As frequent swing vote and centrist voice, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor helped shape many of the Supreme Court’s landmark decisions and opinions under the leadership of William Rehnquist. Indeed, many argue that her overall impact and influence was greater than that of the Chief Justice himself.Nancy Maveety now takes a closer look at what might justifiably be known as the O’Connor Court, in which the voices of individual justices came to the fore. She describes how policy leadershi...

In Glass and Gavel, noted legal expert Nancy Maveety has written the first book devoted to alcohol in the nation’s highest court of law, the United States Supreme Court.Combining an examination of the justices’ participation in the social use of alcohol across the Court’s history with a survey of the Court’s decisions on alcohol regulation, Maveety illustrates the ways in which the Court has helped to construct the changing culture of alcohol. “Intoxicating liquor” is one of the fe...

What defines a president? Is it policymaking? A good relationship with the American people? Or is it legacy? Most would argue that legacy imprints a president in the American consciousness. A president's federal judicial appointees may be his or her most lasting political legacy. Because federal judges serve for life, their legal policymaking endures long after a president's term in office is over. Presidents who care about serving their mandate, who desire to maximize their policy agenda,...

The presidency of Barack Obama seeks a major transformation of American politics and policy. This new collection, edited by Steven E. Schier, examines the unusual combination of risk and ambition in Obama's presidency concerning popular politics, Washington politics, and economic and foreign policy. It also places the Obama presidency in historical perspective, noting the unusual circumstances of his election and the similarities and differences between presidential politics today and thos...

A groundbreaking work that identifies the real culprit behind one of the great economic crimes of our time— the growing inequality of incomes between the vast majority of Americans and the richest of the rich.We all know that the very rich have gotten a lot richer these past few decades while most Americans haven’t. In fact, the exorbitantly paid have continued to thrive during the current economic crisis, even as the rest of Americans have continued to fall behind. Why do the “hav...

When it comes to our prosperity, our freedom tradition, and our constitutional government, President Barack Obama has been the great destroyer—knocking down the free-market economy and principles of limited government that have made America the envy of the world. As New York Times bestselling author David Limbaugh documents in chilling detail in his new book, The Great Destroyer, the Obama administration has waged a relentless, nearly four-year-long war to transform our nation int...

Revival 2.0 tells the dramatic inside story of how President Obama and his team have regained their footing and learned to fight for their political survival.Bestselling Obama biographer Richard Wolffe (author of Renegade and Revival) follows President Barack Obama and his inner circle (including Valerie Jarrett, David Plouffe, Hillary Clinton, David Axelrod, and Robert Gibbs), from the Democratic defeat in the 2010 midterm election throu...

From the author of Why Americans Hate Politics, the New York Times bestselling and “notably fair-minded” (The New York Times Book Review), story of the GOP’s fracturing—from the 1964 Goldwater takeover to the Trump spectacle.Why the Right Went Wrong offers an “up to the moment” (The Christian Science Monitor) historical view of the right since the 1960s. Its core contention is that American conservatism and the Republica...

The veteran political journalist presents "a compelling case that [Obama] was one of the most successful presidents of modern times" ( The Guardian ).Over the course of eight years, Barack Obama amassed an array of outstanding achievements. His administration saved the American economy from collapse, expanded health insurance to millions, negotiated an historic nuclear deal with Iran, helped craft a groundbreaking internat...

An expert on developing nations offers "accessible and very sensible analysis" of America's promotion of democracy abroad—and why it often fails ( Publishers Weekly).Oxford economist Paul Collier gives an eye-opening assessment of the corruption and political violence that plague developing nations across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. While many of these governments meet America's standards for democracy, Collier shows that they lack the essential infras...

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...

Through case studies on Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Thailand, and Ukraine, Pathways to Freedom explores the factors and choices that shaped eight transitions—some successful, others less so. Its concise historical analysis and forward-looking prescriptions offer an authoritative and accessible look at what countries must do to build durable and prosperous democracies—and what the United States and others can do to help.