Why America Can’t Retrench (And How it Might) by Peter Harris https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Why+America+Can’t+Retrench+(And+How+it+Might)-p-9781509562091 Even as growing polarization and hyper-partisanship define society and politics at home, American leaders seem to agree on one thing: US military dominance abroad is essential for national security and international stability. This is despite an upswing in popular support for “doing less” […]
Farmed Out: Agricultural Lobbying in a Polarized Congress by Clare R. Brock https://global.oup.com/academic/product/farmed-out-9780197683804?cc=us&lang=en& Interest groups have a tremendous impact on public policy. Congressional capacity for research and fact-finding is at a historical low, and interest groups have rushed in to fill the gap. They effectively act as adjunct staffers by providing members of Congress with […]
Authors: Dominik A. Stecula, Matthew S. Levendusky Summary: Americans today are affectively polarized: they dislike and distrust those from the opposing political party more than they did in the past, with damaging consequences for their democracy. This Element tests one strategy for ameliorating such animus: having ordinary Democrats and Republicans come together for cross-party political […]
Author: Stephen P. Mumme Summary: The international boundary between the United States and Mexico spans more than 1,900 miles. Along much of this international border, water is what separates one country from the other. Border Water provides a historical account of the development of governance related to transboundary and border water resources between the United […]
Author: Matthew Hitt Summary: The United States Supreme Court exists to resolve constitutional disputes among lower courts and the other branches of government, allowing elected officials, citizens, and businesses to act without legal uncertainty. American law and society function more effectively when the Court resolves these ambiguous questions of Constitutional law. Since lower courts must […]
Author: Gamze Çavdar Summary: This book provides a socio-economic examination of the status of women in contemporary Turkey, assessing how policies have combined elements of neoliberalism and Islamic conservatism. Using rich qualitative and quantitative analyses, Women in Turkey analyses the policies concerning women in the areas of employment, education and health and the fundamental transformation […]
Author: Dimitris Stevis, Edouard Morena, Dunja Krause Summary: “In the field of ‘climate change’, no terrain goes uncontested. The terminological tug of war between activists and corporations, scientists and governments, has seen radical notions of ‘sustainability’ emptied of urgency and subordinated to the interests of capital. ‘Just Transition’ is the latest such battleground, and the […]
Author: Matthew Hitt, Joshua Darr, Johanna Dunaway Summary: Local newspapers can hold back the rising tide of political division in America by turning away from the partisan battles in Washington and focusing their opinion page on local issues. When a local newspaper in California dropped national politics from its opinion page, the resulting space filled […]
Author: David W. McIvor Summary: Recent years have brought public mourning to the heart of American politics, as exemplified by the spread and power of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has gained force through its identification of pervasive social injustices with individual losses. The deaths of Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin, […]
