Series in Federal Government
Books in Federal Government
America, Compromised
An analysis of “the Trump era, but not about Trump. . . . but on how incentives across a range of institutions have created corruption” ( New York Times Book Review ). “There is not a single American awake to the world who is comfortable with the way things are.” So begins Lawrence Lessig's sweeping indictment of modern-day American institutions and the corruption that besets them—from the selling of Congress to special interests to the corporate capture of the academy. And it’s our fault. What Lessig brilliantly shows is that we can’t blame the problems of contemporary American life on bad people, as our discourse all too often tends to do. Rather, he explains, “We have allowed core institutions of America’s economic, social, and political life to become corrupted. Not by evil souls, but by good souls. Not through crime, but through compromise.” Through case studies of Congress, finance, the academy, the media, and the law, Lessig shows how institutions are drawn away from higher purposes and toward money, power, quick rewards—the first steps to corruption. Lessig knows that a charge so broad should not be levied lightly, and that our instinct will be to resist it. So he brings copious detail gleaned from years of research, building a case that is all but incontrovertible: America is on the wrong path. If we don’t acknowledge our own part in that, and act now to change it, we will hand our children a less perfect union than we were given. It will be a long struggle. This book represents the first steps. “A devastating argument that America is racing for the cliff's edge of structural, possibly irreversible tyranny.” —Cory Doctorow
American Political Parties and Elections
Few Americans and even fewer citizens of other nations understand the electoral process in the United States. Still fewer understand the role played by political parties in the electoral process or the ironies within the system. Participation in elections in the United States is much lower than in the vast majority of mature democracies. Perhaps this is because of the lack of competition in a country where only two parties have a true chance of winning, despite the fact that a large number of citizens claim allegiance to neither and think badly of both. Or perhaps it is because in the U.S. campaign contributions disproportionately favor incumbents in most legislative elections, or that largely unregulated groups such as the now notorious 527s have as much impact on the outcome of a campaign as do the parties or the candidates' campaign organizations. Studying these factors, you begin to get a very clear picture indeed of the problems that underlay our much trumpeted electoral system. This Very Short Introduction introduces the reader to these issues and more, providing an insider's view of how the system actually works while shining a light on some of its flaws. As we enter what is sure to be yet another highly contested election year, it is more important than ever that Americans take the time to learn the system that puts so many in power. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.
American Politics
American politics seems to grow more contentious and complicated by the day, and whether American democracy works well is hotly debated. Amidst all this roiling partisan argument and confusing claims and counterclaims, there has never been a greater need for an impartial primer on the basics of the American political system. This Very Short Introduction gives readers a concise, accessible, and sophisticated overview of the vital elements of American democracy, emphasizing both how these elements function, their historical origins, and how they have evolved into their present forms. Richard Valelly covers all facets of America's political system: the bicameral Congress and the place of the filibuster, the legislative-executive process, the role of the Supreme Court, political parties and democratic choice, bureaucracy, the partisan revival, and the political economy. He offers as well an original analysis of the evolution of the American presidency and a fascinating chapter on the effects of public polling on political decision-making and voter representation. Valelly shows that the American political system is, and always has been, very much a work in progress--unfolding within, and also constantly updating, an eighteenth-century constitutional framework. In a refreshingly balanced and judicious assessment, he explores the strengths of American democracy while candidly acknowledging both gaps in representation and the increasing income inequality have sparked protest and intense public discussion. Finally, Valelly considers the remarkable persistence, for more than two centuries, of the basic constitutional forms established in 1787, despite the dramatic social changes that have reshaped virtually all aspects of American life. For anyone wishing to understand the nuts and bolts of how our political system works--and sometimes fails to work--this Very Short Introduction is the very best place to start. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.
Bye-Bye Land
Winner of the Isabella Gardner Award, this book-length poem is a collection of voices-in-dialogueoverheard, remembered, internalthat represents the mind at work as it considers the destructiveness of humanity, the hypocrisy bred in the bones of American venture. Voices from personal conversations, political speeches, Guantanamo detainees, news, and poets fill these pages, capturing a world of disrupted beauty and unrealized potential.
Bye-Bye Land
Winner of the Isabella Gardner Award, this book-length poem is a collection of voices-in-dialogueoverheard, remembered, internalthat represents the mind at work as it considers the destructiveness of humanity, the hypocrisy bred in the bones of American venture. Voices from personal conversations, political speeches, Guantanamo detainees, news, and poets fill these pages, capturing a world of disrupted beauty and unrealized potential.
Decline and Decay: Strategies for Surviving the Coming Unpleasantness(With: Alan Kay)
We are living in unprecedented times. Cities across the nation are on fire. Government appears helpless to stop the violence and people are being left to fend for themselves. No one is coming to save you. This book will help prepare you to face what is coming.
Deserter from Death
A "deserter from death," Polish-born Daniel Singer narrowly escaped the Holocaust to become one of the left's leading social and political commentators of our time. Deserter from Death collects Singer's writing, from when he was a young correspondent for The Economist to his years at The Nation . Much of the material will be new (and a revelation) to Singer's followers, including his coverage of the Algerian crisis in the late fifties and the effervescent events of May '68. Deserter from Death is a social history of the past half-century, a memorial to one of our great correspondents, and a reminder of what we lost when we lost Daniel Singer. Showcasing Singer's writing over the course of his long and illustrious career, this collection is introduced by his old friend, the great polymath and intellectual George Steiner.
Deserter from Death
A "deserter from death," Polish-born Daniel Singer narrowly escaped the Holocaust to become one of the left's leading social and political commentators of our time. Deserter from Death collects Singer's writing, from when he was a young correspondent for The Economist to his years at The Nation . Much of the material will be new (and a revelation) to Singer's followers, including his coverage of the Algerian crisis in the late fifties and the effervescent events of May '68. Deserter from Death is a social history of the past half-century, a memorial to one of our great correspondents, and a reminder of what we lost when we lost Daniel Singer. Showcasing Singer's writing over the course of his long and illustrious career, this collection is introduced by his old friend, the great polymath and intellectual George Steiner.
Deserter from Death
A "deserter from death," Polish-born Daniel Singer narrowly escaped the Holocaust to become one of the left's leading social and political commentators of our time. Deserter from Death collects Singer's writing, from when he was a young correspondent for The Economist to his years at The Nation . Much of the material will be new (and a revelation) to Singer's followers, including his coverage of the Algerian crisis in the late fifties and the effervescent events of May '68. Deserter from Death is a social history of the past half-century, a memorial to one of our great correspondents, and a reminder of what we lost when we lost Daniel Singer. Showcasing Singer's writing over the course of his long and illustrious career, this collection is introduced by his old friend, the great polymath and intellectual George Steiner.
Leading America
The former White House Press Secretary and Communications Director analyzes our current political moment through the lens of politics and culture and argues that President Trump has put the country back on the right track and needs to be reelected in 2020. When it was announced that Sean Spicer would be the newest guest on ABC's Dancing with the Stars , he was promptly attacked by countless liberal media institutions. Apparently, they'd rather see him crawl under a rock forever than have a little fun on television (while raising money for charity). And that was only a small example. All over the country, liberals are attacking conservatives with the kind of fervor once reserved for hardened criminals. It's a zero sum game -- either you're with them one hundred percent, or you're the enemy. Whether you're in politics, media, academia, or entertainment, it's the same story. As one of the few people who's played a small part in all of those worlds, Sean Spicer has a unique perspective on the methods used by the left to shut down conservative voices. He's been parodied on SNL, ripped apart on the nightly news, and protested on college campuses, all for doing his job. Outside of the left's bubble, however, he's been able to transition from politics to entertainment very well, and he's got huge numbers of supporters. In Leading America , he writes about all the ways President Trump has fought back against the Left, and examines all the ways conservatives can take a stand to uphold their rights and values.
Love, Poverty, and War
"I did not, I wish to state, become a journalist because there was no other 'profession' that would have me. I became a journalist because I did not want to rely on newspapers for information." Love, Poverty and War: Journeys and Essays showcases America's leading polemicist's rejection of consensus and cliché whether he's reporting from abroad in Indonesia, Kurdistan, Iraq, North Korea, or Cuba, or when his pen is targeted mercilessly at the likes of William Clinton, Mother Theresa ("a fanatic, a fundamentalist and a fraud"), the Dalai Lama, Noam Chomsky, Mel Gibson and Michael Bloomberg. Hitchens began the nineties as a "darling of the left" but has become more of an "unaffiliated radical" whose targets include those on the "left," who he accuses of "fudging" the issue of military intervention in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, as Hitchens shows in his reportage, cultural and literary criticism, and opinion essays from the last decade, he has not jumped ship and joined the right but is faithful to the internationalist, contrarian and democratic ideals that have always informed his work.
Love, Poverty, and War
"I did not, I wish to state, become a journalist because there was no other 'profession' that would have me. I became a journalist because I did not want to rely on newspapers for information." Love, Poverty and War: Journeys and Essays showcases America's leading polemicist's rejection of consensus and cliché whether he's reporting from abroad in Indonesia, Kurdistan, Iraq, North Korea, or Cuba, or when his pen is targeted mercilessly at the likes of William Clinton, Mother Theresa ("a fanatic, a fundamentalist and a fraud"), the Dalai Lama, Noam Chomsky, Mel Gibson and Michael Bloomberg. Hitchens began the nineties as a "darling of the left" but has become more of an "unaffiliated radical" whose targets include those on the "left," who he accuses of "fudging" the issue of military intervention in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, as Hitchens shows in his reportage, cultural and literary criticism, and opinion essays from the last decade, he has not jumped ship and joined the right but is faithful to the internationalist, contrarian and democratic ideals that have always informed his work.