Spotlight: Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America

Martin Gilens

Princeton University Press

From the publisher: As this book demonstrates, America's policymakers respond almost exclusively to the preferences of the economically advantaged. Affluence and Influence definitively explores how political inequality in the United States has evolved over the last several decades and how this growing disparity has been shaped by interest groups, parties, and elections.

With sharp analysis and an impressive range of data, Gilens looks at thousands of proposed policy changes and the degree of support for each among poor, middle-class, and affluent Americans. His findings are staggering: when preferences of low- or middle-income Americans diverge from those of the affluent, there is virtually no relationship between policy outcomes and the desires of less advantaged groups. In contrast, affluent Americans' preferences exhibit a substantial relationship with policy outcomes whether their preferences are shared by lower-income groups or not.

At a time when economic and political inequality in the United States only continues to rise, Gilen raises important questions about whether American democracy is responding to the needs of all its citizens.

Martin Gilens is professor of politics at Princeton University. He is the author of Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media, and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy.

Spotlight: An Argument for Same-Sex Marriage: Religious Freedom, Sexual Freedom, and Public Expressions of Civic Equality

Emily R. Gill

Georgetown University Press

From the publisher: The relationship between religious belief and sexuality as personal attributes exhibits some provocative comparisons. Despite the nonestablishment of religion in the United States and the constitutional guarantee of free exercise, Christianity functions as the religious and moral standard in America. Ethical views that do not fit within this consensus often go unrecognized as moral values. Similarly, in the realm of sexual orientation, heterosexuality is seen as the yardstick by which sexual practices are measured. The notion that “alternative” sexual practices like homosexuality could possess ethical significance is often overlooked or ignored.

Gill contends that, just as US law and policy ensure that citizens may express religious beliefs as they see fit, the First Amendment should also ensure that citizens may marry as they see fit. Civil marriage, according to Gill, is a public institution, and the exclusion of some couples from a state institution is a public expression of civic inequality.

Emily R. Gill is Caterpillar Professor of Political Science at Bradley University. She is the author of Becoming Free: Autonomy and Diversity in the Liberal Polity and coeditor of Moral Argument, Religion, and Same-Sex Marriage: Advancing the Public Good.

Spotlight: Money and Banks in the American Political System Kathryn C. Lavelle Cambridge University Press

From the Publisher: Debates over financial politics are woven into the political fabric of the state and contemporary conceptions of the American dream. The author argues that the political sources of instability in finance derive from the nexus between market innovation and regulatory arbitrage. This book explores monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policies within a political culture characterized by the separation of business and state, and mistrust of the concentration of power in any one political or economic institution. The bureaucratic arrangements among the branches of government, the Federal Reserve, executive agencies, and government sponsored enterprises incentivize agencies to compete for budgets, resources, governing authority, and personnel.

Kathryn C. Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University and author of Legislating International Organization: The US Congress, the IMF, and the World Bank and The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets as well as numerous chapters, articles, and book reviews.

Spotlight: Plato Verus Parmenides: The Debate over Coming-Into-Being in Greek Philosophy

Robert Roecklein

Lexington Books

From the publisher: Plato versus Parmenides investigates the concept of genesis, or coming-into-being, a problem that has absorbed the greatest philosophical thinkers. Robert J. Roecklein focuses on two: Plato and Parmenides from Elea. Particularly interesting to Roecklein is how the respective arguments of the reality, or lack thereof, of coming-into-being function as a political barometer- as to how Plato and Parmenides sketch foundations for political regimes.'

“Robert J. Roecklein deals with perennial questions of philosophy by going back to the beginning. His erudite and provocative treatment of Parmenides and Plato is a welcome addition to the literature. His book should prove of interest for all students of political philosophy.”—Stephen Eric Bronner, Rutgers University

Robert Roecklein is a lecturer in political science and rhetoric at Pennsylvania State University, Erie.

Spotlight: Representing Red and Blue: How the Culture Wars Change the Way Citizens Speak and Politicians Listen

David C. Barker and Christopher Jan Carman

Oxford University Press

From the publisher: What is a political representative's job? Are they supposed to figure out what “the people” want and deliver it, or are they charged to do what they think is best for their constituents—even if that means ignoring those constituents' wishes? The authors explore what people think about this question, why their answers vary, and why it matters. They observe that citizens of “Red America”—religious and cultural traditionalists, including most Republicans—often prefer lawmakers who challenge public opinion, whereas “Blue Americans,” or culturally progressive Democrats, typically prefer lawmakers who follow it.

David C. Barker is associate professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh and director designate of the Institute of Social Research at California State University, Sacramento. He has authored many scholarly articles on public opinion and electoral politics.

Christopher Jan Carman is senior research lecturer in Government at the University of Strathclyde. He is also a co-author of Elections and Voters in Britain, 3rd ed. and served as a consultant for the Scottish Parliament and a psephologist for BBC News.

Cicero's Practical Philosophy, Walter Nicgorski, editor, University of Notre Dame Press

Debatable Humor: Laughing Matters on the 2008 Presidential Primary Campaign, Patrick A. Stewart, Lexington Books

Democracy Prevention: The Politics of the U.S.-Egyptian Alliance, Jason Brownlee, Cambridge University Press

Direct Democracy and Minority Rights A Critical Assessment of the Tyranny of the Majority in the American States, Daniel C. Lewis, Routledge

Education Governance for the Twenty-First Century: Overcoming the Structural Barrier to School Reform, Paul Manna and Patrick McGuinn, editors, Brookings Institution Press

Electoral Systems and Political Context: How the Effects of Rules Vary Across New and Established Democracies, Robert G. Moser, Ethan Schreiner, Cambridge University Press

Elusive Victories: The American Presidency at War, Andrew J. Polsky, Oxford University Press

Fostering Autonomy: A Theory of Citizenship, the State, and Social Service Delivery, Elizabeth Ben-Ishai, The Pennsylvania State University Press

The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics, Clifford Bob, Cambridge University Press

Honor: A Phenomenology, Robert L. Oprisko, Routledge

The Involvement of State Governments in US Foreign Relations, Samuel Lucas McMillan, Palgrave Macmillan

Land and Loyalty: Security and the Development of Property Rights in Thailand, Tomas Larsson, Cornell University Press

Ideology and Spatial Voting in American Elections, Stephen Jessee, Cambridge University Press

Israel/Palestine, Third Edition, fully revised and updated, Alan Dowty, Polity Press

The Making of Modern Liberalism, Alay Ryan, Princeton University Press

The Obama Presidency: Promise and Performance, William Crotty, Rowman and Littlefield

The Politics of Modern Central America: Civil War, Democratization, and Underdevelopment, Fabrice Lehoucq, Cambridge University Press

The Power of Interdependence: Lessons from Africa, David Oladipupo Kuranga, Palgrave Macmillan

Presidential Power and Accountability: Toward a Presidential Accountability System, Bruce Buchanan, Routledge

The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics, Fredrick C. Harris, Oxford University Press

The Religious Beliefs of America's Founders: Reason, Revelation, and Revolution, Gregg L. Frazer, University Press of Kansas (American Political Thought series)

The Rise of Ethnic Politics in Latin America, Raúl Madrid, Cambridge University Press

The Soldier and the Changing State: Building Democratic Armies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, Zoltan Barany, Princeton University Press

The Triumph of Israel's Radical Right, Ami Pedahzur, Oxford University Press

Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics, Justin S. Vaughn and Lilly J. Goren, editors, University of Kentucky Press