Political Science Faculty Books

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Sovereign of a Free People : Abraham Lincoln, Majority Rule, and Slavery

James H. Read

When Abraham Lincoln was sworn into office, seven slave states had preemptively seceded rather than recognize the legitimacy of his election. In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln replied to the secessionists and set forth a principled defense of majority rule as “the only true sovereign of a free people.” His immediate purpose was to argue against the legitimacy of a powerful minority forcibly partitioning the United States because it was dissatisfied with the results of a free, constitutionally conducted election. His wider purpose was to make the case that a deliberate, constitutionally checked majority, though by no means infallible, was the appropriate ultimate authority not only on routine political questions but even on the kind of difficult, deeply divisive questions—like the future of slavery—that could otherwise trigger violent contests.

Sovereign of a Free People examines Lincoln’s defense of majority rule, his understanding of its capabilities and limitations, and his hope that slavery could be peacefully and gradually extinguished through the action of a committed national majority. James Read argues that Lincoln offered an innovative account of the interplay between majorities and minorities in the context of crosscutting issues and shifting public opinion. This story is particularly timely today as a new minority of dissatisfied voters has threatened and enacted violence in response to a valid election.

Read offers the first book focused on Lincoln’s understanding of majority rule. He also highlights the similarities and differences between the threats to American democracy in Lincoln’s time and in our own. Sovereign of a Free People challenges common assumptions about what caused the Civil War, takes seriously the alternative path of a peaceful, democratic abolition of slavery in the United States, and offers a fresh treatment of Lincoln and race.
Women's empowerment and disempowerment in Brazil : the rise and fall of President Dilma Rousseff

Pedro A. G. dos Santos and Farida Jalalazai

"Women's Empowerment and Disempowerment in Brazil uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, shaped women's political empowerment in her country and what the implications of these findings may be for women's executive leadership globally"-- Provided by publisher.
Politics of Latin America: the Power Game

Gary Prevost and Harry E. Vanden
- "Politics of Latin America: The Power Game, Seventh Edition explores both the evolution and the current state of the political scene in Latin America. This text demonstrates a nuanced sensitivity to the use and abuse of power and the importance of social conditions, gender, race, globalization, and political economy throughout Latin America. Unique in the market, the text is divided into two parts-thematic chapters in the beginning of the text explore big picture issues and themes in the region; country by country chapters in the second half of the text provide in-depth discussions of those issues and themes, country by country. The thematic chapters outline the region's geographic setting, history, economics, society, gender, race, and religion, setting the stage for a more detailed analysis of the politics, democratization, political culture, political movements, and revolution in Latin America. The second part of the book consists of carefully constructed case studies of ten representative Latin American nations: Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. Each case study traces the historical and political development of key actors and institutions, analyzing contemporary power configurations"-- Provided by publisher.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics

Gary Prevost and Harry E. Vanden

This encyclopedia reviews and interprets a broad array of research on Latin American politics, including topics related to political institutions, processes, and parties; social movements; political economy; racial and gender politics; and Latin America's international relations. Bringing together peer-reviewed contributions by leading researchers, this publication is the definitive resource for understanding contemporary politics in the region. It includes entries by CSB/SJU professors Gary Prevost and Pedro A. G. dos Santos.
Military Interventions, War Crimes, and Protecting Civilians

Christi Siver

War crimes have devastating effects on victims and perpetrators and endanger broader political and military goals. The protection of civilians, one of the most fundamental norms in the laws of war, appears to have weakened despite almost universal international agreement. Using insights from organizational theory, this book seeks to understand the process between military socialization and unit participation in war crimes. How do militaries train their soldiers in the laws of war? How do they enforce compliance with these laws? Drawing on evidence from the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, and the Canadian peacekeeping mission in Somalia, the author discovers that military efforts to train soldiers about the laws of war are poor and leadership often sent mixed signals about the importance of compliance. However, units that developed subcultures that embraced these laws and had strong leadership were more likely to comply than those with weak discipline or countercultural norms.
Politics of Latin America: The Power Game (6th edition)

Gary Prevost and Harry E. Vanden

Now in its sixth edition, Politics of Latin America: The Power Game explores both the evolution and the current state of the political scene in Latin America. This text demonstrates a nuanced sensitivity to the use and abuse of power and the importance of social conditions, gender, race, globalization, and political economy throughout the region. It is uniquely divided into two parts: one that treats big-picture, thematic questions, and one that focuses on particular countries through case studies of ten representative nations: Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Bolivia.
The New Global Politics

Gary Prevost, Harry E. Vanden, and Peter N. Funke

Over the past decade, there has been an unprecedented mobilization of street protests worldwide, from the demonstrations that helped bring progressive governments to power in Latin America, to the Arab Spring, to Occupy movements in the United States and Europe, to democracy protests in China. This edited volume investigates the current status, nature and dynamics of the new politics that characterizes social movements from around the world that are part of this revolutionary wave.

Spanning case studies from Latin America, North and South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America, this volume examines the varied manifestations of the current cycle of protest, which emerged from the Global South and spread to the North and highlights their interconnections – the globalized nature of these social movements. Analytically converging around Sidney Tarrow’s emphasis on protest cycles, political opportunity structures and identity, the individual chapters investigate processes such as global framing, internationalization, diffusion, scale shifts, externalizations and transnational coalition building to provide an analytic cartography of the current state of social movements as they are simultaneously globalizing while still being embedded in their respective localities.

Looking at new ways of thinking and new forms of challenging power, this comprehensive volume will be of great interest to graduates and scholars in the fields of globalization, social movements and international politics.
US National Security Concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Concept of Ungoverned Spaces and Failed States

Gary Prevost, Harry E. Vanden, Carlos Oliva Campos, and Luis Fernando Ayerbe

The concepts of 'ungoverned spaces' and 'failed states' where the limited presence of the state is seen as a challenge to global security have generated a rich intellectual debate in recent years. In this edited volume, scholars from Latin America and the United States will analyze how US foreign policy making circles have applied the concepts to the creation of new US security initiatives in the Latin American region during the post September 11, 2001 era. The extension of concepts to Latin America has been significant because it has meant that during the past thirteen years US policy in the Hemisphere has shifted away from the primarily economic emphasis of the 1990s, the era of the Free Trade Area of the Americas project, back to a security focus reminiscent of the Cold War era. The last decade has witnessed a significant increase in US military presence in the region highlighted by the re-launching of the Caribbean-based Fourth Fleet, the militarization of drug fighting efforts in Mexico, and the establishment of several new military bases in Colombia, the staunchest US ally in the region.
Race in Cuba: Essays on the Revolution and Racial Inequality

Esteban Morales Dominguez, Gary Prevost, and August H. Nimtz

As a young militant in the 26th of July Movement, Esteban Morales Domínguez participated in the overthrow of the Batista regime and the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. The revolutionaries, he understood, sought to establish a more just and egalitarian society. But Morales Dominguez, an Afro-Cuban, knew that the complicated question of race could not be ignored, or simply willed away in a post-revolutionary context. Today, he is one of Cuba's most prominent Afro-Cuban intellectuals and its leading authority on the race question. Available for the first time in English, the essays collected here describe the problem of racial inequality in Cuba, provide evidence of its existence, constructively criticize efforts by the Cuban political leadership to end discrimination, and point to a possible way forward. Morales Dominguez surveys the major advancements in race relations that occurred as a result of the revolution, but does not ignore continuing signs of inequality and discrimination. Instead, he argues that the revolution must be an ongoing process and that to truly transform society it must continue to confront the question of race in Cuba.
Social Movements and Leftist Governments in Latin America: Confrontation or Co-option?

Gary Prevost, Harry E. Vanden, and Carlos Oliva Campos

In recent years, the simultaneous development of prominent social movements and the election of left and center-left governments has radically altered the political landscape in Latin America. These social movements have ranged from the community based "piqueteros" of Argentina that brought down three governments in the space of a month in 2001 to the indigenous movements in Ecuador and Bolivia that were instrumental in toppling five governments in the last decade. And in the cases of Venezuela and Brazil, social movements helped to provide the political base from which leftist leaders like Hugo Chávez and Lula were swept into power by election.

Social Movements and Leftist Governments in Latin America moves beyond simple discussion of these social movements to address an issue that is crucial for politics in the region today but has yet to be properly analyzed - specifically, what is the position of the social movements after progressive governments take power? Are they co-opted in support of government policies or do they remain at arm's length as continuing opponents? How many of the movement's demands are actually met and what happens when the government almost inevitably disappoints its supporters in such movements? This work explores these questions, shedding new light on how these social movements continue to operate in Latin America.
Cuban-Latin Relations in the Context of a Changing Hemisphere

Gary Prevost and Carlos Oliva Campos

Following the election of Mauricio Funes to the presidency of El Salvador in 2009, relations between Cuba and Latin America came full circle. El Salvador subsequently restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and was the last country to do so, just months after the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban revolution. In the wake of these dramatic events, it should be noted that just fifty years ago, all Latin American countries--with the exception of Mexico--severed their formal ties with the island. In 1962, with heavy pressure from the United States, Cuba's membership in the Organization of American States (OAS) was suspended. In May 2009, at an historic OAS meeting in Honduras and against the strong wishes of the United States, the Latin American countries voted unanimously that Cuba should be returned to full membership in the organization.

This volume seeks to fill a very significant void in the recently published scholarship in English on Cuba's relationship with Latin America. Cuban foreign policy has received attention over the years, but the bulk of the scholarship has been on its relationship with the United States. That relationship is important and will also be addressed in this book by Esteban Morales Dominguez, who for many years has been Cuba's leading scholar of US-Cuban relations. The contributors to this volume have demonstrated conclusively that a decade into the twenty-first century, Cuba has achieved a position in the hemisphere that is far less isolated than at any previous time since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959. That reintegration into hemispheric affairs is evident in many crucial areas like politics, economics, and culture. There is no doubt that Cuba's position in the hemisphere has been bolstered by the leftward direction of Latin American politics. This trend has clearly permitted the development of such new organizations as ALBA and the Bank of the South, but it is not likely that even the return to more conservative governments in the region would risk putting Cuba back into its previous position of relative isolation. It is unlikely that Washington, in a multipolar world, would be able to convince key Latin American governments to reverse their policies of full inclusion of Cuba into hemispheric affairs.
Encyclopedia of the U.S. Government and the Environment: History, Policy, and Politics

Matthew J. Lindstrom

At a time when changing the nation's environmental policy is a top presidential priority, with a new global climate change treaty deep in negotiations, and with the country itself weighing the need for action against concerns over too much government regulation, this exhaustive new reference work could not be more welcomed.

Encyclopedia of the U.S. Government and the Environment: History, Policy, and Politics explores the interaction between the federal government and environmental politics and policy throughout the nation's history, from the earliest efforts to preserve lands and regulate pollution to the 1960s emergence of the modern environmental movement, the landmark legislation of the 1970s, and the seesawing back-and-forth of policies between alternating Republican and Democrat administrations of the last three decades. The hundreds of entries cover the full range of issues, events, laws, institutions, and key players that shape federal environmental policies, incorporating viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum.
Latin America: An Introduction

Gary Prevost and Harry E. Vanden

Latin America: An Introduction offers a contemporary, thematic analysis of the region that is grounded in Latin America's social, political, economic, and cultural past. Based on chapters from Harry Vanden and Gary Prevost's popular text, Politics of Latin America, this book provides an accessible and interesting discussion of a broad range of topics, including democracy, revolution, indigenous populations, culture, gender, religion, politics, economy, and relations with the United States. Unlike many texts on the region, this book places the voices of long-ignored and previously marginalized groups in Latin America--women, indigenous peoples, Afro-Latinos, workers, peasants, and gays and lesbians--at the heart of its analysis. Offering balanced regional coverage, the book discusses such recent political, social, and economic developments as the failure of the neoliberal economic policies of the 1980s and 1990s to deliver promised prosperity; the related resurgence of progressive politics in the region, as manifested in the election of numerous left and center-left governments; and the strong role of numerous social movements in setting the region's political agenda in the new century. The authors analyze the continuing power of the United States in the region, as seen in the implementation of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), bilateral trade agreements with Chile and Peru, and the continued funding of Plan Colombia. They also discuss the role of various Latin American-based initiatives, including the expansion of MERCOSUR, the Bolivarian Alternative, and The Bank of the South. Providing a historical perspective for the challenges and problems facing the region today, Latin America: An Introduction's regionally balanced, multidisciplinary approach makes it an ideal text for introduction to Latin American studies courses.
The Cross of Gold Revisited: Neo-Populist Party Emergence in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

G. Claire Haeg

The Commonwealth countries of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are the oft-forgotten backwaters of the scholarship of advanced industrial nations. Historically, these three countries have been too politically stable to rouse much international attention. Yet in the last decades of the 20th Century each of these countries endured significant social and political upheaval which resulted in the creation of a neo-populist party. In Australia, the infamous Pauline Hanson rose to prominence in 1996 and won election to national parliament, thereafter forming Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. In Canada, Preston Manning fractured the conservative party to form the Reform Party, and eventually rode a wave of populist resentment to become opposition leader.In New Zealand, a former cabinet minister - Winston Peters - split from the National Party and created the New Zealand First Party. Virulently anti-globalization and anti-immigrant in message, these parties had enormous impact on the mainstream political agenda in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and each party has left a political and cultural legacy.
Majority Rule versus Consensus: The Political Thought of John C. Calhoun

James H. Read

John C. Calhoun may be best known for his stature in the U.S. Senate and his controversial defense of slavery, but he is also a key figure in American political thought. The staunchest advocate of the consensus model of government as an alternative to majority rule, he proposed government not by one, by few, or by many, but by all: each key group enjoying veto rights over collective decisions.

Some consider consensus preferable to majority rule in deeply divided societies, and consensus theory has been advocated in such contemporary works as Lani Guinier's The Tyranny of the Majority.James Read's book, the first historically informed, theoretically sophisticated critique of Calhoun's political thought, goes beyond other studies to ask key questions about the feasibility of consensus. Read critically examines Calhoun's arguments, considering both their antebellum context—including Calhoun's spirited defense of slavery—and modern-day attempts to apply consensus models in Northern Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, and South Africa.

Read sheds new light on the crisis leading up to the Civil War by exploring Calhoun's conviction that his uncompromising defense of slavery would help preserve the Union. He also juxtaposes Calhoun's thought with that of Jefferson and Madison, whose legacies Calhoun invoked to support his claim that states had the right to nullify federal law, and he contrasts Madison's ultimate faith in majority rule with Calhoun's ultimate rejection of it.

Read argues that, although Calhoun's critique of majority rule deserves careful attention, his remedy is unworkable and in the end unjust. Read demonstrates that governments ruled by consensustend to be ineffective, that they are better at preventing common action than achieving common goods, and that they privilege strategically placed minorities rather than producing genuine consensus.

Majority Rule versus Consensusis a provocative work that sheds new light on the promise and limitations of democracy, showing that, despite the failure of Calhoun's remedy, his diagnosis of the potential injustice of majority rule must be taken seriously. It discourages uncritical celebrations of democracy in favor of reflection on how committed democrats can better address the problems that Calhoun attempted to solve.
This book is part of the American Political Thought series.
United States-Cuban Relations: A Critical History

Esteban Morales Dominguez and Gary Prevost

United States-Cuban Relations breaks new ground in its treatment of this long and tumultuous relationship. The overall approach, mirroring the political science background of both authors, does not focus on historical detail that has been provided by many other works, but rather on a broad analysis of trends and patterns that have marked the long relationship between the two countries. Dominguez and Prevost argue that U.S. policy toward Cuba is driven in significant measure by developments on the ground in Cuba. From the U.S. intervention at the time of the Cuban Independence War to the most recent revisions of U.S. policy in the wake of the Powell Commission, the authors demonstrate how U.S. policy adjusts to developments and perceived reality on the island. The final chapters of the book focus on the contemporary period, with particular emphasis on the changing dynamic toward Cuba from U.S. civil society. Dominguez and Prevost describe how the U.S. business community, fearful of being isolated from Cuba's reinsertion in the world's capitalist markets, have united with long-standing opponents of the U.S. embargo to win the right to sell food and medicines to Cuba over the last four years. Ultimately, the authors are realists about the possibility of better relations between the U.S. and Cuba, pointing out that, short of the collapse of Cuba's current political and economic system, fundamental change in U.S. policy toward the island is unlikely in the immediate future.
The National Environmental Policy Act: Judicial Misconstruction, Legislative Indifference, and Executive Neglect

Matthew J. Lindstrom and Zachary A. Smith

Environmental degradation and the compromised integrity of the earth's ecological system were growing public concerns in the mid to late 1960s. These issues spurred Congress to pass the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the first law to focus such environmental concerns into a comprehensive national policy. The new legislation encompassed an array of environmental values and ethics, as well as administrative tools to achieve the ecological goals of the nation while taking into account other important societal needs. Though NEPA has had a positive effect on U.S. environmental policy and the national quality of life, this challenging new book shows how federal courts and agencies have failed to implement many of the values and goals fundamental to the success of NEPA. To explain this divergence, authors Matthew J. Lindstrom and Zachary A. Smith examine NEPA's origins, address how NEPA has been implemented and enforced, and highlight the shortcomings of its practice. Lindstrom and Smith strongly argue that if NEPA were fully and properly implemented, it would prove to be a valuable and realistic tool for balancing the needs of the world population and the protection of the earth's environment. They offer a new, hopeful look at how the law's structure can be properly utilized in order to give future generations hope of living on a sustainable planet. This book is well suited for audiences interested in public policy formation and implementation, especially environmental policy administrators, environmental historians, and those involved in environmental law, its policy, and its politics.
Doorstep Democracy: Face-to-Face Politics in the Heartland

James H. Read

The quest for elected office—one conversation at a time

At once a memoir of a hard-fought contest and a meditation on the state of American democracy, Doorstep Democracy refuses the “red state” versus “blue state” view of American voters. James Read shows the power of kitchen-table politics and proves how conversations between citizens concerned about their communities can get us beyond the television ads, mass mailings, and sound bites to rejuvenate American democracy.
Doorstep Democracy : Face-to-Face Politics in the Heartland

James H. Read

The famous Tip O'Neill axiom "all politics is local" comes alive in this chronicle of Democrat James H. Read's hard-fought but unsuccessful (by 98 votes) bid for state legislature in the socially conservative communities of Stearns and Morrison counties in Minnesota. Read door-knocked 7500 households during his campaign, visiting voters and engaging in genuine dialogue on doorsteps from St. Anthony to St. Joseph.
At once a memoir of a hard-fought contest and a meditation on the state of American democracy, Doorstep Democracy shows the power and importance of kitchen-table politics-people sitting down together to tackle the issues that affect us-and proves that voters and candidates can be convinced to change their minds. Read ultimately demonstrates how conversations between citizens concerned about their communities can get us beyond the television ads, mass mailings, and sound bites to rejuvenate American democracy.
From Revolutionary Movements to Political Parties: Cases from Latin America and Africa

Kalowatie Deonandan, David Close, and Gary Prevost

This volume is a series of original articles analyzing eleven case studies of revolutionary movements which have reconstituted themselves into formal political parties now contesting electoral politics. These case studies are drawn from Africa and the Americas and examined within the context of the democratic transitions which have taken place in the developing world. The book's principal objective is to analyze the factors influencing the successes and failures of these former politico-military movements within this new context of democracy and electoralism.
Perspectives on Minnesota Government and Politics (6th Edition)

Steve Hoffman, Angela High-Pippert, and Kay G. Wolsborn
The Bush Doctrine and Latin America

Gary Prevost and Carlos Oliva Campos

In the wake of the events of September 11, 2001, the government of George W. Bush has articulated a new strategy for U.S. foreign policy that has come to be known as the Bush Doctrine, and is based on a more aggressive approach to perceived threats to U.S. security. This book analyzes how the application of the Bush Doctrine in Latin America has changed U.S. policy in the region. Various authors demonstrate how security issues, never absent from hemispheric relations, have again moved to the forefront.
Perspectives on Minnesota Government and Politics (5th edition)

Steve Hoffman, Homer Williamson, and Kay G. Wolsborn
Suburban Sprawl: Culture, Theory and Politics

Matthew J. Lindstrom, Hugh Bartling, H. William Batt, and Mark Edward Braun

A comprehensive, multi-disciplinary analysis of suburban sprawl development and smart growth alternatives within the contexts of culture, ecology, and politics. It offers a mix of theoretical inquiry, historical analysis, policy critique, and case studies, written by academics and practitioners from around the world. In addition, each chapter is coupled with featured interviews with leading activists and policymakers working on sprawl issues.
Neoliberalism and Neopanamericanism: The View from Latin America

Gary Prevost and Carlos Oliva Campos

In this edited volume fourteen scholars, mostly from Latin America, analyze the current state of relations between North America and Latin America in a number of sectors--economic, security, politics, and the environment. Particular attention is paid to processes of economic integration that dominated political discussions during the decade of the 1990s – North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), MERCOSUR, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). Because most of the scholars are from Latin America, the book has a perspective that is often lacking in books on similar scholars written almost exclusively by scholars from the U.S.