The Virginia State Constitution
The Virginia State Constitution

Author: John J. Dinan

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 019935572X

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The Virginia State Constitution examines constitutional amendments, court decisions, attorney general opinions, and legislative deliberations bearing on the development and interpretation of the Virginia Constitution. The book contains a detailed history of the Virginia Constitution, with particular attention to key moments in the state's constitutional development, from the 1776 Constitution through the current 1971 Constitution. The book also includes a provision-by-provision commentary on the evolution and meaning of each section of the Virginia Constitution. The second edition brings this material up to date through mid-2013 and analyzes a number of constitutional developments with important implications for governance. Among the recent amendments covered in this volume is an amendment barring recognition of same-sex marriages and civil unions, and an amendment that undertook a major revision of the provision limiting the eminent domain power. The book examines several recent state court decisions of note, including the state supreme court's first interpretation of the provision guaranteeing "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" and various court decisions limiting the power to levy taxes. The book also analyzes recent attorney general opinions with significant implications for legislative appropriations to non-profit groups, along with various other legislative initiatives. The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States is an important series that reflects a renewed international interest in constitutional history and provides expert insight into each of the 50 state constitutions. Each volume in this innovative series contains a historical overview of the state's constitutional development, a section-by-section analysis of its current constitution, and a comprehensive guide to further research. Under the expert editorship of Professor G. Alan Tarr, Director of the Center on State Constitutional Studies at Rutgers University, this series provides essential reference tools for understanding state constitutional law. Books in the series can be purchased individually or as part of a complete set, giving readers unmatched access to these important political documents.

Starting Over
Starting Over

Author: Edward A. Lynch

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2010-11-29

Total Pages: 263

ISBN-13: 0761853219

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Starting Over traces the remarkable political career of former Virginia Governor and U.S. Senator George Allen. Once considered a likely presidential candidate, Allen became a YouTube sensation after a slip of the tongue. But the Allen story is not over and his career has featured multiple returns from seeming oblivion. The author provides a balanced look at Allen's successes and failures. George Allen's career also parallels the ups and downs of modern American conservatism. Allen reinvented conservative political action in the post-Reagan, post-Cold War era. The issues on which he had his greatest successes became the issues that fueled the Republican comeback in the 1990s. In these pages, the reader will learn as much about recent American politics as about Allen himself.

Crime Policy in America
Crime Policy in America

Author: Shahid M. Shahidullah

Publisher: UPA

Published: 2015-11-21

Total Pages: 453

ISBN-13: 0761866574

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The second edition of Crime Policy in America describes the process of policy-making and the substantive nature of policy directions in crime and justice in America, particularly from the beginning of the 1970s. This book examines the nature of presidential policy-making in crime and justice from Nixon to Obama, congressional policy-making since the birth of the Bill of Rights, and judicial policy-making since the promulgation of the Judicial Act of 1789. The perspective of this book is deeply historical, sociological, and legalistic. Historically, the book has explored the evolution of different policy strategies at different periods of American history; sociologically, it scrutinized the impact of the get-tough policy paradigm on crime and justice, and from a legal perspective it has examined the conflict and the consensus of Congress and the federal judiciary on different issues of crime and justice from drug crimes to sex crimes to counterterrorism. The second edition of the book has particularly illuminated the changing directions of US crime policy from the dominance of the “get tough” approach in the 1980s and 1990s to a more balanced approach to crime control and prevention in the beginning of the 21sr century.

Race and Representation
Race and Representation

Author: Georgia A. Persons

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-04

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1351495100

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The National Political Science Review is the official publication of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. This series, now entering its sixth volume, includes significant scholarly research reflecting the diverse interests of scholars from various backgrounds who use different models, approaches, and methodologies. The central focus is on politics and policies that advantage or disadvantage groups because of race, ethnicity, gender, and other major variables.Race and Representation is anchored by a symposium that focuses on efforts to enhance representation of African Americans in legislative bodies under the authority of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, and on recent court challenges to the constitutionality of redistricting plans drawn under that act. The chapters constitute an extension of an ongoing and protracted, highly charged, public debate. In her introduction, Georgia A. Persons discusses how recent Supreme Court rulings, such as in Shaw v. Reno, Miller v. Johnson, and Bush v. Vera, have significantly redefined the meaning and permissible parameters of the Voting Rights Act. She affirms that they have also strongly posited, albeit somewhat indirectly, a legal meaning of representation that is at variance with the more broadly philosophical meaning of representation grounded in the ideal of enhancing equality among different groups in a society.The articles in Race and Representation are refreshingly informative. They include case studies written by political scientists who became involved directly with events surrounding the theme of this volume. A new section, 'Reflections,' is introduced; it will be reserved for commentary and analysis of an issue that captures the political spirit of the times. In the inaugural contribution, J. Owens Smith reflects on the assault on liberal philosophy as a foundation for civil rights claims and offers an alternative philosophical prism for viewing and justifying such claims. This volume is essen

Public Journalism and Political Knowledge
Public Journalism and Political Knowledge

Author: Anthony J. Eksterowicz

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 9780847695409

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In this text journalists, communications scholars, and political scientists assess the contemporary public journalism, looking at its origins, the arguments for and against public journalism, and the state of political knowledge.

The Decline of Representative Democracy
The Decline of Representative Democracy

Author: Alan Rosenthal

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 1997-10-14

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 1483304515

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Based on a leading scholar′s firsthand observations of legislatures as well as extensive interviews with legislators, legislative staff, and lobbyists, this important work describes and analyzes the contemporary state of legislatures and the legislative process in the fifty states. It explores the principal elements of legislatures, including the processes by which legislation is enacted, the impact of the media, political competition and partisanship, lobbyists and lobbying, the challenge of ethics, the role of leadership, and the linkage between legislators and their constituencies. Thematically, Alan Rosenthal argues that despite the popular perception that legislatures are autocratic, arbitrary, isolated, unresponsive, and up for sale, legislatures are, in fact, extraordinarily democratic and becoming more so. He concludes, furthermore, that the dangers to representative democracy today are substantial. The Decline of Representative Democracy builds on the growing literature in state politics and state legislatures. It also relies on the author′s participant-observer research, interviews conducted especially for this book, and his years in the field. Many illustrative examples help to clarify the theoretical points made throughout the book, which in turn provide provocative sources of debate for students of the legislative process.

African American Statewide Candidates in the New South
African American Statewide Candidates in the New South

Author: Charles S. Bullock, III

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-01-27

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 019760742X

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Introduction : Black statewide candidacies in the South -- Georgia : Stacey Abrams's bid to become America's first Black woman governor comes up short -- Florida : Andrew Gillum narrowly loses bid to become state's first black governor -- Virginia : African American statewide candidates navigate a complicated past (and present) -- South Carolina : Jaime Harrison comes up well short -- Raphael Warnock : Black Democratic breakthrough -- How African American candidates navigate the Southern Democratic primaries : from Chisholm and Jackson, to Obama and today -- Conclusion : the future for African American statewide candidates in the South.