The Founding Fathers who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 distrusted political parties, popular democracy, centralized government, and a strong executive office. Yet the country's national politics have historically included all those features. In American Political History: A Very Short Introduction, Donald Critchlow takes on this contradiction between original theory and actual practice. This brief, accessible book explores the nature of the two-party system, key turning points in American political history, representative presidential and congressional elections, struggles to expand the electorate, and critical social protest and third-party movements. The volume emphasizes the continuity of a liberal tradition challenged by partisan divide, war, and periodic economic turmoil. American Political History: A Very Short Introduction explores the emergence of a democratic political culture within a republican form of government, showing the mobilization and extension of the mass electorate over the lifespan of the country. In a nation characterized by great racial, ethnic, and religious diversity, American democracy has proven extraordinarily durable. Individual parties have risen and fallen, but the dominance of the two-party system persists. Fierce debates over the meaning of the U.S. Constitution have created profound divisions within the parties and among voters, but a belief in the importance of constitutional order persists among political leaders and voters. Americans have been deeply divided about the extent of federal power, slavery, the meaning of citizenship, immigration policy, civil rights, and a range of economic, financial, and social policies. New immigrants, racial minorities, and women have joined the electorate and the debates. But American political history, with its deep social divisions, bellicose rhetoric, and antagonistic partisanship provides valuable lessons about the meaning and viability of democracy in the early 21st century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
In the second edition of The U.S. Congress, Donald A. Ritchie, a congressional historian for more than thirty years, takes readers on a fascinating, behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill, pointing out the key players, explaining their behavior, and translating parliamentary language into plain English. No mere civics lesson, this eye-opening book provides an insider's perspective on Congress, matched with a professional historian's analytical insight. After a swift survey of the creation of Congress by the constitutional convention, he begins to unscrew the nuts and pull out the bolts. What is it like to campaign for Congress? To attract large donors? To enter either house with no seniority? He answers these questions and more, explaining committee assignments and committee work, the role of staffers and lobbyists, floor proceedings, parliamentary rules, and coalition building. Ritchie explores the great effort put into constituent service-as representatives and senators respond to requests from groups and individuals-as well as media relations and news coverage. He also explores how the grand concepts we all know from civics class--checks and balances, advise and consent, congressional oversight--work in practice in an age of strong presidents and a muscular Senate minority.
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834) was an English cleric whose ideas, as expounded in his most famous work the Essay on the Principle of Population, caused a storm of controversy. In this Very Short Introduction, Donald Winch explains and clarifies Malthus's ideas, assessing the profound influence he has had on modern economic thought. Concentrating on his writings, Winch sheds light on the context in which he wrote and why his work has remained controversial. Looking at Malthus's early life as well as the evolution of his theories from population to political economy, Winch considers why and how Malthus's writings have been so influential in the thought of later figures such as Darwin and Keynes. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
For most Americans, the attack on Pearl Harbor was something terrible happening in a far off foreign place and lifestyle changes were gradual. For those in Honolulu, the change was instantaneous and drastic. The Story of what someone was doing when he or she heard that the U.S. has been attacked by the Japanese never gets old. The young storyteller ignores the warning from the radio and races outside to witness the attack. The unfortunate fact that so many people who witnessed the attack are deceased lends even more importance to the narrative. The rapidly changing lens of the storyteller snaps from the Japanese fleet back to his family on the eve of war. In a story rich with contrasts, this transition between the Japanese forces and his typical pre-war family life provides a stark comparison that epitomizes the story. "This true life story brings new dimensions a insights to my visits to the Arizona Memorial and other December 7th sites in Hawaii."-Dr. Frederick Heydrick, National Institutes of Health "For anyone who may have wondered what it might be like to see one's home town bombed and be in danger of invasion, Lachman gives the perspective of an eyewitness to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was there and it changed his view of paradise."-Dr. James Boston, Professor Emeritus, Hood College, Frederick, Maryland
Donald Trump truly is the definition of an American success story. Ken Lawrence profiles Donald Trump, using actual (and often controversial) quotes from the Donald himself. "You're fired." Those two words increased Donald Trump's popularity in this country a thousandfold in the spring of 2004. Trump is the dealmaker's dealmaker. His forays into real estate, golf, casinos, and now television have made him one of the most successful people in the world. Often considered brash, arrogant, and outrageous, Trump's views on succeeding--and failing--in life, as well as in business, are depicted in The World According to Trump. Author Ken Lawrence uses Trump's actual words on the art of making the deal. Some quotes may surprise, others may offend, but certainly all are entertaining. * I've had bright people ask me why I talk to porters and maids. . . . Those are the people who make it all work. If they like me, they will work harder and I pay well. * It was a little bit by accident that the term "You're fired" came about. But when you think about it, it's a very precise, very beautiful two words. * If someone screws you, screw them back harder. * The reason my hair looks so neat all the time is because I don't have to deal with the elements very often. * Every successful person has a very large ego. * My life is an open book. I am a good son. I am a good parent. I've got four wonderful kids. I've been married twice. I don't smoke. I've never had a glass of alcohol. I've never taken illegal drugs of any kind. I've never even had a cup of coffee.
Donald J. Trump is an icon: the very definition of the American success story. President-elect, reality-television star, and developer of some of the planet's most prestigious real estate, he's also become one of the world's wealthiest men. Trump is a living example of how thinking BIG and knowing when to back up your opinions aggressively—regardless of what your critics or opponents might say—can help you maximize your personal and professional achievements. In his first political campaign, Trump defeated his opponents by rallying voters nationwide to "Make America Great Again." For the first time ever, you too can learn Trump’s secrets to thinking BIG and kicking ass! Learn: Momentum: the Big Mo. How to get it and how to get it back. Revenge: how and when to get it (and why it's so sweet). "I love you, now sign this!" Why contracts in business and personal life are so important. Real-life stories from people who've applied the think BIG formula in their own lives. These strategies are proven and attested to by those who've learned to think BIG from Donald Trump and found success in their own lives even when the world seems to be against them. Co-authored with Bill Zanker, an entrepreneur who learned these tactics firsthand from Trump, Think BIG and Kick Ass shows you how to bring a winning attitude to everything you do.
An authoritative study of the Malaysian economy and labour market. Malaysia has enjoyed an enviable growth record over twenty-five years which few nations can match, and has also been keen to judge her performance against non-growth criteria of poverty eradication and national unity following the emergence of racial conflict in 1969. There are many lessons for policy-makers elsewhere of this active approach to poverty eradication and social restructuring while generating rapid growth, which stands in sharp contrast to laissez-faire orthodoxy.
Our purpose in writing this monograph is to give a comprehensive treatment of the subject. We define bandit problems and give the necessary foundations in Chapter 2. Many of the important results that have appeared in the literature are presented in later chapters; these are interspersed with new results. We give proofs unless they are very easy or the result is not used in the sequel. We have simplified a number of arguments so many of the proofs given tend to be conceptual rather than calculational. All results given have been incorporated into our style and notation. The exposition is aimed at a variety of types of readers. Bandit problems and the associated mathematical and technical issues are developed from first principles. Since we have tried to be comprehens ive the mathematical level is sometimes advanced; for example, we use measure-theoretic notions freely in Chapter 2. But the mathema tically uninitiated reader can easily sidestep such discussion when it occurs in Chapter 2 and elsewhere. We have tried to appeal to graduate students and professionals in engineering, biometry, econ omics, management science, and operations research, as well as those in mathematics and statistics. The monograph could serve as a reference for professionals or as a telA in a semester or year-long graduate level course.
Just before the gold Rush, two newspapers on the Atlantic coast received a series of letters from "W.G." in Monterey, California. The letters reported on political events, detailed the natural resources and possibilities for agriculture, commerce, lumbering and mining, and customs of the Californios. Methods of capturing wild horses (and the Indians' techniques of stealing tame ones), bull and bear baiting, a horseback wedding, Christmas customs, furniture, fandangos, and cultural changes resulting from the advent of Americans, all were recounted in a refreshingly straightforward style. Extensive research into contemporary documents by the late Donald Munro Craig established the identity of "W.G." as an expatriate Englishman named William Robert Garner. And Garner's experience as whaler, lumberman, rancher, miner, long-time Monterey resident, participant in revolutions, sheriff of Monterery, and secretary to the American alcalade, Walter Colton, made him a uniquely understanding reporter. George P. Hammond, Director Emeritus of the Bancroft Library, has remarked that this work is "one of the best such contributions to come to light in many years. The biographical sketch of William Robert Garner is comprehensive and informative--well researched and well written. The Letters themselves are extremely interesting, and as a source material are of first-rate relevance and importance.
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