Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy

The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy

by T. R. Reid

To Americans accustomed to unilateralism abroad and social belt-tightening at home, few books could be more revelatory—or controversial—than this timely, lucid, and informative portrait of the new European Union. Now comprising 25 nations and 450 million citizens, the EU has more people, more wealth, and more votes on every international body than the United States. It eschews military force but offers... (more)

The American Democracy

by Thomas E. Patterson

This text examines how current issues affect the institutions and processes of government in the United States. It has been updated to cover political developments including: the 1994 elections; the Republican-controlled congress; welfare reform measures; the immigration controversy; the National Performance Review and other effects to "downsize" governmental administration; regulatory policy reform; the changes... (more)

The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Julian J. Rothbaum Distinguished Lecture Series, Vol 4)

The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Julian J. Rothbaum Distinguished Lecture Series, Vol 4)

by Samuel P. Huntington

The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall

The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall

by Ian Bremmer

Locate nations on the J Curve - left for authoritarian, right for democratic. Then figure out how to force those on the left to open their societies, rather than encouraging them to shut them tighter by further isolating them. The West's isolation of Kim Jong-il's North Korea gives him the cover he needs to extend his brutal regime (the mistake the U.S. made for a long time with Saddam Hussein and Castro); in... (more)

Click on Democracy: The Internet's Power to Change Political Apathy into Civic Action

Click on Democracy: The Internet's Power to Change Political Apathy into Civic Action

by Steve Davis

Click on Democracy examines the first national election in which the Internet played a major role. The contributors argue that the Internet's most profound political impact on Election 2000 has largely been missed or underestimated. The reason: the difference it made was more social than electoral, more about building political communities than about generating votes and money.Voter turnout has dwindled over the... (more)

Talk of the Devil: Encounters With Seven Dictators

Talk of the Devil: Encounters With Seven Dictators

by Riccardo Orizio

Inspired by newspaper clippings he had kept about two former African dictators accused of cannibalism, journalist Riccardo Orizio set out to track down tyrants around the world who had fallen from power—to see if they had gained any perspective on their actions, or if their lives and thoughts could shed any light on our own. The seven encounters chronicled in Talk of the Devil reveal Orizio’s gift as an... (more)

The European Dream : How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

The European Dream : How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream

by Jeremy Rifkin

The American Dream is in decline. Americans are increasingly overworked, underpaid, and squeezed for time. But there is an alternative: the European Dream-a more leisurely, healthy, prosperous, and sustainable way of life. Europe's lifestyle is not only desirable, argues Jeremy Rifkin, but may be crucial to sustaining prosperity in the new era. With the dawn of the European Union, Europe has become an... (more)

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Tags: comparative politics