The South played a prominent role in early American history, and its position was certainly strong and proud except for the "peculiar institution" of slavery. Thus, it drew away from the rest of an expanding nation, and in 1861 declared secession and developed a Confederacy... that ultimately lost the war. Indeed, for some time it was occupied. Thus, the South has a very mixed legacy, with good and bad aspects, and sometimes the two of them mixed. Which only enhances the need for a careful and balanced approach. This can be found in the Historical Dictionary of the Old South, which first traces its history from colonial times to the end of the Civil War in a substantial chronology. Particularly interesting is the introduction, which analyzes the rise and the fall, the good and the bad, as well as the middling and indifferent, over nigh on two centuries. The details are filled in very amply in over 600 dictionary entries on the politics, economy, society and culture of the Old South. An ample bibliography directs students and researchers toward other sources of information.

Being considerably different from other regions of the country, most notably regarding its fervent practice of slavery, the land south of the Mason-Dixon line, because of slavery, enjoyed an exceptional prominence in politics, and after the invention of the cotton gin, a high degree of prosperity. However, also because of slavery, it was alienated from the rest of the nation, attempted to secede from the union, and was forced back in only after it lost the Civil War. Numerous cross-referenced entries on prominent individuals, including Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, as well as others on policies of the time that have since slipped into oblivion are all covered in this book. Economic, social and religious backgrounds trace the seemingly inevitable path to secession, war, and defeat. This reference also includes an introductory essay, a chronology, and a bibliography of the epoch.

Approaches to Political Thought raises three important questions concerning traditional political thought: (1) Why study the political writings and ideas of Plato, Machiavelli, and other long-dead writers? (2) Who among the writers, and which of their works, are worth studying? (3) How should they be studied? The book then explores ten contemporary approaches to understanding political thought and the diverse answers to these questions. The approaches covered include those of Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt, Eric Voegelin, Sheldon Wolin, the Cambridge School (Quentin Skinner and J.G.A. Pocock), Psychobiography, Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School (Herbert Marcuse and Jurgen Habermas), Hermeneutics (Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer), Michel Foucault, and Feminist Criticism (Susan Moller Okin and Jean Elshtain). Each chapter includes an introductory essay and edited selections that illustrate or discuss that approach. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and suggestions for further exploration, including books, articles, and web sites. This exploration of contending contemporary approaches to political thought touches upon ongoing methodological and philosophical issues that are relevant to several academic disciplines, including political science, history, philosophy, and psychology.

Approaches to Political Thought raises three important questions concerning traditional political thought: (1) Why study the political writings and ideas of Plato, Machiavelli, and other long-dead writers? (2) Who among the writers, and which of their works, are worth studying? (3) How should they be studied? The book then explores ten contemporary approaches to understanding political thought and the diverse answers to these questions. The approaches covered include those of Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt, Eric Voegelin, Sheldon Wolin, the Cambridge School (Quentin Skinner and J.G.A. Pocock), Psychobiography, Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School (Herbert Marcuse and JYrgen Habermas), Hermeneutics (Paul Ricoeur and Hans-Georg Gadamer), Michel Foucault, and Feminist Criticism (Susan Moller Okin and Jean Elshtain). Each chapter includes an introductory essay and edited selections that illustrate or discuss that approach. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and suggestions for further exploration, including books, articles, and web sites. This exploration of contending contemporary approaches to political thought touches upon ongoing methodological and philosophical issues that are relevant to several academic disciplines, including political science, history, philosophy, and psychology.

In their second edition of Combating Corruption, Encouraging Ethics, William L. Richter and Frances Burke update this essential staple to delve deeply into the unique ethical problems of twenty-first century public administration. Wide-ranging readings from Aristotle and Kant to John Kennedy and John T. Noonan provide initiation into the philosophical basis of ethics as virtue, consequence, principle, and responsibility, while new case studies drawn from today's headlines join old classics from the previous edition to help students apply ethical foundations to a modern administrative career. New chapters on privacy, secrecy, and confidentiality and the changing boundaries of public administration consider the consequences of computerization and globalization, two of this century's greatest challenges. By seamlessly melding theory with practice, Richter and Burke have created a key resource in educating future public administrators on the ethical problems associated with corruption, deception, evasion of accountability, and the abuse of authority. Open-ended examples and discussion questions encourage students to understand the complexity of administrative ethics and the need for careful thought in their day-to-day decisions. Combating Corruption, Encouraging Ethics offers both the depth demanded by graduate courses in administrative ethics and the accessibility necessary for an undergraduate introduction to public administration.

This book explores the interconnection between geopolitical context and the ways this context frames our knowledge about Asia, highlighting previously neglected cause-effect relations. It also examines how various knowledge institutions promote and shape Asian Studies. The authors seek to explain why Asian Studies and its subfields developed in the way they did, and what the implications of these transformations might be on intellectual and political understandings of Asia. The book not only builds on the current debates on the decolonization and de-imperialization of knowledge about Asia; it also proposes a more multifaceted view rather than just examining the impact of the West on the framing of Asian Studies.

From Richard Lawrence to John Wilkes Booth to John Hinckley, Jr., Americans have preferred their presidential assassins, whether failed or successful, to be more or less crazy. Seemingly, this absolves us of having to wonder where the American experiment might have gone wrong.

John Wilkes Booth has been no exception to this rule. But was he?

In a new, provocative study comprising three essays, historian William L. Richter delves into the psyche of Booth and finds him far from insane. Beginning with a modern, less adulating interpretation of President Abraham Lincoln, Richter is the first scholar to examine Booth's few known, often unfinished speeches and essays to draw a realistic mind-picture of the man who intensely believed in common American political theories of his day, and acted violently to carry them out during the time of America's greatest war.