Election History

Among the traditional tenets of the Christian faith is the belief that God chooses or elects people for salvation. For some Christians, such an affirmation is an indication of God's sovereign and perfect will. For others, such a notion is troubling for it seems to downplay the significance of human agency and choice. Throughout the church's history, Christians have sought to understand the meaning of relevant biblical texts and debated this theological conundrum.

In Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know Nolan McCarty takes listeners through what scholars know and don't know about the origins, development, and implications of our rising political conflicts, delving into social, economic, and geographic determinants of polarization in the United States. While the current political climate seems to suggest that extreme views are becoming more popular, McCarty also argues that, contrary to popular belief, the 2016 election was a natural outgrowth of 40 years of polarized politics, rather than a significant break with the past.

In today’s America, only a slim majority of people register to vote, and a large percentage of registered voters don’t bother to show up: Donald Trump was elected by only 26 percent of eligible voters. Unfortunately, this is not a bug in our system, it’s a feature. Thom Hartmann unveils the strategies and tactics that conservative elites in this country have used, from the foundation of the Electoral College to the latest voter ID laws, to protect their interests by preventing “the wrong people” - such as the poor, women, and people of color - from voting while making it more convenient for the wealthy and white.

El 2 de mayo de 1973, la integrante de los Panteras Negras Assata Shakur se hallaba en el hospital en estado crítico y esposada a la cama, mientras las autoridades locales y la policía federal trataban de interrogarla acerca del tiroteo en una autopista de Nueva Jersey que costó la vida a un policía blanco. Objetivo durante mucho tiempo de la campaña de Edgar Hoover para difamar, sabotear y criminalizar las organizaciones nacionalistas negras y a sus líderes, Shakur pasó cuatro años en la cárcel antes de su condena en 1977, sustentada en pruebas poco sólidas.

Over the last 30 years, the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies has grown from a small group of disaffected conservative law students into an organization with extraordinary influence over American law and politics. Although the organization is unknown to the average citizen, this group of intellectuals has managed to monopolize the selection of federal judges, take over the Department of Justice, and control legal policy in the White House.

Travis Ridout and Michael Franz examine how political advertisements function in various kinds of campaigns and how voters are influenced by them. The authors particularly study where ads are placed, asserting that television advertising will still be relevant despite the growth of advertising on the Internet.

A former CIA spy and author of Overworld recounts the stories of master criminals Robert Sensi and Richard Hirschfeld, describing their ties to the Republican Party and al-Qaeda, their numerous multi-million-dollar investment scams, and the partnership by which they smuggled billionaire Russian mafiosos into the United States.

George Washington, the first President of the United States, warned against the formation of political parties, but it did not take long for American politicians to ignore him and draw a line in the sand regarding the power of the federal government and that of the individual states. That said, the line ebbed away among the bloodshed of the War of 1812, and until the election of 1828, American politics experienced the so-called Era of Good Feelings, during which Americans took heed of Washington’s words and set aside party lines for a supposed new era of political cooperation.

Nineteenth-century preacher Charles Spurgeon may have surprised some when he delivered this sermon on the doctrine of election. Though predestination aligned with Spurgeon’s denominational beliefs as a Particular Baptist, it was still an unpopular sermon topic.

Though they may seem to be dividing the country irreparably, today's heated cultural and political battles between right and left, progressives and the Tea Party, religious and secular are far from unprecedented. In this engaging and important work, Stephen Prothero reframes the current debate, viewing it as the latest in a number of flashpoints that have shaped our national identity.

Dinesh D'Souza, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller America, is back with this darkly entertaining deconstruction of Hillary Clinton's flawed character and ideology. From her Alinskyite past to her hopes for America's progressive future, the presumptive Democratic nominee is revealed to be little more than a political gangster intent on controlling the nation's wealth.

During the week of October 24, 2016, Hillary Clinton was decisively ahead of Donald Trump in many polls and, more importantly, in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Then FBI Director James Comey sent his infamous letter to Congress on October 28, saying the bureau was investigating additional emails that may have been relevant to the Hillary Clinton email case.

Die Grenzöffnung für Flüchtlinge im Herbst 2015 hat das Land gespalten - die einen preisen Angela Merkels moralische Haltung, die andern geißeln die Preisgabe von Souveränität. Doch was als planvolles Handeln erscheint, ist in Wahrheit eine Politik des Durchwurstelns, des Taktierens und Lavierens, befeuert von hehren Idealen und Opportunismus. Robin Alexander zeigt, dass die politischen Akteure Getriebene sind, zerrieben zwischen selbst auferlegten Zwängen und den sich überschlagenden Ereignissen.

The times are changing at an ever-increasing velocity. Old systems, organizations, and ways of operating no longer work in our dynamic, complex and increasingly unstable new environment. Out of this chaos and confusion, a new and different leader must emerge. Old systems and methods will no longer work. Leading the Charge is a visionary leadership book that examines the trends that have reshaped our world and the ways in which leaders and organizations can effectively respond.

Was the 2000 presidential campaign merely a contest between Pinocchio and Dumbo? And did Dumbo miraculously turn into Abraham Lincoln after the events of September 11? In fact, Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman argue in The Press Effect, these stereotypes, while containing some elements of the truth, represent the failure of the press and the citizenry to engage the most important part of our political process in a critical fashion.

An avid high school debater and enthusiastic student body president, Craig Smith seemed destined for a life in public service from an early age. As a sought-after speechwriter, Smith had a front-row seat at some of the most important events of the twentieth century, meeting with Robert Kennedy and Richard Nixon, advising Governor Ronald Reagan, writing for President Ford, serving as a campaign manager for a major U.S. senator's reelection campaign, and writing speeches for a contender for the Republican nomination for president.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, an occasion that is sure to be observed around the world. But among the memorials, political speeches, and news editorials, the most pressing consideration - and often the most overlooked - is the lives and well-being of the 9/11 first responders, their families, and the victims' families over the past decade. Dennis Smith, a former firefighter and the author of the bestselling Report from Ground Zero, addresses this important topic in a series of interviews....

In The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies, Jonathan Alter uses his unmatched access and deep knowledge of politics and history to produce the first full account of America at the crossroads. He pierces the bubble of the White House and of the presidential campaigns with exclusive reporting and rare historical insight. More than a campaign book, this is the epic story of an embattled president facing a historic moment he considered more pivotal than 2008.

Historian Sean Wilentz presents two key insights that together reveal a clearer, much-needed vision of American political history. First, partisanship has almost always been a feature of American history and in fact has made possible the nation's greatest social reforms. There is little to be gained from a "postpartisan" political world. Second, the recent attention to economic inequality has a long history. From the founders' generation to the present, America's egalitarian tradition has appeared and reappeared like an underground river.

The modern presidency has become the central fault line of polarization in America because the president, increasingly, has the power to reshape vast swaths of American life. Gene Healy argues that “We, the People” are to blame. Americans on each side of the red-blue divide demand a president who can create jobs, teach our children well, tend to the “national soul”—and vanquish their culture-war enemies. Our political culture has invested the office with preposterously vast responsibilities, and as a result, the officeholder wields powers that no human being ought to have.