More than many areas of American politics research, studies of minor party competition and success are often overly driven by normative concerns that do not hold up to empirical scrutiny. This concise book presents a concerted effort to analyze the barriers in election law, such as ballot access restrictions and single member districts with a plurality rule, that prevent third parties from gaining a durable hold in American politics. Rather than trudge through yet another history of third parties in America or polemical arguments for minor party inclusion, Schraufnagel provides empirical grounding for the claims of third party backers. This thoughtful analysis demonstrates that the inclusion of third parties improves electoral participation rates and that third party involvement in the legislative process is linked to landmark legislative productivity. In the end, the work provides thoughtful suggestions on the types of reforms that would lead to greater third party success in American elections.

The 2012 election is over, but the debate over the fairness and accuracy of our electoral system continues. The courts are dealing with the alleged discriminatory impact of voter ID requirements on minority voters; privacy and vote manipulation are concerns as political campaigns utilize new technology to target voters; the news media are contending with harsh public criticism of their elections coverage; the campaign finance floodgates were opened with vast resources spent on negative advertising; and the Electoral College continues to undermine a national, democratic electoral system—Is this any way to run a democratic election? This fully updated fifth edition answers that important question by looking at both recent events and recent scholarship focused on the democratic electoral process, including new data and timely illustrations from the 2012 elections.

A number of arguments have been made to explain the relative weakness of the American Left. A preference for individualism, the effects of prosperity, and the miscalculations of different components of the Left, including the labor movement, have been cited, among other factors, as possible explanations for this puzzling aspect of American exceptionalism. But these arguments, says Richard Iton, overlook a crucial factor--the powerful influence of race upon American life. Iton argues that the failure of the American Left lies in its inability to come to grips with the centrality of race in the American experience. Placing the history of the American Left in an illuminating comparative context, he also broadens our definition of the Left to include not just political parties and labor unions but also public policy and popular culture--an important source for the kind of cultural consensus needed to sustain broad social and collectivist efforts, Iton says. In short, by exposing the impact of race on the development of the American Left, Iton offers a provocative new way of understanding the unique orientation of American politics.

"An introductory American government textbook should do more than simply tell students that politics is relevant today, that it will affect their lives in meaningful ways. Students are best prepared to recognize this basic fact when they understand the bigger picture of how the system works, how it got that way, and what are the possibilities for change. Cal Jillson's American Government: Political Development and Institutional Change shows students how the nation's past is present in all aspects of contemporary politics, using the dynamics of change as a tool to understand how politics works and how institutions, systems, avenues of participation, and policies have evolved over time to produce today's political environment in the United States. Going one step further, Jillson identifies the critical question of how American democracy might evolve further, focusing in every chapter on reform and change into the future"--

Search the Internet for the 100 best songs or best albums. Dozens of lists will appear from aficionados to major music personalities. But what if you not only love listening to the blues or country music or jazz or rock, you love reading about it, too. How do you separate what matters from what doesn’t among the hundreds—sometimes thousands—of books on the music you so love? In the Best Music Books series, readers finally have a quick-and-ready list of the most important works published on modern major music genres by leading experts. In 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own, Edward Komara, former Blues Archivist of the University of Mississippi, and his successor Greg Johnson select those histories, biographies, surveys, transcriptions and studies from the many hundreds of works that have been published about this vital American musical genre. Komara and Johnson provide a short description of the contents and the achievement of each title selected for their “Blues 100.” Entries include full bibliographic citations, prices of copies in print, and even descriptions of specific editions for book collectors. 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own also includes suggested blues recordings to accompany each recommended work, as well as a concluding section on key reference titles—or as Komara and Johnson phrase it: “The Books behind the Blues 100.” 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own serves as a guide for any blues fan looking for a road map through the history of—and even history of the scholarship on—the blues. Here Komara and Johnson answer the question of not only what is a “blues” book, but which ones are worth owning.

Recipient of a 2021 McGuffey Longevity Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Why does the American political system work the way it does? Find the answers in The Logic of American Politics. This best-selling text arms students with a toolkit of institutional design concepts—command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, and delegation—that help them recognize how the American political system was designed and why it works the way it does. The authors build students′ critical thinking through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems. Thoroughly updated to account for the most recent events and data, the Ninth Edition explores the increase in political polarization, the growing emotional involvement people have to politics, Americans’ reactions to changing demographics, the partisan politics of judicial selection, and the changing nature of presidential leadership. Revised to include the 2018 election results and analysis, this edition provides students with the tools they need to make sense of today’s government. A Complete Teaching and Learning Package SAGE Premium Video Included in the interactive eBook! SAGE Premium Video boosts comprehension and bolsters analysis— featuring animations of basic American government concepts and recent news clips connected to key topics in the book. Preview a video about voter turnout. Interactive eBook Includes access to SAGE Premium Video, multimedia tools, and much more! Save when you bundle the interactive eBook with the new edition. Order using bundle ISBN 978-1-5443-6664-7. Learn more. SAGE coursepacks FREE! Easily import our quality instructor and student resources content into your school’s learning management system (LMS) and save time. Learn more. SAGE edge FREE online resources for students to make learning easier. See how your students benefit. SAGE course outcomes: Measure Results, Track Success Outlined in your text and mapped to chapter learning objectives, SAGE course outcomes are crafted with specific course outcomes in mind and are vetted by advisors in the field. See how SAGE course outcomes tie in with this book’s chapter-level objectives at edge.sagepub.com/kernell9e. CQ Press Lecture Spark Designed to save you time and ignite student engagement, these free weekly lecture launchers focus on current event topics tied to key concepts in American government. Access this week’s topic.

Blackie is a friendly, adventurous lab-spaniel retriever, an emotional support dog to her friend Lou and a detective in Lou and Dirk's BLD Holistic Detective Agency. Blackie is a tough cookie, fiercely loyal to her friends, like Lionel the railroad engineer, who goes missing, and whose blood is found on the railroad track. There is murder and suspense afoot. They find a corpse in the woods, a hidden drug lab far from the city. There is a railroad hijacking and several kidnappings. Why is their client at the railroad acting so nonchalant about Lionel being missing? Detective work is never finished, but Blackie, Lou and Cheech will not give up. When other obligations intrude on Lou, Blackie and Cheech must go on the search for Lionel alone, with the help of the powers of JEDI Cosmos. Thanks for the help of Cheech's ability to talk and size up dire situations and work with his friend Blackie dog.

Features of this Innovative Text The 8th edition of this well-respected text features the 2014 midterm Congressional elections, the latest on Obama’s presidency, important Supreme Court decisions, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and other timely updates. An increased attention to media in politics runs through the book. Key learning objectives at the beginning of every chapter focus students on central points to watch for. "The Constitution Today" chapter opening vignettes illustrate the importance of conflicting views on constitutional principles. Key terms defined in the margins on the page where they appear help students study important concepts. Colorful figures, photos, and tables help students visualize important information. "Let’s Compare" boxes analyze how functions of government and political participation work in other countries—now framed by new critical thinking questions. Reformatted "Pro & Con" boxes bring to life a central debate in each chapter and highlight competing perspectives. End-of-chapter summaries, suggested readings, and web resources help students master the material and guide them to further critical investigation of important concepts and topics. "Struggling towards Democracy" discussion questions now do more to provoke critical thinking through examining the "then and now" of democracy in America.

From the party's beginnings in the Territories through its convulsive 1929 campaign and first victory that year under J.T.M. Anderson to its shadowy dissolution nearly 70 years later, the Saskatchewan Conservative Party struggles for relevance and survival. After their 1929 win, Conservatives waited half a century to form their next government, when they won the 1982 election under Grant Devine -- only to be "mothballed" 15 years later as the new Saskatchewan Party emerged to carry the right-wing banner in the province.

An exciting new examination of how African-American blues music was emulated and used by white British musicians in the late 1950s and early 1960s