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Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk
Two decades ago A Nation at Risk sounded a national alarm on K-12 education Now, an equally urgent alarm is being sounded for higher education in America. In Declining by Degrees, leading authors and educators such as Tom Wolfe, Jim Fallows, and Jay Mathews provide us with a valuable understanding of the serious issues facing colleges today, such as budget cuts, grade inflation, questionable recruitment strategies, and a major focus on Big Time Sports. Tied to the PBS documentary of the same name, Declining by Degrees creates a national discussion about the future of higher education and what we can do about it. .
Price: $8.97
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The Declining Significance of Race : Blacks and Changing American Institutions
This new paperback edition includes a major new essay in which William Julius Wilson not only reflects on the debate surrounding his book, but also presents a provocative discussion of race, class, and social policy. "Wilson has written a profound and provocative book that is destined to become a classic in the field. He has articulated the issues with which future researchers will have to deal. Truly, he has made a contribution to social science."—Wilson Record, American Journal of Sociology"The intellectual strength of this book lies in his capacity to integrate disparate findings from historical studies, social theory and research on contemporary trends into a complex and original synthesis that challenges widespread assumptions about the cause of black disadvantage and the way to remove it."—Paul Starr, New York Times Book ReviewThis is a short but important book. . . . Wilson presents a cogent and convincing interpretation of how the changing political and economic structure of the United States profoundly affected the position of black Americans."—Pierre van den Berghe, Sociology and Social Research "This publication is easily one of the most erudite and sober diagnoses of the American black situation. Students of race relations and anybody in a policy-making position cannot afford to bypass this study."—Ernest Manheim, Sociology .
Price: $14.20
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Conversation: A History of a Declining Art
Essayist Stephen Miller pursues a lifelong interest in conversation by taking an historical and philosophical view of the subject. He chronicles the art of conversation in Western civilization from its beginnings in ancient Greece to its apex in eighteenth-century Britain to its current endangered state in America. As Harry G. Frankfurt brought wide attention to the art of bullshit in his recent bestselling On Bullshit, so Miller now brings the art of conversation into the light, revealing why good conversation matters and why it is in decline. Miller explores the conversation about conversation among such great writers as Cicero, Montaigne, Swift, Defoe, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Virginia Woolf. He focuses on the world of British coffeehouses and clubs in “The Age of Conversation” and examines how this era ended. Turning his attention to the United States, the author traces a prolonged decline in the theory and practice of conversation from Benjamin Franklin through Hemingway to Dick Cheney. He cites our technology (iPods, cell phones, and video games) and our insistence on unguarded forthrightness as well as our fear of being judgmental as powerful forces that are likely to diminish the art of conversation. .
Price: $10.07
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Declining the Stereotype: Ethnicity and Representation in French Cultures (Contemporary French Culture and Society)
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Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism
American public policy has become demonstrably more conservative since the 1960s. Neither Jimmy Carter nor Bill Clinton was much like either John F. Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson The American public, however, has not become more conservative. Why, then, the right turn in public policy? Using both individual and aggregate level survey data, Marc Hetherington shows that the rapid decline in Americans' political trust since the 1960s is critical to explaining this puzzle. As people lost faith in the federal government, the delivery system for most progressive policies, they supported progressive ideas much less. The 9/11 attacks increased such trust as public attention focused on security, but the effect was temporary. Specifically, Hetherington shows that, as political trust declined, so too did support for redistributive programs, such as welfare and food stamps, and race-targeted programs. While the presence of race in a policy area tends to make political trust important for whites, trust affects policy preferences in other, non-race-related policy areas as well. In the mid-1990s the public was easily swayed against comprehensive health care reform because those who felt they could afford coverage worried that a large new federal bureaucracy would make things worse for them. In demonstrating a strong link between public opinion and policy outcomes, this engagingly written book represents a substantial contribution to the study of public opinion and voting behavior, policy, and American politics generally. .
Price: $16.97
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The Judiciary and Democratic Decay in Latin America: Declining Confidence in the Rule of Law
Prillaman argues that a sound judiciary is critical for building popular support for democracy and laying the foundations for sustainable economic development, but that most Latin American governments have made virtually no progress toward building a more effective judiciary. He shows that the traditional approach to judicial reform is flawed on several levels. Reformers are wrong to focus on a single aspect of the judiciary on the assumption that one reform naturally leads to another. In fact, all aspects of the courts are so closely related that failure to reform one aspect creates a "negative synergy" that ultimately undermines the reformed areas. Instead, a successful reform strategy must simultaneously tackle independence, accountability, access, and efficiency; otherwise, it is virtually assured of failure. As Prillaman points out, judicial reform is not merely a technical process that can be isolated from broader economic and political forces. Rather, it is an inherently political process that will be opposed by forces ranging from politicians accustomed to stocking the courts, to judges and court personnel reluctant to accept greater oversight and professional norms. Based on four case studies, Prillaman concludes that failed judicial reforms have led to growing support for mob lynching and vigilante justice that promises to fill the void created by ineffectual courts--ultimately challenging the quality and sustainability of democracy. An invaluable survey for political scientists, students, and researchers involved with democratic consolidation, institution building, and comparative judicial politics in Latin America specifically and the developing world in general..
Price: $20.00
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Coercion and Governance: The Declining Political Role of the Military in Asia
This far-ranging volume offers both a broad overview of the role of the military in contemporary Asia and a close look at the state of civil-military relations in sixteen Asian countries. It provides in-depth discussion of civil-military relations in countries where the military still continues to dominate the political helm as well as others where, in varying degrees, the military is disengaging from politics. Conceptually, the study connects the explanation for the changing relationship of the military to the state to the processes associated with the construction of nation, state, and political system, as well as the development of state capacity, economic growth, and change in the international system.
The book argues that the key to understanding civil-military relations in Asia and elsewhere is the role of coercion, in state and nation building and in the exercise of political authority. As coercion in these processes increases or decreases, so does the political power and influence of the military. Civilian supremacy requires superior political, ideational, moral, and economic power translated into strong institutions that can regulate the military and limit its role in governance.
A key finding of the volume is that, overall, the political power and influence of the military in Asia, though still considerable in some countries, is on the decline. At present only Burma and Pakistan are under military rule, though the military is the central pillar of the totalitarian regime in North Korea. The number of Asian countries under civilian rule has increased dramatically. However, the relationship between the state and the soldier is not a settled issue, and in democratizing countries, civil-military relations is still a contested domain that is being redefined incrementally, often through struggle. The study concludes that, in the long term, the power of the military will continue to decline, and that the growing dominance of democratic civilian control in Asia is likely to endure.
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Price: $36.92
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Clear Choices for Churches: Trends Among Growing and Declining Churches of Christ
Here is a book that can help congregations establish years of research with growing and declining churches. Each chapter offers clear and helpful insights into what the typical well-established congregation is doing that promotes growth or contributes to decline..
Price: $6.75
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The Declining World Order: America's Imperial Geopolitics (Global Horizons)
This work delineates the impact of terrorism--and the American response--on the basic structure of international relations, the dimming prospects for global reform and the tendency to override the role of sovereign territorial states. Falk examines the changing role of the state, the relevance of institutions, the role of individuals and the importance of the worldwide religious resurgence, with its positive and negative implications. He also considers the post-modern geopolitics of the Bush presidency, with its emphasis on the militarization of space, the control of oil in the Middle East, and its reliance on military capabilities so superior to that of other states as to make any challenge impractical..
Price: $25.96
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America's Children, Who Cares?: Growing Needs and Declining Assistance in the Reagan Era (Changing Domestic Priorities Series)
Children are now the largest age group living in poverty in the United States. Although state and local governments as well as nonprofit organizations have tried to replace lost federal funds and give higher priorities to children's services, they have been unable to compensate for the changes in federal policy. This book shows how federal policies have affected services for children, the response of state and local governments, the response of the nonprofit sector, and the outcomes for children and their families..
Price: $19.50
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