Political Systems

A power-hungry vice president, a bad batch of shady intelligence, and a sinister plot to destroy Western civilization. Just another day in America. On May 1, 2001, a group of radical Islamic terrorists crash a Boeing 737 jet airliner into the Mall of America—and Vice President Robert Hornsby knows his moment is coming. The attack kills three thousand American citizens and throws an entire nation into a panic, but all Hornsby sees is an opportunity, a chance to imprint his fanatical values on the soul of the country he loves and become the most powerful vice president in American history. ...

Has American democracy's long, ambitious run come to an end? Possibly yes. As William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe argue in this trenchant new analysis of modern politics, the United States faces a historic crisis that threatens our system of self-government - and if democracy is to be saved, the causes of the crisis must be understood and defused.

They were the political odd couple - the two most powerful men in the country, a pair who "couldn't be more different or more the same." For six years, Matthews was on the inside, watching the evolving relationship between President Reagan and Speaker of the House O’Neill. Drawing not only on his own remarkable knowledge but on extensive interviews with those closest to his subjects, Matthews brings this unlikely friendship to life in his unique voice.

Here is a visionary analysis of how the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism, and blind faith have combined with the public sphere's degradation to create an environment dangerously hostile to reason. Never has there been a worse time for us to lose the capacity to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from national security to the economy, from issues of health and social welfare to the environment. As The Assault on Reason explains, we have precious little time to waste.

Over the last 30 years, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies has grown from a small group of disaffected conservative law students into an organization with extraordinary influence over American law and politics. Although the organization is unknown to the average citizen, this group of intellectuals has managed to monopolize the selection of federal judges, take over the Department of Justice, and control legal policy in the White House.

The world is primed for radical changes in government where each of us has an equal voice and all are held accountable. In Architecture of a Technodemocracy, Hanania provides a detailed blueprint on how to leverage current government processes, communications systems, and blockchain security to take the next step in the evolution of human government. By harnessing technology that already exists, we can nonviolently reshape our respective governments.

Our trial courts conduct hardly any trials, our correctional systems do not correct, and the rise of mandated arbitration has ushered in a shadowy system of privatized "justice". Meanwhile, our legislators can't even follow their own rules for making rules while the rule of law mutates into a perpetual state of emergency. The legal system is becoming an incomprehensible farce. How did this happen? In The Nonsense Factory, Bruce Cannon Gibney shows that over the past 70 years, the legal system has dangerously confused quantity with quality and might with legitimacy.

As a United States general, he had an unparalleled genius for military strategy, and it was under his leadership that Japan was rebuilt into a democratic ally after World War II. But MacArthur carried out his zero-sum philosophy both on and off the battlefield. During the Korean War, in defiance of President Harry S. Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he pushed for an aggressive confrontation with Communist China - a position intended to provoke a wider war, regardless of the cost or consequences.

Captain Kaelen's greatest enemy isn't the fleet hunting her—it's the power burning in her veins. After a triumphant victory nearly ends in tragedy, she must choose between her quest for vengeance and the safety of the man she loves. Meanwhile, a spy and a warrior, enemies by birth and lovers by circumstance, hunt a conspiracy in the shadows. Both pairs are pawns in a master's game, and their paths are set to collide. To survive, they must forge a desperate alliance where one wrong move could mean destruction, and trust is the most dangerous weapon of all.

Life for Abby and her husband Russell has returned to normal. Now in her first trimester, Abby is called on to sort out the estate of an elderly client, a retired FBI agent. Meanwhile, the fiancée of ‘Toph’ Lefan, Russell’s murdered friend, is seeking answers. Russell refers her to former New York State Police Detective Sergeant, Carl Boone, who has just opened his own office as a private investigator. Knowing the power and far-reaching influence of those indirectly responsible for Toph’s murder, both Russell and Boone try to dissuade her, to no avail. No one could have foreseen ...

The America Party: Elon Musk’s Bold Revolution to Break the System takes readers into the firestorm that started on July 5, 2025, when Elon Musk launched his own political party. With over 1.25 million Americans backing his vision, Musk challenged the Republican and Democrat control of Washington. Author and adjunct professor Joseph Ejike Ojih follows the story from Musk’s explosive social media post to his plan for disrupting the 2026 midterms. With a mix of real quotes, platform details, and analysis, the book shows how Musk’s ideas—supporting Bitcoin, artificial intelligence, ...

Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia under Yeltsin and Putin implemented a political system of "imitation democracy," marked by "a huge disparity between formal constitutional principles and the reality of authoritarian rule." How did this system take shape, how else might it have developed, and what are the prospects for re-envisioning it more democratically in the future? These questions animate Dmitrii Furman's Imitation Democracy, a welcome antidote to books that blandly decry Putin as an omnipotent dictator without considering his platforms, constituencies, and sources of power.

If you've ever wondered about the constitutional basis for presidential pardons, this book explains it, offering examples from the recent and distant past. Follow constitutional law professor and popular newsroom commentator Kim Wehle through a fascinating rundown of how this executive power has been-and might be-used by American presidents.

Ian Millhiser, Vox's Supreme Court correspondent, tells the story of what the six very conservative Republicans Supreme Court justices are likely to do with their power. The Agenda exposes a radically altered Supreme Court whose powers extend far beyond transforming any individual right - its agenda is to shape the very nature of America's government, redefining who gets to have legal rights, who is beyond the reach of the law, and who chooses the people who make our laws.

Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein identify two overriding problems that have led Congress—and the United States—to the brink of institutional collapse. But they offer a panoply of useful ideas and reforms, endorsing some solutions, like greater public participation and institutional restructuring, while debunking others, like independent or third-party candidates. Above all, they call on the media as well as the public to focus on the true causes of dysfunction rather than just throwing the bums out every election cycle.

Unveiling the enigmatic world of presidential campaigns, "The Road to the Oval Office" serves to educate every political enthusiast about the intriguing and often intimidating journey to become the President of the United States of America. This is more than an eBook; consider it your comprehensive guide to presidential elections and everything that goes into the making of a potential national leader. Meticulously categorized over fascinating chapters, this guide provides a deep insight into the electoral system, political landscape, and the unexpected barriers in a presidential run. Fresh ...

Today, the House of Representatives is debating a bill that would permanently normalize trade relations with China. At the same time, the State Department reports that terrorist activity has shifted to the Southeast Asian countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In southern Lebanon, Israeli troops prepare to pull out of the buffer zone following two decades of occupation. In Iran, a Jewish Iranian admits he was paid five hundred dollars per month to spy for the Israeli intelligence service. He faces the death penalty if convicted. In the Philippines, twenty-one foreigners, held hostage by ...

Equality is easy to grasp in theory but often hard to achieve in reality. In this accessible and wide-ranging work, American University law professor Robert L. Tsai offers a stirring account of how legal ideas that aren't necessarily about equality at all - ensuring fair play, behaving reasonably, avoiding cruelty, and protecting free speech - have often been used to overcome resistance to justice and remain vital today.

Enter a world of ancient magic, political intrigue, and fierce courage... In this captivating anthology, acclaimed fantasy author James Tallett invites readers back to the richly imagined world of Arhosa. From the treacherous political machinations of "Ashes of Ambition," where arcane power and betrayal intertwine in deadly fashion, to the soaring adventures of "Wings of the Ancestors," where a young Yn Gyntaf must unlock his true potential to save his tribe, these ten tales showcase the breadth and depth of a world struggling to redefine itself after empire. Journey through the ruins of a ...