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Protecting the natural environment and promoting sustainability
have become important objectives, but achieving such goals presents
myriad challenges for even the most committed environmentalist.
American Environmentalism: Philosophy, History, and Public Policy
examines whether competing interests can be reconciled while
developing consistent, coherent, effective public policy to
regulate uses and protection of the natural environment without
destroying the national economy. It then reviews a range of
possible solutions. The book delves into key normative concepts
that undergird American perspectives on nature by providing an
overview of philosophical concepts found in the western
intellectual tradition, the presuppositions inherent in
neoclassical economics, and anthropocentric (human-centered) and
biocentric (earth-centered) positions on sustainability. It traces
the evolution of attitudes about nature from the time of the
Ancient Greeks through Europeans in the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the American Founders, the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and up to the present. Building
on this foundation, the author examines the political landscape as
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry leaders, and
government officials struggle to balance industrial development
with environmental concerns. Outrageous claims, silly
misrepresentations, bogus arguments, absurd contentions, and
overblown prophesies of impending calamities are bandied about by
many parties on all sides of the debate-industry spokespeople,
elected representatives, unelected regulators, concerned citizens,
and environmental NGOs alike. In lieu of descending into this
morass, the author circumvents the silliness to explore the crucial
issues through a more focused, disciplined approach. Rather than
engage in acrimonious debate over minutiae, as so often occurs in
the context of "green" claims, he recasts the issue in a way that
provides a cohesive look at all sides. This effort may be quixotic,
but how else to cut the Gordian knot?
Libertines seeks to understand why public figures sometimes take
extraordinary risks, sullying their good names, humiliating their
families, placing themselves in legal jeopardy, and potentially
destroying their political careers as they seek to gratify their
sexual desires. From Hamilton to Trump and the many in between,
each case of sexual misconduct in this book shows the seamy side of
political lives, with calculations about covering discretions or
portraying them favorably occurring only after the fact.
A suite of poems that channels the life of the legendary
singer-songwriter Ritchie Valens to examine and question
mid-twentieth-century conceptions of race and art, identity and
sexuality Ragged and raging across the spectrums of cognition,
race, and gender, Tarta Americana lyrically envisions forms of
survival outside neuronormative perceptions and histories. Against
the recent tide of white nationalism in the United States, Tarta
Americana finds a rhinestone in Ritchie Valens, the rock and roll
legend, surfacing across time and bodies, genders and sounds,
displacing the linear unfolding of desire and biography. Valens,
the embodiment of corporeal transcendence, guides Martinez as he
expresses his own neurodiversity, his struggles and triumphs,
interrogating AI, history, gender, and race, traversing pain in
search of compassion and joy. Tarta Americana, tarred and
glittering, melodic in its screams, overdrives text and space in
chase of American politics that could, at last, harmonize love with
redemption.
The Congress of the United States operates in the shadow of the
American presidency, which can make the legislative branch appear
less important than the executive in our constitutional system of
government. And yet Congress is a co-equal branch of government,
deriving its powers from Article I of the United States
Constitution. Love it or hate it, the institution is a source of
incredible power. It behooves all Americans to learn more about
Congress. Although a single slender volume cannot provide
information on all there is to know about Congress, it can begin
the journey. In Congressional Giants, political scientist J.
Michael Martinez explores the careers and achievements of 14
influential leaders of Congress-men who either held formal
positions within the chambers of Congress, such as speaker of the
House of Representatives or Senate majority leader, or who served
on important committees--to determine how they shaped the course of
American history.
Getting married should be one of the pinnacles of our lives, and
developing a lasting relationship should be the main goal. Marriage
is more than merely living together--it is living as one. But to
live as one, every marriage needs the necessary tools such as:
having the right person, being in the right position, using the
right language, and developing the right relationship in order for
us to stay together for a lifetime.
Marriage: Until Death Do Us Part begins with the story of a
marriage in crisis and a wife who has reached her breaking point.
De'Borah Sarrmon should have celebrated fifteen years of marital
bliss, but instead, she found herself saying the one thing she
vowed never to say, "Isaia I want a divorce."
In his award-winning first book, J. Michael Martinez reenvisions
Latino poetics and its current conceptions of cultural identity. In
Heredities, he opens a historically ravaged continental body
through a metaphysical dissection into Being and silence. The hand
manipulates a surgical etymology through the spine: the longitude
where ""history gathers in the name we never are."" The poems seek
to speak beyond codified aesthetics and dictated identity politics
in order to recognise a territory of ""irreducible otherness""
where the self's sinew may be ""reeved through revelation"" and
where, finally, one finds ""obscurity bonded to light."" This
stunning collection heralds the arrival of an important new voice
in American poetry.
In some places, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a social fraternity
whose members enjoyed sophomoric hijinks and homemade liquor. In
other areas, the KKK was a paramilitary group intent on keeping
former slaves away from white women and Republicans away from
ballot boxes. South Carolina saw the worst Klan violence and, in
1871, President Grant sent federal troops under the command of
Major Lewis Merrill to restore law and order. Merrill did not
eradicate the Klan, but they arguably did more than any other
person or entity to expose the identity of the Invisible Empire as
a group of hooded, brutish, homegrown terrorists. In compiling
evidence to prosecute the leading Klansmen and by restoring at
least a semblance of order to South Carolina, Merrill and his men
demonstrated that the portrayal of the KKK as a chivalric
organization was at best a myth, and at worst a lie. This is the
story of the rise and fall of the Reconstruction-era Klan, focusing
especially on Major Merrill and the Seventh Cavalry's efforts to
expose the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan to the light of day.
This illustrated collection of essays examines the controversy
surrounding the use and display of Confederate symbols in the
modern South. Prominent scholars from many disciplines explore the
battle between pro-Confederate-symbol forces (traditionalists) and
anti-Confederate-symbol forces (reconstructionists) as they
struggle to reconcile the values and customs of a racially
conservative Old South and a racially liberal New South. Should the
Confederate battle flag continue to fly atop a state capitol dome,
or does this ""official"" display violate the constitutional rights
of some citizens? Should Confederate flags and monuments be removed
completely from the landscape? Should public funds be used to
maintain Confederate monuments on courthouse lawns, traffic
islands, and public facilities? These are a few of the questions
addressed in this collection.
Congressional Pathfinders: "First" Members of Congress and How They
Shaped American History discusses those men and women whose service
in the United States Congress, as improbable as it was, marked a
turning point in history. To be the first black American or the
first woman to serve in a largely white, male-dominated institution
requires a level of moral courage seldom found in ordinary people.
To be openly gay, to subscribe to the Muslim faith in a nation
often fearful and ignorant of Islam, or to navigate the hallways of
power with physical disabilities is to be cognizant of one's
separateness. To be an "other" is to feel the stigma of that
difference, and yet to persevere is to forge a path for later
generations of others to follow. The service of these courageous
men and women forever changed Congress and, by extension, the
nation: they truly were congressional pathfinders. Nancy Pelosi,
Daniel Inouye, Margaret Chase Smith, Shirley Chisholm, Ilhan Omar,
and Hillary Clinton are among the many figures profiled in
Congressional Pathfinders.
In some periods of American history, members of the legislative
branch have been as influential, and sometimes more influential,
than a particular president in crafting public policy and reacting
to world events. Congressional Lions examines twelve influential
members of Congress throughout American history to understand their
role in shaping the life of the nation. The book does not focus
exclusively on the biographical details of these lawmakers,
although biography invariably plays a role in recalling their
triumphs and tragedies. Instead, the book highlights members’
legislative accomplishments as well as the circumstances
surrounding their congressional service.
“Scandal,” defined as an action or event causing public outrage
and regarded as morally or legally reprehensible by the standards
and mores of the time, has been a part of the US political
landscape since the founding of the republic. Americans prefer to
think that their public officials’ misbehavior as the exception
rather than the rule, but the record of political corruption and
coverups, spanning the entire history of the United States, is too
lengthy to suggest that these actions are uncommon occurrences,
merely freakish outliers to be discounted as “black swan”
events. Strongly associated with the concept of scandal is a
“scoundrel,” defined as a dishonest or disreputable person.
According to this definition, a scoundrel is someone who engages in
dishonest behavior, eventually leading to the loss of a good
reputation. Scoundrels: Political Scandals in American History is
about scoundrels who were caught in scandals, specifically
political scandals. Often the original behavior was outrageous, but
the subsequent cover-up is worse. The 1972 Watergate break-in, for
example, may have been a “third-rate burglary”—although that
point is debatable—but the Nixon administration’s attempted
coverup led to impeachment proceedings and the president’s
resignation. Political corruption almost always stems from
calculations of self-interest before, during, and after the fact.
The calculations may be legally and ethically misguided, factually
inaccurate, and/or blind to political realities, but nonetheless
they are almost always deliberate and premeditated. Political
corruption can involve lone individuals acting on their own accord
or they can implicate systemic corruption with a large group,
sometimes within a presidential administration. Scoundrels:
Political Scandals in American History examines 13 of the most
famous (or infamous) and not-so-famous scandals in American
history, including the Teapot Dome case from the 1920s, the
Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s, the Iran-Contra
affair of the 1980s, and Russian interference in the 2016
elections.
In some periods of American history, members of the legislative
branch have been as influential, and sometimes more influential,
than a particular president in crafting public policy and reacting
to world events. Congressional Lions examines twelve influential
members of Congress throughout American history to understand their
role in shaping the life of the nation. The book does not focus
exclusively on the biographical details of these lawmakers,
although biography invariably plays a role in recalling their
triumphs and tragedies. Instead, the book highlights members'
legislative accomplishments as well as the circumstances
surrounding their congressional service.
Protecting the natural environment and promoting environmental
sustainability have become important objectives for U.S.
policymakers and public administrators at the dawn of the
twenty-first century. Institutions of American government,
especially at the federal level, and the public administrators who
work inside of those institutions, play a crucial role in
developing and implementing environmental sustainability policies.
This book explores these salient issues logically. First, it
explores fundamental concepts such as what it means to be
environmentally sustainable, how economic issues affect
environmental policy, and the philosophical schools of thought
about what policies ought to be considered sustainable. From there,
it focuses on processes and institutions affecting public
administration and its role in the policy process. Accordingly, it
summarizes the rise of the administrative state in the United
States and then reviews the development of federal environmental
laws and policies with an emphasis on late twentieth century
developments. This book also discusses the evolution of American
environmentalism by outlining the history of the environmental
movement and the growth of the environmental lobby. Finally, this
book synthesizes the information to discuss how public
administration can promote environmental sustainability.
Protecting the natural environment and promoting environmental
sustainability have become important objectives for U.S.
policymakers and public administrators at the dawn of the
twenty-first century. Institutions of American government,
especially at the federal level, and the public administrators who
work inside of those institutions, play a crucial role in
developing and implementing environmental sustainability policies.
This book explores these salient issues logically. First, it
explores fundamental concepts such as what it means to be
environmentally sustainable, how economic issues affect
environmental policy, and the philosophical schools of thought
about what policies ought to be considered sustainable. From there,
it focuses on processes and institutions affecting public
administration and its role in the policy process. Accordingly, it
summarizes the rise of the administrative state in the United
States and then reviews the development of federal environmental
laws and policies with an emphasis on late twentieth century
developments. This book also discusses the evolution of American
environmentalism by outlining the history of the environmental
movement and the growth of the environmental lobby. Finally, this
book synthesizes the information to discuss how public
administration can promote environmental sustainability.
This fascinating book recounts the compelling stories behind 14 of
the most important criminal procedure cases in American legal
history. Many constitutional protections that Americans take for
granted today-the right to exclude illegally obtained evidence, the
right to government-financed counsel, and the right to remain
silent, among others-were not part of the original Bill of Rights,
but were the result of criminal trials and judicial
interpretations. The untold stories behind these cases reveal
circumstances far more interesting than any legal dossier can
evoke. Author J. Michael Martinez provides a brief introduction to
the drama and intrigue behind 14 leading court cases in American
law. This engaging text presents a short summary of high-profile
legal proceedings from the late 19th century through recent times
and includes key landmark cases in which the court established the
parameters of probable cause for searches, the features of due
process, and the legality of electronic surveillance. The work
offers concise explanations and analysis of the facts as well as
the lasting significance of the cases to criminal procedure.
Includes 20 photographs of key participants and scenes Explains
legal principles through engaging, jargon-free prose Connects the
importance of the cases to constitutional criminal procedure
Explores the impact of Supreme Court decisions
This volume establishes a foundation for a uniform code of
professional ethics for public administrators in the United States.
Public Administration Ethics for the 21st Century lays the ethical
foundations for a uniform professional code of ethics for public
administrators, civil servants, and non-profit administrators in
the US. Martinez synthesizes five disparate schools of ethical
thought as to how public administrators can come to know the good
and behave in ways that advance the values of citizenship, equity,
and public interest within their respective organizations. Using
case studies, he teaches American administrators how to combine the
approaches of all five schools to evaluate and resolve complex
ethical dilemmas within the constraints of the U.S. democratic
values set. Martinez enunciates the common ethical principles that
guide public administrators in their practice within the specific
ethical parameters and organizational cultures of a myriad entities
at the federal, state, and local levels of government in the United
States, as well as in non-profit organizations. Along the way,
Martinez addresses a number of crucial issues, including personal
gain, conflict of interest, transparency, democratic impartiality,
hiring, hierarchical discipline, media relations, partisan
pressure, appointments by elected officials, and whistle-blowing.
The striking, high-profile case studies—Nathan Bedford Forrest,
Adolph Eichmann, Lieutenant William Calley, and Mary Ann
Wright—illustrate ethical dilemmas where, for better or worse,
the individual was at odds with the organization.
In some places, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a social fraternity
whose members enjoyed sophomoric hijinks and homemade liquor. In
other areas, the KKK was a paramilitary group intent on keeping
former slaves away from white women and Republicans away from
ballot boxes. South Carolina saw the worst Klan violence and, in
1871, President Grant sent federal troops under the command of
Major Lewis Merrill to restore law and order. Merrill did not
eradicate the Klan, but they arguably did more than any other
person or entity to expose the identity of the Invisible Empire as
a group of hooded, brutish, homegrown terrorists. In compiling
evidence to prosecute the leading Klansmen and by restoring at
least a semblance of order to South Carolina, Merrill and his men
demonstrated that the portrayal of the KKK as a chivalric
organization was at best a myth, and at worst a lie. This is the
story of the rise and fall of the Reconstruction-era Klan, focusing
especially on Major Merrill and the Seventh Cavalry's efforts to
expose the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan to the light of day.
Through lyrical procedures of self-immolation, this brave new
collection by J. Michael Martinez interrogates the sundry roles
language, myth, and sexuality play for the self and the other in
the recoverable and irrecoverable past. Parallel to his
award-winning first collection Heredities, J. Michael Martinez
pushes the boundaries of poetic form, wedding historically
oppositional lyrical traditions to deliver a collection unlike any
other. Turning the page into a visual field, as in the
deconstructed musical score telling the tale of La Llorona, In the
Garden of the Bridehouse questions the line between visual art and
poetry. The work employs the vernacular, the stylized language of
theory, and the blank canvas of the page in its exploration of the
known and unknowable. Throughout the work, Martinez paradoxically
exercises both a lyrical minimalism and a baroque poetic, uniting
Mesoamerican preconquest imaginary with the sensuality of the
Biblical Song of Songs, cultivating a lyrical space wherein
contrasting potentials are-as one-realized in their shared promise.
This volume establishes a foundation for a uniform code of
professional ethics for public administrators in the United States.
Public Administration Ethics for the 21st Century lays the ethical
foundations for a uniform professional code of ethics for public
administrators, civil servants, and non-profit administrators in
the US. Martinez synthesizes five disparate schools of ethical
thought as to how public administrators can come to know the good
and behave in ways that advance the values of citizenship, equity,
and public interest within their respective organizations. Using
case studies, he teaches American administrators how to combine the
approaches of all five schools to evaluate and resolve complex
ethical dilemmas within the constraints of the U.S. democratic
values set. Martinez enunciates the common ethical principles that
guide public administrators in their practice within the specific
ethical parameters and organizational cultures of a myriad entities
at the federal, state, and local levels of government in the United
States, as well as in non-profit organizations. Along the way,
Martinez addresses a number of crucial issues, including personal
gain, conflict of interest, transparency, democratic impartiality,
hiring, hierarchical discipline, media relations, partisan
pressure, appointments by elected officials, and whistle-blowing.
The striking, high-profile case studies-Nathan Bedford Forrest,
Adolph Eichmann, Lieutenant William Calley, and Mary Ann
Wright-illustrate ethical dilemmas where, for better or worse, the
individual was at odds with the organization. Four cases of ethical
and unethical decision making in context-Nathan Bedford Forrest,
William Calley, Adolf Eichmann, and Mary Anne Wright-who resigned
in protest over the 2003 invasion of Iraq Six figures depicting the
process of ethical decision making within a public organization An
extensive bibliography listing of the major sources on
administrative ethics in print and online An index of key thinkers
and theories involving administrative ethics
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