Robert Biersack's Books

Risky Business

PAC Decision Making and Strategy

By: Robert Biersack,Paul S. Herrnson,Clyde Wilcox

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Risky Business

PAC Decision Making and Strategy

By: Robert Biersack,Paul S. Herrnson,Clyde Wilcox

By 1990, there were over 4000 Political Action Committees (PACs) active and visible in the USA. This study covers various perspectives of PACs - size, contribution strategies, access to Washington information networks and issues - by means of diverse case studies.

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Page Count

327

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1315484439

ISBN 13

9781315484433

Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada

By: Robert G Boatright

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Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada

By: Robert G Boatright

In the early 2000s, the United States and Canada implemented new campaign finance laws restricting the ability of interest groups to make political contributions and to engage in political advertising. Whereas both nations' legislative reforms sought to reduce the role of interest groups in campaigns, these laws have had opposite results in the two nations. In the United States, interest groups remained influential by developing broad coalitions aimed at mobilizing individual voters and contributors. In Canada, interest groups largely withdrew from election campaigns, and, thus, important voices in elections have gone silent. Robert G. Boatright explains such disparate results by placing campaign finance reforms in the context of ongoing political and technological changes. Robert G. Boatright is Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University. Cover photo: © iStockphoto.com / alfabravoalpharomeo

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Page Count

276

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472026755

ISBN 13

9780472026753

Buying the Vote

A History of Campaign Finance Reform

By: Robert E. Mutch

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Buying the Vote

A History of Campaign Finance Reform

By: Robert E. Mutch

Are corporations citizens? Is political inequality a necessary aspect of a democracy or something that must be stamped out? These are the questions that have been at the heart of the debate surrounding campaign finance reform for nearly half a century. But as Robert E. Mutch demonstrates in this fascinating book, these were not always controversial matters. The tenets that corporations do not count as citizens, and that self-government functions best by reducing political inequality, were commonly heldup until the early years of the twentieth century, when Congress recognized the strength of these principles by prohibiting corporations from making campaign contributions, passing a disclosure law, and setting limits on campaign expenditures. But conservative opposition began to appear in the 1970s. Well represented on the Supreme Court, opponents of campaign finance reform won decisions granting First Amendment rights to corporations, and declaring the goal of reducing political inequality to be unconstitutional. Buying the Vote analyzes the rise and decline of campaign finance reform by tracking the evolution of both the ways in which presidential campaigns have been funded since the late nineteenth century. Through close examinations of major Supreme Court decisions, Mutch shows how the Court has fashioned a new and profoundly inegalitarian definition of American democracy. Drawing on rarely studied archival materials on presidential campaign finance funds, Buying the Vote is an illuminating look at politics, money, and power in America.

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Page Count

393

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199340021

ISBN 13

9780199340026

Social Reproduction and History in Melanesia

Mortuary Ritual, Gift Exchange, and Custom in the Tanga Islands

By: Robert John Foster

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Social Reproduction and History in Melanesia

Mortuary Ritual, Gift Exchange, and Custom in the Tanga Islands

By: Robert John Foster

In much of Melanesia, the process of social reproduction unfolds as a lengthy sequence of mortuary rites - feast making and gift giving through which the living publicly define their social relations with each other while at the same time commemorating the deceased. In this study Robert J. Foster constructs an ethnographic account of mortuary rites in the Tanga Islands, Papua New Guinea, placing these large-scale feasts and ceremonial exchanges in their historical context and demonstrating how the effects of participation in an expanding cash economy have allowed Tangans to conceive of the rites as 'customary' in opposition to the new and foreign practices of 'business'. His examination synthesizes two divergent trends in Melanesian anthropology by emphasizing both the radical differences between Melanesian and Western forms of sociality and the conjunction of Melanesian and Western societies brought about by colonialism and capitalism.

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Page Count

320

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521483328

ISBN 13

9780521483322

Th Thorium

General Properties. Spectra. Recoil Reactions

By: Robert G. Behrens,Michael Bickel,Rolf Engleman,Jean Fuger,Lawrence E. Grimes,Basil Kanellakopulos,Daniel J. Lam,Kurt Roessler,Boyd W. Veal

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Th Thorium

General Properties. Spectra. Recoil Reactions

By: Robert G. Behrens,Michael Bickel,Rolf Engleman,Jean Fuger,Lawrence E. Grimes,Basil Kanellakopulos,Daniel J. Lam,Kurt Roessler,Boyd W. Veal

The present volume describes the general properties of the thorium atom and ions, the thermodynamics of its compounds and solutions, the behavior of solutions and solid com pounds under the influence of its own radiation as well as an external radiation field, and spectroscopic data in great detail. The different chapters are of special interest to scientists who work in these fields, and also in the corresponding fields of other elements. In some special fields there exists a detailed knowledge of this radioelement whereas in other fields, such as M6Bbauer spectra, lower oxidation states, or radiation stability, there are large gaps. Due to the fact that the significance 23 of thorium as a breeder fuel ( 2"fh to be converted to fissile 233U after thermal neutron capture) has decreased within the last decade, the behavior of thorium is not as yet so thoroughly investigated as the heavier radioactive element uranium. Many of these data, however, are not only of academic interest, e.g., the knowledge of atomic spectra is needed for some analytical methods, especially in the trace concentration region. Due to the noble gaS-like electronic configuration of the tetravalent ion, there are no absorption bands in the visible region so that in general spectra and data are very scarce. This volume is a very detailed and critically reviewed compilation, written by experts from the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, and the United States.

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Page Count

263

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

3662074109

ISBN 13

9783662074107

The Political Economy of Mountain Java

An Interpretive History

By: Robert W. Hefner

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The Political Economy of Mountain Java

An Interpretive History

By: Robert W. Hefner

A rich and sensitive portrait of a changing peasantry, this study is also a general inquiry into the nature of status, class, and community in the developing world. Robert Hefner presents an analysis designed to bridge the gap between village studies and social history. He describes the forces that have shaped upland politics and society from pre-colonial times to the Green Revolution today.

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Page Count

315

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520913760

ISBN 13

9780520913769

Sick Societies

By: Robert B. Edgerton

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Sick Societies

By: Robert B. Edgerton

Author and scholar Robert Edgerton challenges the notion that primitive societies were happy and healthy before they were corrupted and oppressed by colonialism. He surveys a range of ethnographic writings, and shows that many of these so-called innocent societies were cruel, confused, and misled.

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Page Count

472

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1451602324

ISBN 13

9781451602326

Energetic Charged-Particle Interactions with Atmospheres and Surfaces

By: Robert E. Johnson

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Energetic Charged-Particle Interactions with Atmospheres and Surfaces

By: Robert E. Johnson

On attending a conference on the Jovian satellites at UCLA, I heard Lou Lanze rotti vigorously present the exciting data on the sputtering of water ice by Me V protons taken with W. L. Brown at AT&T Bell Labs. In his inimitable way he made clear that this new electronic sputtering process was very poorly under stood and was very important for surface properties of sattelites. I was immedia tely hooked, and have been working ever since with Lanzerotti, Brown, my col league at Virginia, John Boring, and Bo Sundqvist at Uppsala on understanding the ejection of material from surfaces and applying laboratory results to intere sting planetary problems. In the course of writing this book I also had the benefit of spending a semester with the Planetary Geosciences group in Hawaii, thanks to Tom McCord, a period of time with Doug Nash at JPL, and a period ot time with the group at Catania. The book was started with the encouragement of Lou Lanzerotti. The writing has gone slowly as the field has been changing rapidly. Even now I feel it is incom plete, as the interesting Halley dust data have just recently been interpreted in detail, Voyager has recently visited Neptune, and the data on Pluto are rapidly improving. However, most of the principles for plasma ion alteration of surfaces and gases have been established allowing, I hope, a coherent and useful frame work for incorporating both new laboratory and planetary data.

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Page Count

235

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

3642483755

ISBN 13

9783642483752

Putin's Olympics

The Sochi Games and the Evolution of Twenty-First Century Russia

By: Robert W. Orttung,Sufian N. Zhemukhov

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Putin's Olympics

The Sochi Games and the Evolution of Twenty-First Century Russia

By: Robert W. Orttung,Sufian N. Zhemukhov

President Vladimir Putin’s Olympic venture put the workings of contemporary Russia on vivid display. The Sochi Olympics were designed to symbolize Russia’s return to great power status, but subsequent aggression against Ukraine, large-scale corruption, and the doping scandal have become the true legacies of the games. The Kremlin’s style of governance through mega-projects has had deleterious consequences for the country’s development. Placing the Sochi games into the larger context of Olympic history, this book examines the political, security, business, ethnic, societal, and international ramifications of Putin’s system.

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Page Count

151

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317813170

ISBN 13

9781317813170

Party Organizations in American Politics

By: Cornelius Cotter,James L. Gibson,John F. Bibby,Robert J. Huckshorn

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Party Organizations in American Politics

By: Cornelius Cotter,James L. Gibson,John F. Bibby,Robert J. Huckshorn

Contradicting the conventional political wisdom of the 1970s, which said state political parties were dormant and verging upon extinction, this book reveals that state party organizations actually grew stronger in the 1960s and 1970s. Reprinted with a new preface that covers changes in the 1980s in electoral politics, Party Organizations in American Politics encourages a reappraisal of scholarly treatment of party organization in political science.

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Page Count

230

Publisher

University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published Date

ISBN 10

0822974452

ISBN 13

9780822974451

Historical Dictionary of Polynesia

By: Robert D. Craig

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Historical Dictionary of Polynesia

By: Robert D. Craig

Alphabetically arranged entries, ranging in length from a paragraph to several pages, describe the important people, food, native animals, politics, history, and culture of Polynesia, which is made up of more than a dozen countries, including American Samoa, French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Tonga. The book includes a four-page list of acronyms, an extensive chronology, and appendices with the names of Polynesian islands and lists of political rulers of the various states through history. Author Craig (emeritus, history, Alaska Pacific U.) has created several other dictionaries on Oceania, Polynesian mythology, and Hawaii. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

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Page Count

414

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0810842378

ISBN 13

9780810842373

The Future of Global Competition

Ontological Security and Narratives in Chinese, Iranian, Russian, and Venezuelan Media

By: Robert Hinck,Asya Cooley,Skye C. Cooley,Sara Kitsch

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The Future of Global Competition

Ontological Security and Narratives in Chinese, Iranian, Russian, and Venezuelan Media

By: Robert Hinck,Asya Cooley,Skye C. Cooley,Sara Kitsch

With today’s social and geopolitical order in significant flux this project offers vital insight into the future global order by comparatively charting national media perceptions regarding the future of global competition, through the lens of Ontological Security (OS). The authors employ a mixed-method approach to analyze 620 news articles from 47 Russian, Chinese, Venezuelan, and Iranian news sources over a five-year period (2014-2019), quantitatively comparing the drivers of their visions while providing in-depth qualitative case studies for each nation. Not only do these narratives reveal how these four nations understand the current global order, but also point to their (in)flexibility and agentic capacity for reflection in adapting, even shaping the future order, and their identity-roles within it, around an economic and diplomatic battleground. The authors argue these narratives create trajectories with inertial effects grounded in their OS needs, providing enduring insights into their behavior and interests moving into the future. The Future of Global Coopetition will help readers understand how influential nations typical aligned in opposition to the US, envision the drivers of global competition and the make-up of the future international system. Those engaged in the study of media, global politics, international relations, and communication will find this book to be a critical source.

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Page Count

222

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000480348

ISBN 13

9781000480344

Skunk Hill

A Native Ceremonial Community in Wisconsin

By: Robert A. Birmingham

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Skunk Hill

A Native Ceremonial Community in Wisconsin

By: Robert A. Birmingham

Rising above the countryside of Wood County, Wisconsin, Powers Bluff is a large outcrop of quartzite rock that resisted the glaciers that flattened the surrounding countryside. It is an appropriate symbol for the Native people who once lived on its slopes, quietly resisting social forces that would have crushed and eroded their culture. A large band of Potawatomi, many returnees from the Kansas Prairie Band Potawatomi reservation, established the village of Tah-qua-kik or Skunk Hill in 1905 on the 300-foot-high bluff, up against the oddly shaped rocks that topped the hill and protected the community from the cold winter winds. In Skunk Hill, archeologist Robert A. Birmingham traces the largely unknown story of this community, detailing the role it played in preserving Native culture through a harsh period of US Indian policy from the 1880s to 1930s. The story’s central focus is the Drum Dance, also known as the Dream Dance or Big Drum, a pan-tribal cultural revitalization movement that swept the Upper Midwest during the Great Suppression, emphasizing Native values and rejecting the vices of the white world. Though the community disbanded by the 1930s, the site, now on the National Register of Historic Places with two dance circles still visible on the grounds, stands as testimony to the efforts of its members to resist cultural assimilation.

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Page Count

129

Publisher

Wisconsin Historical Society

Published Date

ISBN 10

0870207067

ISBN 13

9780870207068

Campaign Finance

What Everyone Needs to Know®

By: Robert E. Mutch

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Campaign Finance

What Everyone Needs to Know®

By: Robert E. Mutch

In 2015, well over half of the money contributed to the presidential race came from roughly 350 families. The 100 biggest donors gave as much as 2 million small donors combined. Can we still say we live in a democracy if a few hundred rich families provide a disproportionate shares of campaign funds? Congress and the courts are divided on that question, with conservatives saying yes and liberals saying no. The debate is about the most fundamental of political questions: how we define democracy and how we want our democracy to work. The debate may ultimately be about political theory, but in practice it is conducted in terms of laws, regulations, and court decisions about super PACs, 527s, 501(c)(4)s, dark money, small donors, public funding, corporate contributions, the Federal Election Commission, and the IRS. Campaign Finance: What Everyone Needs to Know® explains those laws, regulations, and Supreme Court decisions, from Buckley v. Valeo to Citizens United, asking how they fit into the larger discussion about how we want our democracy to work.

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Page Count

241

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190274700

ISBN 13

9780190274702

Physical Methods for Materials Characterisation

By: Peter E. J. Flewitt,Robert K. Wild

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Physical Methods for Materials Characterisation

By: Peter E. J. Flewitt,Robert K. Wild

This completely revised and expanded new edition covers the full range of techniques now available for the investigation of materials structure and accurate quantitative determination of microstructural features within materials. It continues to provide the best introductory resource for understanding the interrelationship between microstructure and physical, mechanical, and chemical properties, as well as selection and application of techniques for both basic and applied studies. In particular, changes have been made to reflect developments in analysis of nanoscale and biological materials.

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Page Count

725

Publisher

CRC Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1315363232

ISBN 13

9781315363233

Widening the Frame with Visual Psychological Anthropology

Perspectives on Trauma, Gendered Violence, and Stigma in Indonesia

By: Robert Lemelson,Annie Tucker

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Widening the Frame with Visual Psychological Anthropology

Perspectives on Trauma, Gendered Violence, and Stigma in Indonesia

By: Robert Lemelson,Annie Tucker

This book uses visual psychological anthropology to explore trauma, gendered violence, and stigma through a discussion of three ethnographic films set in Indonesia: 40 Years of Silence (Lemelson 2009), Bitter Honey (Lemelson 2015), and Standing on the Edge of a Thorn (Lemelson 2012). This exploration “widens the frame” in two senses. First, it offers an integrative analysis that connects the discrete topics and theoretical concerns of each film to crosscutting themes in Indonesian history, society, and culture. Additionally, it sheds light on all that falls outside the literal frame of the screen, including the films’ origins; psychocultural and interpersonal dynamics and constraints of deep, ongoing collaborations in the field; narrative and emotional orientations toward editing; participants’ relationship to their screened image; the life of the films after release; and the ethics of each stage of filmmaking. In doing so, the authors widen the frame for psychological anthropology as well, advocating for film as a crucial point of engagement for academic audiences and for translational purposes. Rich with critical insights and reflections on ethnographic filmmaking, this book will appeal to both scholars and students of visual anthropology, psychological anthropology, and ethnographic methods. It also serves as an engrossing companion to three contemporary ethnographic films.

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Page Count

459

Publisher

Springer Nature

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030798836

ISBN 13

9783030798833

You Decide

Controversial Cases in American Politics

By: Edward R. Drachman,Robert Langran

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You Decide

Controversial Cases in American Politics

By: Edward R. Drachman,Robert Langran

The book is a unique and innovative assembly of 14 originally written cases on controversial topics in American government and politics. It is intended to engage students in active learning through discussion, debate and participation in the introductory American Government course.

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Page Count

232

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0742538052

ISBN 13

9780742538054

Social Anthropology and Australian Aboriginal Studies

A Contemporary Overview

By: Robert Tonks,Ronald Berndt

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Social Anthropology and Australian Aboriginal Studies

A Contemporary Overview

By: Robert Tonks,Ronald Berndt

This volume summaries major developments in the social anthropology of Aboriginal studies in the 1960s-80s. It is valuable as an overview of five important and interrelated topics; economy, kinship, gender, religion and law. It also contains stimulating comment and criticism and raised important issues for future research as well as current debate in Aboriginal studies.

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Page Count

284

Publisher

Aboriginal Studies Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0855755830

ISBN 13

9780855755836

Reconstructing Contexts

The Aims and Principles of Archaeo-historicism

By: Robert D. Hume

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Reconstructing Contexts

The Aims and Principles of Archaeo-historicism

By: Robert D. Hume

In particular, Hume flatly denies the intellectual legitimacy of 'literary history' as it is commonly practised and attempts to disentangle such history from the practice of historicism. The final chapter is devoted to a cogent discussion of how archaeo-historicism relates to various forms of contemporary theory. Although addressed primarily to literary critics, this wide-ranging and bold work will be of interest to historians and cultural critics as well.

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