Download or read book REFORM THE KAKISTOCRACY written by William L. Kovacs and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reform the Kakistocracy written by William L. Kovacs and published by . This book was released on 2019-04-11 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kakistocracy, a term that describes what our government has become, a government controlled by "leaders" who are the least able or least principled citizens. These leaders are labeled "kakistocrats." In Reform the Kakistocracy, Kovacs describes how the kakistocracy transformed our federal government from one of limited powers to one of immense power without any constitutional changes. This decades-long transformation revised the functions and powers of Congress, the executive, and the courts. These revisions change how each branch of government fulfills its institutional role as a check on the powers of the other branches. They also fundamentally affect the relationship of citizens to their government. The result of the transformation is decades of policy failures, harmful wealth inequality, a health care system costing two times more than in other industrialized nations, and the imposition of such massive amounts of debt that citizens will eventually live in involuntary servitude to the federal government. As part of the discussion, Kovacs takes on the real - world conflict faced by the kakistocrats - who should be the beneficiary of their loyalty? Of course, it is the Constitution but what does that mean when applied to day-to-day decisions? Kakistocrats deal with laws and regulations, sometimes very vague, deal-making, favors, supporters, opponents, citizens, political parties, interest groups, contributors and other branches of government. How does a kakistocrat balance all these competing factors to be faithful to the Constitution? Unlike many books on government reform, Reform the Kakistocracy does not let the reader dangle with fuzzy answers. It presents a clear, thought-provoking, roadmap of governance principles and proposals for restructuring the kakistocracy to achieve a sustainable government that can be managed by citizens. Some may call the roadmap controversial, aggressive, naive or completely unworkable in this political climate, but the roadmap puts serious, creative, ideas into the marketplace for discussion.
Download or read book The Great Debate written by Yuval Levin and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2013-12-03 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An acclaimed portrait of Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the origins of modern conservatism and liberalism In The Great Debate, Yuval Levin explores the roots of the left/right political divide in America by examining the views of the men who best represented each side at its origin: Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine. Striving to forge a new political path in the tumultuous age of the American and French revolutions, these two ideological titans sparred over moral and philosophical questions about the nature of political life and the best approach to social change: radical and swift, or gradual and incremental. The division they articulated continues to shape our political life today. Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the basis of our political order and Washington's acrimonious rifts today, The Great Debate offers a profound examination of what conservatism, progressivism, and the debate between them truly amount to.
Download or read book How to Win an Election written by Quintus Tullius Cicero and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-02-13 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A primer on campaigning in ancient Rome that reads like a strategy memo from a modern political consultant How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines. In 64 BC when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign. What follows in his short letter are timeless bits of political wisdom, from the importance of promising everything to everybody and reminding voters about the sexual scandals of your opponents to being a chameleon, putting on a good show for the masses, and constantly surrounding yourself with rabid supporters. Presented here in a lively and colorful new translation, with the Latin text on facing pages, this unashamedly pragmatic primer on the humble art of personal politicking is dead-on (Cicero won)—and as relevant today as when it was written. A little-known classic in the spirit of Machiavelli's Prince, How to Win an Election is required reading for politicians and everyone who enjoys watching them try to manipulate their way into office.
Download or read book It s Even Worse Than You Think written by David Cay Johnston and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-01-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller The Trump administration is remaking the government. It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America tells us exactly how it is making America worse again. Bestselling author and longtime Trump observer David Cay Johnston shines a light on the political termites who have infested our government under the Trump Administration, destroying it from within and compromising our jobs, safety, finances, and more. No journalist knows Donald Trump better than David Cay Johnston, who has been following him since 1988. It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America goes inside the administration to show how the federal agencies that touch the lives of all Americans are being undermined. Here is just some of what you will learn: The Wall. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto told President Trump that Mexico will never pay for the border wall. So, Trump is proposing putting a tariff on Mexican imports. But a tariff will simply raise the price of Mexican goods in the US, meaning American consumers will end up paying for the wall—if it ever gets built. Climate Change. Welcome to the new EPA, run by Scott Pruitt, a lawyer who has spent much of his career trying to destroy the agency he now heads. Secrecy reigns at the new EPA because Pruitt meets with industry executives to find out which clean air and clean water provisions they most want to roll back, and keeps staffers in the dark to make sure these pro-pollution plans don’t leak prematurely. Stocking the Swamp. Contrary to his promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington, DC, Trump has filled his cabinet with millionaires and billionaires, from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs and hedge fund veteran who made much of his fortune foreclosing on homeowners to billionaire heiress Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has already put the interests of bankers ahead of debt-burdened students and their families. The Kleptocracy. Under Donald Trump conflict of interest is passé. When Trump isn’t in Washington, he stays at one of his properties, where the taxpayers pick up the tab for staffers, Secret Service, and so on, all at full price. And back in Washington, everyone now knows that the Trump International Hotel is the only place to stay if you want to do business with the administration. Meanwhile sons Donald Jr. and Eric run an eyes-wide-open blind trust of Trump holdings to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest—but not the reality.
Download or read book The Pretender of Pitcairn Island written by Tillman W. Nechtman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-13 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of one imposter and his influential vision for British control over the nineteenth-century Pacific Ocean.
Download or read book The Left s Little Red Book on Forming a New Green Republic written by William L. Kovacs and published by Liberty Hill Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Words matter! Words are the primary way we describe our world. Words persuade and inspire. They can also manipulate thinking. The radical Left corrupts words so people believe something other than their true intent. The simple corruption of two words allows them to paint their movement "green" to cover a "red" socialist core. The reference to a "Little Red Book" alludes to Chairman Mao's book of quotations; words proclaiming "truth", but used to impose political domination. By setting out the actual words of the radical Left, i.e. hatred of capitalism, truth is not relevant and humans must go, The Left's Little Red Book on Forming a New Green Republic, equips the reader with skills to challenge lies that sound truthful and evaluate solutions that might benefit society. William L. Kovacs, author of Reform the Kakistocracy: Rule by the Least Able or Least Principled Citizens; contributor to The Libertarian Republic, The Hill and ReformTheKakistocracy.com Mr. Kovacs has been involved in the nation's policy-making process for forty years. As a senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, he testified before Congress forty times, and participated in several hundred federal rulemakings. Prior to his Chamber service, he was a chief counsel on Capitol Hill, chairman of a Virginia state environmental Board and partner in Washington, DC law firms.
Download or read book A Future for Public Service Television written by Des Freedman and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-05-04 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the nature, purpose, and place of public service television within a multi-platform, multichannel ecology. Television is on the verge of both decline and rebirth. Vast technological change has brought about financial uncertainty as well as new creative possibilities for producers, distributors, and viewers. This volume from Goldsmiths Press examines not only the unexpected resilience of TV as cultural pastime and aesthetic practice but also the prospects for public service television in a digital, multichannel ecology. The proliferation of platforms from Amazon and Netflix to YouTube and the vlogosphere means intense competition for audiences traditionally dominated by legacy broadcasters. Public service broadcasters—whether the BBC, the German ARD, or the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation—are particularly vulnerable to this volatility. Born in the more stable political and cultural conditions of the twentieth century, they face a range of pressures on their revenue, their remits, and indeed their very futures. This book reflects on the issues raised in Lord Puttnam's 2016 Public Service TV Inquiry Report, with contributions from leading broadcasters, academics, and regulators. With resonance for students, professionals, and consumers with a stake in British media, it serves both as historical record and as a look at the future of television in an on-demand age. Contributors include Tess Alps, Patrick Barwise, James Bennett, Georgie Born, Natasha Cox, Gunn Enli, Des Freedman, Vana Goblot, David Hendy, Jennifer Holt, Amanda D. Lotz, Sarita Malik, Matthew Powers, Lord Puttnam, Trine Syvertsen, Jon Thoday, Mark Thompson
Download or read book Kakistocracy written by Ronnie V. Amorado and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures Continental Europe and its Empires written by Prem Poddar and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-21 with total page 847 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first reference work to provide an integrated and authoritative body of information about the political, cultural and economic contexts of postcolonial literatures that have their provenance in the major European Empires of Belgium, Denmark, France, G
Download or read book The Bombers and the Bombed written by Richard Overy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-02-20 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ultimate history of the Allied bombing campaigns in World War II Technology shapes the nature of all wars, and the Second World War hinged on a most unpredictable weapon: the bomb. Day and night, Britain and the United States unleashed massive fleets of bombers to kill and terrorize occupied Europe, destroying its cities. The grisly consequences call into question how “moral” a war the Allies fought. The Bombers and the Bombed radically overhauls our understanding of World War II. It pairs the story of the civilian front line in the Allied air war alongside the political context that shaped their strategic bombing campaigns, examining the responses to bombing and being bombed with renewed clarity. The first book to examine seriously not only the well-known attacks on Dresden and Hamburg but also the significance of the firebombing on other fronts, including Italy, where the crisis was far more severe than anything experienced in Germany, this is Richard Overy’s finest work yet. It is a rich reminder of the terrible military, technological, and ethical issues that relentlessly drove all the war’s participants into an abyss.
Download or read book Weimar Germany written by Eric D. Weitz and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive history of Weimar politics, culture, and society A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice A Financial Times Best Book of the Year Thoroughly up-to-date, skillfully written, and strikingly illustrated, Weimar Germany brings to life an era of unmatched creativity in the twentieth century—one whose influence and inspiration still resonate today. Eric Weitz has written the authoritative history that this fascinating and complex period deserves, and he illuminates the uniquely progressive achievements and even greater promise of the Weimar Republic. Weitz reveals how Germans rose from the turbulence and defeat of World War I and revolution to forge democratic institutions and make Berlin a world capital of avant-garde art. He explores the period’s groundbreaking cultural creativity, from architecture and theater, to the new field of "sexology"—and presents richly detailed portraits of some of the Weimar’s greatest figures. Weimar Germany also shows that beneath this glossy veneer lay political turmoil that ultimately led to the demise of the republic and the rise of the radical Right. Yet for decades after, the Weimar period continued to powerfully influence contemporary art, urban design, and intellectual life—from Tokyo to Ankara, and Brasilia to New York. Featuring a new preface, this comprehensive and compelling book demonstrates why Weimar is an example of all that is liberating and all that can go wrong in a democracy.
Download or read book The Grasping Hand written by Ilya Somin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2016-11-29 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut, could condemn fifteen residential properties in order to transfer them to a new private owner. Although the Fifth Amendment only permits the taking of private property for “public use,” the Court ruled that the transfer of condemned land to private parties for “economic development” is permitted by the Constitution—even if the government cannot prove that the expected development will ever actually happen. The Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London empowered the grasping hand of the state at the expense of the invisible hand of the market. In this detailed study of one of the most controversial Supreme Court cases in modern times, Ilya Somin argues that Kelo was a grave error. Economic development and “blight” condemnations are unconstitutional under both originalist and most “living constitution” theories of legal interpretation. They also victimize the poor and the politically weak for the benefit of powerful interest groups and often destroy more economic value than they create. Kelo itself exemplifies these patterns. The residents targeted for condemnation lacked the influence needed to combat the formidable government and corporate interests arrayed against them. Moreover, the city’s poorly conceived development plan ultimately failed: the condemned land lies empty to this day, occupied only by feral cats. The Supreme Court’s unpopular ruling triggered an unprecedented political reaction, with forty-five states passing new laws intended to limit the use of eminent domain. But many of the new laws impose few or no genuine constraints on takings. The Kelo backlash led to significant progress, but not nearly as much as it may have seemed. Despite its outcome, the closely divided 5-4 ruling shattered what many believed to be a consensus that virtually any condemnation qualifies as a public use under the Fifth Amendment. It also showed that there is widespread public opposition to eminent domain abuse. With controversy over takings sure to continue, The Grasping Hand offers the first book-length analysis of Kelo by a legal scholar, alongside a broader history of the dispute over public use and eminent domain and an evaluation of options for reform.
Download or read book Public Service and Good Governance for the Twenty First Century written by James L. Perry and published by . This book was released on 2024-05-28 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expert analysis of American governance challenges and recommendations for reform Two big ideas serve as the catalyst for the essays collected in this book. The first is the state of governance in the United States, which Americans variously perceive as broken, frustrating, and unresponsive. Editor James Perry observes in his Introduction that this perception is rooted in three simultaneous developments: government's failure to perform basic tasks that once were taken for granted, an accelerating pace of change that quickly makes past standards of performance antiquated, and a dearth of intellectual capital that generate the capacity to bridge the gulf between expectations and performance. The second idea hearkens back to the Progressive era, when Americans revealed themselves to be committed to better administration of their government at all levels--federal, state, and local. These two ideas--the diminishing capacity for effective governance and Americans' expectations for reform--are veering in opposite directions. Contributors to Public Service and Good Governance for the Twenty-First Century explore these central ideas by addressing such questions as: what is the state of government today? Can future disruptions of governance and public service be anticipated? What forms of government will emerge from the past and what institutions and structures will be needed to meet future challenges? And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, what knowledge, skills, and abilities will need to be fostered for tomorrow's civil servants to lead and execute effectively? Public Service and Good Governance for the Twenty-First Century offers recommendations for bending the trajectories of governance capacity and reform expectations toward convergence, including reversing the trend of administrative disinvestment, developing talent for public leadership through higher education, creating a federal civil service to meet future needs, and rebuilding bipartisanship so that the sweeping changes needed to restore good government become possible. Contributors: Sheila Bair, William W. Bradley, John J. DiIulio, Jr., Angela Evans, Francis Fukuyama, Donald F. Kettl, Ramayya Krishnan, Paul C. Light, Shelley Metzenbaum, Norman J. Ornstein, James L. Perry, Norma M. Riccucci, Paul R. Verkuil, Paul A. Volcker.
Download or read book Linguistic Disobedience written by Yuliya Komska and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-13 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book asks how we—as citizens, immigrants, activists, teachers—can counter the abuse of language in our midst. How can we take back the power of language from those who flaunt that power to silence or erase us and our fellows? In search of answers, Linguistic Disobedience recalls ages and situations that made critiquing, correcting, and caring for language essential for survival. From turn-of-the-twentieth-century Central Europe to the miseries of the Third Reich, from the Movement for Black Lives to the ongoing effort to decolonize African languages, the study and practice of linguistic disobedience have been crucial. But what are we to do today, when reactionary supremacists and authoritarians are screen-testing their own forms of so-called disobedience to quash oppositional social justice movements and their languages? Blending lyric essay with cultural criticism, historical analysis, and applied linguistics, Linguistic Disobedience offers suggestions for a hopeful pathway forward in violent times.
Download or read book Corruption Capitalism and Democracy written by John Girling and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-03-11 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Corruption arises from the collusion of economic and political elites, a practice that has developed in order to overcome the contradiction of two important processes of our time: capitalism and democracy. In this new study of the phenomenon, the author shows how corruption is the practice of collusion taken to excess; 'the unacceptable face of capitalism'. Corruption, by 'going too far', exposes what is normally hidden from view; the collusive system of elites furthering the expansion of capitalist practice and market practice at the expense of democratic practice and public values.
Download or read book Ill Winds written by Larry Diamond and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Shortlisted for the 2020 Arthur Ross Book Award* From America’s leading scholar of democracy, a personal, passionate call to action against the rising authoritarianism that challenges our world order—and the very value of liberty Larry Diamond has made it his life's work to secure democracy's future by understanding its past and by advising dissidents fighting autocracy around the world. Deeply attuned to the cycles of democratic expansion and decay that determine the fates of nations, he watched with mounting unease as illiberal rulers rose in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, the Philippines, and beyond, while China and Russia grew increasingly bold and bullying. Then, with Trump's election at home, the global retreat from freedom spread from democracy's margins to its heart. Ill Winds' core argument is stark: the defense and advancement of democratic ideals relies on U.S. global leadership. If we do not reclaim our traditional place as the keystone of democracy, today's authoritarian swell could become a tsunami, providing an opening for Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and their admirers to turn the twenty-first century into a dark time of despotism. We are at a hinge in history, between a new era of tyranny and an age of democratic renewal. Free governments can defend their values; free citizens can exercise their rights. We can make the internet safe for liberal democracy, exploit the soft, kleptocratic underbelly of dictatorships, and revive America's degraded democracy. Ill Winds offers concrete, deeply informed suggestions to fight polarization, reduce the influence of money in politics, and make every vote count. In 2020, freedom's last line of defense still remains "We the people."
