Maryland Politics and Government


Book Description

Tucked between the larger commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia and overshadowed by the political maneuverings of its neighbor, Washington, D.C., Maryland has often been overlooked and neglected in studies of state governmental systems. With the publication of Maryland Politics and Government, the challenging demographic diversity, geographic variety, and dynamic Democratic pragmatism of Maryland finally get their due. Two longtime political analysts, Herbert C. Smith and John T. Willis, conduct a sustained inquiry into topics including the Maryland identity, political history, and interest groups; the three branches of state government; and policy areas such as taxation, spending, transportation, and the environment. Smith and Willis also establish a “Two Marylands” model that explains the dominance of the Maryland Democratic Party, established in the post–Civil War era, that persists to this day even in a time of political polarization. Unique in its scope, detail, and coverage, Maryland Politics and Government sets the standard for understanding the politics of the Free State (or, alternately, the Old Line State) for years to come.










Baltimore


Book Description

How politics and race shaped Baltimore's distinctive disarray of cultures and subcultures. Charm City or Mobtown? People from Baltimore glory in its eccentric charm, small-town character, and North-cum-South culture. But for much of the nineteenth century, violence and disorder plagued the city. More recently, the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody has prompted Baltimoreans—and the entire nation—to focus critically on the rich and tangled narrative of black–white relations in Baltimore, where slavery once existed alongside the largest community of free blacks in the United States. Matthew A. Crenson, a distinguished political scientist and Baltimore native, examines the role of politics and race throughout Baltimore's history. From its founding in 1729 up through the recent past, Crenson follows Baltimore's political evolution from an empty expanse of marsh and hills to a complicated city with distinct ways of doing business. Revealing how residents at large engage (and disengage) with one another across an expansive agenda of issues and conflicts, Crenson shows how politics helped form this complex city's personality. Crenson provocatively argues that Baltimore's many quirks are likely symptoms of urban underdevelopment. The city's longtime domination by the general assembly—and the corresponding weakness of its municipal authority—forced residents to adopt the private and extra-governmental institutions that shaped early Baltimore. On the one hand, Baltimore was resolutely parochial, split by curious political quarrels over issues as minor as loose pigs. On the other, it was keenly attuned to national politics: during the Revolution, for instance, Baltimoreans were known for their comparative radicalism. Crenson describes how, as Baltimore and the nation grew, whites competed with blacks, slave and free, for menial and low-skill work. He also explores how the urban elite thrived by avoiding, wherever possible, questions of slavery versus freedom—just as wealthier Baltimoreans, long after the Civil War and emancipation, preferred to sidestep racial controversy. Peering into the city's 300-odd neighborhoods, this fascinating account holds up a mirror to Baltimore, asking whites in particular to reexamine the past and accept due responsibility for future racial progress.




Maryland Politics and Political Communication, 1950-2005


Book Description

Maryland Politics and Political Communication, 1950-2005 is not a survey of all that occurred between 1950 and 2005. Rather, this book focuses on a set of interesting political events in which communication is a very important variable. These events, be they elections or episodes of governance, are also_arguably_the most dramatic ones during the period.




The Story of Maryland Politics (Classic Reprint)


Book Description

Excerpt from The Story of Maryland Politics This book does not profess to be a wholly complete political history of Maryland. The data for such a volume cannot be obtained because it does not exist. What I have attempted to do is to tell the political story of the State from the close of the Civil War to the present time, as accurately as possible and without bias. I have tried to give the facts about every political struggle worth telling about; to trace the rise and fall of the political factors in each; to show their relations to each other, the way they played politics and the kind of men they were. I have sought to picture every campaign made in the State since 1864, to give the names of the men nominated for the principal offices and those elected, to show the political causes that swept them in and out of office, the source from which they arrived their power and the way in which they used it. The "inside" and unpublished politics of the many notable fights that have been waged in this State is here given and it has also seemed worth while to compile the names of the men who have represented Maryland in the Legislature and in Congress since 1880, in that there exists no other record of these men, and unless put in a form where they can be preserved, all recollection of them is bound to fade. It has taken nearly two years to gather the data upon which this book is based. In that time I have sought and obtained from men who were in the thick of the fights the information necessary to write the real story of the times. As the political reporter of the Baltimore Sun from 1900 to 1910, I had unusual opportunities for knowing the real politics played between those years. Prior to 1900, my information had to come from others and from the files of the Baltimore newspapers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.




Loyal Protestants and Dangerous Papists


Book Description

"This book considers the complex religious tensions in seventeenth-century Maryland in relation to colonial sovereignty under the English crown"--




Still Standing


Book Description

Still Standing reveals how an unlikely governor is sparking a whole new kind of politics—and introduces the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. As the rookie Republican governor of deep-blue Maryland, Larry Hogan had already beaten some daunting odds. A common-sense businessman with a down-to-earth style, he had won a long-shot election the Washington Post called "a stunning upset." He'd worked with cops and neighborhood leaders to quell Baltimore's worst rioting in 47 years. He'd stared down entrenched political bosses to save his state from fiscal catastrophe, winning praise from Democrats, Republicans and independents. But none of that prepared him for the life-threatening challenge he would have to face next: a highly aggressive form of late-stage cancer. Could America's most popular governor beat the odds again? The people of Maryland, with their "Hogan Strong" wristbands, were certainly pulling for him, sending him back to the governor's office in a landslide. As Governor Hogan began his second term cancer-free, his next challenge went far beyond Maryland: bringing our divided country together for a better future. And in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic changed that future forever, Hogan was once again called to rely upon his bold, open-minded approach to problem-solving to lead and serve in a time of unprecedented turmoil. In his own words and unique, plain-spoken style, Larry Hogan tells the feel-good story of a fresh American leader being touted as the "anti-Trump Republican." A lifelong uniter at a time of sharp divisions. A politician with practical solutions that take the best from all sides. An open-hearted man who has learned important lessons from his own struggles in life. As we face a future full of questions, Hogan offers some surprising answers. Still Standing is a timely reminder that perseverance in the face of unexpected obstacles is at the heart of the American spirit.




Early American Rebels


Book Description

During the half century after 1650 that saw the gradual imposition of a slave society in England's North American colonies, poor white settlers in the Chesapeake sought a republic of equals. Demanding a say in their own destinies, rebels moved around the region looking for a place to build a democratic political system. This book crosses colonial boundaries to show how Ingle's Rebellion, Fendall's Rebellion, Bacon's Rebellion, Culpeper's Rebellion, Parson Waugh's Tumult, and the colonial Glorious Revolution were episodes in a single struggle because they were organized by one connected group of people. Adding land records and genealogical research to traditional sources, Noeleen McIlvenna challenges standard narratives that disdain poor whites or leave them out of the history of the colonial South. She makes the case that the women of these families played significant roles in every attempt to establish a more representative political system before 1700. McIlvenna integrates landless immigrants and small farmers into the history of the Chesapeake region and argues that these rebellious anti-authoritarians should be included in the pantheon of the nation's Founders.




Maryland Politics and Government


Book Description

Tucked between the larger commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia and overshadowed by the political maneuverings of its neighbor, Washington, D.C., Maryland has often been overlooked and neglected in studies of state governmental systems. With the publication of Maryland Politics and Government, the challenging demographic diversity, geographic variety, and dynamic Democratic pragmatism of Maryland finally get their due. Two longtime political analysts, Herbert C. Smith and John T. Willis, conduct a sustained inquiry into topics including the Maryland identity, political history, and interest groups; the three branches of state government; and policy areas such as taxation, spending, transportation, and the environment. Smith and Willis also establish a –Two Marylands” model that explains the dominance of the Maryland Democratic Party, established in the post_Civil War era, that persists to this day even in a time of political polarization. Unique in its scope, detail, and coverage, Maryland Politics and Government sets the standard for understanding the politics of the Free State (or, alternately, the Old Line State) for years to come.