Collection: Politics

Lectura esencial de una voz experta que necesita nuestro país: las memorias personales y políticas de Luis Miranda revelan un profundo conocimiento de la cultura latina y el desarrollo de una comunidad que puede cambiar nuestro mundo para bien.

Siendo un veterano de Nueva York y de la política nacional, Luis Miranda encarna el espíritu progresista e incansable de los inmigrantes estadounidenses.

No existe persona alguna en la escena política latina, neoyorquina y nacional con la amplia experiencia, pasión y encanto narrativo de Luis Miranda. En Incansable, nos comparte la conmovedora historia de su vida y carrera, desde sus inicios como activista puertorriqueño con mentalidad radical hasta sus décadas de asesoramiento político y resolución de problemas.

Experimentamos la emoción con la exposición de Hamilton, creada por su hijo Lin-Manuel. Además, vivimos el sufrimiento tras la devastación de Puerto Rico por el huracán María. En medio de los triunfos, los desafíos y el arduo trabajo continuo, Miranda examina lo que su experiencia le ha revelado acerca de nuestra política, demografía y sociedad en constante cambio.

American politics seems to grow more contentious and complicated by the day, and whether American democracy works well is hotly debated. Amidst all this roiling partisan argument and confusing claims and counterclaims, there has never been a greater need for an impartial primer on the basics of the American political system.

This Very Short Introduction gives readers a concise, accessible, and sophisticated overview of the vital elements of American democracy, emphasizing both how these elements function, their historical origins, and how they have evolved into their present forms. Richard Valelly covers all facets of America's political system: the bicameral Congress and the place of the filibuster, the legislative-executive process, the role of the Supreme Court, political parties and democratic choice, bureaucracy, the partisan revival, and the political economy. He offers as well an original analysis of the evolution of the American presidency and a fascinating chapter on the effects of public polling on political decision-making and voter representation. Valelly shows that the American political system is, and always has been, very much a work in progress--unfolding within, and also constantly updating, an eighteenth-century constitutional framework. In a refreshingly balanced and judicious assessment, he explores the strengths of American democracy while candidly acknowledging both gaps in representation and the increasing income inequality have sparked protest and intense public discussion. Finally, Valelly considers the remarkable persistence, for more than two centuries, of the basic constitutional forms established in 1787, despite the dramatic social changes that have reshaped virtually all aspects of American life.

For anyone wishing to understand the nuts and bolts of how our political system works--and sometimes fails to work--this Very Short Introduction is the very best place to start.

About the Series:

Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

"A riveting memoir. . . an important, moving work that those who have suffered cannot afford to forget and those who have been spared cannot afford to ignore." -- San Francisco Chronicle

From a childhood survivor of the Cambodian genocide under the regime of Pol Pot, this is a riveting narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her family, and their triumph of spirit.

One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.

Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.

Renowned investor and climate activist Tom Steyer shows us how we can win the war on climate.

The climate is changing more rapidly than scientists predicted even a few years ago, with extreme weather already touching our everyday lives. At the same time, the clean energy revolution is forging ahead faster than nearly anyone anticipated. As Tom Steyer sees it, these two trends together create a moment like the one America faced during World War II: on the one hand, an existential threat calling for collective action; on the other, an opportunity to lead the world, protect the planet, and set the stage for a new generation of shared economic prosperity.

In 2012, Steyer walked away from the highly successful investment fund he founded to devote himself full time to climate issues, and he's been on the front lines of the fight ever since: funding cleantech research and businesses, spearheading clean-energy ballot measures and voter registration drives, and running for president on a climate platform. Today, he leads a climate investment firm focused on accelerating climate solutions. In this accessible book, Steyer shares his own story and showcases the inspiring and innovative work of other climate leaders in the clean-energy transition. He shows us how capitalism can be used to scale climate progress, debunks many of the arguments made by fossil fuel companies, and calls on all of us to make stabilizing our planet part of our life's work. As green technology is fast becoming cleaner and cheaper, reshaping our planet's future--and our own--has never been more crucial or within our reach.

The suburbs have become too liberal and diverse for many white American conservatives, so "exurbia"--areas outside the cities and their suburbs--are becoming the staging ground for the radical right extremist insurgency . . .

Beyond a fanatical devotion to former president Donald Trump, one of the curious things that united the rank and file of the January 6 insurrectionist mob was that many of them were residents of one of America's fastest growing residential areas: Exurbia.

Home to the likes of Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ohio's Jim Jordan, big box retailers, chain restaurants, monster trucks, and megachurches, exurbia is becoming America's greatest political battleground, more important to American politics than urban or rural America.

In this brilliant work of political and cultural inquiry, veteran political journalist David Masciotra provides a definitive account of what exurbia is, how it came to be, and how it's transforming American life. Zooming in outside the greater metropolitan area of Chicago--where Masciotra grew up--he shows how exurbia has become a safe space to fly the MAGA flag and romanticize the mores of the pre-civil rights, pre-feminist, pre-gay rights 1950s.

But, as Masciotra also shows, reactionary white flight is not the whole story of small-town America. The story often lost is the power and persistence of small-town liberals--people who believe in equality, celebrate diversity, and enroll in movements for justice. Exurbia, as it turns out, is ground zero for the fight over a democracy mightily beleaguered, yet still full of promise, and still worth fighting for.

Combining interviews, research, and anecdote--and anchored in personal experience--Exurbia Now delivers a powerful ballad on the state of small-town America, and provides a sense of the fight for democracy, on the ground, in the heartland.

Corporate Coup looks at the attempted overthrow of the elected government of Venezuela, an intervention which, despite open backing by the United States, failed spectacularly.

In January of 2019, the Trump Administration recognized a little-known opposition lawmaker named Juan Guaidó as President of Venezuela. While Washington's history of coups in Latin America is well-documented, this step was unprecedented: Never before had the United States offered legal recognition to a new government before an actual change in leadership had taken place.

Within months it became clear that the attempt at regime change had fallen flat: all Venezuelan territory, government ministries, and the country's military remained under the control of President Nicolás Maduro. While US officials, notably Trump's Venezuela Envoy Elliott Abrams, boasted that roughly 54 countries had followed Washington's lead in recognizing Guaidó's authority, the vast majority of United Nations member states rejected the attempted coup. Four years on, Venezuela's government is firmly in place and Guaidó is nowhere to be seen.

In this fast-paced story, investigative reporter Anya Parampil provides a narrative history of the Chavista revolution and offers character sketches of the figures who took over its leadership after Hugo Chávez's death in 2014. She shows how Guaidó's shadow regime consisted of individuals with deep connections to transnational corporations that sought to overturn the revolution and exploit Venezuela's resources. In particular she uncovers their plot to steal Citgo Petroleum, the country's most valuable international asset. Corporate Coup exposes the hidden personalities and interests driving US policy on Venezuela, revealing that while the recognition of Guaidó failed at changing reality on the ground in Caracas, it succeeded in facilitating the unprecedented looting of the country's extensive foreign reserves.

This gripping story from Venezuela shines light on the grim, shadowy character of a US foreign policy that tramples on democratic norms around the globe. And it points to a dramatic consequence of such policy: the rise of a new, multipolar world heralding the end of US empire.

Discover the Point of View of a Real Mountaineer

For far too many decades, the residents of the Appalachian Mountains have faced the ridicule, prejudice, and misunderstanding from those outside the region.

With this book, author Frank Kilgore, a lifetime resident of Virginia's coalfield counties and descendant of generations of hard-working mountaineers, sheds light on the grit, tenacity, and multiculturalism found among the hills and "hollers" of this beautiful region.

Come see the Appalachian Mountains and those who call this wild and wonderful land home through the eyes of one who not only knows the land and her people, but who knows how to share the best of our mountain culture and calls out the worst of those who would disparage others for personal or political gain.

Contents:

1. A Real Mountaineer's Challenge to J.D. Vance

2. Think Twice Before Calling (All) Coalfield Appalachians Racists, Sexists, And Ignoramuses

3. We're More Multi-Racial Than You May Think!

4. Women and Other Innovators

5. Education and Athletics

6. Appalachian Military Participation and Standouts

7. Coal Mining

8. West Virginia

9. Eastern Kentucky

10. Eastern Tennessee

11. The United Mine Workers of America

12. The History Channel Insults All Appalachians and Their Ancestors

Bonus Sections

Giving President Carter a Jar of Honey From Honey Branch

Unsolicited Advice From An OWG Regarding Current Issues of Interest

Parting Thoughts From a Real Mountaineer

About the Author

Frank Kilgore resides in Russell County, Virginia, and graduated from Clinch Valley College (now the University of Virginia's College at Wise), where he designed and completed the nation's first Appalachian Studies college major. He is the descendant of a dozen or so Patriots that fought at the Battle of King's Mountain, and the son, grandson, nephew, and cousin of dozens of coal miners.

The author has been a country trial lawyer for nearly forty years, an Appalachian conservationist, historian, author, and he's the proud founder of the Appalachian College of Pharmacy located in Buchanan County, Virginia.

Frank has also designed and helped build over seventy miles of hiking and biking trails in what is known as Far Southwest Virginia and mentored over a hundred at-risk young mountaineers along the way.

In addition to this book, Frank is the author of The Clinch River: A World-class Treasure, a science textbook highlighting the natural resources and conservation activities within the watershed. Soon thereafter he researched and edited The Virginia Headwaters of the Big Sandy River: A Story of Revitalization and Nature's Resilience, a textbook focusing on a neighboring watershed. Both books were donated to high school students as part of a place-based science studies project within their watersheds.

Frank's book Far Southwest Virginia: A Postcard Journey, co-authored with Katharine Shearer, came out in 2004. An expanded and redesigned edition titled Far Southwest Virginia: A Postcard and Photographic Journey, was published in 2014.

When he has time and takes a notion, Frank publishes a new edition of Mountain Peeks Magazine.

This passionate autobiography--at once history lesson, prison memoir, metaphysical inquiry, love story, and cry for justice--provides insights into the Israeli occupation and the struggle of the Palestinian people.

One of more than 5,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons, Nasser Abu Srour serves a life sentence with no possibility of parole. From the Nakba to the disastrous consequences of the Oslo Accords, he explains with great acumen how the Intifada of the Stones (1987-1993) ultimately provided the only option for young Palestinians in refugee camps to infuse meaning into their lives, especially as they faced a constant threat of humiliation and manipulation by Israeli intelligence. This uprising leads to Abu Srour's incarceration, after he was forced to confess, under torture, to the killing of a Shin Bet officer who recruited his cousin as an informant.
Within his cell, Abu Srour turns the Wall that has deprived him of his freedom into his interlocutor and the source of stability that allows him to survive a chaotic, hopeless existence. This incredible literary device--and survival strategy--becomes particularly heartbreaking when falling in love causes Abu Srour to lose his grip on the Wall. Only by writing the story of his imprisonment and the story of his love does Abu Srour find his way back. In doing so, he has created a work of art that transcends the pain he endures while shining a glaring light on the ongoing tragedy of the Palestinian situation.

Why would the first family of oil so ardently support environmental climate research and activism? Join author and researcher Jacob Nordangård as he uncovers the whole sordid truth.

The Rockefeller family is one of the richest in the world. Yet, why would the family that made the world dependent on oil fund environmental and climate research since the 1950s, help shape climate policy measures since the 1980s, and supported climate activism since the 1990s?

Rockefeller: Controlling the Game is the thrilling and paradoxical story of one of the world's most influential global players. Through its top position in American business, close contacts with the White House, and with their immense financial power as one of the world's leading private research funders, the Rockefellers have been able to anchor the climate issue both scientifically and politically. Yet what is the reasoning behind doing so?

Author and researcher Jacob Nordangård follows the family from the founding of Standard Oil and the Rockefeller Foundation, up through the aftermath of the Paris Agreement, with the declaration of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in January 2016, to the present day. Nordangård's in-depth research includes the large quantities of new material recently made available on the Internet, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation's own annual reports. Nordangård's main focus is the Rockefeller family's involvement in climate research and politics, but the actions and motives of some of their allies are also explored, as well as the family's influence on the development of modern medicine, family planning, agriculture, art, architecture, behavioral science, information technology, and politics.

The Rockefeller family's utopian dream of a perfect world will have serious consequences for the survival of the human species and life as we know it. The Rockefeller Foundation's stated mission to "promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world" has a dark flipside, as, Nordangård will prove, the Rockefeller family's long-standing battle against climate change contains elements of sophisticated propaganda techniques, futurism, and New Age philosophy, aiming at a complete transformation of the whole earth system, including economy, ecology, culture, and even humanity itself.

The prewar history of the Japanese intelligence community demonstrates how having power over much, but insight into little can have devastating consequences. Its postwar history--one of limited Japanese power despite growing insight--has also been problematic for national security.

In Special Duty Richard J. Samuels dissects the fascinating history of the intelligence community in Japan. Looking at the impact of shifts in the strategic environment, technological change, and past failures, he probes the reasons why Japan has endured such a roller-coaster ride when it comes to intelligence gathering and analysis, and concludes that the ups and downs of the past century--combined with growing uncertainties in the regional security environment--have convinced Japanese leaders of the critical importance of striking balance between power and insight. Using examples of excessive hubris and debilitating bureaucratic competition before the Asia-Pacific War, the unavoidable dependence on US assets and popular sensitivity to security issues after World War II, and the tardy adoption of image-processing and cyber technologies, Samuels' bold book highlights the century-long history of Japan's struggles to develop a fully functioning and effective intelligence capability, and makes clear that Japanese leaders have begun to reinvent their nation's intelligence community.

What would it feel like To Run the World? The Soviet rulers spent the Cold War trying desperately to find out. In this panoramic new history of the conflict that defined the postwar era, Sergey Radchenko provides an unprecedented deep dive into the psychology of the Kremlin's decision-making. He reveals how the Soviet struggle with the United States and China reflected its irreconcilable ambitions as a self-proclaimed superpower and the leader of global revolution. This tension drove Soviet policies from Stalin's postwar scramble for territory to Khrushchev's reckless overseas adventurism and nuclear brinksmanship, Brezhnev's jockeying for influence in the third world, and Gorbachev's failed attempts to reinvent Moscow's claims to greatness. Perennial insecurities, delusions of grandeur, and desire for recognition propelled Moscow on a headlong quest for global power, with dire consequences and painful legacies that continue to shape our world.

The internet as we know it is broken. Here's how we can seize back control of our lives from the corporate algorithms and create a better internet--before it's too late.

It was once a utopian dream. But today's internet, despite its conveniences and connectivity, is the primary cause of a pervasive unease that has taken hold in the U.S. and other democratic societies. It's why youth suicide rates are rising, why politics has become toxic, and why our most important institutions are faltering.

Information is the lifeblood of any society, and our current system for distributing it is corrupted at its heart. Everything comes down to our ability to communicate openly and trustfully with each other. But, thanks to the dominant digital platforms and the ways they distort human behavior, we have lost that ability--while, at the same time, we've been robbed of the data that is rightfully ours.

The roots of this crisis, argue Frank McCourt and Michael Casey, lie in the prevailing order of the internet. In plain but forceful language, the authors--a civic entrepreneur and an acclaimed journalist--show how a centralized system controlled by a small group of for-profit entities has set this catastrophe in motion and eroded our personhood.

And then they describe a groundbreaking solution to reclaim it: rather than superficial, patchwork regulations, we must reimagine the very architecture of the internet. The resulting "third-generation internet" would replace the status quo with a new model marked by digital property rights, autonomy, and ownership.

Inspired by historical calls to action like Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Our Biggest Fight argues that we must act now to embed the core values of a free, democratic society in the internet of tomorrow. Do it right and we will finally, properly, unlock its immense potential.

A clear-headed vision for the United States' role in the Middle East that highlights the changing nature of US national interests and the challenges of grand strategizing at a time of profound change in the international order.

Following a long series of catastrophic misadventures in the Middle East over the last two decades, the American foreign policy community has tried to understand what went wrong. After weighing the evidence, they have mostly advised a retreat from the region. The basic view is that when the United States tries to advance change in the Middle East, it only makes matters worse.

In The End of Ambition, Steven A. Cook argues that while these analysts are rightly concerned that engagement drains US resources and distorts its domestic politics, the broader impulse to disengage tends to neglect important lessons from the past. Moreover, advocates of pulling back overlook the potential risks of withdrawal. Covering the relationship between the US and the Middle East since the end of WWII, Cook makes the bold claim that despite setbacks and moral costs, the United States has been overwhelmingly successful in protecting its core national interests in the Middle East. Conversely, overly ambitious policies to remake the region and leverage US power not only ended in failure, but rendered the region unstable in new and largely misunderstood ways.

While making the case that retrenchment is not the answer to America's problems in the Middle East, The End of Ambition highlights how America's interests in the region have begun to change and critically examines alternative approaches to US-Middle East policy. Cook highlights the challenges that policymakers and analysts confront developing a new strategy for the United States in the Middle East against the backdrop of both political uncertainty in the United States and a changing global order.

A chapter book biography for early readers about one of the women who sparked the Civil Rights movement, by legendary author Eloise Greenfield and with illustrations by Gil Ashby.

When Rosa Parks was growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, she hated the unfair rules that black people had to live by--like drinking out of special water fountains and riding in the back of the bus. Years later, Rosa Parks changed the lives of African American in Montgomery--and all across America--starting with one courageous act. How could one quiet, gentle woman have started it all? This is her story.

Complete with black-and-white illustrations by Gil Ashby, this chapter book by bestselling and award-winning author Eloise Greenfield is the perfect introduction to Rosa Parks for early readers.

* Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies (NCSS/CBC) * Carter G. Woodson Book Award *

Foreword by Jules Witcover, veteran Washington correspondent, award-winning reporter, former political columnist for the Baltimore Sun, and author of 85 Days: The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy.

Discover the entertaining story of how campaigning by train shaped American politics, elections, journalism, and culture in Whistle-Stop Politics.

Memories of the pivotal role campaign trains played in American elections fade with the passing of each generation. Also forgotten are the stories documented by the reporters who traveled with hundreds of whistle-stopping politicians, including Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.

The trains were the backdrop of political drama, intrigue, humor, and triumph for more than 185 years. Campaign trains were an American invention that enabled politicians to connect with as many voters as possible in the country's largest cities and smallest towns.

Filled with engaging anecdotes and striking images, this book is an exciting journey back into America's political past, opening new windows into the personalities and political campaigns that shaped our history.

The Social Security Handbook: Overview of Social Security Programs, 2024 provides information about Social Security programs and services, and identifies rights and obligations under the Social Security laws. This completely updated Handbook, organized by section number, is a readable, easy-to-understand reference for comprehending complex Social Security programs and services and contains information on several topics relevant to Social Security policies:

-How Social Security programs are administered
-Who is and isn't covered under retirement, survivors, disability, and hospital insurance programs
-Who is responsible for submitting the necessary evidence to support a claim
-How claims are processed by the Social Security office
-What Social Security benefits are owed to you
-How to obtain information about your rights under Social Security policy

The Handbook is designed to help users understand the gray areas of the Social Security Act, and to provide critical information about rights and obligations under Social Security laws.

The Handbook outlines how to:
-Protect your benefits and avoid benefit loss;
-Monitor government agencies and get information about policy changes that will affect your benefits;
-Make the most of hospital and Medicare coverage;
-Determine the amount of benefits that are subject to federal income taxes;
-Check Social Security earnings and benefits; and
-Get up-to-date news about future Social Security programs and services.