Comparative Politics

US families have been pushed to the wall. At the bottom of the economic ladder, poor and working-class adults aren't forming stable relationships and can't give their kids the start they need because of low wages and uncertain job prospects. Toward the top, professional parents' lives have become a grinding slog of long hours of paid work. Meanwhile their kids are overstressed by pressure to succeed and get into good colleges.

Great powers have attempted for centuries to intervene in elections occurring in other states through various covert and overt methods, with the American intervention in the 2013 Kenyan elections and the Russian intervention in the 2016 US elections being just two recent examples. Indeed, the Americans and the Soviets/Russians intervened in one out of every nine national-level executive elections between 1946 and 2000.

There is a need for a new generation of politicians to change the world, and Emmanuel Macron could very well be a prototype. Macron Unveiled examines Macron's first four years as France's president, scrutinizing Macron's personality, his way of solving problems, his sources of inspiration, his mistakes, his difficulties, as well as the impact he may already have had in his country, Europe, and the world.

As the voting public continues to diversify across the United States, political candidates, and particularly white candidates, increasingly recognize the importance of making appeals to voters who do not look like themselves. As history has shown, this has been accomplished with varying degrees of success. During the 2016 election, for example, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigned vociferously among Latino voters in Nevada's early primary, where 19 percent of the Democratic caucus consisted of Latinos.

The era known as Reconstruction is one of the unhappiest times in American history. It succeeded in reuniting the nation politically after the Civil War but in little else. Among its chief failures was the inability to chart a progressive course for race relations after the abolition of slavery and rise of Jim Crow. Reconstruction also struggled to successfully manage the Southern resistance towards a Northern, free-labor pattern. But the failures cannot obscure a number of notable accomplishments, with decisive long-term consequences for American life.

Based on a review of research literature from sociology, organizational psychology, and behavioral economics, this audiobook develops a theory of consent generation and distinguishes three groups of consent-producing mechanisms: socialization, incentive mechanisms, and participation and interest representation.

Politicians are consistently voted the least trusted professional group by the UK public. They've recently become embroiled in scandals concerning sexual harassment and expenses. Every year, they introduce new legislation that doesn't do what it sets out to achieve - often with terrible financial and human costs. But, with some notable exceptions, they are decent, hardworking people doing a hugely difficult and demanding job. In this searching examination of our political class, award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman tries to square this circle.

Traveling across India, interviewing Hindu zealots, armed insurgents, jailed dissidents, and politicians and thinkers from across the political spectrum, Siddhartha Deb reveals a country in which forces old and new have aligned to endanger democracy. The result is an absorbing—and disturbing—portrait. India has become a religious fundamentalist dystopia, one depicted here with a novelist's precise language and eye for detail.

In this powerful collection of interviews, Noam Chomsky exposes the problems of our world today, as we stand in this period of monumental change, preparing for a more hopeful tomorrow. He sheds light into the phenomenon of right-wing populism and exposes the catastrophic nature and impact of authoritarian policies on people, the environment and the planet as a whole. He captures the dynamics of the brutal class warfare launched by the masters of capital to maintain and even enhance the features of a dog-eat-dog society.

There is a great deal to learn in studying the successes and failures of Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Biden, and Trump, four presidents whose administrations coincided with dramatic societal changes and challenges.

This book touches on certain dynamics regarding the theoretical and cultural basis of the model Fethullah Gülen has developed based on dialogue, tolerance, and concurrence among groups that come from different religions, cultures, and civilizations. Gülen's model focuses on human beings, those who surround all their world with thought and action, and who are directed toward love for God and for creation.

Hard White explains how the mainstreaming of white nationalism occurred, pointing to two major shifts in the movement. While the book argues that white extremism will have enduring effects on American electoral politics for some time to come, it suggests that the way forward is to refocus the conversation on social solidarity, concluding with ideas for how to build this solidarity.

Oggi siamo subissati da informazioni in ogni momento, in ogni luogo, come mai era accaduto prima. Ma se una volta c’erano professionisti del settore a fungere da filtro tra notizia e fruitore, con l’avvento dei social oggi ognuno di noi si ritrova di fatto abbandonato a se stesso. Se in qualche caso il problema è distinguere il vero dal falso, in altri il punto è semplicemente riuscire a capirci qualcosa. Perché l’informazione, anche quella più sana e fedele ai fatti, ha un grande ma inevitabile difetto: dà per scontato che si sappia di che cosa si stia parlando.

An epic journey into the deepest mysteries of faith. Lost is not just a television show. It has become much larger than that, growing into a complex, mystery-filled epic that has garnered over 23 million participants. Some might call these people viewers, but you don’t just watch Lost - you participate in it. It demands that you dialogue with the story, seeking theories, discussing with friends, and comparing yourself to the characters.

El movimiento estudiantil del 68, nadie lo duda, cambió para siempre a México. Paco Ignacio Taibo II ha rescatado sus notas de entonces y las reflexiones que han venido después, para evitar que el tiempo desgaste el detalle de lo ocurrido y mantener viva la memoria de una generación con la voluntad de cambiar este país a través de la movilización social. En 68 Taibo II busca dar respuesta a algunas preguntas que, a más de cuatro décadas, rondan en la cabeza de quienes vivieron los sucesos, y de las generaciones posteriores que no quieren ignorar de dónde venimos.

Does America's policy toward China make sense? In this vigorous look at China's political evolution and its future, James Mann explores two popular scenarios: a gradual spread of democracy and human rights, or an eventual upheaval. Mann poses a third scenario: What will happen if Chinese capitalism continues to evolve and expand, but the government fails to liberalize? And why should this matter to Americans? Mann explores this possibility and offers a startling vision of our future with China.

In Divested, Ken-Hou Lin and Megan Tobias Neely document how the ascendance of finance on Wall Street, Main Street, and among households is a fundamental cause of economic inequality. They argue that finance has reshaped the economy in three important ways. First, the financial sector extracts resources from the economy at large without providing commensurate economic benefits to those outside the financial services industry.

What happened to America? Is there still hope? We have arrived at a critical moment in American history. The United States is divided; its democracy is shaken. But all is not lost. The remarkable fruit of two decades of research, Last Best Hope is a riveting, urgent, clear-sighted analysis of how America got here and how it can move forward. It presents a hopeful vision for a radical reform of American life - one that enables meaningful change, via policy, legislation, executive action, civic activism, scholarship and the media.

From the author of the international best seller Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, a bracing and original look at the tension between our democratic egalitarian political ideals and our recalcitrant biology. Human beings are tribal. We possess a fundamental desire to belong to groups, teams, clubs, a tribe - something larger than ourselves. Political Tribes explores the phenomenon of human groupishness: how identities are shaped and formed by belonging to a group.

Drawing from classical as well as contemporary examples and ranging across politics, business, science, technology, and the arts, Enough Said is a smart and shrewd look at the erosion of language by an author uniquely placed to measure its consequences.