This book brings together leading figures in democratic reform and civic engagement to show why and how better state-citizen cooperation is necessary for achieving positive social change. Their contributions demonstrate that, while protest and non-state action may have their place, citizens must also work effectively with public bodies to secure sustainable improvements. The authors explain why the problem of civic disengagement poses a major threat, highlight what actions can be taken, and suggest how the underlying obstacles to democratic cooperation between citizens and state institutions can be overcome across a range of policy areas and in varied national contexts.
This book looks at the traditional answer to the question of man’s freedom on earth - the answer that holds that for man to be free he needs to be made to become a perpetual subject. And dismisses it. This work submits that man is not born to be a subject but a free man. Because it contends that, contrary to Rousseau’s thoughts, man is born in chains and that it is these chains that he must learn to break to be free. It subsequently submits that for man to be able to break his chains he needs to be made to become his true self and shows how to make man become his true self.
This up-to-date second-edition work will stimulate and clarify readers' thinking on the key issues surrounding guns in the United States—especially on the debate over gun control. Most public debate and discussion about guns in U.S. society is rarely guided by research—not surprising, as most individuals have a personal opinion on this highly inflammatory topic based on their upbringing or personal experiences. Additionally, most research about gun use in America is confusing and contradictory, making it difficult for citizens to gain much from their attempts to investigate the topic objectively. This book offers concise, understandable coverage of all aspects of the issue, including incidence of gun violence; gun control; gun rights; government regulation, legislation, and court decisions; gun organizations (for gun control and for gun rights); gun enthusiast subcultures—for example, hunters, target shooters, and collectors; and U.S. attitudes toward guns. Many of the covered topics are placed in historical and cross-cultural perspective. The new edition of Gun Control in the United States: A Reference Handbook enables the reader to navigate and interpret the research to become sufficiently educated on any specific aspect of the gun issue to make an informed decision—for example, whether to support stricter or more lenient gun control; whether to become a gun owner; whether to support a particular political party or candidate; or whether to develop or to refine a particular philosophy regarding guns. Other aspects of the contemporary gun debate that are addressed include whether the Supreme Court's ruling that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right will withstand future challenges, whether the strong gun regulations used in Europe would be effective and applicable in reducing gun violence in the United States, and whether the diversity explosion created by the high rate of immigration from countries where guns are strictly controlled will soon change the politics of the U.S. gun control debate.
The agony and anguish of the War Between the States affected all aspects of American life. Many quarters suffered, but one in particular seemed to prosper in the postwar aftermath: the publishing industry. Though the success of Personal Memoirs by Ulysses S. Grant (as published by Mark Twain) is a clear milestone in publishing's history of bestsellers, it was only one of many highly successful Civil War memoirs penned and published by veterans in the postwar years. Never before in America had such a plethora of eyewitness accounts of a war existed, nor so many by those in a position of command. Drawing on the best of these accounts, most of them long out of print, Commanding Voices of Blue & Gray presents in a single volume the personal words of these leaders and provides an overview of the command experience in the Civil War. Selections include: General William Tecumseh Sherman on his infamous march through Georgia General George B. McClellan on the battle of Antietam and the legendary lost order that should have tipped him off to Lee's plans General George Armstrong Custer's experience of going straight from studying at West Point to the Battlefield General (CSA) James Longstreet on serving under Robert E. Lee General (CSA) G. Moxley Sorrel on serving under General James Longstreet Major (CSA) J. S. Mosby on the South's guerrilla campaign General (CSA) Jubal Early's memoir of the last year of the war At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The importance of salmon to the Pacific Northwest--economic, recreational, symbolic--is enormous. Generations ago, salmon were abundant from central California through Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to British Columbia and Alaska. Now they have disappeared from about 40 percent of their historical range. The decline in salmon numbers has been lamented for at least 100 years, but the issue has become more widespread and acute recently. The Endangered Species Act has been invoked, federal laws have been passed, and lawsuits have been filed. More than $1 billion has been spent to improve salmon runs--and still the populations decline. In this new volume a committee with diverse expertise explores the complications and conflicts surrounding the salmon problem--starting with available data on the status of salmon populations and an illustrative case study from Washington state's Willapa Bay. The book offers specific recommendations for salmon rehabilitation that take into account the key role played by genetic variability in salmon survival and the urgent need for habitat protection and management of fishing. The committee presents a comprehensive discussion of the salmon problem, with a wealth of informative graphs and charts and the right amount of historical perspective to clarify today's issues, including Salmon biology and geography--their life's journey from fresh waters to the sea and back again to spawn, and their interaction with ecosystems along the way. The impacts of human activities--grazing, damming, timber, agriculture, and population and economic growth. Included is a case study of Washington state's Elwha River dam removal project. Values, attitudes, and the conflicting desires for short-term economic gain and long-term environmental health. The committee traces the roots of the salmon problem to the extractive philosophy characterizing management of land and water in the West. The impact of hatcheries, which were introduced to build fish stocks but which have actually harmed the genetic variability that wild stocks need to survive. This book offers something for everyone with an interest in the salmon issue--policymakers and regulators in the United States and Canada; environmental scientists; environmental advocates; natural resource managers; commercial, tribal, and recreational fishers; and concerned residents of the Pacific Northwest.
