Reviews (5)

American Government
A trully remarkable text book!This text strives where many fail, incommunicating with students from AP level high school to Doctoral studies. Includded are full color diagrams on the political process, governmentalstructure dating back to the 1600s.Also, philisophical viewpoints fromPlato to John Locke.The benefit of the text, is its current up-to-dateinformation on the 'insides' of political views and parties.This textwould assist anyone in learning about our nations history and government.

A practical, basic textbook
This book offers a foundation for political concepts and historic background about the U.S.Using standard survey course format, the author skims the broad topics of government from the core documents, including the Declaration and the Constitution, to the general structures and processesof governing.While I must conclude with a prior reviewer that the writingis unexciting, I have yet to find THE basic government text equivalent of"Democracy - Not 4 Dummies"

Excellent introduction to Politics
American Government covered everything and anything on politics. I could not have asked for a better introduction on politics! It covered everything from the US Constitution to interest groups and the bureaucracy. If you areinterested in politics, but need a simple, solid introduction, this book isfor you! However, I found the book was difficult to read, as it was poorlywritten and tedious at times. Although this book is probably the best introto Government around, do not buy it if you have a short attention span. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. General    3. Political Science    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics/International Relations    6. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    7. USA   

Reviews (3)

A fun quick- read for kids of all ages!
I don't understand why Publishers Weekly gave this book such a poor review. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I do have a few minor criticisms of it that deter me from giving it the 5 stars that perhaps it really deserves. While the majority of the essays are insightful and well-written, a few smack of a wishy-washy liberalism, rather than providing a more radical social analysis. For example, some argue for more government spending for public education, rather than advocating for homeschooling or freeschooling. (To learn more about the homeschooling movement, check out Grace Llewellyn's wonderful book, "The Teenage Liberation Handbook.") Likewise, while there isn't consensus among the young writers about gay marriage, some support it, rather than critiquing marriage and monogamy as oppressive, patriarchal institutions of social control. Moreover, there were not any essays written by young environmentalists, which surprised me, given the enormity of the ecological crisis we are in. Nevertheless, it's encouraging to read essays by activist youth interrogating issues of gender, race, class, disabilty and sexuality. Despite some of its flaws, I highly recommend this book for kids, parents, young adults and progressive youth allies.

Incredible book
this book is well-written, well-organized, and very inspiring!it is crucial to bring forward the voice of young people in this day and age, the people who are so often unheard, but who are actually mobilizing to create radical change.i highly recommend that every parent, organizer, teacher, youth, and anyone who interacts with youth read this book.
Young people are the solution and not the problem
Our society loves to gush about how 'pro-child' it is. Then it places youth in deplorable situations, and becomes surprised when those youth actually want a better deal out of their life. Even among some adult activists there might be a desire to 'protect' youth by doing community organizing for them as opposed to with them.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Essays    3. Political Advocacy    4. Political Science    5. Political activists    6. Political participation    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Protest movements    10. United States    11. Political Science / Civics    12. Political activism   

Reviews (1)

Well written book
This book is a well developed book for those who are learning the basics of politics.The book is very simple to understand, and you will be able to learn alot from it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. General    3. Political Science    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics and government    6. Politics/International Relations    7. United States    8. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    9. Political Science / General    10. USA   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Civics & Citizenship    3. Civil rights    4. Demography    5. Ethnic Issues    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    7. Minority Studies - General    8. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    9. Political Science    10. Politics and government    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Race identity    13. Racially mixed people    14. United States    15. 21st century    16. Census data    17. Ethnic studies    18. Social Science / African-American Studies    19. USA   

Reviews (2)

Subway or Pirogue: a good read either way.
Parents' writing brings clarity to the dizzying discussion of Louisiana politics. He successfully explains how oil & gas, corruption, and coalition building blend together to make such a colorful and unique political culture.
Backstory on the Carnival
This book is a delightful romp of a lesson in state history, civics, law, and political science all rolled into one.Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Government - State & Provincial    3. Political Science    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics/International Relations   

Reviews (7)

"Information War" illuminates failure within the system
"Information War" illuminates the Bush administration's control of information in the post-9/11 era.Though it has been over three years since that event, the propaganda machine is still in full swing.Snow highlights the attack on people's intelligence via scare tactics, the vilification of anyone who disagrees with Bush policies, and the unqualified folks put in charge of selling America and its policies to the world.
Self-Referential work
Ms Snow quotes J Goebbels to the effect that the intellectual content of propaganda need not be high, then continues to demonstrate the same concerning books about propaganda.Her opus
A caustic, keen-eyed, and highly recommended "must-read"
Information War: American Propaganda, Free Speech, And Opinion Control Since 9-11 is a candid and disturbing look at how government and media have used spin control and propaganda to shape popular opinion and guide the nation toward a specific political agenda regardless of dissent since the September 11th attacks. Identifying common propaganda techniques such as card-stacking (selectively quoting facts in order to build a case against an opponent that ignores the whole truth of situations the facts refer to), labelling, bandwagon appeal (building support for an idea by perpetuating the sentiment that "everybody" is in favor of it) and much more, it goes on to spot these techniques used in recent quotes from individuals and spokespeople in the turbulent and often militaristic speeches since the attacks. A caustic, keen-eyed, and highly recommended "must-read" for anyone seeking to understand what is really going on underneath recent American rhetoric.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. General    3. Individual And The State    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Sociology    7. History / United States / 20th Century    8. Propaganda   

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Civil society    3. Democracy    4. Government - U.S. Government    5. Political Ideologies - Democracy    6. Political Science    7. Political participation    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Politics/International Relations    10. United States    11. Human rights    12. Political structures: democracy    13. Public opinion & polls    14. USA   

Reviews (74)

An ancient vision of totalitarianism
In The Republic Plato presents his vision of the ideal state. This ideal state is almost totally and completely incompatible with modern western parliamentary democracy. Indeed, Plato could be considered the founding father of totalitarianism in the west. Incidentally, the title of this work has been mistranslated over the centuries as The Republic. A more accurate translation of the ancient Greek would have been "The State".
Neverending debate
I did not plan to say the thing about translation of Plato's work as it is given here. The reason for that decision is quite simple. I did not, in fact, read this translation. So I wouldn't know what to think of it. I'll just say few words about The Republic" in general and then I'll be off. Plato's bargain
I won't waste time trying to summarize Plato's "The Republic". Most people (I would guess nine out of ten) who have read this colussus of classical philosophy, read it because they were forced to by their college instructors. This is unfortunate because "The Republic" is a compelling and enduring philosophy of how life should be lived, how justice should be approached, and how leaders should lead.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Early works to 1800    3. History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Literature: Classics    6. Political Theory    7. Political science    8. Utopias    9. Political Science / Civics   

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Community development    3. Government - U.S. Government    4. Political Process - Elections    5. Political Science    6. Political participation    7. Politics / Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Social exchange    10. Central government policies    11. Education    12. Elections & referenda    13. Political Science / Civics    14. Political Science and International Relations    15. Sociology   

Reviews (28)

Relevant

Fabulous
This edition should be a must read for all.
Democracy in America
In truth I haven't read the book as of yet, however, it was purchased to read De Torqueville thoughts of democracy and how both countries could profess democracy and uphold slavery.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Democracy    3. General    4. History    5. History: American    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics and government    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Social conditions    10. U.S. History - Antebellum Period (1840-1860)    11. United States    12. United States - Colonial Period    13. United States - General    14. History / United States / General    15. Political structures: democracy    16. Social history    17. USA    18. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. General    3. Political Science    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Political ideologies    7. Political structures: democracy    8. USA   

Editorial Review

Jedediah Purdy is only in his mid-20s, but there are times when, working your way through Purdy's precisely crafted sentences, you would swear that the author is an old man. The problem with the world today, Purdy says, is that too many of us have withdrawn from it. "Often it begins in ironic avoidance," he writes, "the studied refusal to trust or hope openly. Elsewhere it comes from reckless credulity, the embrace of a tissue of illusions bound together by untested hope." He urges a revitalization of the notion of public responsibility, "the active preservation of things that we must hold in common or, eventually, lose altogether." Purdy is well aware that politics, the most visible of the public arenas, is nowadays regarded as a training ground for opportunists and hypocrites. But he insists that if we invest our lives with a dignity rooted in "the harmony of commitment, knowledge, and work," even politics might be restored.Read more

Reviews (79)

Interesting
The ideas in this book are very interesting and give words to the subconscious and formerly unspoken idea of social apathy - in the form of Purdy's ironists.These observations, while not original, are quite well discussed.Purdy is an exemplary expository writer, discussing various very complicated ideas, and addressing in words the emotional undertone of American society.My only criticism is that it is very apparent that Purdy grew up in a small town, in a pastoral farm setting in West Virginia, and was home-schooled.Detachment from the "normal" American experience gives him an outsider's perspective; while I can appreciate his passion against strip-mining for coal in West-Virginia, I can't related.He misses the very relevant reality of American life.Furthermore, I find something ironic in an ivy-league lawyer writing about the American experience of social apathy when his idyllic rearing experience was far removed from the average American's more provincial or urban upbringing.Rather, Purdy comes across as somewhat of an ivy-league elitist that is pedantic in his opinions and naive in his view (but, I mean that in a good way).Understand, that to criticize this book is my highest form of flattery. I am not at all bashing Purdy.I wholly recommend reading this book and encourage more of this form of expression.

The idea of personal responsibility
It is misguided to focus on the academic and family history of Jedediah Purdy when reviewing this book.It is also wrong to assign him any particular political position, as this book does not focus on partisan issues, but is rather a call to embrace what is common and good in all people, and can be thus interpreted from both liberal and conservative viewpoints.I found that the most important and relevantidea I took away from this book was Mr. Purdy's call to personal responsibility in your actions towards yourself, towards your neighbors and towards humanity as a whole.Most of the book focuses on how we as individuals and as a nation have become irresponsible and disillusioned, and discusses the reasons why this has happened.The center of his thought though, is personal responsibility.He asserts that by living responsibly, we become aware of the consequences of our actions, and will accordingly try to live in a way that does more good than harm to ourselves and our communities.Although his writing has many flaws, I thought that this idea was so interesting and so overlooked by other thinkers, that I would recommend this book to anyone.

Something to think about
A good look at the state of our communities and how the deterioration of the traditional community has led to a lack of responsibility when it comes to the use of our natural resources. An important book. It opened me up to some new ideas about what we're doing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Civics & Citizenship    3. Current Affairs    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Sociology - General    7. Philosophy / Modern    8. Political science & theory    9. USA   

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    3. Philosophy    4. Political    5. Political ethics    6. Political science    7. United States    8. Philosophy / Political    9. Social & political philosophy    10. USA   

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. General    3. Political Science    4. Politics - Current Events    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Political Science / General    8. Political structure & processes    9. USA   

Reviews (2)

Cohered by a Disengagement with Citizenship and Sovereignty
Jeffery M. Berry's study makes the case that congressional policy has shifted from responding to material concerns of economic equality to responding to "postmaterial" or what he calls "quality-of-life" concerns. He traces the path of legislative initiatives in congress during sessions coinciding with the years 1963, 1979, and 1991. He attributes the rise of postmaterialism as a policy motive to the actions of what he calls "citizen groups." He claims that the investigative value of postmaterialism is that it "challenges our common notions of liberal and conservative. [49]" Liberalism, of which a "new" incarnation lends the titular impetus to Berry's work, is seldom defined directly. Rather it is reified in absentia, as the definitional agency behind the result of Berry's study. By exploring another curiously ill-defined term, that of the "citizen group," as a "lobbying organization," I hope to arrive at a clearer understanding of the author's deployment of liberalism.
An Important Work On The Influence Of Grassroots Groups
Jeffrey Berry shows why reports of the demise of the progressive wing of the political Left are greatly exaggerated. In this book, he explains how an expanding coalition of grassroots-oriented activist groups is building steam and coming to dominate debates about regulatory issues in Washington. He also addresses reasons why conservative groups encounter difficulty when attempting to address this phenomenon.Read more

Subjects:  1. American    2. Civics & Citizenship    3. Current Affairs    4. Lobbying    5. Political    6. Political Process - General    7. Political participation    8. Political planning    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Pressure groups    12. U.S. Lobbies And Interest Groups    13. United States    14. Constitution: government & the state    15. Human rights    16. Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies    17. Pressure groups & lobbying    18. USA   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Civics & Citizenship    3. Education    4. Employment    5. Government - U.S. Government    6. History    7. Military - Veterans    8. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Retired military personnel    13. Social aspects    14. United States    15. United States - 20th Century    16. Veterans    17. World War, 1939-1945    18. Civil rights & citizenship    19. Military life & institutions    20. Other warfare & defence issues    21. Political Science / Civics    22. Politics | American Politics | History & Politics    23. USA   

Reviews (21)

Seriously biased
Beresford tries to explain away his lack of sources by referring to this book as a work of journalism, not history.If this is the type of journalism Mr. Beresford practices, it's about high time he be employed by the Fox News channel or by Michael Moore.Very biased, writing almost entirely from the prisoners' point of view.I don't believe there is anything wrong with writing from their point of view, however, I disagree with trying to present it as "journalism."Nevertheless, this is a fascinating peek into the mind of the IRA and why they do things the way they do.

History or historical fiction?
I read this book as a text for a class I took about resistance movements. (I have my own views on the Irish question, but this is not the appropriate place to express them.) This book was certainly interesting, ..., the author dropped the ball in some places, leaving some holes in the narrative. Because of these gaps, this book was not the easiest to read. In addition, it was difficult for me to keep various groups and individuals straight throughout the book. A glossary and a list of characters would have been useful. The 1981 Hunger Strike
Ten Men Dead is an inside look on how the British govenment's criminalizational policy failed and how it will continue to fail.In 1976 the British Government ended what was known as "Special Category Status" simply an official Prisoner of War status for paramilitary detainees arrested prior to that time and implemented a policy of "Criminalization". This meant new political detainees would no longer be granted the POW status but be treated as common criminals. They would be incarcerated in the infamous "H-Blocks" at LongKesh known as the Maze. An escalating series of protests began: Refusal to wear prison uniforms. TheBlanket Men.The No-wash Protest and finally the Hunger Strike. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. General    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Political Repression    6. Political Science   

Reviews (2)

very fast shipment!
not only did i receive this item very quickly but the book was in excellent condition. thanks!

OK book
This book gives great info but is very dry.It is hard not to fall asleep reading this.I have read other government text books that were very interesting that I enjoyed reading, so I don't think it was the subject that was boring.If you want to learn Texas Government then this is a good book but check to see if there are any that are more interesting. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1951-    2. Civics & Citizenship    3. General    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics and government    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Texas    9. Textbooks    10. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    11. Political Science / General   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Citizenship    2. Nationalism    3. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Public Policy - Social Policy    8. Civil rights & citizenship    9. Political Science / Civics    10. Political science & theory   

Subjects:  1. Civics & Citizenship    2. Government - General    3. Political Science    4. Politics / Current Events    5. Politics and government    6. Politics/International Relations    7. U.S. Government (General)    8. United States    9. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    10. Political Science / General    11. USA