Colorado has recently been at the center of major shifts in American politics. Indeed, over the last several decades the political landscape has altered dramatically on both the state and national levels. State of Change traces the political and demographic factors that have transformed Colorado, looking beyond the major shift in the dominant political party from Republican to Democratic to greater long-term implications.The increased use of direct democracy has resulted i...

Legislative term limits are reshaping the political landscape in numerous states; however, few of the effects are consistent across all states. Everything from the political environment to the level of legislative professionalism within a state influences the trends that are often attributed to term limits. To cut through these many trends and isolate the ones most likely created by term limits, this volume develops comparisons of states with term limits to similar states without term limi...

Mark R. Levin has made the case, in numerous bestselling books that the principles undergirding our society and governmental system are unraveling. In The Liberty Amendments, he turns to the founding fathers and the constitution itself for guidance in restoring the American republic.The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the delegates to each state’s ratification convention foresaw a time when the Federal government might breach the Consti...

The Inside Story of the 2012 Presidential CampaignThe presidential campaign of 2012 was one of the closest and most fierce, expensive, and unpredictable in our history, and Washington Post senior political correspondent Dan Balz chronicled every twist.Obama vs. Romney is a collection of 50 dispatches from the campaign trail, by one the preeminent political journalists of our times. Balz recounts the back-and-forth slugfest of 2012 in a single seamless narrative, including h...

The governed must know their governmentUnderstanding how our government functions and the political forces that influence it is vital for all Americans. As a comprehensive overview and history of the subject, this book is designed to help anyone interested in learning about our government and the origins of its complex inner workings, our political system, and key elements that have affected our growth as a nation—all while serving as the best supplementar...

Now, do not misunderstand me, America is great.But we are fed up with being over-taxed and over-regulated. We are tired of being told how much salt to put on our food, what kind of cars we can drive, what kinds of guns we can own, what kind of prayers we are allowed to say and where we can say them, what we are allowed to do to elect political candidates, what kind of energy we can use, what doctor we can see. What kind of nation are we becoming? I fear it's the very kind the Coloni...

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 el...

Acrimony and hyperpartisanship have seeped into every part of the political process. Congress is deadlocked and its approval ratings are at record lows. America's two main political parties have given up their traditions of compromise, endangering our very system of constitutional democracy. And one of these parties has taken on the role of insurgent outlier; the Republicans have become ideologically extreme, scornful of compromise, and ardently opposed to the established social and econom...

Do you really know how the U.S. government operates? Most Americans have simply forgotten what they learned in their high school government class. Providing an updated history and comprehensive overview, Idiot's Guides: U.S. Government & Politics, Second Edition, is written to help readers gain an understanding about the origins of the U.S government, in addition to its complex political system and key forces that drive a successful nation. Suitable reading for supplement coursewo...

"An urgent and engaging look at how American politics have become the founding fathers' worst nightmare" ( The Daily Beast).America's political system is dysfunctional. We know it, yet the problem seems intractable—after every election, voters discover yet again that political "leaders" are simply quarreling in a never-ending battle between the two warring tribes.As a former congressman, Mickey Edwards witnessed firsthand how important legislative ...

Is California beyond repair? A sizable number of Golden State citizens have concluded that it is. Incessant budget crises plus a government paralyzed by partisan gridlock have led to demands for reform, even a constitutional convention. But what, exactly, is wrong and how can we fix it? In California Crackup, Joe Mathews and Mark Paul provide clear and informed answers. Their fast-paced and often humorous narrative deftly exposes the constitutional origins of our current political...

A unique "moneyball" look at the 2012 U.S. presidential contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney"Game changer." We heard it so many times during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. But what actually made a difference in the contest—and what was just hype? In this groundbreaking book, John Sides and Lynn Vavreck tell the dramatic story of the election—with a big difference. Using an unusual "moneyball" approach and drawing on extensive quantitative data, they l...