Politics Government Books

The book arrived quicker than I expected, and in excellent condition. Very good service. It is important for my collection, and necessary to a grass-roots effort I'm involved in with others in Jackson County, AL-- the goal of cleaning out corruption in local government. Today Jackson County, tomorrow the State of Alabama, then on to Washington, D.C. When all that is cleaned up, I will have been in Heaven a long time, but my grandchildren may be able to live free!

John Locke (1632-1704) wrote "Second Treatise of Government" in 1690, it was the main political philosophical source that our "Founding Fathers" went to in writing the "Declaration of Independence" and in forming our government. I think you should know something of Locke to understand what influenced his thinking. His father was a small landowner, attorney, Puritan and his political sympathies were with the Cromwell Parliament. Like Hobbes, Locke attended Oxford Univ. and did not think much about the curriculum or his professors. Most of his education came from reading books in the Univ. library. Renee Descartes and Sir Isaac Newton's writings greatly influenced Locke. Like Hobbes, he took a tutoring job teaching the son of the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, and traveled Europe. His friendship with the Earl was beneficial in obtaining government appointments. During the political unrest in England, (1679-83) he fled to Holland because his liberal notions put him at odds with the government.

Locke writes the "Second Treatise of Government" to justify the Revolt of 1688 and the ascension of William of Orange to the English throne. The book argues against two lines of absolutist ideas. The first is Sir Robert Filmer's "patriarchal theory of divine right of kings; secondly, Hobbes argument for the sovereign's absolute power in his book "Leviathan." Locke argues that government emanates from the people. Locke's treatise rests like other political writings on its interpretation of human nature. He sees our nature opposite the way Hobbes did, decent and not as selfish or competitive. Man is more inclined to join society through reason and not fear. Man prefers stability to change.

His very important contribution to "law of nature" theory was his bias toward individualism. In state of nature, before government, men were free independent, equal enjoying inalienable rights "chief among them being life, liberty, and property." Where have you read that before? Property rights receive much attention in this treatise. Locke argues that government based on consent of man can still preserve freedom independence and equality.

His political writing had immediate influence in the world and influenced our founding fathers in their struggle against tyranny. He is an excellent writer and his theories are easy to understand by the laymen. As a graduate student of political philosophy, I recommend if you have an interest in politics, philosophy, or government then you must read Locke's "Second Treatise of Government"

Most people cannot remember when their childhood ended. I, on the other hand, have a crystal-clear memory of that moment. It happened one night, in the summer of 1966 when my elementary school headmaster hanged himself. I was twelve years old."

Moying Li's headmaster is the first casualty of the Cultural Revolution in her memoir, SNOW FALLING IN SPRING. Written with clarity and eloquence, Li's story is about the difficulty of being separated from the people and places she loves. It is also about the solace she finds in banned books and forbidden education during those years of darkness.

SNOW FALLING IN SPRING begins with a brief overview of the events leading up to the Cultural Revolution. After a struggle to repel Japanese invaders, China was divided by civil war. The fighting finally ended with the founding of The People's Republic of China. Some of Li's earliest memories involve melting down household goods for the Great Leap Forward, which was a plan for China to catch up and compete with the industrialized world. It was not a success. The failure of industrial and agricultural policies led to widespread famine. Her father's struggle to understand what happened introduces one of the overarching themes of the book: the redemptive power of education. "'Ignorance,'" her father tells her as he stays up late reading each night, "'that's our enemy. In the future we need to educate ourselves.'"

Li is sent to a special school for learning foreign languages. But her education is repeatedly interrupted by the political turmoil, including the Chinese Cultural Revolution, "a political movement initiated by Mao Zedong.... characterized by political zealotry, purges of intellectuals, and social and economic chaos."

Li's teachers are denounced by zealous students who dress in army uniforms and swear their loyalty to Chairman Mao, the architect of the cultural purge. One of the central features of the Cultural Revolution was "reeducation," in which people were sent to labor camps to help purify the pollution of Western influences and a bourgeois (privileged, middle-class) lifestyle. Li's father, previously a writer of film scripts, spent most of the Cultural Revolution in a labor camp cleaning out pig stys. Like many teenagers during this time period, Li's cousin is also a candidate for reeducation. She is sent to live in a mountain village in Mongolia, subsistence farming with peasants.

During this time it became dangerous to criticize the government. The offense that leads to Li's father's imprisonment is a stray comment made while having difficulty cutting out a picture of Chairman Mao. "'It's like cutting meat with a dull knife,'" he jokes. But any comment or opinion can easily be taken out of context to denounce co-workers and neighbors. SNOW FALLING IN SPRING is filled with scenes of people being denounced for equally minor offenses. Schoolmates turn on each other, friends become enemies, and people are forced to denounce their own family members in the hopes of protecting themselves.

The relationships that remain sustaining in this environment of suspicion become all the more poignant. Li's Lao Lao (grandmother) is a foundation of strength and generosity throughout the book. Li also has a remarkable number of dedicated teachers, many of whom form the membership for her secret reading club. Li's father sends her a reading list from labor camp with instructions on where to find the banned books on the list. "'Even though school is not teaching you much, and all our books were taken away,'" her father writes, "'I want you to try to educate yourselves.'"

It is through this reading list that Li finds a renewed sense of hope. Her engagement with books and her commitment to educating herself, in an environment in which both of those activities are dangerous, is the most moving aspect of the memoir. She speaks to reading not just as an escape, but as a place of survival, solace and possibility. It is a profoundly positive, creative approach to reading, an activity that is often regarded as passive.

SNOW FALLING IN SPRING also has the advantage of being a memoir, which means it provides the immediacy of first-person experience but also a human face to historical events. This makes it easier to separate the horrors and excesses of a totalitarian regime from the people living under it. As the author says herself at the end of the book, as she leaves China to come study in the United States, "China was the land that had given me birth, love, and friendship. It was also the place of my darkest nightmares. People would judge it in different ways. Some would appraise it kindly; others would be harsh. To me, however, China was simply home --- breath and life of my childhood and of my youth."

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

"Snow Falling in Spring" is a very smooth and pleasant read from the beginning to the end, despite of the dark period that the story was set in. I have read several books about the Cultural Revolution in China, and Li's book is one of my favorite because it is really a story about ourselves, a story when everyone in the book was trying to define and redefine themselves during the most chaotic and tragic period of time. Li not only told the story about struggling and suffering, but also told the story of hope, of how to keep hope alive in a seemingly hopeless time. I really enjoyed the book and would like to recommend to readers of all age.

"Snow Falling in Spring" is a wonderful book, telling stories about a difficult period of Chinese history and making the reader feel a part of that experience. The story from a child's point of view opens up the reader's experience and allows the reader to step into the child's shoes and feel and see the author's experiences. This is a book about human experience. "Snow Falling in Spring" is definitely a book to be shared with the whole family. I gave this book to my parents and my son who loved it. They all insisted that I give this book to my nieces and nephews as well. I recommend this book as something that the whole family, can read and talk about.

A beautiful,inspiring story. This wonderfully written book tells of a young girl's growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Li's spare but powerful prose paints a portrait of a turbulent period in modern China. She also reveals the power of and indomitable human spirit. Li's recall is truly remarkable and she has the ability to bring her characters to life for the reader. A special find - don't miss this one.

Moying Li's memoir serves as a balance to traditional Chinese literature. The women in her story are strong, self-directed, and anything but subservient! Moying's grandmother was especially inspirational.

The book was in fair condition due to the cover/pages being curled. I would order in advance. It took 3+ weeks for me to receive the book. I did save alot of money, the book was only $6. Next time I would order through this dealer for recreation not for necessity.

The price beats what most college bookstores charge. I always reccommend purchasing online it could cut the cost of the book in half. However if your going to purchase your college book online you should visit the college bookstore and find out what the instructor requires for the class a few weeks ahead of time so you dont get stuck paying for expedited shipping.

This is probably a classroom requirement, so it doesn't really matter what I think about it.

This book has a LOT of detail in it. It gives you an excellent idea of how our Federal government is organized, who runs what parts of the government, background on the organization of the Federal government.

The book has the full text of the US Constitution, along with the amendments, and explanations of same. There is also a list of all the US Presidents and Vice Presidents.

There are links to many websites, both public and private, that are of interest.

The book is well written and should be considered by anyone who will be taking a citizenship test.

For those of you who are buying this book because it is required for your class: If you actually read this book, you WILL learn some very interesting things.

People who have read other books on China will get a lot out of this, because so much of it focuses on the way China's government functions and the way different areas of the government interact with one another (which is missed in other books). Other reviews have rightly stated that China's foreign policy and other areas are left out of the discussion. Books by Andrew Nathan ("Great Wall & Empty Fortress" for foreign policy), Nicholas Lardy ("Integrating China into the Global Economy"), and John Bryan Starr ("Understanding China" for a general overview) should be read first in my opinion before picking up this book.

This is a very good book on how China actually works. For those of us who did not know a thing about this country it really sums it up nicley. This book tells how Mao and Deng pushed China to make it better. It goes in depth on how those two pushed the cadres into early retirment to bring in younger workers who new about the mordern technology and who were also more highly educated. I also really enjoyed how the author made clear how China is and can affect the future of the U.S and the entire world.

This book is a great introduction to the topic, but is becoming somewhat dated for those who are looking for analysis of the past five years. Lieberthal was busy guiding Clinton's China policy on the National Security Council--no time for writing. Reportedly he has begun work on a new edition.

This is a very good book on how China actually works. For those of us who did not know a thing about this country it really sums it up nicley. This book tells how Mao and Deng pushed China to make it better. It goes in depth on how those two pushed the cadres into early retirment to bring in younger workers who new about the mordern technology and who were also more highly educated. I also really enjoyed how the author made clear how China is and can affect the future of the U.S and the entire world.

Chinese politics is incredibly tricky. We tend to think of Mao and Deng so dominating this nation that we forget that no one, not even Mao, can rule 1 billion people without a bureaucracy. I agree with the review below that someone trying to look in depth at a topic in Chinese politics will not be satisfied with this work. That's not its point, though. This and Baum's Burying Mao are two books that a reasonably intelligent reader can read on their own in order to get the basics. This does not deal much with international policy or with explicit comparisons between the Soviet and Chinese states. However, Lieberthal lays out clearly the ministries, their responsibilities and what happened when Mao, in his staggeringly limited vision, decided to bypass the massive structures that made the nation work.

Though limited temporally, this sets the stage for the rise of the Chinese Communists and works allows a reader, without wading through too much minutae, to understand what it was that Mao set out to accomplish, how much Deng undid, and what was actually set into motion within the Party and government when these two historical giants flung the nation at a new idea.

Yes, we have been checking out a lot of books about elections and voting since we are right in the middle of a presidential election year, and I have alot of opinions about the quality of books that are out there for children. I really liked "Grace for President" (I reviewed that one as well). I felt that Doreen Cronin's book, "Duck for President" was written more to poke fun at the process than explain it to kids so that they can understand how things are really supposed to work. But this book, I LOVE!

This book takes a very complex subject about our election process (which itself is confusing, even to adults) in the United States and breaks it down in to easily understood concepts that run from the beginning stages of announcing your candidacy through actually winning the election and being sworn in to office. Kids learn about the two party system (yes, the Libertarians are left out), the electoral college, primaries, campaigning, and campaign promises. I loved that the author chose not to dumb down the information, but instead used words that kids understand to explain how elections work. It is an excellent factual book, and the story is engaging enough for children that it will keep their attention while they learn about serious, important subject matter. It is an excellent primer that should be a requirement to be used by teachers who are doing an introduction to our country's election system. Maybe the author could send a copy to Hilary Clinton so that she too, can underand it doesn't matter what the poular vote says, it is the electoral college that counts! Just kidding to all you Hilary fans out there--no need to comment! FIVE BIG STARS to Catherine Stier for tackling a complex, complicated subject and making it enjoyable for children to learn.

A must read for policy freaks. As well written as any text i have seen on Publid Policy. Written in a style that is very accessable.

Well written book, however the author does slant some of his writings towards his own opinion. The editor should find a new job! Numerous typos throughout the book.

Thomas Dye is an eminent political scientist. His textbook on public policy is one of the standards. It may not be elegantly written, but it remains one of the popular texts in the field.

Its key distinguishing figure is the contention that we need to be aware of different "models" of politics as these inform our understanding of public policy. Models are simplifications of reality to highlight certain key aspects of a phenomenon--in this case policy.

A series of models is outlined in chapter 2: institutionalism, process, rationalism, Incrementalism, group theory, elite theory, public choice theory, and game theory. One could add others, of course, but these are the ones used by Dye. The third chapter discusses the standard perspective on the stages of the policy process--from problem identification and agenda setting to policy evaluation.

Subsequent chapters examine different policy areas as these might be elucidated by various models of the policy process (e.g., group politics and education policy or Incrementalism in economic policy or game theory and defense policy, to illustrate).

While, in many senses, this is not an exciting volume, it provides a useful introduction to the policy process and those models that are often used to explain what happens.

This book attempts to present public policy theories (incrementalism, group theory, elitism and so on) together with a number of concrete applications, in order to demonstrate how different theories highlights different aspects of policy making. It is not so much a matter of which theory is correct, but which theory is useful to analyze a certain issue. All this is of course very fine.

The problem with the book is that the theories are presented so briefly, and the analyses are so shallow, that the student cannot possibly get a good grasp of what is really going on. The basic concept "policy process" is not dealt with until chapter 14 (of 15 chapters)! Only 4 pages are devoted to the fundamental problem of agenda-setting. Further, the book lacks references to most of the exciting current litterature in the field. The interested student will not find many suggestions on how to move on from this book.

The author seems to be much more interested in describing policies than analyzing them. Indeed, the book does offer some nice case studies on important American policy issues, like abortion, arms race, and nuclear power. These cases could perhaps be used as material for exercises, but look elsewhere for theory.

If you are looking for an introduction to theories of public policy I would recommend Howlett & Ramesh: "Studying Public Policy" instead of this book -- it is slightly older, but still more up-to-date. But if you want a 300-page description of American policies in different policy areas, then look no further.

howard fineman, of newsweek and who appears on nearly all of those nbc shows as a journalist - pundit, shows here tremendously greater brilliance than i had ever before seen or read from him. in reading robert steele's detailed analysis of this book, i found many quotes that i, myself, had found noteworthy. i, too, found fineman's work here at least on par, if not more refined, with that of the young, naive, idealistic Tocqueville, in his descriptive text of Democracy. throughout the book, fineman sifts over various re-occurring matters that we americans keep re-visiting throughout our history. the heart of the matter, as fineman seems to argue, is that democracy is founded upon the principle of participation and all of us ought, in fact, must, argue our positions on relevant points in order for an extreme, participative democracy to exist. of the several thousand books that i've read, this work is within the top 15. this comes highly recommended to anyone who cares about democracy, our government, or who simply wants to better understand how democracy ought to operate. thank you for writing this excellent book!

This book seems to be intended for a rather uneducated crowd. Much of this book was redundant to me and read as an an overly simplified summary of our past. He too often tried to interpose the past into today's society and with too many streches. I'm not ruling out the value of such books, just be careful when judging what it is you want to take away from a book before making this purchase.

Unlike other reviewers, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The approach is refreshing and very informative and has made me think about many aspects of American life.

The individual arguments and their presentation are very intriguing and enlightening. Each argument is worth reading and thinking about because, as Mr. Fineman points out, they don't go away, nor should they. But addressing these issues also requires honesty in presenting the facts of what has happened, which is done with honesty and candor. I found the interjection of the economic realities, and the resulting ideologies they produce, as they relate to the arguments to be particularly interesting.

I believe the author achieves the goals he set: He pulls out of America's past thirteen fundamental questions that we constantly face. They are fundamental questions because they center on exactly what it means to be American. These issues are ones that we should all be thinking about. For that reason, the end of each chapter does feel like something is missing because the debate is not resolved. However, I don't think this can be changed without affecting the integrity of the purpose.

Some may find this a little less than comforting, after all we are taught in school to believe in the ideology of America. But I think more is gained by acknowledging our shortcomings as well as our successes; if we as a nation are open to looking for solutions. America is a discussion, and I believe a worthwhile one. With that in mind, I think this book provides a great starting point for us as citizens to engage in the discussion that is America.

I saw Mr. Fineman's inteview on "Today Show" which piqued my interest in this book. The concept that there are 13 core 'arguments' which have endured and evolved since the founding of our country is intriguing and the author makes a good case for each, citing examples throughout our history. Unfortunately, it seems that each chapter rapidly digresses into a 'liberal diatribe' of our current administration. Too bad. What may have been a solid entry into the historical/political arena, ala Brookshier's "What Would the Founder's Do?" turns out to be simply another chapter in the war between increasingly divided factions in our nation.

For those readers looking for a non-partisan and intelligent observation and analysis about the "13 American Arguments" or similar topics pertaining to faith in politics and the role of government etc. this is NOT the book for you. The author presents no interesting or new facts. Expecting some answers to the "13 American arguments" you'll notice that the author falls extremely short and often poses rhetorical questions at the end of almost every chapter- questions that clearly relay his partisan positions which are often induced with very few facts and a lot of slick bickering.

The formatting is incorrect for the Kindle Edition. Paragraph spacing is off and there are missing spaces between sentences on every single page.

An outstanding piece of scholarship; one of the most extensively researched, documented and balanced inquiry into the attacks of September 11, 2001 so far. The bipartisan panel created to answer the questions of what happened, how it could have and why, go to great lengths to assess the failures of the various agencies in the lead up to the attacks yet they fail to land a knockout blow with any of their conclusions. The Commission's insistence that their mandate should not call for them to apportion blame for the attacks belies belief considering the magnitude of the failure of each and every aspect of America's homeland security prior to the attacks.

The conlusions and recommendations at the book's end detracted from my appreciation for the book as a whole. Vague and ambitious recommendations were put forth, and so often they were jumbled with terrible sporting metaphors that seemed to trivialise the very serious nature of the failure of the US government to protect their own citizens. Moreover, despite the fact that this was a Commission charged with investigating the attacks on American soil on September 11, too often the concluding chapters confused the global "war on terror" from America's quest to protect its own security, or perhaps; hegemony. Reading the book as a non-American could be a frustrating experience given these shortcomings.

Spaces are missing between sentances, sometimes appearing in the middle of words. Footnotes appear in the middle of sentances, and titles or chapter heading are placed ramdomly throughout the text. The formatting problems are indicative that quality is not an issue for this publisher (MobileReference.)

There are some books you just need to have on hand for when somebody screaming on a blog starts misquoting said books. I didn't buy this book to read it cover to cover, but I'm glad I've got it to refer to when needed. This report certainly does not answer all the questions I have about why 9/11 was allowed to happen, but it's better than nothing. I just wish the Bush/Cheney administration would be held accountable for their atrocious lies and failures.

As a report of a difficult period of time in the United States it gives a fair accounting of the facts. With some distortions of accuracy and now with the benefit of hind-site some omissions a true accounting may never been told. What is told is of a country so incapable of making a quick decision and painfully slow to put the pieces of the puzzle together in time to prevent further destruction. While there are still questions as to if flight 93 was shot down not, don't look here for an answer. Clearly there were people in control in our government that should not have been there. This report was more forgiving of them then I wound have been. Two many mistakes were made, In the air, on the ground, fighters lost over the water. Besides the heroic efforts at the towers and the Pentagon, grounding all flights over the U.S., however late, and keeping the President airborne in Air Force One, would prove to be the correct choices.

Good product. Had to return because not taking the class anymore, but good shipping & service! Just waiting for return.

This book is excellend for graduate and undergraduate students alike. Fortunately this book was written by someone who knows what most students of political science want know: how to interpret data. This book is to be used with SPSS which is arguably one of the best statistical programs available.

Anecdotely, I am horrible at math. This book is light on math. It does explain the concepts behind the statistics without booging you down it too much technical jargon. You will learn Chi-square an what it is for but you are not expecte to know the formula.

This book may be light on math for students truly interested in the actuarial sciences and its apllication to political science, but for those who wnat to know how to use statistics for interpreting political science, this is the book for you.

This was the required text for an intro course that I took. This book is definitely not for beginners. It is too wordy which makes it difficult to understand. If you're a Political Science professor, for the love of God do not give this book to your students.

I have not finished this book yet but it is one I feel everyone should read before they vote in the November elections. I want to say---------WAKE UP AMERICANS----the lobbyist and special interest groups are in control of Congress and the laws that are made. Both parties are equally at fault over the lobbyist problem and earmarks inserted in bills. The economy will always have problems when our politicians make promises and vote to enhance their own power and wealth instead of voting for what is best for the majority of citizens in this country.

'Outrage' outlines a wide range of horrible conduct by Congress, corporations, and others.

Dick Morris reveals treachery and incompetence by Congress (both Republicans and Democrats), the president, the United Nations, pharamaceutical companies, the teachers' unions, Fannie Mae, the news media, and others. In addition to pointing out the problems, he offers some solutions.

Some of the most revealing sections include the following:

Congress - The evils catalogued in this section are numerous and perpetrated by both parties. Some of the issues are corruption (selling votes for campaign contributions), automatic pay raises, inappropriate relationships (financial) with lobbyists, and more. He names names and several are very prominent including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and many more. One of the outrages is the way that leaders of both parties circled the wagons to prevent an FBI investigation of bribery by a member of 'the club' (William Jefferson, D-LA).

Illegal immigration is another outrage. Our inept federal government has no tracking of those who leave the country so there is no way to tell who has overstayed visa times. How pathetic is that! Another issue is that many visas are issued when they should not be (as in the case of 15 out of 19 of the 9/11 terrorists).

There are many more of these abuses. Some of those exposed include: student loans, tobacco companies, insurance scams, and the ACLU.

One section that is highly educational that needs to be understood by everyone is the chapter on trade protection. Morris does a superb job of schooling readers in the benefits of free trade and the damage done by protectionism.

This book should be read by every American voter.

The book makes good and valid points, however much of it is filled with statistics, graphs, and long lists not many would be willing to wade through. It is very simply written, easy to read, but unfortunately mixes fact with opinion. The annoying "action agendas" at the end of each chapter were seriously annoying just because they are all the same and involve nothing more than common sense exhortations. Really not much I did not know already in here, and I probably would not buy another Morris book, although I'll watch him on Hannity and Bill O.

I'll never forget when Morris was forced out of his pollster job in the Clinton Administration after reports of drug use and depraved sexual activity, including engaging in S&M activity with a prostitute and singing "Popeye the Sailor Man" to her on a hotel balcony in his underwear. It's good to see that he's recovered from that shameful episode. He has now entered into a highly lucrative career stringing long lists of random, unrelated issues like Obama, United Nations, John Cusak, tobacco companies, lobbyists for foreign governments, drug companies, John Kerry, Madeline Albright, etc., and creates these delightful book titles out of them and fills the pages inside with his highly informative analysis of how liberals are to blame for everything that is wrong in America. Even though he was publicly exposed as a depraved sexual deviant during his Clinton job, Morris nonetheless makes valid points about how liberals have destroyed the moral fabric of this great nation.

This book should be a must for all Americans as it reveals just how we are being ripped off, particularly by our elected representatives. No one (except Bill O'Reilly) is looking out for us.