New Books in Politics

[Cross-posted from New Books in Public Policy]  The American penitentiary model began as not merely a physical construct, but as a philosophical and religious one. Prisoners were to use their time in silence and isolation to contemplate their crimes/sins and to pursue God’s grace. Alexis de Tocqueville’s trip to America began not as a study of American democracy, but of its prisons, though he would go on to write about both arguing that arguing that American social reformers were beginning to view prisons as the “remedy for all of the evils of society”. As with many of his other observations Tocqueville was both accurate and prescient. Today America has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, more than four times the number of second place contender Russia. Regions like upstate NY that used to rely on logging, dairy farms, and manufacturing now rely on prison jobs for economic stability, while states like Mississippi release prisoners in the thousand because they cannot afford to continue to house them. Private prisons trade shares on the NASDAQ, promising to ‘lock up the profits’ of investors, which often means cutting corners in areas that can actually lead to rehabilitation – prisoner education, job training and substance abuse treatment. Marc Mauer‘s Race to Incarcerate (New Press, 2013) is a graphic exploration of this reality based on his earlier book by the same title. Marc was kind enough to speak with us. I hope you enjoy.

[Cross-posted from New Book in Political Science] Cari Lee Skogberg Eastman is the author of Shaping the Immigration Debate: Contending Civil Societies on the US-Mexico Border (Lynne Rienner Publishers 2013). Eastman earned her doctoral degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder. This timely new book explores the border region of southern Arizona. Eastman provides an overview of the policy history of immigration in the US as a way to introduce the complexity of border policy and border politics. In particular, she writes about three civic organizations: Humane Borders, No More Deaths, and Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. Each has a different view of what US policy should be and they compete to attract attention to the region and address this problem. Eastman takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject that combines varied data collection and analysis. The book has a potentially wide audience, including scholars in political science, communications, and sociology, particularly those who study immigration, social movements, and policy.

[Cross-posted from New Books in Political Science] Daniel Stedman Jones is the author of Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics (Princeton University Press, 2012). The book tells a portion of the intellectual history of neoliberalism through a focus on the period of the 1950s through the 1980s. Stedman Jones tracks the development of a set of ideas by Karl Popper, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and later Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and James Buchanan, first in Europe and then in the United States. This intellectual movement soon becomes a transatlantic political movement, as the leaders of the neoliberal agenda sought to influence policy makers in the UK and US. Policy making in the late 1970s and early 1980s, particularly deregulation and other market-based reforms, reflected the success of the “masters of the universe” to move beyond the academy. The book ends with a reflection on the legacy of neoliberalism in current times. Scholars in political science, public policy, history, and economics would all benefit from the story Stedman Jones tells about the relationship between the history of ideas, politics, and policy. The book was short-listed for the Royal Historical Society, Gladstone Prize.

What can the United States learn from Europe? One good answer, says Steven Hill, is social capitalism, a form of economic management that is responsive to markets and productive of broadly-shared prosperity. First known for his work on electoral reform in the United States, Hill began travelling through Europe in the late 90’s to study the use of proportional representation (PR) in European elections. Once there, his research agenda gradually broadened to include European approaches to healthcare, corporate governance, support for families, transportation, energy, media, and other policies that together constitute what Hill calls “The European Way,” as compared to “The American Way.” This comparison is laid out with clarity and a wealth of examples in Hill’s highly-readable book Europe’s Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in an Insecure Age (University of California Press, 2010). In the first half of this interview, we discuss the compatibility of European healthcare systems with thriving economies, focusing on models from Germany for controlling costs and increasing transparency. Hill explains how Europe manages to maintain more Fortune 500 companies than the U.S. and China combined, while at the same time offering benefits to workers like paid maternity leave, generous vacations, paid sick leave, and low-cost child care. We also discuss CEO perspectives on codetermination—a form of corporate power-sharing among workers and management—in German companies like Deutsche Bank, Mercedes, and Volkswagen. In the second half of the interview, we take up the American side of the question. I ask Steven if European-style policies are only possible in small countries with PR, or if they are also possible in a large country without PR, like the United States. Hill describes what it would it take for U.S. states to enact similar policies and where, if anywhere, that is most likely to happen.

[Cross-posted from New Books in Big Ideas] Most people think that professors are more liberal, and some much more liberal, than ordinary folk. As Neil Gross shows in his eye-opening Why are Professors Liberal and Why do Conservatives Care? (Harvard UP, 2013), “most people” are right: academia is much more left-leaning than any other major profession in the U.S . But why is this so? As Gross points out, there are a lot of “folk” explanations out there, but none of them holds much water. Gross looks the data (a lot of which he collected himself) and searches for a more compelling explanation. It’s surprising: the fact that most college students think professors are liberal (which is true) makes those among them who are conservative think they wil not be welcomed in the profession (which, as it turns out, may not be true). By analogy, men don’t generally become nurses because they think of nursing as a “female” profession. Just so, conservatives don’t become professors because they think of academia as a “liberal” profession. But does it matter that academia is liberal? Listen in and find out.

The “rise” of the Tea Party has become one of the most exaggerated political stories in recent memory. The hullabaloo regarding the Tea Party reminds me of what a leading neo-conservative once said about the New Left, “What’s new isn’t new and what’s left isn’t left.” In other words, there isn’t much new about the Tea Party and their principles are not necessarily more conservative than orthodox Republicanism. Kevin Mattson’s new book, Just Plain Dick: Richard Nixon’s Checkers Speech and the ‘Rocking, Socking’ Election of 1952, (Bloomsbury, 2012) argues just that. According to Mattson, the infamous “Checkers Speech” established a rhetorical and political template for the New Right and today’s Tea Party. This book is funny, insightful and worth reading. Listen to the interview, buy the book, and tell a friend.

Mitt Romney must feel like Charlie Brown. Always facing an uphill climb against a popular incumbent, Romney truly believed he would kick the veritable football and take the White House. Unfortunately for the GOP, Lucy (Obama) jerked the football away leaving Romney to fall flat and conservatives to wander the political wilderness. Take heart Mitt Romney—Scott Farris has written the book for you. Scott Farris‘ Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race But Changed the Nation (Lyons Press, 2011) details how “losers” changed American politics. A journalist who has dabbled in the dark arts of politics, Farris has spent decades writing about state and national politicians. Understanding this rare species enabled him to pen a sprawling work that depicts nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century losers. This is a fine book and fun read. Listen to the interview, buy the book and tell a friend.

The 1970s and the Israel-Palestinian Conflict are quite possibly the two most depressing subjects an academic could study. With shag carpeting, disco, Watergate, malaise defining the former and an internecine and (seemingly) eternal clash characterizing the latter who on earth would want to study those topics in one monograph? Well, Gil Troy is up to that task. The McGill University history professor not only took up this unenviable task, he has penned a remarkable work, Moynihan’s Moment: America’s Fight Against Zionism as Racism (Oxford University Press, 2012). On the surface, Troy details Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s iconic 1975 speech at the United Nations that took issue with that body’s definition of Zionism as racism.  The author’s work, however, is much more than the history of a speech. Troy expertly depicts the history of the contemporary Western left as it pertains to Israel and Zionism while also detailing the work and life of an American original, Daniel Patrick Moynihan. If you are at all interested in contemporary US political history or the modern Middle East—this is a must read.

[Cross-posted from New Books in Political Science] Scott Melzer is the author of Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War (New York University Press 2012). Scott earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside and now is an associate professor of Sociology at Albion College. His book adds to the growing list of scholarship on gun control and gun rights. Scott’s disciplinary background in Sociology contributes to a better understanding of the nature of the NRA’s members, the links between their views towards guns and other issues, and what lies ahead for the organization. Through in-depth interviews with NRA members, we learn more about what it means to be a part of this organization, something few scholars have addressed directly in the past. The book is both a great read about policy, about an influential interest group, but also about the sociology of an organization.

Somewhere Hannah Arendt is smiling. In the pages of the 1945 Partisan Review Arendt declared, “The problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.” In the short-term, Arendt couldn’t have been more wrong.  With Marxists and postmodernists rejecting the very idea of “evil,” academics and intellectuals (yes, there is a difference between the two) rarely investigated the “problem of evil.” The international security issues of the post-Cold War era, however, have brought Arendt’s proposition to the fore. From the Balkans and Rwanda to Osama bin Laden, American policymakers have confronted issues of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and mass terror that have forced intellectuals to reconsider “evil.” One of our culture’s leading public intellectuals, Alan Wolfe, has penned a marvelous work on the issue, Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It (Vintage, 2012)). In this readable and timely book, Wolfe defines political evil, offers some definitional accuracy, and urges readers to become serious about the issue. If you are at all interested in the politics of foreign policy and crafting a intellectual framework for a serious strategy go listen to this interview and go buy and read this book.

You wouldn’t know from the 2012 president race but the United States remains engaged in a fairly bloody conflict in Afghanistan. In addition to boots on the ground, we deploy scores of drones in Pakistan, Yemen and the Horn of Africa to keep Al Qaeda and its affiliates at bay. In the post-9/11 world does the US have any other option aside from semi-permanent war against non-state actors that operate in developing and/or failed states? Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld thinks American policymakers have viable options, alternatives and policies that can address the national security challenges of the 21st century. In Let There Be Light: Electrifying the Developing World With Markets and Distributed Energy, co-authored with Drew Sloan, (Truman National Security Institute, 2012), they reveal that “energy,” or the lack thereof, keeps many nations mired in poverty. To jump start-developing economies, Kleinfeld offers some relatively doable innovations to make energy plentiful. In so doing, failed states could very well become success stories or, at the very least, less likely to incubate poverty, lawlessness and threats to international security. In the same vein, Kleinfeld’s second book, Advancing the Rule of Law Abroad (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2012), offers additional policies to promote the rule of law in developing nations. In both cases, these books give viable policy solutions that address the national security challenges of the 21st century.

Tired of politics? I grew tired of campaign commercials, especially once Mitt Romney identified Pennsylvania (where I live) as a battleground state. Now that the ad wars have ended and the ballots have been counted, I am really interested in understanding what has happened to modern American conservatism. That is why I had Patrick Allitt on to discuss his new book, The Conservatives: Ideas & Personalities Throughout American History (Yale University Press, 2010). Professor Allitt traces the evolution of American conservatism from its Federalist roots up through the George W. Bush administration. Accessible and written in a lively style, this is a fine book that deserves a wide reading.

The “Personal is Political” was the mantra for the women’s movement and a generation of social historians interested in the lives of women and assorted minorities. This lens, looking at the interior lives of individuals to decipher their exterior choices, has long been a staple of biographers. Bill Chafe, however, takes this maxim to a higher and more intensive level in his joint biography, Bill and Hillary: The Politics of the Personal (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012). The Duke University historian of women’s history and American liberalism brings these insights to bear on a masterful depiction of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s inner-lives and the public consequences thereof. Chafe’s work is readable and captivating. This work represents an inventive avenue to understand why politicians behave in ways that otherwise seem inconceivable. Seriously, if you want to understand the Clinton presidency go buy this book.

In the 2012 presidential race two major issues are ever present but never mentioned: Mormonism and homosexuality. According to opinion polls, a significant number of Americans either won’t vote or are wary of voting for a Mormon. Likewise, though opinions are rapidly changing a large plurality or slight majority (depending upon the poll you consult) of Americans oppose gay marriage. Craig Harline boldly takes on both controversial issues in his new book, Conversions: Two Family Stories from the Reformation and Modern America (Yale University Press, 2011). Written in an innovative and accessible fashion, Conversions delves into both issues and discusses them in a subtle yet profound manner. In an age where partisans tune into the cable news show that best jibes with their pre-conceived notions Harline’s work is most welcome. Do yourself a favor, listen to our discussion and go out and buy the book.

The 2012 presidential election might be closely contested but the battleground states are almost all exclusively outside of the Old Confederacy. Florida, Virginia, and, to a lesser extent, North Carolina might be contested but only because these states have become remarkable less Southern. Indeed, southern Virginians refer to the northern parts of their state as “occupied Virginia.” In terms of American political history, specialists call the South’s evolution to the GOP “realignment.’ Typically, historians and political scientists explain the South’s remarkable political change in one word “racism.” In his fine  Strom Thurmond’s America (Hill and Wang, 2012), Joseph Crespino muddies that clear and simple explanation. In his work, the South’s realignment is more complicated than pure and simple bigotry. I hope you enjoy our conversation.