berry and Sobieraj tackle the mechanics of outrage rhetoric, exploring its various forms such as mockery, emotional display, fear mongering, audience flattery, and conspiracy theories. They then investigate the impact of outrage rhetoric-which stigmatizes cooperation and brands collaboration and compromise as weak-on a contemporary political landscape that features frequent straight-party voting in Congress. Outrage tactics have also facilitated the growth of the Tea Party, a movement which appeals to older, white conservatives and has dragged the GOP farther away from the demographically significant moderates whose favor it should be courting. Finally, The Outrage Industry examines how these shows sour our own political lives, exacerbating anxieties about political talk and collaboration in our own communities. Drawing from a rich base of evidence, this book forces all of us to consider the negative consequences that flow from our increasingly hyper-partisan political media.

Electoral Behavior in Unreformed England - Plumpers, Splitters, and Straights (Hardcover): John A. Phillips Electoral Behavior in Unreformed England - Plumpers, Splitters, and Straights (Hardcover)
John A. Phillips
R4,789 Discovery Miles 47 890 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This work examines the development of popular politics in four representative English towns between 1761 and 1802. The book addresses hitherto unanswered yet fundamental questions about the electorate and the electoral system of later eighteenth-century England. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Gauging Public Opinion (Hardcover): Hadley Cantril Gauging Public Opinion (Hardcover)
Hadley Cantril
R4,562 Discovery Miles 45 620 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This book furnishes the first systematic examination of the highly important and widely misunderstood new methods of surveying public opinion. The studies reported were done by Princeton's Office of Public Opinion Research under the direction of Hadley Cantril, one of the leading social psychologists in the country. The book pioneers in stimulating fashion some of the many problems involved in the determination of public opinion by modern techniques. Originally published in 1944. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Journalism and Truth in an Age of Social Media (Paperback): James E. Katz, Kate K. Mays Journalism and Truth in an Age of Social Media (Paperback)
James E. Katz, Kate K. Mays
R1,028 Discovery Miles 10 280 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Truth qualities of journalism are under intense scrutiny in today's world. Journalistic scandals have eroded public confidence in mainstream media while pioneering news media compete to satisfy the public's appetite for news. Still worse is the specter of "fake news" that looms over media and political systems that underpin everything from social stability to global governance. This volume aims to illuminate the contentious media landscape to help journalism students, scholars, and professionals understand contemporary conditions and arm them to deal with a spectrum of new developments ranging from technology and politics to best practices. Fake news is among the greatest of these concerns, and can encompass everything from sarcastic or ironic humor to bot-generated, made-up stories. It can also include the pernicious transmission of selected, biased facts, the use of incomplete or misleadingly selective framing of stories, and photographs that editorially convey certain characteristics. This edited volume contextualizes the current "fake news problem." Yet it also offers a larger perspective on what seems to be uniquely modern, computer-driven problems. We must remember that we have lived with the problem of people having to identify, characterize, and communicate the truth about the world around them for millennia. Rather than identify a single culprit for disseminating misinformation, this volume examines how news is perceived and identified, how news is presented to the public, and how the public responds to news. It considers social media's effect on the craft of journalism, as well as the growing role of algorithms, big data, and automatic content-production regimes. As an edited collection, this volume gathers leading scholars in the fields of journalism and communication studies, philosophy, and the social sciences to address critical questions of how we should understand journalism's changing landscape as it relates to fundamental questions about the role of truth and information in society.

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For - The Promise of Civic Renewal in America (Paperback): Levine We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For - The Promise of Civic Renewal in America (Paperback)
Levine
R1,085 Discovery Miles 10 850 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Chronic unemployment, deindustrialized cities, and mass incarceration are among the grievous social problems that will not yield unless American citizens address them. Peter Levine's We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For is a primer for anyone motivated to help revive our fragile civic life and restore citizens' public role. After offering a novel theory of active citizenship, a diagnosis of its decline, and a searing critique of our political institutions, Levine-one of America's most influential civic engagement activists-argues that American citizens must address our most challenging issues. People can change the norms and structures of their own communities through deliberative civic action. He illustrates rich and effective civic work by drawing lessons from YouthBuild USA, Everyday Democracy, the Industrial Areas Foundation, and many other civic groups. Their organizers invite all citizens-including traditionally marginalized people, such as low-income teenagers-to address community problems. Levine explores successful efforts from communities across America as well as from democracies overseas. He shows how cities like Bridgeport, CT and Allentown, PA have bounced back from the devastating loss of manufacturing jobs by drawing on robust civic networks. The next step is for the participants in these local efforts to change policies that frustrate civic engagement nationally. Filled with trenchant analysis and strategies for reform, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For analyzes and advocates a new citizen-centered politics capable of tackling problems that cannot be fixed in any other way.

Tides of Consent - How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics (Hardcover, 2nd Revised edition): James A. Stimson Tides of Consent - How Public Opinion Shapes American Politics (Hardcover, 2nd Revised edition)
James A. Stimson
R2,583 Discovery Miles 25 830 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Politics is a trial in which those in government - and those who aspire to serve - make proposals, debate alternatives, and pass laws. Then the jury of public opinion decides. It likes the proposals or actions or it does not. It trusts the actors or it does not. It moves, always at the margin, and then those who benefit from the movement are declared winners. This book is about that public opinion response. Its most basic premise is that although public opinion rarely matters in a democracy, public opinion change is the exception. Public opinion rarely matters because the public rarely cares enough to act on its concerns or preferences. Change happens only when the threshold of normal public inattention is crossed. When public opinion changes, governments rise or fall, elections are won or lost, and old realities give way to new demands.

Why Elections Fail (Paperback): Pippa Norris Why Elections Fail (Paperback)
Pippa Norris
R811 Discovery Miles 8 110 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Too often, elections around the globe are, unfortunately, deeply flawed or even fail. What triggers these problems? In this second volume of her trilogy on electoral integrity, Pippa Norris compares structural, international, and institutional accounts as alternative perspectives to explain why elections fail to meet international standards. The book argues that rules preventing political actors from manipulating electoral governance are needed to secure integrity, although at the same time officials also need sufficient resources and capacities to manage elections effectively. Drawing on new evidence, the study determines the most effective types of strategies for strengthening the quality of electoral governance around the world. With a global perspective, this book provides fresh insights into these major issues at the heart of the study of elections and voting behavior, comparative politics, democracy and democratization, political culture, democratic governance, public policymaking, development, international relations and conflict studies, and processes of regime change.

Contemporary Nigerian Politics - Competition in a Time of Transition and Terror (Hardcover): A. Carl LeVan Contemporary Nigerian Politics - Competition in a Time of Transition and Terror (Hardcover)
A. Carl LeVan
R2,681 Discovery Miles 26 810 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

In 2015, Nigeria's voters cast out the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). Here, A. Carl LeVan traces the political vulnerability of Africa's largest party in the face of elite bargains that facilitated a democratic transition in 1999. These 'pacts' enabled electoral competition but ultimately undermined the party's coherence. LeVan also crucially examines the four critical barriers to Nigeria's democratic consolidation: the terrorism of Boko Haram in the northeast, threats of Igbo secession in the southeast, lingering ethnic resentments and rebellions in the Niger Delta, and farmer-pastoralist conflicts. While the PDP unsuccessfully stoked fears about the opposition's ability to stop Boko Haram's terrorism, the opposition built a winning electoral coalition on economic growth, anti-corruption, and electoral integrity. Drawing on extensive interviews with a number of politicians and generals and civilians and voters, he argues that electoral accountability is essential but insufficient for resolving the representational, distributional, and cultural components of these challenges.

Beliefs in Government (Paperback, New ed): Max Kaase, Kenneth Newton Beliefs in Government (Paperback, New ed)
Max Kaase, Kenneth Newton
R1,910 Discovery Miles 19 100 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

This volume is a broad and sweeping comparative study of political attitudes in Western Europe which draws together the main findings of the Beliefs in Government research project and sets them in the broad context of modern politics in Western Europe. It considers the main post-war writing on democratic crisis, change, and transformation in the West, and compares this literature with that large and extensive collection of West European survey evidence which is discussed in detail in the other series volumes.

The Impact of Values (Paperback, New ed): Jan W. Van Deth, Elinor Scarbrough The Impact of Values (Paperback, New ed)
Jan W. Van Deth, Elinor Scarbrough
R1,902 Discovery Miles 19 020 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

A decline in religious belief, waning class values, rising postmaterialism, along with green values, feminism, and postmodernism - all these phenomena are indicative of widespread change in value orientations among West European citizens during the last two decades. The extent of these changes and their impact on politics are the dual concerns of this volume. The first chapters present a simple model of the relationship between value orientations and political participation, and follow this up with an account of how value orientations can be identified empirically. Subsequent chapters draw on a vast data set from across Europe over the last two decades to track changes in three central value orientations - religious-secular, left-right materialism, materialism-postmaterialism - as well as the emergence of feminism, postmodernism, and green orientations. The third part of the volume examines the impact on the three central orientations on political efficacy, political trust, interest in politics, voting, and involvement in new social movements. The volume concludes with an assessment of the effects of changing value orientations for government in advanced industrial societies. A Choice `Outstanding Academic Book of the Year'. Series description This set of five volumes is an exhaustive study of beliefs in government in post-war Europe. Based upon an extensive collection of survey evidence, the results challenge widely argued theories of mass opinion, and much scholarly writing about citizen attitudes towards government and politics. The series arises from a research project sponsored by the European Science Foundation. Reviews of the series: `The quality of the empirical analysis is consistently high...[an] important collection of empirical studies addressing the debate about the "crisis of representation" in Europe,' Journal of Public Policy `These volumes contain the work of many of the most important scholars in the field of public opinion in Europe today...These five volumes represent a major contribution to comparative politics, especially the study of mass politics. The chapters provide a wealth of information about public opinion in contemporary Europe and the relationship between state and society...The volumes clearly will be read by all students of European politics...' Times Educational Supplement `The Beliefs in Government series is a monumental achievement. It tells us at least everything we want to know about the structure of European public opinion'. The Good Society Reviews of The Impact of Values: `The Impact of Values does not disappoint. Meticulously organized chapters ensure that this is a volume which can either be read comfortably from cover to cover, or dipped into at leisure'. Democratization ` a well-integrated and informative account of the subject...a painstakingly-crafted and meticulously researched exercise which will stand as a major reference work for many years to come...' Political Studies

British Political Culture and the Idea of 'Public Opinion', 1867-1914 (Hardcover, New): James Thompson British Political Culture and the Idea of 'Public Opinion', 1867-1914 (Hardcover, New)
James Thompson
R2,968 Discovery Miles 29 680 Ships in 12 - 19 working days

Newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and books all reflect the ubiquity of 'public opinion' in political discourse in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain. Through close attention to debates across the political spectrum, James Thompson charts the ways in which Britons sought to locate 'public opinion' in an era prior to polling. He shows that 'public opinion' was the principal term through which the link between the social and the political was interrogated, charted and contested and charts how the widespread conviction that the public was growing in power raised significant issues about the kind of polity emerging in Britain. He also examines how the early Labour party negotiated the language of 'public opinion' and sought to articulate Labour interests in relation to those of the public. In so doing he sheds important new light on the character of Britain's liberal political culture and on Labour's place in and relationship to that culture.

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