Civic Science

In The Bill of Rights: A User's Guide, award-winning author and constitutional scholar Linda R. Monk explores the remarkable history of the Bill of Rights amendment by amendment, the Supreme Court's interpretation of each right, and the power of citizens to enforce those rights. Stories of the ordinary people who made the Bill of Rights come alive are featured throughout.

The Fox News contributor and decorated Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran reads his vigorous call to arms to reignite American citizenship at home and restore American power abroad using the timeless truths of Teddy Roosevelt's iconic "Man in the Arena" speech.

From the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street, however divergentt heir political views, these groups seem united by one thing: outrage over a system of power and influence that they feel has stolen their livelihoods and liberties. Increasingly, protesters on both ends of the political spectrum and the media are using the word corrupt to describe an elusory system of power that has shed any accountability to those it was meant to help and govern. But what does corruption and unaccountability mean in today's world?

Analyzing the movement's deep-seated origins in questions that the country has sought too long to ignore, some of the greatest economic minds and most incisive cultural commentators capture the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon in all its ragged glory. They give listeners an on-the-scene feel for the movement as it unfolds while exploring the heady growth of the protests, considering the lasting changes wrought, and recommending reform.

Extinction Rebellion (XR, for short) is an emergency response. Politics as usual, governments, as usual, have let down the peoples of the world in an extreme way: We are on course for eco-driven societal collapse, and we are extinguishing other species very rapidly. We could even end up making ourselves extinct. XR suggests that when your government is driving you and your family over a cliff, it is no longer a legitimate government. Rebellion against it is permitted - indeed, it is required. But XR is insistent that such rebellion must be nonviolent.

Based on interviews of military veterans by the authors, this book explains why so many of our American military heroes - those willing to put their lives on the line to protect the United States - now question if our nation is still the country they fought for.

Exploring the full sweep of federalism from the founding to today, Kettl focuses on pivotal moments when power has shifted between state and national governments - from the violent rebalancing of the Civil War, when the nation almost split in two, to the era of civil rights a century later, when there was apparent agreement that inequality was a threat to liberty and the federal government should set policies for states to enact. Despite this consensus, inequality between states has only deepened since that moment.

Anything that alienates and divides us leaves us weak and exposed to disaster. Simple human compassion is more essential to our national resilience and strength than most of us recognize. Shallow values won’t suffice as the foundation of our social and cultural infrastructure. With anecdotes and unexpected stories about growing up during the '60s and '70s in Los Angeles and from her work in disaster recovery, Diane Burden Cox illustrates the importance of our relationships with each other to our national resilience.

New Hampshire - a small state with a small, distinct population - is nevertheless the beacon of American democracy. Since 1920, its residents have been the first in the nation to cast their votes in the presidential primaries. History has shown that if you want to be commander in chief, you have to win, or at least place a strong second, in New Hampshire. In Vote First or Die, Conroy reveals the inner workings of American politics through the unforgettable characters who populate the exceedingly influential state of New Hampshire.

Soul of a Citizen awakens within us the desire and the ability to make our voices heard and our actions count. We can lead lives worthy of our convictions. Soul of a Citizen is an antidote to the twin scourges of modern life - powerlessness and cynicism. In his evocative style, Paul Loeb tells moving stories of ordinary Americans who have found unexpected fulfillment in social involvement. Through their example and Loeb's own wise and powerful lessons, we are compelled to move from passivity to participation.

The Fascism This Time elucidates a psychosocial model of fascism which predicted that Trump’s election would lead to immigrant concentration camps, an assault on democratic institutions, a global increase in authoritarianism, a massive rise in crimes against humanity, and the starvation of Yemen. It is an original and perceptive account tying the fascism this time to the overwhelming challenges with which the world is now faced.

In Citizenship: What Everyone Needs to Know, legal scholar Peter J. Spiro explains citizenship through accessible terms and questions: what citizenship means, how you obtain citizenship (and how you lose it), how it has changed through history, what benefits citizenship gets you, and what obligations it extracts from you - all in comparative perspective.

From his youth, Kingston has always carried a vision for a free and united America. With an approachable and conversational style, as well as a dash of humor, John Kingston draws on a diverse and compelling collection of wisdom—the parables of the Bible and the philosophy of Aristotle, the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, the songs of Bruce Springsteen and current studies from the best neuro and social scientists today—to remind us that there is no "them", there is only us, and we're in this together.

The glorification of citizenship is a given in today's world, part of a civic narrative that invokes liberation, dignity, and nationhood. In reality, explains Dimitry Kochenov, citizenship is a story of complacency, hypocrisy, and domination, flattering to citizens and demeaning for noncitizens. In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Kochenov explains the state of citizenship in the modern world.

In this bracing book, Michael Chertoff makes clear that our laws and policies surrounding the protection of personal information, written for an earlier time, need to be completely overhauled in the Internet era. In offering his compelling call for action, Chertoff argues that what is at stake is not so much the simple loss of privacy, which is almost impossible to protect, but of individual autonomy - the ability to make personal choices free of manipulation or coercion.

Drawing on more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, Robert Wuthnow brings us into America's small towns, farms, and rural communities to paint a rich portrait of the moral order -the interactions, loyalties, obligations, and identities - underpinning this critical segment of the nation. Wuthnow demonstrates that to truly understand rural Americans' anger, their culture must be explored more fully. Moving beyond simplistic depictions of the residents of America's heartland, The Left Behind offers a clearer picture of how this important population will influence the nation's political future.

Each of us faces a moment of truth - at a time of crisis, do we stand up and speak out or retreat into our private lives? This audiobook is for those frustrated by what they see happening in the world but are not sure what they can do about it. Veteran organizer Gordon Whitman shows that we have the power we need to create a racially and economically just society. The audiobook is a road map for standing up to the bullies who've hijacked our democracy and divided us against each other.

Was kostet mich ein Schritt zurück und was bekomme ich dafür? Ist mein verklärter Blick auf das einfache Leben meiner Kindheit nur ein Trugbild, oder ist der Schritt zurück der erste Schritt nach vorn, um Anlauf zu nehmen und den großen Graben der Verheißungen zu überspringen? Roland Düringer erzählt im Gespräch mit Clemens G. Arvay von seinem Selbstversuch, ein Leben wie früher zu führen und dabei die Zukunft zu gewinnen.

Willing to Engage is a prequel to A Diamond on the Wall, the memoir of my experiences in Vietnam. It is my fervent hope, that by telling the remainder of my story, I might somehow stop someone from pulling the trigger of a gun, or swallowing pills, in their desire to end their life, or the lives of others. Too many people are surrendering all hope, because they see no future. I also hope to motivate today's youth to become involved; to labor with all who are willing to put forth an effort to stop the insanity that is causing such dismay.

When discrimination is race-based, we call it racism; when it's gender-based, we call it sexism. Somebodies and Nobodies introduces rank-based discrimination - or "rankism" - a form of injustice that everyone knows, but no one sees. It explains our reluctance to confront rankism, shows where analyses based on identity fall short and, using dozens of examples, traces many forms of injustice and unfairness to rankism.