Social Civics

Reason and Politics: The Nature of Political Phenomena examines the central phenomena of political life in order to clarify their meaning, source, and range. Mark Blitz gives particular attention to the notions of freedom, rights, justice, virtue, power, property, nationalism, and the common good.

The American who shows a distaste for civic responsibility and whose great aim in life is comfort and ease is a greater threat to America than any terrorist. The American who mindlessly chants, “USA! USA! USA!” when a politician wraps themselves in the flag permits the highest of crimes. The American who votes for the politicians who steal, lie, and cheat should share a cell with the criminals they ignorantly empower.

Die Welt ist zum Verändern da, nicht zum Ertragen. Früher war die Zukunft besser. Heute scheint keiner zu glauben, dass es unseren Kindern mal besser gehen wird. Muss das so sein? Muss es nicht! Der Soziologe und erprobte Zukunftsarchitekt Harald Welzer entwirft uns eine gute, eine mögliche Zukunft: Darin gibt es Städte ohne Autos, Schulen ohne Gebäude, die Menschen erhalten ein Grundeinkommen, und Grenzen gibt es auch nicht mehr. Erfrischend und ermutigend zeigt Welzer: Die vielbeschworene Alternativlosigkeit ist in Wahrheit nur Phantasielosigkeit.

En 2004 Michoacán se resquebrajó. Ese año, los cárteles, insatisfechos con las ganancias obtenidas con el tráfico de drogas, diversificaron sus actividades e incursionaron en la extorsión, el secuestro, el pillaje y, en el colmo del sadismo, la violación y la tortura. Después de una década de violencia desatada, los habitantes de la zona reaccionaron. Empobrecidos por los embates del crimen, olvidados por las autoridades, furiosos y hartos, decidieron tomar la justicia en sus manos.

Michael Slaby identifies four necessary avenues to build a future that serves us all: redesign our platforms; restore journalism, government, and corporations; reclaim the power and diversity of our storytelling; and ultimately redeem ourselves. Optimistic and passionate, For ALL the People breaks down how we got here, and how we can work together toward a better democracy empowered by - rather than exploited by - technology.

The essential guide to local government leadership.

Government and market failures spur many citizens to practical action today. Around the globe people form renewable energy cooperatives, provide support for marginalized populations, and deliver alternative justice and care services. What motivates citizens to begin such practical problem-solving? How do they engage others? What knowledge do they generate? How do they interact with state and market actors? What risks and opportunities do they hold for contemporary democracy?

Rebel Song is a tremendous story of a woman, a heart, a madman, a rebel, and the growing storm of change. Eerie warnings parallel contemporary crises. Weaving metaphors soar and dive. Archetypes evoke stunning moments of real-life recognition. And in the end, the sweeping triumph of the rebel song's message leaves you in shivers-and-chills delight.

In 1964, as the polarizing Civil Rights Act made its way through the House and Senate, and Congress navigated one of the most tumultuous eras in American history, a Harris Poll put the institution's approval rating at 60%. Why then, 50 years later, has the public's approval of Congress eroded to an all-time low of 10%?

Denise Dresser presenta una lectura urgente y necesaria: López Obradorsedujo a millones con su promesa de salvaguardar la democracia y ser un antídoto contra la regresión política y social de México. Hoy la distancia entre aquella esperanza y la realidad es insalvable. AMLO ha erosionado, con palabras y hechos, la institucionalidad deficitaria, reemplazándola con un ejercicio de gobierno centrado sólo en él, rodeado de verde olivo. Por improvisación, por prisa, y por mala administración, heredará bombas de tiempo a su sucesora.

Something basic is missing in our culture. Americans know it. Nothing much works as it should. Simple daily choices seem impossible, or fraught with peril. In the workplace, we walk on eggshells. Big projects get stalled in years of review. Endemic social problems such as homelessness become, well, more endemic. Everyday Freedom offers a radical reinterpretation of the corrosion of American culture.

Can a football game affect the outcome of an election? What about shark attacks? Or a drought? In a rational world the answer, of course, would be no. But as best-selling historian Rick Shenkman shows in Political Animals, our world is anything but rational. This isn't because we aren't smart. Instead, modern cues are setting off ancient, instinctive responses that worked to keep us safe in the Stone Age but lead us astray today.

No major arena of US governance is more elitist than foreign policy. International relations barely surface in election campaigns, and policymakers take little input from Congress. For much of the twentieth century, officials, activists, and academics worked to foster an informed public that would embrace participation in foreign policy as a civic duty. Every Citizen a Statesman recounts an abandoned effort to create a democratic foreign policy.

With four distinct tours of duty during his eight decades on this earth, LC Johnson has brought a world of experience to the county he calls home. While he and his wife, Gracie, deliberately chose the area that is now Peachtree Corners for their retirement, it is what this community represents that first attracted the pair. LC spent his earliest years, his first tour of duty, as the son of cotton farmers in southern Mississippi. He responded to the rumblings of the early civil rights movement and heeded the advice of many of the elders in his life by joining the military.

When #BlackLivesMatter emerged in 2013, it animated the most consequential Black-led mobilization since the civil rights and Black power era. Today, the hashtag turned rallying cry is but one expression of a radical reorientation toward Black politics, protest, and political thought. To Build a Black Future examines the spirit and significance of this insurgency, offering a revelatory account of a new political culture—responsive to pain, suffused with joy, and premised on care—emergent from the centuries-long arc of Black rebellion, a tradition that traces back to the Black slave.

In the wake of the coronavirus and George Floyd killing, many of the issues dividing us as a nation - race, politics, class, gender, climate change, globalism, and religion - have only been magnified, and although the US surgeon general has called for an end to bickering and partisanship, it is unclear to what extent this will take effect. What is clear, however, is that safe, mindfully structured dialogues are imperative if we are to salvage our republic and the democratic principles on which it is built.

In an era when democracy is at critical risk, is it reasonable to expect the education system, already buckling under the ordeal of a global pandemic, to solve the converging problems of inequality, climate change, and erosion of trust in government and science? Will more civics instruction help? In Can Schools Save Democracy? Michael J. Feuer offers a new approach to addressing these questions with a strategy for improving the process and substance of civic education.

A collection of writings from the author that were previously published in Lola Magazine in Louisiana. The collection covers a wide range of topics from education and learning issues to citizenship and character. As a reading and dyslexia specialist as well as a Board Certified Cognitive Specialist who owns her own business, Donesa Walker shares from a wealth of experience and knowledgeable expertise.

One year into Donald Trump's presidency, the US 2016 presidential election is still being fought by both parties. As the case of Russian hacking and collusion is investigated, and Hillary Clinton desperately attempts to explain what happened to her and why she lost, a more important question, one haunted by shadowy tactics and campaign double-dealing, rings out: what happened to Bernie Sanders?

In Just Faith, progressive Christian activist and writer Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons explains how a strong religious left has accompanied every major progressive advance in our society, and he resurrects the long but forgotten history of progressive Christianity in the United States that can and must link arms with progressive Muslims and Jews to make the moral case for pluralism, human dignity, and the common good. Graves-Fitzsimmons provides a blueprint for this type of resurrection based on his advocacy work at the intersection of religion and American politics.