Download or read book American Government 3e written by Glen Krutz and published by . This book was released on 2023-05-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Black & white print. American Government 3e aligns with the topics and objectives of many government courses. Faculty involved in the project have endeavored to make government workings, issues, debates, and impacts meaningful and memorable to students while maintaining the conceptual coverage and rigor inherent in the subject. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. The book builds upon what students have already learned and emphasizes connections between topics as well as between theory and applications. The goal of each section is to enable students not just to recognize concepts, but to work with them in ways that will be useful in later courses, future careers, and as engaged citizens. In order to help students understand the ways that government, society, and individuals interconnect, the revision includes more examples and details regarding the lived experiences of diverse groups and communities within the United States. The authors and reviewers sought to strike a balance between confronting the negative and harmful elements of American government, history, and current events, while demonstrating progress in overcoming them. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement.
Download or read book Civil Liberties and American Democracy written by John Brigham and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents an in-depth study of the legal concepts of rights. Concludes with a discussion of the relationship between rights and democracy.
Download or read book Civil Rights and Liberties written by Corey L. Brettschneider and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-28 with total page 1295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging conceptualizing chapter opens Civil Rights and Liberties: Cases and Readings in Constitutional Law and American Democracy, introducing civil liberties within their constitutional framework, illuminating their nature and sources through enlightening Supreme Court deliberations that show the underlying debates about constitutional interpretation. A distinctive approach to themes and principles encourages students to develop their own views on civil liberties in general and on the specific controversies such as abortion, gay rights, and hate speech. Extensive, intriguing excerpts from a highly focused set of cases and other readings from contemporary theory highlight conflicting opinions among the justices. They provide depth of understanding of the Constitution and of the disputes that have shaped its meaning, including the basis and nature of judicial authority. The text's thematic organization reveals the structural and normative features of the Constitution and constitutional law by linking them to contemporary issues and controversies. Key historical elements lend context and depth. A logical chapter structure offers probing overviews of the topics, constitutional arguments, and chapter readings followed by a broad range of theoretical and historical writings leading up to the cases. This multidimensional perspective draws on a wide array of resources such as case excerpts, concurring and dissenting opinions, law journal and articles, general publications, published letters, and other documents. Probing case comprehension, discussion, and synthesis questions punctuate and reinforce content. Features: an engaging conceptualizing opening chapter introduces civil liberties within constitutional framework illuminates their nature and sources through enlightening Supreme Court disputes shows underlying debates about constitutional interpretation a distinctive approach to themes and principles encourages students to develop their own views on civil liberties engages students in specific controversies--abortion, gay rights, and hate speech, etc. intriguing excerpts from a highly focused set of cases and other readings highlight disputes among the justices provide depth of understanding of the Constitution and interpretive disputes explore the basis and nature of judicial authority thematic organization shows structural and normative features of the Constitution and constitutional law links the Constitution to contemporary issues and controversies provides key historical elements for context logical chapter structure author's overviews of topics, constitutional arguments, and chapter readings a broad range of theoretical and historical writings key cases a multidimensional perspective draws on a wide array of resources case excerpts concurring and dissenting opinions law journal articles general publications published letters and other documents probing case comprehension, discussion, and synthesis questions reinforce content
Download or read book Taking Liberties written by Susan N. Herman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-03 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this eye-opening work, the president of the ACLU takes a hard look at the human and social costs of the War on Terror. Over a decade after 9/11, it is far from clear that the government's hastily adopted antiterrorist tactics--such as the Patriot Act--are keeping us safe, but it is increasingly clear that these emergency measures in fact have the potential to ravage our lives--and have already done just that to countless Americans. From the Oregon lawyer falsely suspected of involvement with terrorism in Spain to the former University of Idaho football player arrested on the pretext that he was needed as a "material witness" (though he was never called to testify), this book is filled with unsettling stories of ordinary people caught in the government's dragnet. These are not just isolated mistakes in an otherwise sound program, but demonstrations of what can happen when our constitutional protections against government abuse are abandoned. Whether it's running a chat room, contributing to a charity, or even urging a terrorist group to forego its violent tactics, activities that should be protected by the First Amendment can now lead to prosecution. Blacklists and watchlists keep people grounded at airports and strand American citizens abroad, although these lists are rife with errors--errors that cannot be challenged. National Security Letters allow the FBI to demand records about innocent people from libraries, financial institutions, and internet service providers without ever going to court. Government databanks now brim with information about every aspect of our private lives, while efforts to mount legal challenges to these measures have been stymied. Barack Obama, like George W. Bush, relies on secrecy and exaggerated claims of presidential prerogative to keep the courts and Congress from fully examining whether these laws and policies are constitutional, effective, or even counterproductive. Democracy itself is undermined. This book is a wake-up call for all Americans, who remain largely unaware of the post-9/11 surveillance regime's insidious and continuing growth.
Download or read book Taking Liberties written by Susan N. Herman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-03 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the social and human cost of the security measures taken by the United States during the past decade.
Download or read book Contested Democracy written by Manisha Sinha and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With essays on U.S. history ranging from the American Revolution to the dawn of the twenty-first century, Contested Democracy illuminates struggles waged over freedom and citizenship throughout the American past. Guided by a commitment to democratic citizenship and responsible scholarship, the contributors to this volume insist that rigorous engagement with history is essential to a vital democracy, particularly amid the current erosion of human rights and civil liberties within the United States and abroad. Emphasizing the contradictory ways in which freedom has developed within the United States and in the exercise of American power abroad, these essays probe challenges to American democracy through conflicts shaped by race, slavery, gender, citizenship, political economy, immigration, law, empire, and the idea of the nation state. In this volume, writers demonstrate how opposition to the expansion of democracy has shaped the American tradition as much as movements for social and political change. By foregrounding those who have been marginalized in U.S society as well as the powerful, these historians and scholars argue for an alternative vision of American freedom that confronts the limitations, failings, and contradictions of U.S. power. Their work provides crucial insight into the role of the United States in this latest age of American empire and the importance of different and oppositional visions of American democracy and freedom. At a time of intense disillusionment with U.S. politics and of increasing awareness of the costs of empire, these contributors argue that responsible historical scholarship can challenge the blatant manipulation of discourses on freedom. They call for careful and conscientious scholarship not only to illuminate contemporary problems but also to act as a bulwark against mythmaking in the service of cynical political ends.
Download or read book The Taming of Free Speech written by Laura Weinrib and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-19 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laura Weinrib shows how a coalition of lawyers and activists made judicial enforcement of the Bill of Rights a defining feature of American democracy. Protection of civil liberties was a calculated bargain between liberals and conservatives to save the courts from New Deal attack and secure free speech for both labor radicals and businesses.
Download or read book On Civil Liberty and Self government written by Francis Lieber and published by . This book was released on 1875 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Democracy If We Can Keep It written by Ellis Cose and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published to coincide with the ACLU's centennial, a major new book by the nationally celebrated journalist and bestselling author For a century, the American Civil Liberties Union has fought to keep Americans in touch with the founding values of the Constitution. As its centennial approached, the organization invited Ellis Cose to become its first ever writer-in-residence, with complete editorial independence. The result is Cose's groundbreaking Democracy, If We Can Keep It: The ACLU's 100-Year Fight for Rights in America, the most authoritative account ever of America's premier defender of civil liberties. A vivid work of history and journalism, Democracy, If We Can Keep It is not just the definitive story of the ACLU but also an essential account of America's rediscovery of rights it had granted but long denied. Cose's narrative begins with World War I and brings us to today, chronicling the ACLU's role through the horrors of 9/11, the saga of Edward Snowden, and the phenomenon of Donald Trump. A chronicle of America's most difficult ethical quandaries from the Red Scare, the Scottsboro Boys' trials, Japanese American internment, McCarthyism, and Vietnam, Democracy, If We Can Keep It weaves these accounts into a deeper story of American freedom—one that is profoundly relevant to our present moment.
Download or read book Freedom in the World 2018 written by Freedom House and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-01-31 with total page 1040 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freedom in the World is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The methodology of this survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories.
Download or read book The First Amendment and the Future of American Democracy written by Walter Berns and published by Regnery Publishing. This book was released on 1985 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sharp, in-depth analysis of the First Amendment offering a unique interpretation of our basic freedoms and liberties.
Download or read book The Future of American Democratic Politics written by Nancy J. Hirschmann and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2003-07-21 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, political scientists were assessing changes and continuities in the principles and practices of American democracy. Recent events, including the passage of the U.S. Patriot Act and the current debates about civil liberties versus homeland security, intensify the need to examine the long-term viability of democracy. In this book, fifteen major scholars assess the current state of American democracy, offering a spirited dialogue on the future of democratic politics. Contributors focus on three principles fundamental to democracy—equality, liberty, and participation. They examine these principles within the context of the basic institutions of American democracy: Congress and the state legislatures, the president, political parties, interest groups, and the Supreme Court. They raise questions regarding the checks and balances among formal governmental institutions (with the contributors sharing concern over the fading power of the legislature and the increased power of the executive and judiciary) as well as the role of political parties and interest groups. Topics discussed include: the incomplete mobilization of the electorate, the debates over campaign finance reform and term limits, the Supreme Court’s activist role in the Florida recount, the dangers of teledemocracy and state initiatives, the separation of political participation from residential location, “identity politics,” the clash of "negative" and "positive" liberty, and the prospects for personal freedom in an era of terrorist threats. This timely collection covers the issues relevant to the future of American democracy today not only for lawmakers, students, and historians, but for any concerned citizen.
Download or read book Security V Liberty written by Daniel Farber and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2008-04-24 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the weeks following 9/11, the Bush administration launched the Patriot Act, rejected key provisions of the Geneva Convention, and inaugurated a sweeping electronic surveillance program for intelligence purposes—all in the name of protecting national security. But the current administration is hardly unique in pursuing such measures. In Security v. Liberty, Daniel Farber leads a group of prominent historians and legal experts in exploring the varied ways in which threats to national security have affected civil liberties throughout American history. Has the government's response to such threats led to a gradual loss of freedoms once taken for granted, or has the nation learned how to restore civil liberties after threats subside and how to put protections in place for the future? Security v. Liberty focuses on periods of national emergency in the twentieth century—from World War I through the Vietnam War—to explore how past episodes might bear upon today's dilemma. Distinguished historian Alan Brinkley shows that during World War I the government targeted vulnerable groups—including socialists, anarchists, and labor leaders—not because of a real threat to the nation, but because it was politically expedient to scapegoat unpopular groups. Nonetheless, within ten years the Supreme Court had rolled back the most egregious of the World War I restrictions on civil liberties. Legal scholar John Yoo argues for the legitimacy of the Bush administration's War on Terror policies—such as the detainment and trials of suspected al Qaeda members—by citing historical precedent in the Roosevelt administration's prosecution of World War II. Yoo contends that, compared to Roosevelt's sweeping use of executive orders, Bush has exercised relative restraint in curtailing civil liberties. Law professor Geoffrey Stone describes how J. Edgar Hoover used domestic surveillance to harass anti-war protestors and civil rights groups throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Congress later enacted legislation to prevent a recurrence of the Hoover era excesses, but Stone notes that the Bush administration has argued for the right to circumvent some of these restrictions in its campaign against terrorism. Historian Jan Ellen Lewis looks at early U.S. history to show how an individual's civil liberties often depended on the extent to which he or she fit the definition of "American" as the country's borders expanded. Legal experts Paul Schwartz and Ronald Lee examine the national security implications of rapid advances in information technology, which is increasingly driven by a highly globalized private sector, rather than by the U.S. government. Security v. Liberty shows that civil liberties are a not an immutable right, but the historically shifting result of a continuous struggle that has extended over two centuries. This important new volume provides a penetrating historical and legal analysis of the trade-offs between security and liberty that have shaped our national history—trade-offs that we confront with renewed urgency in a post-9/11 world.
Download or read book Governmental Powers written by Corey L. Brettschneider and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-28 with total page 1248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Governmental Powers: Cases and Readings in Constitutional Law and American Democracy, written by prominent scholar and professor of constitutional law and political theory, Corey Brettschneider, explores the division, enumeration, and roles of the governmental powers established under the U.S. Constitution and the controversies arising from that system in the context of a changing American society. Like its parent volume, Constitutional Law and American Democracy, this text offers a wealth of highly focused case excerpts and interdisciplinary readings dealing with today s most salient debates. These carefully selected readings and cases focus on high-interest topics, including the nature and justification of judicial review, federalism, and separation of powers, and work together to create a nuanced view of key political and constitutional issues. Grounded in precedent, constitutional theory, and history, this bold work explores urgent issues of current debate and controversy making Governmental Powers fun to read and to teach. The clear, well-reasoned writing frequently challenges and always engages. A dynamic book drawing on a wealth of sources, Governmental Powers: Cases and Readings in Constitutional Law and American Democracy, features: An organization linking the history of the Constitution, constitutional law, and the structure of the federal government to contemporary issues and controversies A wealth of primary sources, including case excerpts, concurring and dissenting opinions, law journal and interdisciplinary articles, and published letters A new chapter on the nature and implications of the Supreme Court s 2012 decision regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act A focused selection of cases conveying a nuanced perspective on the Constitution and the political and constitutional disputes that have shaped its meaning Exposure to legal argumentation through astutely selected and edited readings from noted scholars and theorists Coverage spanning the history and development of constitutional law up to the present day, with ample background for considering the big-picture questions of constitutional doctrine and the Supreme Court s role A stimulating balance of foundational and cutting-edge topical coverage that doesn t sidestep provocative or controversial subject matter Overviews in each chapter introducing the constitutional arguments, chapter readings, and cases Discussion questions promoting comprehension, analysis, and classroom discourse Teachers of constitutional law have long awaited a text like this. Brettschneider blends the most important pertinent statements of political and legal theory with skillful excerpts from the major constitutional cases on governmental powers, civil rights, and civil liberties. Brettschneider s insightful commentaries make the text all the richer. Rogers M. Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Download or read book The Federalist Papers written by Alexander Hamilton and published by Read Books Ltd. This book was released on 2018-08-20 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.
Download or read book Liberty and Coercion written by Gary Gerstle and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the conflict between federal and state power has shaped American history American governance is burdened by a paradox. On the one hand, Americans don't want "big government" meddling in their lives; on the other hand, they have repeatedly enlisted governmental help to impose their views regarding marriage, abortion, religion, and schooling on their neighbors. These contradictory stances on the role of public power have paralyzed policymaking and generated rancorous disputes about government’s legitimate scope. How did we reach this political impasse? Historian Gary Gerstle, looking at two hundred years of U.S. history, argues that the roots of the current crisis lie in two contrasting theories of power that the Framers inscribed in the Constitution. One theory shaped the federal government, setting limits on its power in order to protect personal liberty. Another theory molded the states, authorizing them to go to extraordinary lengths, even to the point of violating individual rights, to advance the "good and welfare of the commonwealth." The Framers believed these theories could coexist comfortably, but conflict between the two has largely defined American history. Gerstle shows how national political leaders improvised brilliantly to stretch the power of the federal government beyond where it was meant to go—but at the cost of giving private interests and state governments too much sway over public policy. The states could be innovative, too. More impressive was their staying power. Only in the 1960s did the federal government, impelled by the Cold War and civil rights movement, definitively assert its primacy. But as the power of the central state expanded, its constitutional authority did not keep pace. Conservatives rebelled, making the battle over government’s proper dominion the defining issue of our time. From the Revolution to the Tea Party, and the Bill of Rights to the national security state, Liberty and Coercion is a revelatory account of the making and unmaking of government in America.
Download or read book Civil Liberties Under Attack written by Clair Wilcox and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2016-11-11 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "There were they in great fear, where no fear was." Psalms 53:5 Just about the time that families in America began to view television—and to attain the world's highest living standard—the United States succumbed to a dangerous disease . It went to bed with one of the severest cases of double fear and hysteria any nation has ever suffered. Now Civil Liberties Under Attack inquires into this present state of American democracy's ill health. Hallucinations abound. Every labor union, government office, scientific laboratory, and academic cloister is accused of harboring godless plotters against the democratic way of life. "Never in our lifetimes," observes Zechariah Chafee, Jr., "have American citizens spewed such virulence against American citizens or shown such terror-stricken eagerness to shelter themselves behind novel barricades from the oft-heralded wickedness of their own fellow-countrymen." Without fear—immune to the germ by the deep inoculation of their scholarship—Chafee and his colleagues, all eminent champions of human freedom, examine the spectre of political totalitarianism. And they find that not Communism, but fear of Communism is the prime enemy of our country today—an enemy insidiously undermining the most cherished democratic traditions. Threat to national life does not rise seriously from the native handful of party members. Rather the mortal attack on civil liberties is made through Operation Gag, already successfully choking the inherited freedoms of millions of timid Americans. What will be the consequences of this course of action shackling freedom? "The greatest danger that threatens us is the absence of thought," says Henry Steele Commager. "If in the name of security we start hacking away at our freedoms, we will forfeit security as well." In the first essay of this distinguished collection, Commager conclusively proves that liberty is not only a right but a necessity. Like the fantasy of the scorpion biting poison into its own back, America faces danger with a strategy opening her entirely to the fate she seeks to escape. Having had more than three years in which to act, the people continue to do nothing about the recommendations made by the President's Committee on Civil Rights. Robert K. Carr exposes the five fatuous fallacies in the arguments of those who oppose progress in civil rights. Denying that American Communists can be identified with Communists in the Kremlin, Chafee describes our native malcontents as "American problem children. Instead of tearing ourselves to pieces with fears of what a vague mob with a hated label may do to us in the future, it will be wise to look at them as individual men and women here and now." A realistic and constructive essay, Investigations of Radicalism and Laws Against Subversion tells how to understand and deal with American "Reds." Walter Gellhorn writes that "almost with a single voice American scientists assert we are overdoing our secrecy. A line must be marked between ideas that should be published for mankind's benefit and, on the other side, the military researches that should be bottled up for self-preservation." Over-concern with secrecy inhibits the work of science and consequently frustrates material advancement and well-being for all. Trenchant, delightful, Judge Curtis Bok's Censorship and the Arts is as diverting as it is basic. Irreverently dancing with innuendo, frank illustration, and sly remarks, this essay follows the trail of censorship in all its religious, moral, and political treks. Tongue in cheek, Judge Bok reflects: "The whole question of legal censorship comes down to whether we have faith in people, or whether we fear they won't have the courage and moral stamina of our convictions." Firmly convinced that good Communists cannot be good scholars, James P. Baxter, III feels they have no place on the faculty of any educational institution. But he deplores our error in underestimating and misjudging the means at our disposal for combating totalitarianism. Incisively he quotes: "'The best revenge on your enemy is not to be like him.'" This is a brilliant book all liberty-loving and heart-sickened people will hail. It is the cool hand of common sense on the hot brow of hysteria. The tragedy is that those who need to most may not read Civil Liberties Under Attack. They may be too busy being afraid. Contributors: Henry Steele Commager; Zechariah Chafee, Jr.; James P. Baxter, III; Robert K. Carr; Walter Gellhorn; Curtis Bok.
