The strange and wonderful place of Twin Peaks captivated audiences for more than two decades before its long-awaited return to television in 2017. David Lynch and Mark Frost created a land that embodies the politics of American culture. With its focus on small-town America and life outside urban centers, rural and suburban values play a big part in the overall Twin Peaks narrative. More than just a soapy murder investigation or a mysterious puzzle to be solved, Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return are metaphors for the political years in which they are set. The Politics of Twin Peaks investigates the show's engagement with American politics and identity. With a close relationship between the two, Twin Peaks is the rare cultural landmark in both film and television whose timelessness is defined by the fact that it can constantly be reinterpreted. Within that sometimes dreamlike Lynchian narrative, Twin Peaks hints at, sometimes explicitly and sometimes subtly, the political fault lines in the United States. In this edited collection, the politics inherent in Twin Peaks is approached from numerous points of view.

The strange and wonderful place of Twin Peaks captivated audiences for more than two decades before its long-awaited return to television in 2017. David Lynch and Mark Frost created a land that embodies the politics of American culture. With its focus on small-town America and life outside urban centers, rural and suburban values play a big part in the overall Twin Peaks narrative. More than just a soapy murder investigation or a mysterious puzzle to be solved, Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return are metaphors for the political years in which they are set. The Politics of Twin Peaks investigates the show's engagement with American politics and identity. With a close relationship between the two, Twin Peaks is the rare cultural landmark in both film and television whose timelessness is defined by the fact that it can constantly be reinterpreted. Within that sometimes dreamlike Lynchian narrative, Twin Peaks hints at, sometimes explicitly and sometimes subtly, the political fault lines in the United States. In this edited collection, the politics inherent in Twin Peaks is approached from numerous points of view.

For seven seasons, AMC's Mad Men captivated audiences with the story of Don Draper, an advertising executive whose personal and professional successes and failures took viewers on a roller coaster ride through America's tumultuous 1960s. More than just a television show about one of advertising's "bad boys," the series investigates the principles of the American regime, exploring whether or not the American Dream is a sustainable vision of human flourishing and happiness. This collection of essays investigates the show's engagement with the philosophic and political foundations of American democracy.

The Bill of Rights was designed to protect the American public from encroachments of liberty by the federal government. During times of war, the president often spearheads efforts to limit rights in the name of national security. When these cases make their way through the federal courts system, it is expected that the judiciary would use rights-based language in their adjudication of cases dealing with such rights-based claims. Zones of Twilight shows that the courts actually use the separation of powers to decide these cases. In other words, the courts look to see if Congress has authorized the president to limit the liberties in question. More often than not, if Congress is on board, so are the federal courts. Although the common conception is that the courts give the president a blank check during war, it is in fact Congress that has received that blank check. Zones of Twilight looks at four reoccurring issues during times of war where the courts have had to decide cases where the executive has limited individual freedoms: military detentions, warrantless electronic surveillance, emergency economic powers, and free speech.

The Bill of Rights was designed to protect the American public from encroachments of liberty by the federal government. During times of war, the president often spearheads efforts to limit rights in the name of national security. When these cases make their way through the federal courts system, it is expected that the judiciary would use rights-based language in their adjudication of cases dealing with such rights-based claims. Zones of Twilight shows that the courts actually use the separation of powers to decide these cases. In other words, the courts look to see if Congress has authorized the president to limit the liberties in question. More often than not, if Congress is on board, so are the federal courts. Although the common conception is that the courts give the president a blank check during war, it is in fact Congress that has received that blank check. Zones of Twilight looks at four reoccurring issues during times of war where the courts have had to decide cases where the executive has limited individual freedoms: military detentions, warrantless electronic surveillance, emergency economic powers, and free speech.