Today, such issues as abortion, capital punishment, sex education, racism, prayer in public schools, and family values keep religion and politics closely entwined in American public life. This encyclopedia is an A-to-Z listing of a broad range of topics related to religious issues and politics, ranging from the religious freedom sought by the Pilgrims in the 1620s to the rise of the religious right in the 1980s.

Against the historical backdrop of successive socialist and post-socialist claims to have completely remade society, the contributors to this volume explore the complex and often paradoxical continuities between diverse post-socialist presents and their corresponding socialist and pre-socialist pasts. The chapters focus on ways in which: pre-socialist economic, political, and cultural forms in fact endured an era of socialism and have found new life in the post-socialist present, notwithstanding revolutionary socialist claims; continuities with a pre-socialist past have been produced within the historical imaginary of post-socialism; and socialist economic, political, and cultural forms have in fact endured in a purportedly postsocialist era, despite the claims of neo-liberal reformers.

Harry G. West is Reader in Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His research in northern Mozambique has examined how colonialism, revolutionary socialism, and post-socialist political and economic liberalization have reconfigured institutions of local authority.

Parvathi Raman is a Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Her research in South Africa explores the historical impact of Indians in the South African Communist Party, and their contribution to the struggle against apartheid.

Against the historical backdrop of successive socialist and post-socialist claims to have completely remade society, the contributors to this volume explore the complex and often paradoxical continuities between diverse post-socialist presents and their corresponding socialist and pre-socialist pasts. The chapters focus on ways in which: pre-socialist economic, political, and cultural forms in fact endured an era of socialism and have found new life in the post-socialist present, notwithstanding revolutionary socialist claims; continuities with a pre-socialist past have been produced within the historical imaginary of post-socialism; and socialist economic, political, and cultural forms have in fact endured in a purportedly post-socialist era, despite the claims of neo-liberal reformers. Harry West is a lecturer in Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). His has conducted research in the northern district of Mueda in Mozambique, where nationalist guerrillas based themselves during the anti-colonial war (1964 1974). As part of his project, he has studied how various social groups experienced, and coped with, violence during and after the war for independence. He has also taken interest in how colonialism and revolutionary socialism reconfigured the institutions of local authority, and, more recently, how post-socialist reforms have fostered a revival of tradition in rural Mozambique. Parvathi Raman is a lecturer in Social Anthropology in the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). She has conducted research in South Africa on the role of Indians in the South African Communist Party and has written about the changing character of the socialist imagination in the twentieth century. She also works on the politics of diaspora, and multiculturalism and the neo-liberal state."

This book provides a complete overview of the American Founders' political theory, covering natural rights, natural law, state of nature, social compact, consent, and the policy implications of these ideas. The book is intended as a response to the current scholarly consensus, which holds that the Founders' political thought is best understood as an amalgam of liberalism, republicanism, and perhaps other traditions. West argues that, on the contrary, the foundational documents overwhelmingly point to natural rights as the lens through which all politics is understood. The book explores in depth how the Founders' supposedly republican policies on citizen character formation do not contradict but instead complement their liberal policies on property and economics. Additionally, the book shows how the Founders' embraced other traditions in their politics, such as common law and Protestantism.

Unlike many other books about the American founding, this new work by two of the most prominent scholars of American political history emphasizes the coherence and intelligibility of the social compact theory. Social compact theory, the idea that government must be based on an agreement between those who govern and those who consent to be governed, was one of the Founders' few unifying philosophical positions, and it transcended the partisan politics of that era. Contributors to this volume present a comprehensive overview of the social compact theory, discussing its European philosophical origins, the development of the theory into the basis of the fledgling government, and the attitudes of some of the founders toward the theory and its traditional proponents. The authors argue forcefully and convincingly that the political ideas of the American Founders cannot be properly understood without understanding social compact theory and the exalted place it held in the construction of the American system of government.

Ronald J. Pestritto's and Thomas G. West's earlier volume The American Founding and the Social Compact addressed the nature of the thought and philosophy of the men who shaped the American founding. In this second volume in a trilogy, Pestritto and West examine the fate of the founders' principles in the nine teeth century, when these principles faced their first great challenges. Support of slavery, culminating in secession and civil war, came from the South; and after the war came positivism, relativism, and radical egalitarianism, which originated in Europe and infiltrated American universities, where intellectuals repudiated the founders' views as historically obsolete and insufficiently concerned with true human liberation. In ten chapters covering major thinkers in nineteenth-century American political thought, contributors discuss the rise and resolution of ideological conflicts in the early generations of the American republic. In Challenges to the American Founding Pestritto and West have compiled an invaluable resource for the roots of the twentieth-century departure in American politics from the political vision of the American founders.

Africa's Second Wave of Freedom represents the work of scholars who share a concern with the development of civil society in Africa. The first third of the book deals theoretically with the issues of democracy and stability in Africa. In particular, the contributors analyze the inadequacy of the United States' response to African problems (such as environmental decay, spiraling debt, and health epidemics) that do not respect national boundaries; the fragility of democracy in Africa and the danger of reversion to dictatorships; and the barriers to constitutional democracy in sub-Saharan Africa. The remainder of the book consists of case studies of various aspects of civil society from Mozambique, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

Working with the underlying premise that America's founding principles continue to be vital in the modern era, Erler, Marini, and West take a conservative look at immigration, one of today's most pressing political issues. Character_the capacity to live a life befitting republican citizens_is, as the Founders knew, crucial to the debate about immigration. The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration seeks to revive the issue of republican character in the current immigration debate and to elucidate the constitutional foundations of American citizenship. Published in cooperation with the Claremont Institute.

Working with the underlying premise that America's founding principles continue to be vital in the modern era, Erler, Marini, and West take a conservative look at immigration, one of today's most pressing political issues. Character-the capacity to live a life befitting republican citizens-is, as the Founders knew, crucial to the debate about immigration. The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration seeks to revive the issue of republican character in the current immigration debate and to elucidate the constitutional foundations of American citizenship. Published in cooperation with the Claremont Institute.

This book represents perhaps the single most important volume to be published on the Constitution during the Bicentennial. With over sixty contributing authors, it brings together the best of American constitutional scholarship for a comprehensive and provocative discussion of the Constitution's history, its principles and its current meaning. Contributing authors to the book range from historians and political scientists to Congressmen and Supreme Court Justices. Some of the better-known contributors include former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, former Chief Justice Warren Burger, Congressman Philip Crane, lawyer Phillis Schlafly, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Leonard Levy, former United States Senator Eugene McCarthy, and the venerable dean of United States historians, Henry Steele Commager. Most of the articles published in this volume appeared originally as part of the acclaimed New Federalist Papers newspaper series, which has been used by hundreds of newspapers across the country since 1984. The book is arranged into seventeen different sections, each of which focuses on a major constitutional principle or institution. Topic areas include federalism, the separation of powers, Congress, the bureaucracy, the Presidency, the Judiciary, foreign policy, civil rights, economics, constitutional reform, and the relationship between church and state. The sections of the book were designed to parallel the standard subjects covered in an introductory college course. Co-published with Public Research, Syndicated.

Transparency has, in recent years, become a watchword for good governance. Policymakers and analysts alike evaluate political and economic institutions--courts, corporations, nation-states--according to the transparency of their operating procedures. With the dawn of the New World Order and the "mutual veil dropping" of the post-Cold War era, many have asserted that power in our contemporary world is more transparent than ever. Yet from the perspective of the relatively less privileged, the operation of power often appears opaque and unpredictable. Through vivid ethnographic analyses, "Transparency and Conspiracy" examines a vast range of expressions of the popular suspicion of power--including forms of shamanism, sorcery, conspiracy theory, and urban legends--illuminating them as ways of making sense of the world in the midst of tumultuous and uneven processes of modernization.

In this collection leading anthropologists reveal the variations and commonalities in conspiratorial thinking or occult cosmologies around the globe--in Korea, Tanzania, Mozambique, New York City, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Orange County, California. The contributors chronicle how people express profound suspicions of the United Nations, the state, political parties, police, courts, international financial institutions, banks, traders and shopkeepers, media, churches, intellectuals, and the wealthy. Rather than focusing on the veracity of these convictions, "Transparency and Conspiracy" investigates who believes what and why. It makes a compelling argument against the dismissal of conspiracy theories and occult cosmologies as antimodern, irrational oversimplifications, showing how these beliefs render the world more complex by calling attention to its contradictions and proposing alternative ways of understanding it.
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Contributors." Misty Bastian, Karen McCarthy Brown, Jean Comaroff, John Comaroff, Susan Harding, Daniel Hellinger, Caroline Humphrey, Laurel Kendall, Todd Sanders, Albert Schrauwers, Kathleen Stewart, Harry G. West

This book is part of a continuing series that explores international political change. The volume focuses on African nation-states, their internal conflicts, and their role in the international arena, and also delves into history, political leadership, rebellion, military conflict, policymaking, and diplomacy in Africa. Topics such as ethnic differences, political corruption, and revolution are discussed against the backdrop of contemporary political life. Recent experiences in Somalia and Rwanda and the United States and the United Nations' intervention in African conflicts are also given particular attention. Rather than attempting to offer definitive solutions to the problems and questions facing Africa today, the work takes a more proactive and informative approach. Co-published with the Miller Center.

This is the third and final volume in the series on American political thought edited by Ronald J. Pestritto and Thomas G. West. The book addresses how the major themes in American political thought_identified in the first two books of the series_have played out in the world of modern American politics. The first volume focused on the founding era, and examined the prevalence of social-compact theory among the founders and implications of that theory for the design of American institutions. The second volume examined the major challenges that nineteenth-century thought posed to the political ideas of the founding, and suggested that these challenges created tensions that would significantly affect the development of American politics in the twentieth century and beyond. In Modern America and the Legacy of the Founding, the authors address these fundamental tensions: how does modern America resolve the inherent conflict between the original constitutional order and the challenges posed by modern liberalism? The authors look at the contemporary effects of this fundamental tension on questions of foreign policy and domestic policy, and on questions of our national political institutions and the ideas that shape them today.

This is the third and final volume in the series on American political thought edited by Ronald J. Pestritto and Thomas G. West. The book addresses how the major themes in American political thought-identified in the first two books of the series-have played out in the world of modern American politics. The first volume focused on the founding era, and examined the prevalence of social-compact theory among the founders and implications of that theory for the design of American institutions. The second volume examined the major challenges that nineteenth-century thought posed to the political ideas of the founding, and suggested that these challenges created tensions that would significantly affect the development of American politics in the twentieth century and beyond. In Modern America and the Legacy of the Founding, the authors address these fundamental tensions: how does modern America resolve the inherent conflict between the original constitutional order and the challenges posed by modern liberalism? The authors look at the contemporary effects of this fundamental tension on questions of foreign policy and domestic policy, and on questions of our national political institutions and the ideas that shape them today.

According to the conventional wisdom of our time, our nation's Founders were guilty of racism, sexism, and elitism. They were hypocrites who failed to live up to their own enlightened principles. The fact that Washington and Jefferson held slaves is taken as definitive proof that they never really believed 'all men are created equal.' It is also widely asserted that women, even after the American Revolution, enjoyed virtually no rights, and that the poor and property-less were denied the basic tenets of democratic participation. Observing that our understanding of the Founders so profoundly influences our opinion of contemporary America, Thomas West demonstrates why the Founders were indeed sincere in their belief of universal human rights and in their commitment to democracy. More importantly, this landmark book explains why their views, and particularly the constitutional order they created, are still worthy of our highest respect. In a straightforward style, West debunks numerous widely held myths about the Founders' political thought. He contrasts the Founders' ideas of liberty and equality with today's, concluding that contemporary notions of liberalism bear almost no resemblance to the concepts originally articulated by the Founders. This controversial, convincing, and highly original book is important reading for everyone concerned about the origins, present, and future of the American experiment in self government.

Responding to the general confusion in the United States about the proper role of religion in politics, five distinguished scholars demonstrate in original essays how our nation's founders carefully and clearly defined the appropriate relationship between church and state, and how we can adapt our current political institutions to reflect the founders' wisdom. Also, includes a collection of the most important statements by the Founders that address religion's role in American political life.

Since the inadequacies of the Industrial Revolution remain a key factor in most critiques of capitalism and individual liberty, Education and the Industrial Revolution makes an important contribution to a better understanding of the period. The book provides a challenge to the educational establishment because it contradicts the long-held view that the Industrial Revolution was a disaster and that only government intervention and 'compulsion' brought the joys of education to people. West's investigations unearthed a large and growing market for education going hand in hand with the rise of industrialism and occurring prior to government intervention. By taking on such issues as supposed educational deficiency, market provision, actual literacy rates, theories of educational reform in the nineteenth century, and the realities of educational intervention, West helps us come to a richer understanding of liberty -- one that is little-known today but every bit as relevant as the day it was written.

Now in its fifteenth printing, In the Mind's Eye has been recognized as a classic in its field. The book still stands alone as a uniquely compelling argument for the great importance of visual thinking and visual technologies as well as the high creative potential of many individuals with dyslexia or other learning difficulties.In this second edition, Thomas G. West reviews a number of recent developments that support and extend the perspectives and expectations originally set forth in the first edition. In addition to the original eleven portraits of famous individuals with learning difficulties (including Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison), he has added brief profiles of two dyslexic scientists known for their ability to generate, in quite different fields, powerful but unexpected innovations and discoveries: William J. Dreyer, a Caltech professor who used his highly visual imagination to see things in molecular biology and immunology well before others; and John R. (Jack) Horner, who flunked out of the University of Montana seven times (requiring letters of support for readmission) but is now known as one of the three most important paleontologists in the world.Recognized as among the "best of the best" by the American Library Association in their broad psychology and neuroscience category, this title belongs on the bookshelves of all educators and anyone with an interest in visual thinking, visual technologies, and highly creative people with learning difficulties.

Mountain man Joe Fox reluctantly led a group of settlers through the Rockies?and into the clutches of Max Starbeau, who traveled with the party until he was able to commit theft and murder?and kidnap Joe's girl. Now, Joe Fox is forging a new trail?of vengeance

Widely adopted for classroom use, this book offers translations of four major works of ancient Greek literature which treat the life and thought of Socrates, focusing particularly on his trial and defense (three dialogues by Plato: Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates, and Crito) and on the charges against Socrates (Aristophanes' comedy Clouds).

This is the only collection of the three Platonic dialogues that also includes Clouds, a work that is fundamental for understanding the thought of Socrates in relation to the Athenian political community and to Greek poetry. Thomas G. West's introduction provides an overview of the principal themes and arguments of the four works. There are extensive explanatory notes to the translations.

In their translations, the Wests capture successfully the simplicity and vigor of straightforward Greek diction. They strive for as high a degree of accuracy as possible, subordinating concerns for elegance and smoothness to the goal of producing the most faithful and most reliable English versions of these texts. For this new edition, Thomas West has revised the introduction and updated the annotated bibliography, which includes the best of the secondary literature on Socrates and on the texts included in this book.