Temper Democratic


Book Description

Temper Democratic is an irreverent reflection on the idea of a classless Australia - its achievements, its limitations and its opponents. Humphrey McQueen explains why no news is best, scorns a national flag, turns the logic of multiculturalism against ethnic chauvinists and advances a wicked redemption of political correctness.




American Politics


Book Description

Huntington examines the persistent gap between the promise of American ideals and the performance of American politics. He shows how Americans have always been united by the democratic creed of liberty, equality, and hostility to authority, but how these ideals have been frustrated through institutions and hierarchies needed to govern a democracy.




Disrespectful Democracy


Book Description

The majority of Americans think that politics has an “incivility problem” and that this problem is only getting worse. Research demonstrates that negativity and rudeness in politics have been increasing for decades. But how does this tide of impolite-to-outrageous language affect our reactions to media coverage and our political behavior? Disrespectful Democracy offers a new account of the relationship between incivility and political behavior based on a key individual predisposition—conflict orientation. Individuals experience conflict in different ways; some enjoy arguments while others are uncomfortable and avoid confrontation. Drawing on a range of original surveys and experiments, Emily Sydnor contends that the rise of incivility in political media has transformed political involvement. Citizens now need to be able to tolerate or even welcome incivility in the public sphere in order to participate in the democratic process. Yet individuals who are turned off by incivility are not brought back in by civil presentation of issues. Sydnor considers the challenges in evaluating incivility’s normative benefits and harms to the political system: despite some detrimental aspects, certain levels of incivility in certain venues can promote political engagement, and confrontational behavior can be a vital tool in the citizen’s democratic arsenal. A rigorous and empirically informed analysis of political rhetoric and behavior, Disrespectful Democracy also proposes strategies to engage citizens across the range of conflict orientations.




A Republic of Men


Book Description

An analysis of the writings and speeches of the American founders. Kann (political science, U. of Southern Calif.) looks at how the founders deployed a "grammar of manhood" that provided informal rules for stigmatizing disorderly men, justifying citizenship for deserving men, and elevating exceptional men to positions of leadership and political authority. He also points out how this grammar precluded women from participating in what became a republic of men, and the legacy of the founders' gendered language in later American history. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Keeping Faith


Book Description

In this powerful collection by one of today's leading African American intellectuals, Keeping Faith situates the current position of African Americans, tracing the geneology of the "Afro-American Rebellion" from Martin Luther King to the rise of black revolutionary leftists. In Cornel West's hands issues of race and freedom are inextricably tied to questions of philosophy and, above all, to a belief in the power of the human spirit.




Play and Democracy


Book Description

This book explores the complex and multi-layered relationships between democracy and play, presenting important new theoretical and empirical research. It builds new paradigmatic bridges between philosophical enquiry and fields of application across the arts, political activism, children’s play, education and political science. Play and Democracy addresses four principal themes. Firstly, it explores how the relationship between play and democracy can be conceptualized and how it is mirrored in questions of normativity, ethics and political power. Secondly, it examines different aspects of play in urban spaces, such as activism, aesthetic experience, happenings, political carnivals and performances. Thirdly, it offers examples and analyses of how playful artistic performances can offer democratic resistance to dominant power. And finally, it considers the paradoxes of play in both developing democratic sensibilities and resisting power in education. These themes are explored and interrogated in chapters covering topics such as aesthetic practice, pedagogy, diverse forms of activism, and urban experience, where play and playfulness become arenas in which to create the possibility of democratic practice and change. Adding extra depth to our understanding of the significance of play as a political, cultural and social power, this book is fascinating reading for any serious student or researcher with an interest in play, philosophy, politics, sociology, arts, sport or education.




The Yale Review


Book Description




Sri


Book Description

Singapore has a 2000% higher population density than India, but is yet slum-free. At the same time, India is full of slums. Why? Why do the Chinese pay 4.9% for 30-year fixed mortgage rates and Indians pay 10%? China has 800 million jobs and India has 520 million. Our populations are identical. Why is India lacking 280 million jobs? India’s target for job creation is an abysmal 10 million. India created near zero jobs in 3 years. Why is India lagging so pathetically? In peak years, China grew at 13% while India perennially struggles to grow at 8%. Why? China exports $2100 billion vs India’s $260 billion – and shamefully, India’s exports have not grown at all in 7 years. Why? Despite these facts, the author asserts with irrepressible optimism that it is India’s manifest destiny to be the world’s largest economy. He offers solutions to script a new future for India — to make India 1100% richer in 20 years. Modi is a great blessing to India. He works hard. Instead he should work smart using ideas from 50 richest countries suggested in the book. SRI will end poverty, slums, farmers’ suicides, vanquish 80% of black money and create 200 million jobs, with no cost to the government. India’s GDP is $2.5 trillion. SRI will add $25 trillion -$75 trillion in a special case -to our GDP. Sans SRI, India will be stuck as a ‘lazy’, imbecile power middling in a world order dominated by Red China. The book exposes how China will be undone by imminent political, demographic, economic storms. India will have 60% more population than China by the end of this century, making China senile.




Freemen's Manual


Book Description




A Political Companion to Henry David Thoreau


Book Description

The writings of Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) have captivated scholars, activists, and ecologists for more than a century. Less attention has been paid, however, to the author's political philosophy and its influence on American public life. Although Thoreau's doctrine of civil disobedience has long since become a touchstone of world history, the greater part of his political legacy has been overlooked. With a resurgence of interest in recent years, A Political Companion to Henry David Thoreau is the first volume focused exclusively on Thoreau's ethical and political thought. Jack Turner illuminates the unexamined aspects of Thoreau's political life and writings. Combining both new and classic essays, this book offers a fresh and comprehensive understanding of Thoreau's politics, and includes discussions of subjects ranging from his democratic individualism to the political relevance of his intellectual eccentricity. The collection consists of works by sixteen prominent political theorists and includes an extended bibliography on Thoreau's politics. A Political Companion to Henry David Thoreau is a landmark reference for anyone seeking a better understanding of Thoreau's complex political philosophy.