How do laws governing voting and elections shape political representation and power in the USA?Are some demographic and socioeconomic groups of Americans over- or under-represented in Congress, state legislatures, and other elected offices? How do factors like gerrymandering and voting rights influence America's democratic institutions? This accessible resource answers all these questions and many more.This one-stop resource provides readers with historical...

As women continue to gain more prominence in political and electoral processes as voters, candidates, and officeholders, it becomes even more important to understand how gender shapes political power and the distribution of resources within our society. Women, Power, and Politics: The Fight for Gender Equality in the United States offers a timely and engaging analysis of classic and contemporary gender-related issues, focusing on the role of women as active participants in governm...

In order to understand the motivations for and implications of Hillary Clinton's historic run for the White House- and her subsequent defeat-the authors explore sexism and gender bias in U.S. political and social culture.While there is some indication that overt sexism toward women in politics is declining, whether this is true for women who run for the highest office in American politics remains relatively unknown. Hillary Clinton's historic run as the 2016 Democr...

Protest Politics in the Marketplace examines how social media has revolutionized the use and effectiveness of consumer activism. In her groundbreaking book, Caroline Heldman emphasizes that consumer activism is a democratizing force that improves political participation, self-governance, and the accountability of corporations and the government. She also investigates the use of these tactics by conservatives.Heldman analyzes the democratic...

After 40 years of activists working to reduce sexual violence on college campuses, in 2014, the new Campus Anti-Rape Movement (CARM) finally put this issue on the national policy agenda. President Barack Obama credited “an inspiring wave of student-led activism” for catapulting campus rape into public consciousness. This book positions the new CARM within a long history of anti-sexual violence activism in the U.S. The authors describe the major events of this new movement and how it coales...

A bipartisan self-help guide to political activism for citizens wanting to improve the world around them—with real-life examples and practical tips—from one of Seattle’s most celebrated leadersFrom post-inauguration rallies to #NoDAPL and the Black Lives Matter movement to the global Women’s March on Washington, the people are exercising their power through protest and community organizing in a way that hasn’t been seen in years. For those looking to organize for t...

Chronic unemployment, deindustrialized cities, and mass incarceration are among the grievous social problems that will not yield unless American citizens address them. Peter Levine's We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For is a primer for anyone motivated to help revive our fragile civic life and restore citizens' public role. After offering a novel theory of active citizenship, a diagnosis of its decline, and a searing critique of our political institutions, Levine-one of Americ...

Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph Cappella-two of the nation's foremost experts on politics and media-offers a searching analysis of the conservative media establishment, from talk radio to Fox News to the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal. Echo Chamber is the first serious account of how the conservative media arose, what it consists of, and how it operates. Jamieson and Cappella find that Limbaugh, Fox News, and The Wall Street Journal opinion pages create a sel...

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 WashingtonA recognized expert on fair voting a...

This "excellent study of activist politics in the United States over the past century" challenges the conventional wisdom about participatory democracy ( Times Literary Supplement).Freedom Is an Endless Meeting offers vivid portraits of American experiments in participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on meticulous research and more than one hundred interviews with activists, Francesca Polletta upends the notion that partic...

The crisis of the progressive movement is so evident that nothing less than a fundamental rethinking of its basic assumptions is required. Today's progressives now work for professional organizations more comfortable with the inside game in Washington DC (and capitols throughout the West), where they are outmatched and outspent by corporate interests. Labor unions now focus on the narrowest possible understanding of the interests of their members, and membership continues to decline in loc...

Reframing feminism for the twenty-first century, this bold and essential history stands up against "bland corporate manifestos" (Sarah Leonard).Eschewing the conventional wisdom that places the origins of the American women’s movement in the nostalgic glow of the late 1960s, Feminism Unfinished traces the beginnings of this seminal American social movement to the 1920s, in the process creating an expanded, historical narrative that dramatically rewrites a ...