Jack Van DerSlik's Books

The Korean Crisis

One People, Two Nations, a World on the Brink

By: Jack Van DerSlik

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The Korean Crisis

One People, Two Nations, a World on the Brink

By: Jack Van DerSlik

An in-depth portrait of the two Koreas and their turbulent relationship—from the author of Eisenhower: A 20th Century Hero in War and Peace. After nearly 70 years of division between North and South Korea, the two nations have not yet achieved a peaceful settlement. Professor Emeritus Jack Van Der Slik’s book provides a first person account of the incredible differences between the nations. The Korean Crisis: One People, Two Nations, an Uncertain Future follows the fate of the two Koreas. The first is a story of hard-earned success by the South Korean people. Although democracy did not come easily, it did accompany flourishing through market capitalism. The second, the fall of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, began with early economic success then sank into a socialist dictatorship, stratifying the country’s people into a small privileged elite supported by a poor and cheerless mass of disadvantaged workers. Despite the poverty and food insecurity suffered by the North Korean underclass, the ruling elite has formidably armed itself with nuclear weapons and a massive standing army. The Korean Crisis draws upon deep studies of democratization in South Korea and Van Der Slik’s own travels throughout the Republic of Korea and Panmunjom—the heavily armed 38th parallel and the site of peace negotiations. Intensely researched, highly informative, and poignantly told, The Korean Crisis will educate the public about Korea and the dangers that exist there while shedding light on a possible catastrophic nuclear conflict between the two rival countries whose combatants are, in fact, one people.

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Page Count

198

Publisher

WildBlue Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1947290169

ISBN 13

9781947290167

Intruding on Academe

The Assertion of Political Control in Illinois

By: Jack R. Van Der Slik

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Intruding on Academe

The Assertion of Political Control in Illinois

By: Jack R. Van Der Slik

In this fascinating, theoretically informed case study of policy-making, Jack R. Van Der Slik demonstrates partisan politics in action in Illinois. Specifically, he shows how major changes in governing state universities were enacted over the objections of members of the higher education community, who preferred to maintain the status quo. In 1991, Republican Governor Jim Edgar, enthusiastically aided by Lieutenant Governor Bob Kustra, began a political effort to decentralize the "system of systems", which had governed state universities since the 1960s. Despite partisan defeat of their plan in 1993, Edgar and Kustra managed to neutralize support for the status quo in the educational community. After their 1995 landslide reelection, which brought about Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature, Edgar and Kustra were so successful in achieving their goals that they actually had to restrain the legislature's enthusiasm for decentralization: the legislature wanted to extend decentralization to community colleges. To account for these policy shifts, Van Der Slik interviewed twenty-five significant players from the executive branch of Illinois government, from the legislature, and from the educational community. Grounding his study theoretically, he compared his findings to previous studies in American policy-making: Jack Kingom's 1984 notion of the crucial role of the "policy entrepreneur"; arguments in 1993 by Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones that public policies are inherently unstable and that discoverable phenomena can account for policy eruption; and research in 1995 by Charles O. Jones covering presidential transitions from Kennedy to Reagan. In thisanalysis of political give and take, Van Der Slik notes that elected officials proposed a solution to the problems of bureaucratic bloat and unresponsiveness that leaders of the higher education community would not support. Political leaders based their actions on bold intuition rather than on a rational consideration of the consequences. Given the possibility of change, Van Der Slik observes, politicians instinctively knew what policies to effect. To a remarkable degree, the political actions in Illinois fit the theoretical formulations of previous scholarship in national policy-making. As key participants recount their own actions and their observations, then, Van Der Slik places what happened in Illinois into a larger context.

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Page Count

160

Publisher

SIU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0809323494

ISBN 13

9780809323494

Elections in Pennsylvania

A Century of Partisan Conflict in the Keystone State

By: Jack M. Treadway

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Elections in Pennsylvania

A Century of Partisan Conflict in the Keystone State

By: Jack M. Treadway

The most comprehensive state election study ever undertaken, Elections in Pennsylvania provides data and analysis for more than 13,000 general elections and more than 6,000 primary elections held in the state between 1900 and 1998, with a postscript examining in less detail the elections of 2000 and 2002. Included are all elections for president, governor, U.S. senators and representatives, statewide offices, and members of the General Assembly. The extensive period of time covered allows the author to provide an important historical perspective on electoral trends, distinguishing what are genuinely new developments in electoral dynamics and voting behavior in recent decades from what are continuations of patterns earlier in the century.

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Page Count

322

Publisher

Penn State Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0271032502

ISBN 13

9780271032504

The Korean Crisis

One People, Two Nations, a World on the Brink

By: Jack Van DerSlik

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The Korean Crisis

One People, Two Nations, a World on the Brink

By: Jack Van DerSlik

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N/A

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

198

Publisher

WildBlue Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1947290169

ISBN 13

9781947290167

Book's by Jack Van DerSlik

The Korean Crisis

The Korean Crisis

Intruding on Academe

Intruding on Academe

Elections in Pennsylvania

Elections in Pennsylvania

The Korean Crisis

The Korean Crisis

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