Thinking About Political Reform is the only genuinely comprehensive book on reforming American government and politics available to students and instructors. Covering elections, institutions, political processes, and behavior, it invites readers to go beyond the "what" of government and politics that typically is covered in both introductory and advanced American government courses to consider "what's wrong", "why", "so what", and "what if" questions, encouraging them to examine the failures and flaws of the governing process and to ponder potential solutions and their likely consequences. In addressing issues from the role of citizens to elections to the three branches of government, it treats both the causes and consequences of structural, procedural, and behavioral problems, offering a variety of common and sometimes not so common reform proposals that are assessed from the perspectives of political science, economics, law, journalism, and politics. The book asks readers to ground their thinking about reform in seven criteria or standards that should characterize sound democratic government in the United States, pointing out that such criteria are not always compatible and urging readers to prioritize their values before attacking reform issues. Throughout, it applies those standards and an up-to-date review of the scholarly literature and current events to the reform agenda, suggesting several approaches to evaluate, for example, the tensions between Congress and the presidency, election systems, or political parties. Each chapter offers readers specific questions to help them formulate their own views on reform and reminds them that reforms are linked; what is done to one process or institution has consequences for others. The final chapter suggests how reform might occur but cautions that ad hoc reforms are unlikely to solve underlying problems - or could make them worse - and that, ultimately, reformers have to know which values and criteria they think are most important and then ask two questions: which of the two elective institutions - Congress or the presidency - should be dominant, and what sort of political party and electoral system best fits that choice? Unlike other reform books that focus on selected political institutions or the electoral process, Thinking About Reform covers American government from soup to nuts, providing in one highly readable volume the most complete, integrated, and current analysis of reform proposals and their consequences available today. The book complements all standard textbook treatments of American politics and can stand alone as the core for a course on political reform.

When parties undergo abrupt organisational changes between elections - such as when they fuse, split, join or abandon party lists - they alter profoundly the organisation and supply of electoral information to voters. The alternatives on the ballot are no longer fixed but need to be actively sought out instead. This book examines how voters cope with the complexity triggered by party instability. Breaking with previous literature, it suggests that voters are versatile and ingenious decision-makers. They adapt to informational complexity with a set of cognitively less costly heuristics uniquely suited to the challenges they face. A closer look at the impact of party instability on the vote advances and qualifies quintessential theories of vote choice, including proximity voting, direction-intensity appeals, economic voting and the use of cognitive heuristics. The rich and nuanced findings illustrate that political parties hold a key to understanding voter behaviour and representation in modern democracy.

Mexico and the United States share a border of more than 2,000 miles, and their histories and interests have often intertwined. The Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910 and continued in one form or another for the next thirty years, was keenly observed by U.S. citizens, especially those directly involved in Mexico through property ownership, investment, missionary work, tourism, journalism, and education. It differed from many other revolutions in this century in that Marxist--Leninist theory was only one of many radical and reformist influences. Historian John A. Britton examines contemporary accounts written by Americans commenting on social upheaval south of the border: radical writers John Reed, Anita Brenner, and Carlton Beals; novelists Katherine Anne Porter and D.H. Lawrence; social critics Stuart Chase and Waldo Frank; and banker-diplomat Dwight Morrow, to mention a few. Their writings constitute a valuable body of information and opinion concerning a revolution that offers important parallels with liberation movements throughout the world today. Britton's sources also shed light on the many contradictions and complexities inherent in the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

When Israel declared its independence in 1948, Harry Truman issued a memo recognizing the Israeli government within eleven minutes. Today, the U.S. and Israel continue on as partners in an at times controversial alliance-an alliance, many argue, that is powerfully influenced by the Christian Right. In The Fervent Embrace, Caitlin Carenen chronicles the American Christian relationship with Israel, tracing first mainline Protestant and then evangelical support for Zionism. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, American liberal Protestants argued that America had a moral humanitarian duty to support Israel. Christian anti-Semitism had helped bring about the Holocaust, they declared, and so Christians must help make amends. Moreover, a stable and democratic Israel would no doubt make the Middle East a safer place for future American interests. Carenen argues that it was this mainline Protestant position that laid the foundation for the current evangelical Protestant support for Israel, which is based primarily on theological grounds. Drawing on previously unexplored archival material from the Central Zionist Archives in Israel, this volume tells the full story of the American Christian-Israel relationship, bringing the various "players"-American liberal Protestants, American Evangelicals, American Jews, and Israelis-together into one historical narrative.

From George Washington's desire (in the heat of the Revolutionary War) for a proper set of Chinese porcelains for afternoon tea, to the lives of Chinese-Irish couples in the 1830s, to the commercial success of Chang and Eng (the "Siamese Twins"), to rising fears of "heathen Chinee," "New York before Chinatown" offers a provocative look at the role Chinese people, things, and ideas played in the fashioning of American culture and politics.

Piecing together various historical fragments and anecdotes from the years before Chinatown emerged in the late 1870s, historian John Kuo Wei Tchen redraws Manhattan's historical landscape and broadens our understanding of the role of port cultures in the making of American identities. Tchen tells his story in three parts. In the first, he explores America's fascination with Asia as a source of luxury items, cultural taste, and lucrative trade. In the second, he explains how Chinese, European-Americans in Yellowface, and various caricatures became objects of curiosity in the expansive commercial marketplace. In the third part, Tchen focuses on how Americans' attitude toward the Chinese changed from fascination to demonization, leading to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Acts beginning in 1882.

In 1999, responding to international concerns about the sexual exploitation of children, the Japanese Diet voted unanimously to ban child prostitution and child pornography. Two years later, in the wake of 9/11, Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet radically shifted government counterterrorism policy toward new military solutions, and away from an earlier emphasis on law enforcement. Although they seem unrelated, these two policies reveal the unintended consequences of attempts to enforce international norms at the national level.

In Think Global, Fear Local, David Leheny posits that when states abide by international agreements to clamp down on transnational crime and security concerns, they respond not to an amorphous international problem but rather to more deeply held and proximate fears. Although opponents of child prostitution and pornography were primarily concerned about the victimization of children in poor nations by wealthy foreigners, the Japanese law has been largely used to crack down on "compensated dating," in which middle-class Japanese schoolgirls date and sometimes have sex with adults. Many Japanese policymakers viewed these girls as villains, and subsequent legal developments have aimed to constrain teenage sexual activities as well as to punish predatory adults.

Likewise, following changes in the country's counterterrorism policy, some Japanese leaders have redefined a host of other threats especially from North Korea as "terrorist" menaces requiring a more robust and active Japanese military. Drawing from sources as diverse as parliamentary debate records and contemporary film and literature, Leheny uses these two very different cases to argue that international norms can serve as political tools, allowing states to enhance their coercive authority."

Tolerance in the 21st Century investigates some of the key philosophical and practical dilemmas surrounding the implementation and realization of tolerance in the 21st century. In particular, this well thought-out volume investigates the political, social, moral, religious, global, and philosophical issues integral to discussions of tolerance in our current era. The work delves into new areas assessing the problems posed for tolerance by such factors as identity, war, community, the Internet, and gender. Each essay is written by expert scholars who seek to share their particular expertise with some of the most important and essential questions concerning tolerance. Editor Gerson Moreno-Riano has collected essays that ask not only where we are now in the study of tolerance but also seek to make a positive contribution to the study of tolerance by suggesting what can and should be done to further policies and practices of tolerance as well as investigating the limits of tolerance. Tolerance in the 21st Century is certain to delight scholars of political and democratic theory, political participation and citizenship, and American politics.

The importance of polling public opinion is widely recognized today. Indeed, it is sometimes argued that in mass societies, polls have also become an important medium for communicating ideas and beliefs, especially since many people have become less involved in community organizations and interest groups that formerly connected them to events and issues. Polling and Public Opinion examines the impact that polls have on the thoughts and behaviour of the public. Peter M. Butler considers the power of public opinion polls as an element of mass persuasion in media stories, advertising, and government policy. Using such controversial issues as free trade, health care, same-sex marriage, and national security, Butler argues that popular opinion on such hot-button topics as these can be guided and changed according to how polls are interpreted for and presented to the public. As well as analyzing the impact of polls on the public, Butler is concerned with demystifying the methods by which opinions are collected, showing that the techniques used to determine public opinion can be just as selective as those by which the results are disseminated. Focusing on many of the vital topics of our time, Polling and Public Opinion is an in-depth look at the rise of one of the most important but least understood methods by which politicians and governments gauge the popular will.

In 1999, responding to international concerns about the sexual exploitation of children, the Japanese Diet voted unanimously to ban child prostitution and child pornography. Two years later, in the wake of 9/11, Junichiro Koizumi's cabinet radically shifted government counterterrorism policy toward new military solutions, and away from an earlier emphasis on law enforcement. Although they seem unrelated, these two policies reveal the unintended consequences of attempts to enforce international norms at the national level.

In Think Global, Fear Local, David Leheny posits that when states abide by international agreements to clamp down on transnational crime and security concerns, they respond not to an amorphous international problem but rather to more deeply held and proximate fears. Although opponents of child prostitution and pornography were primarily concerned about the victimization of children in poor nations by wealthy foreigners, the Japanese law has been largely used to crack down on "compensated dating," in which middle-class Japanese schoolgirls date and sometimes have sex with adults. Many Japanese policymakers viewed these girls as villains, and subsequent legal developments have aimed to constrain teenage sexual activities as well as to punish predatory adults.

Likewise, following changes in the country's counterterrorism policy, some Japanese leaders have redefined a host of other threats especially from North Korea as "terrorist" menaces requiring a more robust and active Japanese military. Drawing from sources as diverse as parliamentary debate records and contemporary film and literature, Leheny uses these two very different cases to argue that international norms can serve as political tools, allowing states to enhance their coercive authority."

The start of 2019 is midway between the last presidential inauguration and the next - but will it also prove the halfway point in Donald Trump's presidency? Following up Hopes and Fears, which set out in compelling detail why America sent Trump to the White House, Half-Time! brings together two years of groundbreaking research, exploring what the voters make of the President's agenda and character, how they see the issues at stake and - with voices at the far ends of the political spectrum set to dominate the debate - how they are lining up for the 2020 election.

No previous volume has collected as interesting and broad a collection of essays on Canadian discourse and culture. This volume of representative case studies reflects the Canadian experience in terms of discourse, society, and public culture, linking its discussions to larger political and social issues and theories. Topics include:

Constitutional controversies

Cultural sovereignty

Feminist voices

Globalization

Internet issues

Marginalized communities

Nationalism

Nativity

Multidisciplinary perspectives from a mix of established and emerging Canadian studies scholars converge in a highly readable, engaging, and unique book that offers a distinctive portrait of a nation not nearly as well understood as its proximity to the United States might suggest.

Finalist for the 2002 Donner Prize

The balancing of government budgets after years of chronic deficits has reopened public debates over tax levels, the size of government and proposals for tax reform. "The Politics of Taxation in Canada" explains the factors that have shaped the evolution of Canada's tax system since the 1960s and the issues that are likely to challenge governments in coming years. It outlines the nature and objectives of Canada's tax system, the organizational and institutional structures that define and control it, and the political processes that enable politicians to manage policy changes--subject to competing pressures from voters and organized interest groups.

Political scientist Geoffrey Hale describes the major elements of Canada's tax system as parts of an "economic constitution" that affects the daily lives of Canadians as much as the political constitution that defines the powers and limits of governments and the rights of citizens. The principles of Canada's tax system reflect a loose and evolving political consensus on social and economic priorities. Hale suggests that to be politically and economically workable, proposals for major tax changes "must begin with the tax system as it is, not as we might wish it to be in the best of all possible worlds."

Public Opinion in American Foreign Policy examines the role that public attitudes have played over the last generation in the making of United States foreign policy. It focuses on four of the most prominent foreign interventions of the last generation: the Vietnam War, the Nicaraguan contra funding controversy, the Persian Gulf War, and the Bosnia crisis. Through its examination of these events, the book argues and demonstrates that public opinion constrained but did not set American foreign intervention policy during the second half of the twentieth century. The book is perfect for use in political science or history courses on US foreign policy, and should also be attractive to the general reader interested in some of the most important conflicts of our time.

Public opinion polls point to a continuing decline of confidence in the Presidency, court system, Congress, the news media, state government, public education, and other key institutions. Moy and Pfau examine the role of the media in the decline of the American public's confidence in democratic institutions. Moy and Pfau examine the impact of sociodemographic factors, political expertise, and use of communication media on people's perceptions of confidence in democratic institutions. Their conclusions are based on two years of data collection. In three waves between 1995 and 1997, they conducted a series of content analyses of media depictions of democratic institutions in conjunction with public opinion surveys. The result is one of the most comprehensive examinations ever conducted on the influence of the media on public confidence. It will be of great value to scholars, researchers, students, professionals in government and the media, and anyone interested in the role of the media in democratic societies.

How did the protests and support of ordinary American citizens affect their country's participation in the Vietnam War? This engrossing book focuses on four social groups that achieved political prominence in the 1960s and early 1970s-students, African Americans, women, and labor-and investigates the impact of each on American foreign policy during the war. Drawing on oral histories, personal interviews, and a broad range of archival sources, Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones narrates and compares the activities of these groups. He shows that all of them gave the war solid support at its outset and offers a new perspective on this, arguing that these "outsider" social groups were tempted to conform with foreign policy goals as a means to social and political acceptance. But in due course students, African Americans, and then women turned away from temptation and mounted spectacular revolts against the war, with a cumulative effect that sapped the resistance of government policymakers. Organized labor, however, supported the war until almost the end. Jeffreys-Jones shows that this gave President Nixon his opportunity to speak of the "great silent majority" of American citizens who were in favor of the war. Because labor continued to be receptive to overtures from the White House, peace did not come quickly.

Latinos, along with other new immigrants, are not being incorporated into U.S. politics as rapidly as their predecessors, raising concerns about political fragmentation along ethnic lines. In Counting on the Latino Vote, Louis DeSipio uses the first national studies of Latinos to investigate whether they engage in bloc voting or are likely to do so in the future.

To understand American racial and ethnic minority group politics, social scientists have largely relied on a black-white paradigm. DeSipio gives a more complex picture by drawing both on the histories of other ethnic groups and on up-to-date but underutilized studies of Hispanics' political attitudes, values, and behaviors. In order to explore the potential impact of Hispanics as an electorate, he analyzes the current Latino body politic and projects the possible voting patterns of those who reside in the United States but do not now vote.

Politicians, Government Officials, and Public Relations Officers Lean heavily on polling when fashioning public policy. Proponents say this is for the best, arguing that surveys bring the views of citizens closer to civic officials. Critics decry polling's promotion of sycophantic politicians who pander to the whims of public sentiment or conversely, the use of surveys by special interests to thwart the majority will.

Similar claims and criticisms were made during the early days of polling. When George Gallup began polling Americans in 1935, he heralded it as a bold step in popular democrat: The views of ordinary citizens could now be heard alongside those of organized interest groups. When brought to Canada in 1941, the Gallup Poll promised similar democratic rejuvenation. In actual practice, traditionally disadvantaged constituencies such as women, the poor, French Canadians in Canada, and African Americans in the United States were often heavily under-represented in Gallup surveys. Preoccupied with election forecasting, Gallup pollsters under-counted social groups thought less likely or unable to vote, leading to a considerable gap between the sampled polity and the general public.

Examining the origins and early years of public opinion polling in Canada, Robinson situates polling within the larger context of its forerunners -- market research surveys and American opinion polling -- and charts its growth until its first uses by political parties.

This book turns the tables on the way prejudice has been looked at in the past. Almost all of the current information on prejudice focuses on the person holding prejudiced beliefs. This book, however, provides the first summary of research focusing on the intended victims of prejudice. Divided into three sections, the first part discusses how people identify prejudice, what types of prejudice they encounter, and how people react to this prejudice in interpersonal and intergroup settings. The second section discusses the effect of prejudice on task performance, assessment of ones own abilities, self-esteem, and stress. The final section examines how people cope with prejudice, including a discussion of coping mechanisms, reporting sexual harassment, and how identity is related to effective coping.
Key Features
* Includes an introduction, the consequences of prejudice, and how to cope with prejudice
* The editors are top researchers in the field of prejudice
* All the contributors are major figures in the social psychological analysis of intergroup relationships

Thomas Jefferson's conviction that the health of the nation's democracy would depend on the existence of an informed citizenry has been a cornerstone of our political culture since the inception of the American republic. Even today's debates over education reform and the need to be competitive in a technologically advanced, global economy are rooted in the idea that the education of rising generations is crucial to the nation's future. In this book, Richard Brown traces the development of the ideal of an informed citizenry in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries and assesses its continuing influence and changing meaning. Although the concept had some antecedents in Europe, the full articulation of the ideal relationship between citizenship and knowledge came during the era of the American Revolution. The founding fathers believed that the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of the press, religion, speech, and assembly would foster an informed citizenry. According to Brown, many of the fundamental institutions of American democracy and society, including political parties, public education, the media, and even the postal system, have enjoyed wide government support precisely because they have been identified as vital for the creation and maintenance of an informed populace. |This is the first paperback edition of a book that has become the reliable standard synthesis of scholarship on women's experiences during the Revolutionary era. Chapters have been revised to incorporate the work of 100 studies that have appeared since the original publication in 1996. Gundersen traces the lives of women in 3 households over 3 generations, including perspectives from Native American, wealthy white revolutionary, and middle-class plantation and slave households.

Ours is an era of stunted public discourse, where instant polls, 900 numbers, orchestrated petitions, and talk-show campaigning appear to have overwhelmed participatory democracy. What has become of the freely reasoned public debate and informed "consent of the governed" that, as cherished principle, we hold will produce better leaders and better public decisions? Where-or what-is the voice of the people todoay? In this lively book James Fishkin evaluates modern democratic practices and explains how the voice of the people has struggled to make itself heard in the past. He tells a fascinating story of changing concepts and parctices of democracy, with examples that range from ancient Sparta to America's founders to the first Gallup polls to Ross Perot. He then develops the rationale for a new method-the "deliberative opinion poll"-that uses modern media and survey research to legitimately rediscover the people's voice. Fishkin's proposal for televised deliberative opinion polls has already been realized twice by the British television network Channel 4, and he discusses its implementation in the book. In January 1996, his deliberative poll will be seen in action in a "National Issues Convention" to be broadcast by PBS on the eve of the American presidential primary season. During this broadcast, a national random sample of citizens will interact with presidential contenders in order to reflect and vote on the issues and candidates. Fishkin discusses the pros and cons of this important event, giving behind-the-scenes details about preparations for it. Here then is a compelling story of citizen deliberation from ancient Athens to the present, setting the context for future deliberative polls and related efforts to reinvigorate our public dialogue.

In Public Opinion, what is widely considered the most influential book ever written by Walter Lippmann, the late journalist and social critic provides a fundamental treatise on the nature of human information and communication. Public Opinion is Walter Lippmann's is of enduring significance for communications scholars, historians, sociologists, and political scientists.

In recent years a growing number of citizens have defected from the major parties to third party presidential candidates. Over the past three decades, independent campaigns led by George Wallace, John Anderson, and Ross Perot have attracted more electoral support than at any time since the 1920s. "Third Parties in America" explains why and when the two-party system deteriorates and third parties flourish. Relying on data from presidential elections between 1840 and 1992, it identifies the situations in which Americans abandon the major parties and shows how third parties encourage major party responsiveness and broader representation of political interests.

Latinos, along with other new immigrants, are not assimilating into U.S. politics as rapidly as their predecessors, raising concerns about political fragmentation along ethnic lines. In Counting on the Latino Vote, Louis DeSipio uses the first national studies of Latinos to investigate whether they engage in bloc voting or are likely to do so in the future. To understand American racial and ethnic minority group politics, social scientists have largely relied on a black-white paradigm. DeSipio gives a more complex picture by drawing on up-to-date but underutilized studies of Hispanics' political attitudes, values, and behaviors as well as on the histories of other ethnic groups. He analyzes current Latino voters as well as possible configurations of those who reside in the United States but do not now vote to explore the potential impact of Hispanics as an electorate. The author concludes that other factors outweigh ethnicity as predictors of Latino voting and that widespread mobilization of Hispanics around ethnic issues would have to occur for this pattern to change. He also concludes, through his examination of the history of ethnic voter mobilization in the United States, that the mobilization of any of the various potential Latino electorates he identifies is unlikely. Political scientists, scholars of ethnic studies, and those interested in the political consequences of immigration will find the book invaluable.

This work analyses whether the polls in 1993 and 1994 misled US policy makers about the urgency of health care reform. It reviews the attitudes of Americans about their own health care, their concerns about reform of the system, and the views they hold about the importance of the issue.