Book Description
In 1955 the murderers of Emmett Till, a black Mississippi youth, were acquitted of their crime, undoubtedly because they were white. Forty years later, O. J. Simpson, whom many thought would be charged with murder by virtue of the DNA evidence against him, went free after his attorney portrayed him as a victim of racism. Clearly, a sea change had taken place in American culture, but how had it happened? In this important new work, distinguished race relations scholar Shelby Steele argues that the age of white supremacy has given way to an age of white guilt -- and neither has been good for African Americans.
As the civil rights victories of the 1960s dealt a blow to racial discrimination, American institutions started acknowledging their injustices, and white Americans -- who held the power in those institutions -- began to lose their moral authority. Since then, our governments and universities, eager to reclaim legitimacy and avoid charges of racism, have made a show of taking responsibility for the problems of black Americans. In doing so, Steele asserts, they have only further exploited blacks, viewing them always as victims, never as equals. This phenomenon, which he calls white guilt, is a way for whites to keep up appearances, to feel righteous, and to acquire an easy moral authority -- all without addressing the real underlying problems of African Americans. Steele argues that calls for diversity and programs of affirmative action serve only to stigmatize minorities, portraying them not as capable individuals but as people defined by their membership in a group for which exceptions must be made.
Through his articulate analysis and engrossing recollections of the last half-century of American race relations, Steele calls for a new culture of personal responsibility, a commitment to principles that can fill the moral void created by white guilt. White leaders must stop using minorities as a means to establish their moral authority -- and black leaders must stop indulging them. As White Guilt eloquently concludes, the alternative is a dangerous ethical relativism that extends beyond race relations into all parts of American life.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating new take on the racial issue in America.......2007-10-16
This is one of the more illuminating, intelligent books written on the race issue in the United States in several years, at least. Author Steele takes a drive from LA to the bay area during the late 90s, listening to the radio as various talk show hosts debate the issue of Clinton having the affair with Monica Lewinsky. Steele uses the incident, and a parallel episode where President Eisenhower supposedly used the N-word in private conversation, to discuss how things have changed in half a century, and why.
This is a fascinating book. There's a great deal of intelligent information here. The author doesn't pull any punches when he speaks of liberals who prove their superiority to everyone else by supporting Affirmative Action, and he's obviously not happy with much of how the race issue is dealt with in America. It's interesting to see his take on things.
Best book on race I've ever read.......2007-10-08
It is very hard to see what anyone who actually read this book could find wrong with it. His analysis puts into well ordered paragraphs things I have felt for years, but he does it with conviction and power. There is no need for me to go into great detail here. Steele nails issue after issue. If you have doubts, read his analysis about why black kids do poorly in school, where they are treated as "at risk" and as specimens to be coddled and assisted at every turn, where every failure is not their fault, and excel on the basketball court, where their success or failure is theirs alone. I taught at an inner city school; oh my, was this accurate.
As long as the left continues to define racism by inequality of results, it is guaranteed to get those results. Steele explains why. And why they like it that way. This is a short book, but a dense one, requiring slow, careful reading. But worth it. Oh so worth it.
white child of affirmative action.......2007-08-14
Obviously Shelby is totally unaware of the many white children of affirmative action who've been victims of violent race-based crime, feel the pinch in their paychecks (to the point they are not reproducing white babies in America now), due to race-based economic policies totally disadvatageous to whites, who have been told when they want to have kids by therapists (as I was) to adopt a black or hispanic child, and so much more...who see BLACK FOLKS TRYING to guilt us, just to beef up the big paycheck of affirmative action policies and so on. The idea that I should feel "guilty" is certainly Mr. Steele's idea, but the book made me feel furious. When will the black community look at itself? Many whites survived far worse torture than American slavery (try Medeival Europe), and have been treated like dogs racially (although their own families fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars), and besides, they actually know things about real slavery (that Shelby Steele doesn't seem to have heard of), such as the worse brutality of Brazil and other Latin countries, which comprised 90 percent of all the slave trade on the continent; we had as many slaves as Canada, and I honestly think they've done so well (to the point of guilting, shaming, ragging on whites) because we were so nice, compared to the other countries, where in reality, the descendants of slaves have not multiplied or done nearly as well. Shelby Steele is just part of the continued on-going, throwing the black community difficulties back into the camp of whites. I feel he should write a book about black murder, violence, school problems, and so on that does not blame whites, and once more, have them take on others realities and problems. Besides which, I'm Scottish. We didn't roll over Africa. Most whites I know do not feel guilty at all, but many would not say what I've written. Mr. Steele totally overlooks that anything resembling truth to the black community (about itself and how much harm it causes whites), is summed up as "racist" and then people lose their jobs, houses, kids. So, people tow the line to the "powers that be" who want the "guilt rap" to be published by folks like Shelby. He actually got a Pulitzer, which stuns me, since I find his writing so simplistic and outside the complexity of any race issues. He's not a thinker (at least not to me). Anyway, I took an hour and read it. Same old, same old. And exactly what the powers of America today want people to think about when they frame race. I mean, academics may think (some of them) so reductively as Shelby projects onto (God forbid) all whites. But he's out to lunch, I think, regarding how most whites really see the issues and what needs to be done---but even blowing off a little steam will get you fired from your job. Mightn't firings of whites be a factor, too, Mr. Steele? No one will ever say this. Whites are totally silenced---unless they pretend what Steele wants, guilt they don't really feel (excepted that they've spent a lifetime hearing blacks like Shelby guilt and shame them. Sometimes, the black harangue works, especially when you're young in school--why so many home school, and many feel the public school system has become unusable to whites. The guilt is not real, but manufactured by books by black folks taught in the schools. what about that?
Living with White Guilt.......2007-06-07
Today, on a day off from work I strolled into the bookstore not expecting to spend more than 5 minutes browsing the shelves. Instead I spent the next 2.5 hours reading this amazingly concise book about race, America and history. Steele's rousing defense of the Western values such as individualism and freedom should not be confused with a blind allegiance or rosy colored glasses analysis of the nation's tumultuous racial past. In his analysis he lights a candle, a way and path out of the maze that is post 1960's politics, towards a reinvigorated America -- one at peace with its demons, but holding true to its promise of liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.
If you care about poverty, justice and individual freedom -- read this book -- it is not so much a history of African Americans, but a history of America.
A paradigm-shifting book for this anti-racist white liberal.......2007-05-21
My conservative father-in-law recommended I read this book, and after it sat on my shelf, undisturbed, for close to a month, I picked it up one Saturday afternoon and did not put it down until I had finished. WHITE GUILT is truly a paradigm-shifting read for anti-racist white liberals who are willing to be open-minded about their preconceived notions of racial understanding and policy. Steele shows how typical white liberalism has denied the humanity of Black Americans, and how Black "leaders" have made a career out of so-called "white guilt," enforcing a collectivist mindset among their "followers" and Blacks in general. Steele is no Republican stooge - he was a Black radical himself - and he does not make esoteric arguments against the Civil Rights Act, or pretend that things weren't that bad under segregation. In fact, he points out that, in the aggregate, the nation's morals have not waned since the fifties, since in the Age of Eisenhower, Black families were forced to search out other Black faces whenever they entered a new town in order to do something as simple as use the bathroom. But I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 due to Steele's reckless embrace of the modern GOP, and his apparent blindness to its glaringly obvious faults. Also, he talks about how Eisenhower allegedly used the n-word on the golf course, which would have gotten Bill Clinton impeached (and removed from office) had he done it; and yet Eisenhower would have been impeached and removed if he had been convicted of Clinton's "crime" (MonicaGate). This dichotomy is intended to show how anti-racism (or at least, presumed anti-racism) has replaced traditional morality in the modern age, but Steele conveniently omits the fact that Eisenhower was widely believed to be engaging in an affair right under the media's nose. This is the type of disingenuous Republican boosting that prohibits me from giving this book 5 stars, which it would otherwise deserve, but I would still highly recommend it to any non-dogmatic Democrat or liberal independent. If you have an open mind and half a brain, this book will change the way you look at race.
Book Description
In this seventh edition of his classic introduction to the process and content of public policy in America, B. Guy Peters provides the background and context needed for any introduction to the subject. Deftly handling such core topics as the governmental structures and procedures through which policy is designed and implemented, Peters also examines substantive policy areas--including health care, education, social security and welfare, energy and the environment, and defense and law enforcement--to give students a solid foundation as well as a real sense of the issues and tradeoffs facing today's policymakers.
Readers will appreciate the seventh edition's updated material on the George W. Bush administration along with cases and material drawn from recent events and scholarship. In addition to analysis of the impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the continuing efforts to implement results-based legislation such as the "No Child Left Behind" policy, and an expanded discussion of the changing role of ideology, this revision also includes valuable new material on the defense budget, earmarking in the budgeting process, and the President's Tax Reform Commission. Showing students why such politically divisive issues as abortion, gay marriage, and school prayer are so unyielding to bargaining and compromise, Peters includes a unique and insightful chapter on social policy and the culture wars. Finally, updated graphics, tables, and charts throughout will ensure that readers have access to the latest data in the field.
Customer Reviews:
Easy read and to the point.......2007-03-26
This is a great book. Professor and Dr. Steve Sazegari recommended this book for my thesis as and master's program. If you want a brief background to get the jist of what policy is all about this is the book for you.
A Good Look at American Public Policy.......2006-02-25
Guy Peter's "American Public Policy: Promise and Performance" provides an informed and unbiased look at the public policy process as well as a number of major policy issues in America today. It's perhaps not the most exciting read (the first few chapters are especially dull) but thats more the fault of the subject than the author. However, if you are inclined to learn more about how the policy that affects our lives every day comes to be, this is worth a read.
The chapters on tax policy, health care and education were particularly good. In all, the book features a discussion of the aforementioned issues, as well as economic policy, social security and welfare, environmental policy, energy policy, defense and law enforcement, and numerous social issues such as abortion. American Public Policy also features a detailed look at how policy is formulated, enacted and kept up, as well as how one analyzes the effects of a particular policy plan. Finally, the book provides a look at the two predominate forms of policy analysis and assessment: cost-benefit analysis and ethical analysis.
Overall, I wouldnt recommend this book for fun reading. However, if you are taking a course in American public policy, are looking to research a prominent public policy area, or just want to learn more about the American policy system, Guy Peter's "American Public Policy: Promise and Performance" is definitely a great place to start.
Book Description
Which SUVs are most likely to rollover? What cities have the unhealthiest drinking water? Which factories are the most dangerous polluters? What cereals are the most nutritious? In recent decades, governments have sought to provide answers to such critical questions through public disclosure to force manufacturers, water authorities, and others to improve their products and practices. Corporate financial disclosure, nutritional labels, and school report cards are examples of such targeted transparency policies. At best, they create a light-handed approach to governance that improves markets, enriches public discourse, and empowers citizens. But such policies are frequently ineffective or counterproductive. Based on an analysis of eighteen U.S. and international policies, Full Disclosure shows that information is often incomplete, incomprehensible, or irrelevant to consumers, investors, workers, and community residents. To be successful, transparency policies must be accurate, keep ahead of disclosers' efforts to find loopholes, and, above all, focus on the needs of ordinary citizens.
Customer Reviews:
Win-win book for ordinary citizens and policymakers .......2007-06-08
"Full Disclosure: Perils and Promise of Transparency" (Fung, Graham, and Weil 2007) is undoubtedly a first-rate book on a regulatory tool that is dynamic in nature. The authors acknowledge the promising, but sometimes perilous transparency(information disclosure) tool as a complement to the existing standards and market based policies in order to redress certain policy problems. The authors nicely interplay the factors of politics, economics, and cognitive powers of varying stakeholders to analyze the development and sustainability of existing and future domestic and global transparency policies. This book is not only a page turner, but a power analytical framework for analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of a given transparency policy, the likes of financial disclosure laws and the global reporting of infectious diseases.
The authors present their arguments and evidence in a concise and understandable format which will allow ordinary citizens with little or no understanding of economics and governance to find this book a powerful guide and hopefully; after reading, become active participants in the movement for greater transparency in both the public and private sectors. Thus, this is a win-win book for both citizens and policymakers alike.
Lastly, the authors critically examine the advances in information technology like that of the Internet and related technologies such as instant messaging, online blogs, and online book reviews (here), which led to the rise of a third generation transparency systems that differs from the right-to-know and targeted transparency policies, the first and second generation transparency policies, respectively, because of the collaborative information sharing aspects of the new system.
On a side note, this book is right in time as there is a current debate on the medical care quality and cost disparity in the state of Massachusetts, US, which underscores the importance of transparency policies to improve a service quality that have might long term health care impacts for patients. All in all, this one of a kind book will serve as a guide for many generations to come.
With regards to Joel M. Kaufman May 8th, 2007's comment on the authors' limited awareness of corruption at different government agencies, it is possible that the previous commenter did not take into account the multi-layered definition of the politically correct term: "diverging interests of policymakers and other stakeholders of information disclosure," which the authors have reiterated on numerous occasions using similar phrases.
clear signals, not noise.......2007-05-22
What information sends clear signals to consumers and voters so they can make good decisions, and what is just more noise? Fung, Graham and Weil have carefully analyzed a range of what they call "targeted transparency" systems - from orange terror alerts to school performance ratings to soup labels - to identify the features of the systems that work. Although generally written for governmental policy makers, it's important reading for anyone who cares about a local, state, or federal issue and wants government to do a better job of informing citizens.
Good topic, some problems.......2007-05-09
Good discussion of how hard it is to find data on the safety of things from cars to food to investments. Goes into great detail about how to make interpretable ratings or labels, and what organizations should coperate to do them.
Authors prove own point by missing out on key data on several topics, and merely quote dogma. For example, the supposed dangers of "sodium" meaning sodium ion or salt (pp21,84,111) ignore key data that salt intake affects people both ways, and 10g/day is not that dangerous. See Elliott P et al. (1988). Intersalt: an international study of electrolyte excretion and blood pressure. Results for 24 hour urinary sodium and potassium excretion. British Medical Journal 297:319-328.
Authors quote dogma on high-fat foods and the supposed dangers of saturated fat (p33,53,84,111). See Enig M, Know Your Fats, 1999; Allan & Lutz, Life Without Bread, 2000; Ravnskov U, The Cholesterol Myths, Colpo A, The Great Cholesterol Con.
Authors cite fiber as a good thing (p88), but studies show some forms are beneficial for some conditions in some people, not nearly all, and many people are worse off with higher fiber intake. See Montonen J, Knekt P, Järvinen R, Aromaa A, Reunanen A (2003). Whole-grain and fiber intake and the incidence of type 2 diabetes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77:622-629; Fuchs CS, Giovannucci EL, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ, Stampfer MJ, Rosner B, Speizer FE, Willett WC (1999). Dietary Fiber and the Risk of Colorectal Cancer and Adenoma in Women. New England Journal of Medicine 348(3):169-176.
Authors treat Material Safety Data Sheets descriptions of chemical hazards seriously. Try looking up salt, sugar powder and toluene MSDSs. You will see how hazardous these valuable substances are made to look. Then look up the sheet for bromine, which is really dangerous, and see that it is presented in much the same manner as toluene.
Authors call "speeding" a major cause of traffic crashes. Using the definition that "speeding" is driving faster than a posted speed limit, it is obvious that doing so on a road with light traffic in daylight is not dangerous and may prevent boredom. The definitive work was done from 1958-63 where the P. I. was Dr. Alfred L. Moseley working from the Harvard School of Public Health under a USPHS grant, found that fatal and serious crashes had multiple causes, including vehicle failure, weather, road hazards, driver error, but "speeding" was not one of them.
The authors seem unaware of the corruption at many of the government agencies. Just to pick on the FDA see Cohen JS, Overdose, 2001; Haley D, Politics in Healing, 2000; Moore TJ, Prescription for Disaster, 1998; DeGrandpre R, The Cult of Pharmacology, 2006.
Minor fussing over formats and inputs will not give us the clear disclosure we need because of the overwhelming corruption of responsible agencies as well as vendors.
Book Description
Despite the overwhelming opposition on the left to the war in Iraq, many prominent liberals supported the war on humanitarian grounds. They argued that the war would rid the world of a brutal dictator and liberate the Iraqi people from totalitarian oppression, paving the way for a democratic transformation of the country.
In
A Pact with the Devil Tony Smith deftly traces this undeniable drift in mainstream liberal thinking toward a more militant posture in world affairs with respect to human rights and democracy promotion. Beginning with the Wilsonian quest to `make the world safe for democracy' right up to the present day liberal support for regime change, Smith isolates leading strands of liberal internationalist thinking in order to see how the `liberal hawks' constructed them into a case for American and liberal imperialism in the Middle East. The result is a reflection on an important aspect of the intellectual history of American foreign policy; establishing how a sophisticated group of thinkers came to fashion their recommendations to Washington and working to see what role liberalism may still play in deliberations in the country on its role in world events now that the failure of these ambitions in Iraq seems clear.
Customer Reviews:
Nice Cover.......2007-08-05
For me this book was practically unreadable. Very technical and quite hard to get interested in. I gave it 2 stars only because the cover was catchy. I was asleep at chapter 2. It's one thing to have a lot of information in a book, which is good, but it takes talent to keep it interesting. It just doesn't have to be this hard to read. There's no reason for it.
nonpartisan perspective on US empire-building.......2007-07-15
I read this book after seeing Prof. Smith's op-ed in the Washington Post in Spring 2007 in which he showed how both "neoliberal" Democrats of the Democratic Leadership Council ilk (such as the Clintons) and "neoconservative" Republicans of the Project for a New American Century ilk (such as the Bush team) are more-or-less coming from the same roots and share a common vision of the US role in the world.
The book fleshes out the points made necessarily briefly in an op-ed. Smith shows clearly yet with much passion how "the Bush Doctrine" is a radical extension of its Wilsonian roots and also how the "new Democrats" support it, but for slightly different reasons. Whereas the "neocons" fear American enemies and want to preemptively defeat them, the "neolibs" seek to "gift" the world with democratic capitalism. On the ground, it looks too sadly similar.
In places, I was eager for Prof. Smith to move along with his case and in others, it seemed redundant. But overall, he has shown clearly how little choice there is among the mainstream voices in our political world, both among candidates and in the media. In an election year, anyone interested in seeing true change in this country would benefit from reading and reflecting on Prof. Smith's arguments.
Customer Reviews:
Another self-fulfilling prophersy of China Threat.......2005-11-28
China cannot be trusted and Robert Sutter tells us why. In pages after pages, the author gives ample reasons that, as a rising power, China has to be watched carefully.
According to Sutter's theory, historically, China has had hegemonic ambitions. Not only she portrays her own struggles as of universal significance, she also keeps a close watch of countries around her periphery as if they are naturally within her sphere of influence. Her political leaders are hypersensitive to criticisms and tend to behave defensively. The Chinese plot their policies and strategies, not much guided by principles but mainly on a case-by-case bases. They are more likely to go after short-term gains than for long-term benefits. As a result, Chinese foreign policy tends to be capricious and disruptive. In Sino-US relations in particular, China has been long suspicious of U.S. ulterior motives and is actively hedging against U.S. policies through bilateral and regional actions.
In the same vein, Sutter views China's recently totted "peaceful rising" with suspicion. Whether China has truly renounced aggressive posture in her international dealings, or she just says so to "bid time" in order to secure economic growth, remains to be seen. As how to engage a rising China, Sutter sees Bush administration's approach as a potential model: keep her at arms length, do not give any unwarranted expectations (as Clinton administration has purportedly done), and stand firm.
My personal observation is, although there is some truth to many of his assertion, Sutter's ultimate fallacy is that he uses a liberalist standard to criticize China in order to justify U.S. own realist strategy.
For example, Sutter interprets China's proposal of opening its agricultural market to ASEAN countries as a way to undercut Japanese or Korean positions (p82). This is so anti-liberal for its Machiavellian motive, he seems to argue, it is yet another example of why China cannot be trusted. But even if we put aside the merit of such a decision in itself, and to look at parallels in U.S. policies, such a criticism is as unjustified as it is hypocritical. Since the WTO meeting in Cancun, U.S. Trade Representative has repeatedly offered to cut U.S. domestic agriculture subsides, not only to advance American agenda, but also to put pressure on the Europeans. The consensus in this case, however, is that America is exerting her leadership role in promoting Free Trade.
In his "China's International Relations" essay in Samuel Kim's book, Alastair Iain Johnston observed that some of the "China Threat" talks are self-fulfilling prophesies (has anyone mentioned Cuba being a victim of such prophesy?) I'd argue China Skeptics such as Sutter are no different. China's in U.S. crosshair today is not entirely her own fault, it is more or less because what she is or what she can be, especially in a world according to the U.S. For example, other world powers-that-be, like the European Union, is never that concerned about China's potential as another USSR. Other than some spousal disputes like economic matters, E.U. and China are getting along just fine---if not too close to U.S.'s liking, as in the recent case of proposed lifting of arms sales ban by the E.U. Even the herbivore countries living along the fringe of the dragon's cave are not so concerned with impending subjugation as a result of China's rise---as Sutter implies what could happen. On the contrary, some of them are acting as brakes to U.S. check on China. Even Australia told U.S. not to automatically count on her support had a conflict in Taiwan Strait broke out.
If Sutter does not consider himself as part of the China bashing gang, he must hold a very high standard of who is--- maybe the likes of University of Chicago's John Mearsheimer? Around the same time I read this book, I heard a media interview with James McGregor, a businessman/author. Although his criticism of China is no less harsh at times, he is at least coherent---China is just another business opportunity. If your objective is to make profit, you will have to learn to live with reality. Unfortunately, for analysts like Mr. Sutter, their job is to constantly look out for the surreal.
Written by a true China expert.......2005-06-27
I had the privilege of having Robert Sutter as my professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. This scholar possesses a truly incredible grasp of China and the issues surrounding her Rise in Asia. I can earnestly recommend anyone remotely interested in Asian affairs to purchase this book and take advantage of Professor Sutter's expertise in the region.
Book Description
After the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism in 1951, Hannah Arendt undertook an investigation of Marxism, a subject that she had deliberately left out of her earlier work. Her inquiry into Marx’s philosophy led her to a critical examination of the entire tradition of Western political thought, from its origins in Plato and Aristotle to its culmination and conclusion in Marx. The Promise of Politics tells how Arendt came to understand the failure of that tradition to account for human action.
From the time that Socrates was condemned to death by his fellow citizens, Arendt finds that philosophers have followed Plato in constructing political theories at the expense of political experiences, including the pre-philosophic Greek experience of beginning, the Roman experience of founding, and the Christian experience of forgiving. It is a fascinating, subtle, and original story, which bridges Arendt’s work from The Origins of Totalitarianism to The Human Condition, published in 1958. These writings, which deal with the conflict between philosophy and politics, have never before been gathered and published.
The final and longer section of The Promise of Politics, titled “Introduction into Politics,” was written in German and is published here for the first time in English. This remarkable meditation on the modern prejudice against politics asks whether politics has any meaning at all anymore. Although written in the latter half of the 1950s, what Arendt says about the relation of politics to human freedom could hardly have greater relevance for our own time. When politics is considered as a means to an end that lies outside of itself, when force is used to “create” freedom, political principles vanish from the face of the earth. For Arendt, politics has no “end”; instead, it has at times been–and perhaps can be again–the never-ending endeavor of the great plurality of human beings to live together and share the earth in mutually guaranteed freedom. That is the promise of politics.
Customer Reviews:
Drama Queen.......2005-12-06
Jerome Kuhn's introduction is a little patronizing of Arendt, but it's short and skimpy and won't deter you from plunging into Arendt's prose, beginning with her startling revision of Socrates. For Arendt, Socrates helped split politics and philosophy with one decisive strategy, his defense at his famous trial. It's typical of Arendt that she sees thought in dramatic terms, always with a terminal at either end of time, existing not so much in essential terms but in contingent, always partial and always temporary states of being--human beings reacting to strain or stress, and in turn launching something new to spur new reaction. Thus Socrates becomes interesting only when in peril.
Because so many of these papers were presented as reviews or for occasional purposes (such as lectures) perhaps this emphasis on the dramatic might be explained thus. But oh, how she loved to be able to use "The End of Tradition" as the title of a paper, its apocalyptic note gave her a sort of gleeful, if embarrassed, outrage.
The master text here is the longest, the INTRODUCTION INTO POLITICS, oddly titled with "into" in special italics as though there might be an INTRODUCTION "out of" politics, as I suppose there might. It reads like a novel. We haven't had this novella translated into English before now. Whoever translated it did a fabulous job of approximating Arendt's nearly colloquial, clean and rich English. She was a stylist before anything else and this collection, published on the 30th anniversary of her death, burnishes the legend. It's no disgrace and it makes you wonder, if more papers are up there in her archive just waiting for new eyes to take a new look.
Re-Thinking Politics From A Different Viewpoint........2005-08-17
Politics is considered as a means to an end that lies outside itself. When force is used to create freedom, political principles vanish. She wonders if politics do have any meaning at all anymore.
She finds politics to be the never-ending endeavor of the plurality of humans to live together and share in mutually guaranted freedom. This is 'the promise of politics.' She questions the relation of politics to human freedom. I think that her understanding of politics is worldwide and not American. I know only the U. S. version, and it is back-stabbing with constant lies about the opponent (a negative effect on the candidates and the voters), promises of things which will never happen (and the politician knows it when he makes the false promises). Politics is dirty business.
Today's politics is nothing like that of the Greeks (beginning), Romans (founding) nor the Christian (forgiving). Here we believe in the division between church and state, thereby keeping these two entities separate. They are completely different in precept and beliefs and deeds which seem to be foreign as Spain is from Japan.
This is an intellectual thesis written in the '50s (and my! have things changed since then -- no more Kennedys in power, no Krushchev who had a hole in his shoe, no more totalitarianism or corrupt Jews. She bases her political thoughts on philisophy. She has written EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM, THE JEW AS PARIAH, THE HUMAN CONDITION, THE LIFE OF THE MIND, and RESPONSIBILITY AND JUDGEMENT. She is a deep thinker on the subjects of 'revolution,' 'violence,' 'political philosophy,' 'Jewish identity,' 'understanding,' and 'love.'
She was born in Germany and migrated to the U. S. after WWII where she has taught at Berkeley, Princeton, University of Chicago, and the New School for Social Research. She died thirty years ago.
Book Description
This stunningly persuasive book examines the persistent, radical gap between the promise of American ideals and the performance of American politics. Samuel P. Huntington shows how Americans, throughout their history as a nation, have been united by the democratic creed of liberty, equality, and hostility to authority. At the same time he reveals how, inevitably, these ideals have been perennially frustrated through the institutions and hierarchies required to carry on the essential functions of governing a democratic society.
From this antagonism between the ideals of democracy and the realities of power have risen four great political upheavals in American history. Every third generation, Huntington argues, Americans have tried to reconstruct their institutions to make them more truly reflect deeply rooted national ideals. Moving from the clenched fists and mass demonstrations of the 1960s, to the moral outrage of the Progressive and Jacksonian Eras, back to the creative ideological fervor of the American Revolution, he incisively analyzes the dissenters' objectives. All, he pungently writes, sought to remove the fundamental disharmony between the reality of government in America and the ideals on which the American nation was founded.
Huntington predicts that the tension between ideals and institutions is likely to increase in this country in the future. And he reminds us that the fate of liberty and democracy abroad is intrinsically linked to the strength of our power in world affairs.
This brilliant and controversial analysis deserves to rank alongside the works of Tocqueville, Bryce, and Hofstadter and will become a classic commentary on the meaning of America.
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorite books dealing with US politics...........2000-09-26
In this book, Samuel Huntington, who, whether one likes him or hates him has been one of the most commented upon political scientists of the last generation takes on American politics: their realities versus their illusions, promise versus practicalities. And on the whole, he is successful at raising issues: although the book is almost twenty years old, it has managed to stay surprisingly current and valid and still remains though provoking.
I'd reccomend this book to anyone interested in US politics or current affairs but especially to people on the liberal/Huntington-hating typically side of the spectrum, because after reading this book, one might become much more pro- this author. It's striking at times how much he seems like Howard Zinn, etc. in this particular book.....
The truth about american politics.......2000-04-12
In his work American Politics: The Promise of Disharmony, Samuel Huntington shows the existence of a gap between the political ideal and the political reality in American politics. The scope the gap covers is, that a broad consensus exists in the United States on basic political values and beliefs. There also exists a changing intensity of these basic ideals, which varies from time to time, and from group to group. Huntington examines various paradigms within the political system, and focuses of the pros and cons of the "American Creed." Although the book was originally published in 1981, it is still relevant and thought provoking in today's political climate. A solid read, and highly recommended for those interested in political science or political culture.
Book Description
Grounded in basic political science research, yet readily accessible to undergraduates, PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE uses the title's theme as an organizing framework for studying American Politics. The promise of democracy is analyzed using four core values: Popular Sovereignty, Political Freedom, Political Equality and Majority Rule/Minority Rights and is further explored in several new features including "Living the Promise" and "Promise and Policy" boxes. The performance part of the theme is then integrated with an assessment at the end of every chapter along with a concluding policy chapter. Solid scholarship and writing makes this an ideal text not just for reading and learning, but also as an example of how political science is researched and written by the practitioners in academia.
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Promise Unfulfilled: Unions, Immigration, and the Farm Workers (ILR Press Books)
Philip L. Martin
Manufacturer: ILR Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0801488753 |
Book Description
In 1975, after vigorous campaigning by the United Farm Workers union, the state of California passed Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA), a pioneering self-help strategy granting farm workers the right to organize into unions. A quarter century later, only a tiny percentage of farm workers in the state belong to unions, and wages remain less than half of those of nonfarm employees. Why did the ALRA fail? One of the nation's foremost authorities on farm workers here explores the reasons behind its unfulfilled promise.
Philip L. Martin examines the key features of the farm labor market in California, including the shifting ethnicity of the worker pool and the evolution of the major unions, beginning with the Wobblies. Finally, he reviews the impact of immigration on agriculture in the state.
Today, many states look to the California experience to assess whether the ALRA can serve as a model for their own farm labor relations laws. In Martin's view, California's efforts to grant rights to farm workers so that they can help themselves have failed because of continued unauthorized migration and the changing structure of farm employment. Martin argues that alternative policies would make farming profitable, raise farm worker wages, and still keep groceries affordable.
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