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StraightTalk 2023: Our Fragile Democracy: Home
Books
Our Declaration by
Featured on the front page of the New York Times, Our Declaration is already regarded as a seminal work that reinterprets the promise of American democracy through our founding text. Combining a personal account of teaching the Declaration with a vivid evocation of the colonial world between 1774 and 1777, Allen, a political philosopher renowned for her work on justice and citizenship reveals our nation's founding text to be an animating force that not only changed the world more than two-hundred years ago, but also still can. Challenging conventional wisdom, she boldly makes the case that the Declaration is a document as much about political equality as about individual liberty. Beautifully illustrated throughout, Our Declaration is an "uncommonly elegant, incisive, and often poetic primer on America's cardinal text" (David M. Kennedy).
ISBN: 1631490443Publication Date: 2015-05-04
How Democracies Die by
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITH BOOK PRIZE * SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post * Time * Foreign Affairs * WBUR * Paste Donald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one. Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die--and how ours can be saved. Praise for How Democracies Die "What we desperately need is a sober, dispassionate look at the current state of affairs. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two of the most respected scholars in the field of democracy studies, offer just that."--The Washington Post "Where Levitsky and Ziblatt make their mark is in weaving together political science and historical analysis of both domestic and international democratic crises; in doing so, they expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics."--Ezra Klein, Vox "If you only read one book for the rest of the year, read How Democracies Die. . . .This is not a book for just Democrats or Republicans. It is a book for all Americans. It is nonpartisan. It is fact based. It is deeply rooted in history. . . . The best commentary on our politics, no contest."--Michael Morrell, former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (via Twitter) "A smart and deeply informed book about the ways in which democracy is being undermined in dozens of countries around the world, and in ways that are perfectly legal."--Fareed Zakaria, CNN
ISBN: 1524762946Publication Date: 2019-01-08
Why We're Polarized by
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022 One of Bill Gates's "5 books to read this summer," this New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller shows us that America's political system isn't broken. The truth is scarier: it's working exactly as designed. In this "superbly researched" (The Washington Post) and timely book, journalist Ezra Klein reveals how that system is polarizing us--and how we are polarizing it--with disastrous results. "The American political system--which includes everyone from voters to journalists to the president--is full of rational actors making rational decisions given the incentives they face," writes political analyst Ezra Klein. "We are a collection of functional parts whose efforts combine into a dysfunctional whole." "A thoughtful, clear and persuasive analysis" (The New York Times Book Review), Why We're Polarized reveals the structural and psychological forces behind America's descent into division and dysfunction. Neither a polemic nor a lament, this book offers a clear framework for understanding everything from Trump's rise to the Democratic Party's leftward shift to the politicization of everyday culture. America is polarized, first and foremost, by identity. Everyone engaged in American politics is engaged, at some level, in identity politics. Over the past fifty years in America, our partisan identities have merged with our racial, religious, geographic, ideological, and cultural identities. These merged identities have attained a weight that is breaking much in our politics and tearing at the bonds that hold this country together. Klein shows how and why American politics polarized around identity in the 20th century, and what that polarization did to the way we see the world and one another. And he traces the feedback loops between polarized political identities and polarized political institutions that are driving our system toward crisis. "Well worth reading" (New York magazine), this is an "eye-opening" (O, The Oprah Magazine) book that will change how you look at politics--and perhaps at yourself.
ISBN: 9781476700328Publication Date: 2020-01-28
Uncivil Agreement by
Political polarization in America is at an all-time high, and the conflict has moved beyond disagreements about matters of policy. For the first time in more than twenty years, research has shown that members of both parties hold strongly unfavorable views of their opponents. This is polarization rooted in social identity, and it is growing. The campaign and election of Donald Trump laid bare this fact of the American electorate, its successful rhetoric of "us versus them" tapping into a powerful current of anger and resentment. With Uncivil Agreement, Lilliana Mason looks at the growing social gulf across racial, religious, and cultural lines, which have recently come to divide neatly between the two major political parties. She argues that group identifications have changed the way we think and feel about ourselves and our opponents. Even when Democrats and Republicans can agree on policy outcomes, they tend to view one other with distrust and to work for party victory over all else. Although the polarizing effects of social divisions have simplified our electoral choices and increased political engagement, they have not been a force that is, on balance, helpful for American democracy. Bringing together theory from political science and social psychology, Uncivil Agreement clearly describes this increasingly "social" type of polarization in American politics and will add much to our understanding of contemporary politics.
ISBN: 9780226524542Publication Date: 2018-04-16
Our Time Is Now by
From New York Times bestselling author of Lead From The Outside and political leader Stacey Abrams, a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country. "With each page, she inspires and empowers us to create systems that reflect a world in which all voices are heard and all people believe and feel that they matter." --Kerry Washington A recognized expert on fair voting and civic engagement, Abrams chronicles a chilling account of how the right to vote and the principle of democracy have been and continue to be under attack. Abrams would have been the first African American woman governor, but experienced these effects firsthand, despite running the most innovative race in modern politics as the Democratic nominee in Georgia. Abrams didn't win, but she has not conceded. The book compellingly argues for the importance of robust voter protections, an elevation of identity politics, engagement in the census, and a return to moral international leadership. Our Time Is Now draws on extensive research from national organizations and renowned scholars, as well as anecdotes from her life and others' who have fought throughout our country's history for the power to be heard. The stakes could not be higher. Here are concrete solutions and inspiration to stand up for who we are--now. "This is a narrative that describes the urgency that compels me and millions more to push for a different American story than the one being told today. It's a story that is one part danger, one part action, and all true. It's a story about how and why we fight for our democracy and win." - Stacey Abrams
ISBN: 1250257700Publication Date: 2020-06-09
The Voting Rights War by
The Voting Rights War tells the story of the courageous struggle to achieve voting equality through more than one hundred years of work by the NAACP at the Supreme Court. Readers take the journey for voting rights from slavery to the Plessy v. Ferguson case that legalized segregation in 1896 through today's conflicts around voter suppression. The NAACP brought important cases to the Supreme Court that challenged obstacles to voting: grandfather clauses, all-White primaries, literacy tests, gerrymandering, vote dilution, felony disenfranchisement, and photo identification laws. This book highlights the challenges facing American voters, especially African Americans, the brave work of NAACP members, and the often contentious relationship between the NAACP and the Supreme Court. This book shows the human price paid for the right to vote and the intellectual stamina needed for each legal battle. The Voting Rights War follows conflicts on the ground and in the courtroom, from post-slavery voting rights and the formation of the NAACP to its ongoing work to gain a basic right guaranteed to every citizen. Whether through litigation, lobbying, or protest, the NAACP continues to play an unprecedented role in the battle for voting equality in America, fighting against prison gerrymandering, racial redistricting, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and more. The Voting Rights War highlights the NAACP's powerful contribution and legacy.
ISBN: 1442266899Publication Date: 2016-08-22
Democracy Matters by
In his major bestseller, Race Matters, philosopher Cornel West burst onto the national scene with his searing analysis of the scars of racism in American democracy. Race Mattershas become a contemporary classic, still in print after ten years, having sold more than four hundred thousand copies. A mesmerizing speaker with a host of fervidly devoted fans, West gives as many as one hundred public lectures a year and appears regularly on radio and television. Praised by The New York Timesfor his "ferocious moral vision" and hailed by Newsweek as "an elegant prophet with attitude," he bridges the gap between black and white opinion about the country's problems. In Democracy Matters, West returns to the analysis of the arrested development of democracy-both in America and in the crisis-ridden Middle East. In a strikingly original diagnosis, he argues that if America is to become a better steward of democratization around the world, we must first wake up to the long history of imperialist corruption that has plagued our own democracy. Both our failure to foster peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the crisis of Islamist anti-Americanism stem largely from hypocrisies in our dealings with the world. Racism and imperial expansionism have gone hand in hand in our country's inexorable drive toward hegemony, and our current militarism is only the latest expression of that drive. Even as we are shocked by Islamic fundamentalism, our own brand of fundamentalism, which West dubs Constantinian Christianity, has joined forces with imperialist corporate and political elites in an unholy alliance, and four decades after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., insidious racism still inflicts debilitating psychic pain on so many of our citizens. But there is a deep democratic tradition in America of impassioned commitment to the fight against imperialist corruptions-the last great expression of which was the civil rights movement led by Dr. King-and West brings forth the powerful voices of that great democratizing tradition in a brilliant and deeply moving call for the revival of our better democratic nature. His impassioned and provocative argument for the revitalization of America's democracy will reshape the terms of the raging national debate about America's role in today's troubled world.
ISBN: 1594200297Publication Date: 2004-09-02
Jesus and John Wayne by
How did a libertine who lacks even the most basic knowledge of the Christian faith win 81 percent of the white evangelical vote in 2016? And why have white evangelicals become a presidential reprobate's staunchest supporters? These are among the questions acclaimed historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez asks in Jesus and John Wayne, which delves beyond facile headlines to explain how white evangelicals have brought us to our fractured political moment. Challenging the commonly held assumption that the ?moral majority? backed Donald Trump for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Donald Trump in fact represents the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals' most deeply held values. Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping account of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, showing how American evangelicals have worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism, or in the words of one modern chaplain, with ?a spiritual badass.? As Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the role of culture in modern American evangelicalism. Many of today's evangelicals may not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they've read John Eldredge's Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex?and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical popular culture is teeming with muscular heroes?mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of ?Christian America.? Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done. Trump, in other words, is hardly the first flashy celebrity to capture evangelicals' hearts and minds, nor is he the first strongman to promise evangelicals protection and power. Indeed, the values and viewpoints at the heart of white evangelicalism today?patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community?are likely to persist long after Trump leaves office. A much-needed reexamination, Jesus and John Wayne explains why evangelicals have rallied behind the least-Christian president in American history and how they have transformed their faith in the process, with enduring consequences for all of us.
ISBN: 1631495739Publication Date: 2020-06-23
Peacekeeping, Policing, and the Rule of Law after Civil War by
The rule of law is indispensable for sustained peace, good governance, and economic growth, especially in countries recovering from civil war. Yet despite its importance, we know surprisingly little about how to restore the rule of law in the wake of conflict. In this book, Robert A. Blair proposes a new theory to explain how the international community can help establish the rule of law in the world's weakest and most war-torn states, focusing on the crucial but often underappreciated role of the United Nations. Blair tests the theory by drawing on original household surveys in Liberia, highly disaggregated data on UN personnel and activities across Africa, and hundreds of interviews with UN officials, local leaders, citizens, and government and civil society representatives. The book demonstrates that UN intervention can have a deeper, more lasting, and more positive effect on the rule of law than skeptics typically believe.
ISBN: 1108879926Publication Date: 2020-10-23
How Democracies Die by
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Comprehensive, enlightening, and terrifyingly timely."--The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITH BOOK PRIZE * SHORTLISTED FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post * Time * Foreign Affairs * WBUR * Paste Donald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whimper: the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms. The good news is that there are several exit ramps on the road to authoritarianism. The bad news is that, by electing Trump, we have already passed the first one. Drawing on decades of research and a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow, Levitsky and Ziblatt show how democracies die--and how ours can be saved. Praise for How Democracies Die "What we desperately need is a sober, dispassionate look at the current state of affairs. Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, two of the most respected scholars in the field of democracy studies, offer just that."--The Washington Post "Where Levitsky and Ziblatt make their mark is in weaving together political science and historical analysis of both domestic and international democratic crises; in doing so, they expand the conversation beyond Trump and before him, to other countries and to the deep structure of American democracy and politics."--Ezra Klein, Vox "If you only read one book for the rest of the year, read How Democracies Die. . . .This is not a book for just Democrats or Republicans. It is a book for all Americans. It is nonpartisan. It is fact based. It is deeply rooted in history. . . . The best commentary on our politics, no contest."--Michael Morrell, former Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (via Twitter) "A smart and deeply informed book about the ways in which democracy is being undermined in dozens of countries around the world, and in ways that are perfectly legal."--Fareed Zakaria, CNN
ISBN: 9781524762933Publication Date: 2018-01-16
How Fascism Works by
"No single book is as relevant to the present moment."-Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen "One of the defining books of the decade."-Elizabeth Hinton, author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE . Fascist politics are running rampant in America today-and spreading around the world. A Yale philosopher identifies the ten pillars of fascist politics, and charts their horrifying rise and deep history. As the child of refugees of World War II Europe and a renowned philosopher and scholar of propaganda, Jason Stanley has a deep understanding of how democratic societies can be vulnerable to fascism- Nations don't have to be fascist to suffer from fascist politics. In fact, fascism's roots have been present in the United States for more than a century. Alarmed by the pervasive rise of fascist tactics both at home and around the globe, Stanley focuses here on the structures that unite them, laying out and analyzing the ten pillars of fascist politics-the language and beliefs that separate people into an "us" and a "them." He knits together reflections on history, philosophy, sociology, and critical race theory with stories from contemporary Hungary, Poland, India, Myanmar, and the United States, among other nations. He makes clear the immense danger of underestimating the cumulative power of these tactics, which include exploiting a mythic version of a nation's past; propaganda that twists the language of democratic ideals against themselves; anti-intellectualism directed against universities and experts; law and order politics predicated on the assumption that members of minority groups are criminals; and fierce attacks on labor groups and welfare. These mechanisms all build on one another, creating and reinforcing divisions and shaping a society vulnerable to the appeals of authoritarian leadership. By uncovering disturbing patterns that are as prevalent today as ever, Stanley reveals that the stuff of politics-charged by rhetoric and myth-can quickly become policy and reality. Only by recognizing fascists politics, he argues, may we resist its most harmful effects and return to democratic ideals. "With unsettling insight and disturbing clarity, How Fascism Works is an essential guidebook to our current national dilemma of democracy vs. authoritarianism."-William Jelani Cobb, author of The Substance of Hope
ISBN: 0525511830Publication Date: 2018-09-04
Twilight of Democracy by
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "How did our democracy go wrong? This extraordinary document ... is Applebaum's answer." --Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian explains, with electrifying clarity, why elites in democracies around the world are turning toward nationalism and authoritarianism. From the United States and Britain to continental Europe and beyond, liberal democracy is under siege, while authoritarianism is on the rise. In Twilight of Democracy, Anne Applebaum, an award-winning historian of Soviet atrocities who was one of the first American journalists to raise an alarm about antidemocratic trends in the West, explains the lure of nationalism and autocracy. In this captivating essay, she contends that political systems with radically simple beliefs are inherently appealing, especially when they benefit the loyal to the exclusion of everyone else. Elegantly written and urgently argued, Twilight of Democracy is a brilliant dissection of a world-shaking shift and a stirring glimpse of the road back to democratic values.
ISBN: 9780385545808Publication Date: 2020-07-21
One Person, No Vote by
As featured in the documentary All In: The Fight for Democracy Finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Longlisted for the National Book Award in Nonfiction An NPR Politics Podcast Book Club Choice Named one of the Best Books of the Year by: Washington Post * Boston Globe * NPR* Bustle * BookRiot * New York Public Library From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of White Rage, the startling--and timely--history of voter suppression in America, with a foreword by Senator Dick Durbin. In her New York Times bestseller White Rage, Carol Anderson laid bare an insidious history of policies that have systematically impeded black progress in America, from 1865 to our combustible present. With One Person, No Vote, she chronicles a related history: the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans.
ISBN: 9781635571370Publication Date: 2018-12-13
Demagoguery and Democracy by
A clear-eyed guide to demagoguery--and how we can defeat it What is demagoguery? Some demagogues are easy to spot: They rise to power through pandering, charisma, and prejudice. But, as professor Patricia Roberts-Miller explains, a demagogue is anyone who reduces all questions to us vs. them. Why is it dangerous? Demagoguery is democracy's greatest threat. It erodes rational debate, so that intelligent policymaking grinds to a halt. The idea that we never fall for it--that all the blame lies with them--is equally dangerous. How can we stop it? Demagogues follow predictable patterns in what they say and do to gain power. The key to resisting demagoguery is to name it when you see it--and to know where it leads.
ISBN: 9781615196760Publication Date: 2020-03-17
Unrig by
Paul Perry is an ideal candidate for the Democratic Party. He's a young Black man with an Ivy League education and a compelling life story who is running on a platform of affordable healthcare and better salaries for teachers. But he finds that it takes more than determination, hard work, and a political science degree to defeat his opponents--it takes deep pockets. His campaign comes to a screeching halt, not because of a scandal or a lack of community support, but because he couldn't raise enough funds. This is one of the many stories in Unrig. Using short histories, biographical sketches, and current events, journalist Daniel G. Newman and artist George O'Connor paint a complex picture of how wealth and influence are used to shape our democracy.
ISBN: 9781250295309Publication Date: 2020-07-07
Defending Democracies by
Election interference is one of the most widely discussed international phenomena of the last five years. Russian covert interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election elevated the topic into a national priority, but that experience was far from an isolated one. Evidence of election interference by foreign states or their proxies has become a regular feature of national elections and is likely to get worse in the near future. Information and communication technologies afford those who would interfere with new tools that can operate in ways previously unimaginable: Twitter bots, Facebook advertisements, closed social media platforms, algorithms that prioritize extreme views, disinformation, misinformation, and malware that steals secret campaign communications. Defending Democracies examines the problem through an interdisciplinary lens and focuses on: (i) defining the problem of foreign election interference, (ii) exploring the solutions that international law might bring to bear, and (iii) considering alternative regulatory frameworks for understanding and addressing the problem. The result is a deeply urgent examination of an old problem on social media steroids, one that implicates the most central institution of liberal democracy: elections. The volume seeks to bring domestic and international perspectives on elections and election law into conversation with other disciplinary frameworks, escaping the typical biases of lawyers who prefer international legal solutions for issues of international relations. Taken together, the chapters in this volume represent a more faithful representation of the broad array of solutions that might be deployed, including international and domestic, legal and extra-legal, ambitious and cautious.
ISBN: 9780197556979Publication Date: 2021-02-16
Digital Civics and Citizenship by
Regardless of age and experience, young adults must be mindful of their digital presence in the expanding digital world. This book provides a guide for librarians, educators, counselors, and administrators to guide secondary and higher education students in successfully practicing responsible citizenship and civics in the digital world.
ISBN: 9781538141342Publication Date: 2021-07-05
The Machinery of Democracy by
The Brennan Center at NYU convened a high-level task force of voting experts from government, academia, and business to systematically analyze various threats to voting technologies that are widely used across the country today. This book offers specific remedies and countermeasures to identify and protect democratic elections from widespread fraud and sabotage.
ISBN: 0897335538Publication Date: 2007-02-01
Level 4: 1984 by
Pearson English Readers bring language learning to life through the joy of reading. Well-written stories entertain us, make us think, and keep our interest page after page. Pearson English Readers offer teenage and adult learners a huge range of titles, all featuring carefully graded language to make them accessible to learners of all abilities. Through the imagination of some of the world's greatest authors, the English language comes to life in pages of our Readers. Students have the pleasure and satisfaction of reading these stories in English, and at the same time develop a broader vocabulary, greater comprehension and reading fluency, improved grammar, and greater confidence and ability to express themselves. Find out more at english.com/readers
ISBN: 9781405862417Publication Date: 2008-02-21
Fahrenheit 451 by
Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this timeless classic with a special edition featuring a new introduction by the author and a message that is more relevant today than when it was first published. Since the late 1940s, Ray Bradbury has been revered for his works of science fiction and fantasy. With more than five million copies in print,Fahrenheit 451-- originally published in 1953 -- remains his most acclaimed work.Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which book paper burns.Fahrenheit 451is a novel set in the (perhaps near) future when "firemen" burn books forbidden by a totalitarian "brave new world" regime. The hero, according to Mr. Bradbury, is "a book burner who suddenly discovers that books are flesh-and-blood ideas and cry out silently when put to the torch." Today, when libraries and schools in this country and all over the world are still "burning" certain books,Fahrenheit 451remains a brilliantly readable and suspenseful work of even greater impact and timeliness.
ISBN: 0743247221Publication Date: 2003-09-23
It Can't Happen Here by
"The novel that foreshadowed Donald Trump's authoritarian appeal."--Salon It Can't Happen Here is the only one of Sinclair Lewis's later novels to match the power of Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith. A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press. Called "a message to thinking Americans" by the Springfield Republican when it was published in 1935, It Can't Happen Here is a shockingly prescient novel that remains as fresh and contemporary as today's news. With an Introduction by Michael Meyer and an Afterword by Gary Scharnhorst
ISBN: 0451465644Publication Date: 2014-01-07
Declare Yourself by
Speak. Connect. Act. Vote. 50 celebrated Americans tell you why Celebrated Americans--from Adrian Grenier to Amber Tamblyn to Hayden Panettiere to Alice Walker-- share their compelling perspectives on voting and civic involvement in this one-of-a-kind book. Guest edited by actress America Ferrera, this collection of more than fifty essays and unique pieces explores topics ranging from "The First Time I Voted" to "Why the Personal is Political," all straight from the pens of public figures you know and admire. Read it--and then join them! Declare yourself.
ISBN: 9780061473326Publication Date: 2008-05-20
By Any Media Necessary by
The participatory politics and civic engagement of youth in the digital age There is a widespread perception that the foundations of American democracy are dysfunctional, public trust in core institutions is eroding, and little is likely to emerge from traditional politics that will shift those conditions. Youth are often seen as emblematic of this crisis--frequently represented as uninterested in political life, ill-informed about current-affairs, and unwilling to register and vote. By Any Media Necessary offers a profoundly different picture of contemporary American youth. Young men and women are tapping into the potential of new forms of communication such as social media platforms, spreadable videos and memes, remixing the language of popular culture, and seeking to bring about political change--by any media necessary. In a series of case studies covering a diverse range of organizations, networks, and movements involving young people in the political process--from the Harry Potter Alliance which fights for human rights in the name of the popular fantasy franchise to immigration rights advocates using superheroes to dramatize their struggles--By Any Media Necessary examines the civic imagination at work. Before the world can change, people need the ability to imagine what alternatives might look like and identify paths by which change can be achieved. Exploring new forms of political activities and identities emerging from the practice of participatory culture, By Any Media Necessary reveals how these shifts in communication have unleashed a new political dynamism in American youth. Read Online at connectedyouth.nyupress.org
ISBN: 1479829714Publication Date: 2016-01-01
Let Us Vote! by
The fascinating tale of how a bipartisan coalition worked successfully to lower the voting age ?Let Us Vote!? tells the story of the multifaceted endeavor to achieve youth voting rights in the United States. Over a thirty-year period starting during World War II, Americans, old and young, Democrat and Republican, in politics and culture, built a movement for the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, which lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen in 1971. This was the last time that the United States significantly expanded voting rights. Jennifer Frost deftly illustrates how the political and social movements of the time brought together bipartisan groups to work tirelessly in pursuit of a lower voting age. In turn, she illuminates the process of achieving political change, with the convergence of ?top-down? initiatives and ?bottom-up? mobilization, coalition-building, and strategic flexibility. As she traces the progress toward achieving youth suffrage throughout the ?60s, Frost reveals how this movement built upon the social justice initiatives of the decade and was deeply indebted to the fight for African American civil and voting rights. 2021 marks the fiftieth anniversary of this important constitutional amendment and comes at a time when scrutiny of both voting age and voting rights has been renewed. As the national conversation around climate crisis, gun violence, and police brutality creates a new call for a lower voting age, ?Let Us Vote!? provides an essential investigation of how this massive political change occurred, and how it could be brought about again.
ISBN: 9781479811328Publication Date: 2022-01-18
Drawing the Vote by
Drawing the Vote, an original graphic novel, looks at the history of voting rights in the United States and how it affects the way we vote today. Author Tommy Jenkins identifies events and trends that led to the unprecedented results of the 2016 presidential election that left American political parties more estranged than ever. To balance these complex ideas and statistics, Kati Lacker's original artistic style makes the book accessible for readers of all ages. At a time when many citizens are experiencing challenges and apathy about voting and skepticism concerning our bitterly divided government, Drawing the Vote seeks to offer some explanation for how we got here and how every American can take action to make their vote count. "Jenkins's rousing work will inspire students to educate themselves on the issues--and, when the time comes, to vote early and often." --School Library Journal "A panoptic history of the vote that breaks down everything from gerrymandering to Americans for Prosperity's dark influence, Drawing the Vote is a great pick for both adults and young Americans who want to understand what it means to be a voter." --Shelf Awareness
ISBN: 9781419739989Publication Date: 2020-04-21
Lillian's Right to Vote by
An elderly African American woman, en route to vote, remembers her family's tumultuous voting history in this picture book publishing in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Lillian, a one-hundred-year-old African American woman, makes a "long haul up a steep hill" to her polling place, she sees more than trees and sky-she sees her family's history. She sees the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment and her great-grandfather voting for the first time. She sees her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in a protest from Selma to Montgomery. Veteran bestselling picture-book author Jonah Winter and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner Shane W. Evans vividly recall America's battle for civil rights in this lyrical, poignant account of one woman's fierce determination to make it up the hill and make her voice heard.
ISBN: 0385390289Publication Date: 2015-07-14
What Can a Citizen Do? (Kids Story Books, Cute Children's Books, Kids Picture Books, Citizenship Books for Kids) by
"[This] charming book provides examples and sends the message that citizens aren't born but are made by actions taken to help others and the world they live in." --The Washington Post This is a book about what citizenship--good citizenship--means to you, and to us all: Across the course of several seemingly unrelated but ultimately connected actions by different children, we watch how kids turn a lonely island into a community--and watch a journey from what the world should be to what the world could be. What Can a Citizen Do? is the latest collaboration from the acclaimed behind the bestselling Her Right Foot: Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris. For today's youngest readers about what it means to be a citizen and the positive role they can play in society. Includes beautiful illustrations and intriguing, rhyming text. "Obligatory reading for future informed citizens." --The New York Times What Can a Citizen Do is an empowering and timeless read with an important message for all ages. Great family read-aloud book Books for kids ages 5-8 Picture books for grades K-3
ISBN: 1452173133Publication Date: 2018-09-11
Vote! by
Using a town’s mayoral election as a model, this lively introduction to voting covers every step in the process, from the start of the campaign all the way to the voting booth. There’s even a recount! The cast of characters includes two dogs (and a cat), whose questions and comments mirror those of young readers and help to explain some of an election’s more confusing aspects. Told with clarity and wit in Eileen Christelow’s signature comic-book style and vetted by an expert in voter education, this look at how we choose our leaders turns an often daunting topic into an exciting narrative. Who would have guessed that learning about voting could be so much fun? A timeline of the history of voting in the United States, a glossary of words associated with voting, a discussion of American political parties, and a list of Internet resources are included.
ISBN: 0618247548Publication Date: 2003-08-18
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer by
A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book A 2016 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book A 2016 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner Stirring poems and stunning collage illustrations combine to celebrate the life of Fannie Lou Hamer, a champion of equal voting rights. "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired." Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson's interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring vibrant mixed-media art full of intricate detail, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer's life and legacy with a message of hope, determination, and strength.
ISBN: 9780763665319Publication Date: 2015-08-04
Global Citizenship by
Skipping Stones 2021 Honors Award Winner! Examine what it means to be a global citizen, and learn about the rights and responsibilities that we all have. The right to grow and thrive in a safe environment. The right to a name and an identity. The right to the free expression of ideas. The right to an education. In Global Citizenship: Engage in the Politics of a Changing World, readers ages 12 to 15 discover the resources and information they need to learn about issues of global concern and strategies for taking informed action, as outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly. Each chapter centers on a specific human right defined by the United Nations' "Convention on the Rights of the Child," focusing on the political, human, economic, environmental, and cultural guarantees born of our common humanity. Readers learn about the history and evolution of citizenship, about past and ongoing human rights struggles, about economic justice, and about environmental sustainability and the climate protests happening around the world. They also learn about cultural appreciation and preservation in an age of global convergence. All of these issues have major ties to the present and align with the values being described by today's movements, such as Black Lives Matter, which aims to reduce violence toward Black communities and individuals. Ready to create a better future for all? Let's go! * In an interconnected world with countless tools for education and social participation, children need not wait until adulthood to become civic participants and social justice advocates! Young people can forge local and international partnerships to combat inequality, promote sustainability, and foster intercultural understanding. * Links to online resources provide a digital learning experience that integrates content with an interactive platform. * Investigations include examining case studies, researching global groups working for change, and developing biographies of key people. * Essential questions guide readers' investigations while hands-on activities promote critical and creative problem solving, and text-to-world connections highlight the way the past provides context for the present-day world. About the Inquire & Investigate series and Nomad Press Nomad Press books in the Inquire & Investigate series integrate content with participation, encouraging readers to engage in student-directed learning. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers. All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.
ISBN: 9781619309364Publication Date: 2020-09-15
What Is Citizenship? by
What does it mean to be a citizen? Accessible text and relatable examples introduce youn readers to this core concept and highlight the rights and responsibilities all citizens share.
ISBN: 0778725960Publication Date: 2016-09-26
Papa's Mark by
After his son helps him learn to write his name, Samuel T. Blow goes to the courthouse in his Southern town to cast his ballot on the first election day ever on which African Americans were allowed to vote.
ISBN: 9780823416509Publication Date: 2003-09-01
Equality's Call by
Learn all about the history of voting rights in the United States--from our nation's founding to the present day--in this powerful picture book from the New York Times bestselling author of The Pout-Pout Fish. A right isn't right till it's granted to all... The founders of the United States declared that consent of the governed was a key part of their plan for the new nation. But for many years, only white men of means were allowed to vote. This unflinching and inspiring history of voting rights looks back at the activists who answered equality's call, working tirelessly to secure the right for all to vote, and it also looks forward to the future and the work that still needs to be done.
ISBN: 1534439587Publication Date: 2020-02-18
A Small History of a Disagreement by
A lively introduction to voting, democracy, and activism for kids. "The message of this book, which focuses on a student body's divided opinion about an issue vital to its future, is that disagreements can lead to fruitful discussion, better understanding and great ideas." --New York Times Should an ancient monkey puzzle tree be cut down to make room for exciting new classrooms? In this spirited picture book, students must work together to come to an agreement--but it's not as easy as it seems! On the first day back at school after the holidays, a group of classmates notice a construction crane parked next to the old monkey puzzle tree. The school principal says the tree will be cut down to make room for new science classrooms and computer labs. The classmates are divided, with some in favor of innovation, and others calling for the protection of the thousand-year-old tree. As they protest, march, fight, and strike, one teacher offers a solution: Why not hold a debate? The principal agrees, and at the end of the debate, a student vote will end the disagreement, once and for all--or will it? Inspirational without being didactic, and filled with warm, lively illustrations, this wonderful introduction to the process of debate, listening, and collective decision-making will be read by young and old alike for years to come. "A refreshing and timely reminder that disagreement can--and should--be productive." --Kirkus An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids
ISBN: 9781771647076Publication Date: 2020-10-20
Integrity Counts by
In Integrity Counts, lifelong Republican and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks out against the former president's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and hopes to restore confidence and trust in our country's elections. "Brad Raffensperger put public service above party service, and for that he is a true democracy action hero, and he is also my hero. His book serves as a reminder that American democracy is bigger than any individual candidate or election." --THE HON. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, former governor of California Integrity stands as the cornerstone of American democracy. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State, defended American democracy by refusing to bend to demands that he change the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election in his state. Raffensperger's defense of democracy made him a target of President Donald Trump for months following the election, culminating in an hour-long phone call in which the president told him, "I just want to find 11,780 votes," the exact number he needed to win Georgia's sixteen Electoral College votes. Once again, Raffensperger refused. Georgia voters had spoken. A lifelong conservative Republican who had financially supported President Trump's reelection campaign and voted for Trump, Raffensperger called for a hand recount of every vote to confirm the results and affirm the integrity of Georgia's election. Still President Trump persisted in his personal attacks. One of the most troubling questions in the wake of the 2020 election, Raffensperger says, is whether America will see every candidate who loses a major election refuse to accept the results and, instead, set out to raise money and build support on unfounded claims of fraud and corruption. To avoid that prospect, Americans must come to terms with the scope of the problem, but doing so won't be comfortable for either party. Either party because the 2020 crisis was not unprecedented in Georgia. By November 2020, Raffensperger had been challenging the claims of a "stolen election" for nearly two years. In the fall of 2018, after Democrat Stacey Abrams lost the race for governor of Georgia, she told a crowd of supporters, "So, to be clear, this is not a speech of concession. Concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true, or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede." The similarities don't end there, and when considered with some care, they paint a troubling picture of an all-too-bipartisan willingness to undermine the integrity of our democracy, and the public's confidence in it, for the sake of personal and partisan gain. Integrity Counts tells Raffensperger's inspiring story of commitment to the integrity of American democracy.
ISBN: 1637630336Publication Date: 2021-11-02
Vanguard by
The epic history of African American women's pursuit of political power -- and how it transformed America. In the standard story, the suffrage crusade began in Seneca Falls in 1848 and ended with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. But this overwhelmingly white women's movement did not win the vote for most black women. Securing their rights required a movement of their own. In Vanguard, acclaimed historian Martha S. Jones offers a new history of African American women's political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. From the earliest days of the republic to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and beyond, Jones excavates the lives and work of black women--Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Fannie Lou Hamer, and more--who were the vanguard of women's rights, calling on America to realize its best ideals.
ISBN: 1541618610Publication Date: 2020-09-08
Minority Leader by
Minority Leader is a necessary guide to harnessing the strengths of being an outsider by Stacey Abrams, one of the most prominent black female politicians in the U.S. Leadership is hard. Convincing others--and often yourself--that you possess the answers and are capable of world-affecting change requires confidence, insight, and sheer bravado. Stacey Abrams's Minority Leader is the handbook for outsiders, written with the awareness of the experiences and challenges that hinder anyone who exists beyond the structure of traditional white male power--women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and millennials ready to make a difference. In Minority Leader, Stacey Abrams argues that knowing your own passion is the key to success, regardless of the scale or target. From launching a company, to starting a day care center for homeless teen moms, to running a successful political campaign, finding what you want to fight for is as critical as knowing how to turn thought into action. Stacey uses her experience and hard-won insights to break down how ambition, fear, money, and failure function in leadership, while offering personal stories that illuminate practical strategies. Stacey includes exercises to help you hone your skills and realize your aspirations. She discusses candidly what she has learned over the course of her impressive career: that differences in race, gender, and class are surmountable. With direction and dedication, being in the minority actually provides unique and vital strength, which we can employ to rise to the top and make real change.
ISBN: 9781250191298Publication Date: 2018-04-24
