In the News

In the News: 21st Century New Deal?

Week of January 12, 2009

News Item: President-elect Barack Obama has presented his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan which, he has said, would resuscitate the economy. This stimulus package could cost around $775 billion and would be used, in part, for tax cuts and to create 3.5 million new jobs. Could this be the makings of a modern-day New Deal? Listed here are some titles that provide some background information on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program of the 1930s.

American Rhetoric in the New Deal Era, 1932-1945
Edited by Thomas W. Benson. Michigan State UP, 2006
Call Number: E806 .A638 2006

Backlash: The Killing of the New Deal
By Robert Shogan. Ivan R. Dee, 2006
Call Number: E806 .S54 2006

A Commonwealth of Hope: The New Deal Response to Crisis
By Alan Lawson. Johns Hopkins UP, 2006
Call Number: E806 .L365 2006
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In the News: Third Party Politics

Week of September 15, 2008

News Item: Although presidential elections have traditionally pitted Democrats against Republicans, many third party candidates have played important roles in drawing attention to some issues that are overlooked by the major parties. Current and former third party presidential candidates include Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, Ron Paul, and Ralph Nader.

America’s Three Regimes: A new Political History
By Morton Keller. Oxford University Press, 2007
Call Number: E183 .K48 2007

Conservative Radicalism: A Sociology of Conservative Party Youth Structures and Libertarianism, 1970-1992
By Timothy Evans. Berghahn Books, 1996
Call Number: JN1129 .C7 E93 1996

The Life of the Parties: A History of American Political Parties
By A. James Reichley. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000
Call Number: JK2261 .R33 2000

Multiparty Politics in America: Prospects and Performance
Edited by Paul S. Herrnson and John C. Green. Rowman & Littlefield, 2002
Call Number: JK2261 .M85 2002

Political Parties and the State: The American Historical Experience
By Martin Shefter. Princeton University Press, 1994
Call Number: JK2261 .S45 1994 (Also available at Jupiter and online through NetLibrary)

Politics at the Periphery Third Parties in Two-Party America
By J. David Gillespie. University of South Carolina Press, 1993
Call Number: Available online through NetLibrary

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement
By Brian Doherty. PublicAffairs, 2007
Call Number: JC599 .U5 D64 2007 (Also available at Jupiter)

Third Parties in America: Citizen Response to Major Party Failure
By Steven J. Rosenstone et al. Princeton University Press, 1996
Call Number: JK2261 .R67 1996

True Mission: Socialists and the Labor Party Question in the U.S.
By Eric Thomas Chester. Pluto Press, 2004
Call Number: JK2265 .C46 2004

Two Parties-Or More?: The American Party System
By John F. Bibby and L. Sandy Maisel. Westview Press, 2003
Call Number: JK2261 .B493 2003

Why Parties?: The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America
By John H. Aldrich. The University of Chicago Press, 1995
Call Number: JK2261 .A46 1995

In the News: Presidential Campaigns

Week of September 8, 2008

News Item: The presidential campaigning season is in full swing. Candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States have been officially nominated by their respective parties. Now, they will travel the country and present their platforms before voters head to the polls on November 4th.

The American Campaign: U.S. Presidential Campaigns and the National Vote
By James. E. Campbell. Texas A&M University Press, 2000
Call Number: JK528 .C36 2000

American Presidential Campaigns and Elections
Edited by William G. Shade et al. Sharpe, 2003
Call Number: JK1965 .A57 2003

Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election
Edited by Larry J. Sabato. Pearson/Longman, 2006
Call Number: JK526 2004 .D58 2005

Encyclopedia of Presidential Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms
By Robert North Roberts and Scott John Hammond. Greenwood Press, 2004
Call Number: E176.1 .R6 2004 (In Reference)

In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns
By John G. Geer. University of Chicago Press, 2006
Call Number: JK2281 .G44 2006

Mediating the Vote: The Changing Media Landscape in U.S. Presidential Campaigns
By Michael Pfau et al. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007
Call Number: JK2281 .P43 2006

Notable Speeches in Contemporary Presidential Campaigns
By Robert V. Friedenberg. Praeger, 2002
Call Number: Available online through NetLibrary

Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington to George W. Bush
By. Paul F. Boller, Jr. Oxford University Press, 2004
Call Number: E176.1 .B683 2004

The Race to 270: The Electoral College and the Campaign Strategies of 2000 and 2004
By Daron R. Shaw. University of Chicago Press, 2006
Call Number: JK1976 .S53 2006

Running on Race: Racial Politics in Presidential Campaigns, 1960-2000
By Jeremy D. Mayer. Random House, 2002
Call Number: E839.5 .M39 2002

Sneaking into the Flying Circus: How the Media Turn Our Presidential Campaigns into Freak Shows
By Alexandra Pelosi. Free Press, 2005
Call Number: JK526 2004 .P45 2005

The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008
By Mark Halperin and Jon F. Harris. Random House, 2006
Call Number: JK526 2008 .H35 2006

Welfare for Politicians?: Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns
Edited by John Samples. Cato Institute, 2005
Call Number: JK1991 .W45 2005

Videostyle in Presidential Campaigns: Style and Content of Televised Political Advertising
By Lynda Lee Kaid and Anne Johnston. Praeger, 2001
Call Number: JK2281 .K26 2000

In the News: Hurricane Katrina – Three Years Later

Week of August 25, 2008

News Item:  Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005 and caused severe destruction in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama as a Category 5 storm. Thousands perished, and homes and businesses were destroyed in what would become the costliest U.S. Atlantic hurricane. Three years later, the city of New Orleans is slowly recovering from Katrina’s effects, but many other survivors are still struggling with housing, education, and other basic social needs. 

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City
By Jed Horne. Random House, 2006
Call Number: HV636 2005 .N4 H66 2006

City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina
By Jenni Bergal et al. Louisiana State University Press, 2007
Call Number: HV636 2005 .N4 C58 2007

Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster
By Michael Eric Dyson. Basic Civitas, 2006
Call Number: HV636 2005 .G87 D97 2006
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In the News: Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Week of August 11, 2008

News Item: Last week marked the 63rd anniversaries of the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to Democracy Now!, approximately 14,000 people were instantly killed or died within a few months of the bombings after the Hiroshima attack, and about 80,000 were killed after the attack on Nagasaki.

The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Edited by Kyoko and Mark Selden. M.E. Sharpe, 1989
Call Number: D767.25 .H6 A87 1989

Beclouded Visions: Hiroshima-Nagasaki and the Art of Witness
By Kyo Maclear. SUNY Press, 1999
Call Number: Available online through NetLibrary

The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb
By Michael Kort. Columbia University Press, 2007
Call Number: D767.25 .H K68 2007 (At Jupiter – May be borrowed through ILL
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In the News: 2008 Summer Olympics

Week of August 4, 2008

News Item: The Games of the XXIX Olympiad begin this week in Beijing and will run through August 24th. A few of the recent problems associated with the event include the following: at least 20,000 people have cleaned up algal blooms along the coastlines of Qingdao where sailing events will be held; poor air quality plagues Beijing and nearby cities; the past and current treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government prompted Students for a Free Tibet to disrupt the Olympic torch relay this past spring. Included here are titles related to the social history of the Olympics and its past games.

Beijing’s Games: What the Olympics Mean to China
By Susan Brownell. Rowman & Littlefield, 2008
Call Number: GV722 2008 .B76 2008

Berlin games: How the Nazis Stole the Olympic Dream
By Guy Walters. William Morrow, 2006
Call Number: GV722 1936 .W35 2006

The Best Olympics Ever?: Social Impacts of Sydney 2000
By Helen Lenskyj. State University of New York Press, 2002
Call Number: Available online through NetLibrary
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In the News: The Banking Industry, Credit Crisis & Sluggish Economic Growth

Week of July 28, 2008

News Item: A couple of weeks ago, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had taken control of the Pasadena, California-based IndyMac Bancorp due to losses from defaulted mortgages. Are more ban collapses on the way? Included here are select titles that examine bank failures, deregulation, and management.

Bailout: An Insider’s Account of Bank Failures and Rescues
By Irvine H. Sprague. Basic Books, 1986
Call Number: HG2491 .S67 1986

Bank Mergers in a Deregulated Environment: Promise and Peril
By Bernard Shull. Quorum Books, 2001
Call Number: HG1722 .S585 2001 (Also available via NetLibrary)

Belly Up: The Collapse of the Penn Square Bank
By Phillip L. Zweig. Crown Publishers, 1985
Call Number: HG2613 .O354 P419 1985
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In the News: Nelson Mandela

Week of July 21, 2008

News Item: Former South African President, anti-apartheid activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nelson Mandela celebrated his 90th birthday last week. He was recently removed from a United States terrorism watch list. A bill, sponsored by U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bob Corker (R-TN), and signed by President Bush in early July, called for the removal of Mandela from the list.

In His Own Words
By Nelson Mandela. Little, Brown and Co., 2003
Call Number: DT1974 .M338 2003

An Irresistible Vision: Mandela and the End of Apartheid (DVD)
BBCW Productions. Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004
Call Number: DT1949 .M35 M3623 2004 (Media Center)

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
By Nelson Mandela. Phelps-Stokes Institute for African, African-American, and American Indian Affairs, 1990
Call Number: DT1949 .M35 A3 1994
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In the News: Native Americans & The Longest Walk 2008

Week of July 14, 2008

News Item: Last Friday, thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. after completing an 8,000 mile cross-country walk that began over five months ago. During the “Longest Walk 2008,” participants marched in support of “environmental and sacred sites protection, cultural survival, youth empowerment and Native American rights.” Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, was one of the event’s organizers. The original “Longest Walk” took place in 1978.

Blood of the Land: The Government and Corporate War against the American Indian Movement
By Rex Weyler. Vintage Books, 1984
Call Number: E93 .S54 1984

Daily Life of Native Americans in the Twentieth Century
By Donald Fixico. Greenwood Press, 2006
Call Number: E98 .S7 F56 2006

Editorializing “the Indian Problem”: The New York Times on Native Americans, 1860-1900
Compiled by Robert Hays. Southern Illinois University Press
Call Number: E98 .P99 H39 2007

Ghost Dancing the Law: The Wounded Knee Trials
By John William Sayer. Harvard University Press, 1997
Call Number: KF224 .B27 S39 1997
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