The overwhelming negativity with which the American public views the news media is largely misplaced. Indeed, negative, emotional, and even biased political news coverage has some benefits for the American people―influencing their ability to perceive a clear choice between the two major parties, increasing their willingness to participate in politics, focusing their attention on important issues, improving their political knowledge, and building their own feelings of political efficacy. On the other hand, the news media negatively contribute to trust in government and political compromise, both vital elements in a flourishing democracy. This book is organized to synthesize major findings in political communication research and present original evidence for the book’s thesis by examining journalists’ own attitudes about news coverage and by conducting detailed analyses that merge content analyses of political news coverage with public opinion data. Shedding much needed light on a complicated issue, this text will be an essential tool for helping students of the media develop a critical eye toward widely held views.

Has political resistance has lost its ability to confront political and economic power and achieve social change? Despite its best intentions, resistance has often become incorporated and neutered before it achieves its aims, as new forms of power absorb it and turn it towards their own ends. Since the Enlightenment, the opposing forces of power and resistance have framed our view of society and politics. Exploring that development, this book shows how resistance can, ironically, reinforce existing status quos and fundamentally strengthen capitalist and colonial desires for “sovereignty” and “domination”. It highlights, therefore, the urgent need for new critical perspectives that breaks free from this imprisoning modern history. In this spirit, this book seeks to theorize the radical potential for a post-resistance existence and politics. One that exchanges a permanent revolution against authority with the discovery of novel forms of agency, social relations and the self that are currently lacking. That aims to construct economic and social systems based not on the possibility of freedom but enlarging the freedom of possibility. In the 21st century can we move beyond power and resistance to a politics at the radical limits that eternally expands what is socially possible?

Product Description: This is an in-depth look at the Russian presidency as a case study of institution-building in a setting in which a strong executive faces the dual tasks of creating political, economic and social stability while simultaneously institutionalizing democratic rule.

Product Description: By analyzing the key theories of political behavior in the context of Latin America, Orlando Pérez illustrates the impact, nature, and limits of democratization. This book fills a longstanding gap in comparative politics by tying together the transformations in political institutions and processes in the developing world and the empirical data on political participation among the citizens of these countries...read more

Product Description: A chance encounter diverted Abdolreza Ansari from completing his PHD in the US, and set him on a professional journey which mirrored the prolific rise and the precipitous fall of the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. Ansari's government career took off when he became Iran's Treasurer General at the age of 32...read more

Product Description: Following the popular uprisings that swept across the Arab world beginning in 2010, armed forces remained pivotal actors in politics throughout the region. As demonstrators started to challenge entrenched autocratic rulers in Tunis, Cairo, Sana'a, and Manama, the militaries stormed back into the limelight and largely determined whether any given ruler survived the protests...read more

No approach to world affairs in the 21st century can afford to ignore the impact that processes of globalisation are having on governments, economies, cultures, and individuals. An understanding of the theories that underpin International Political Economy, and their practical applications, is therefore crucial to the study of international relations, politics, development and economics.In this comprehensive and accessible introduction to the field, the authors consider traditional and alternative approaches to IPE, elucidating key concepts, assumptions and the intellectual and historical context in which they arose and developed – making clear at all times their relevance to issues from trade finance and government, to environment, technology, development and culture.The style of this book encourages independent reflection and critical thinking. Each chapter relates theoretical analysis to contemporary issues, by way of giving the student a better understanding of the theory, and also demonstrating the value of theory in the real world.

Product Description: When the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) came to power in September 2009, Japanese citizens expected the imminent arrival of a new political era, characterized by a two-party system. However, in addition to the triple disasters of March 2011, the DPJ faced numerous difficulties arising from its controversial policies and massive party defections following the government’s consumption tax hike legislation...read more

Product Description: Caroline Lucas is an outsider, inside, fighting for parliamentary reform and for the interests of her constituents. She is a politician with a radical mission and a clear vision of how change can be achieved. From the NHS to corporate tax evasion, from climate change to immigration, Honourable Friends? tells the story of 5 years in Westminster and offers bold and practical suggestions for a fairer British political system...read more

Asher provides a valuable and accessible resource for students and citizens to critically assess and interpret polling results in order to better understand the use (and misuse) of polls for determining public opinion. The latest scholarship and data bring the book fully up to date.

Product Description: This book is based on the assumption that great powers determine global politics and, in this instance, environmental politics. It addresses the approaches of both established and rising powers and their implications for the advancement of international climate negotiations...read more

A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, NonfictionA New York Times Notable Book of 2015A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015A Boston Globe Best Book of 2015A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2015An NPR Best Book of 2015Countless books have been written about the civil rights movement, but far less attention has been paid to what happened after the dramatic passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 and the turbulent forces it unleashed. Give Us the Ballot tells this story for the first time.In this groundbreaking narrative history, Ari Berman charts both the transformation of American democracy under the VRA and the counterrevolution that has sought to limit voting rights, from 1965 to the present day. The act enfranchised millions of Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. And yet, fifty years later, we are still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power, with lawmakers devising new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth and with the Supreme Court declaring a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.Berman brings the struggle over voting rights to life through meticulous archival research, in-depth interviews with major figures in the debate, and incisive on-the-ground reporting. In vivid prose, he takes the reader from the demonstrations of the civil rights era to the halls of Congress to the chambers of the Supreme Court. At this important moment in history, Give Us the Ballot provides new insight into one of the most vital political and civil rights issues of our time.