From abortion to same-sex marriage, today's most urgent political debates will hinge on this two-part question: What did the United States Constitution originally mean and who now understands its meaning best? Rakove chronicles the Constitution from inception to ratification and, in doing so, traces its complex weave of ideology and interest, showing how this document has meant different things at different times to different groups of Americans.

"Author seeks to heal America's political divisions and threats to democratic values; he advocates piecing together fragments of our history--including the influence on our founding fathers of Native American beliefs in natural rights, egalitarian justice, and mankind's deep connection to nature, thus revealing a sacred purpose: to bring all peoples and the living natural world together" --

Bill Kauffman, described by the Washington Post as having the pleasantly wicked touch of H.L. Mencken, examines the cultural factors and political schisms of 20th-century American nationalism. He weaves a fascinating tale that links Sinclair Lewis to NAFTA, 'The Best Years of Our Lives' to Ross Perot, and the Old Right to the New Left. He discusses the Perot phenomenon, the presidential campaign and the influence of Pat Buchanan, the impact of free trade agreements, the film industry of the 1930s, and a fascinating cast of characters and causes in what is sure to be controversial reading.As Gore Vidal notes in his foreword, By studying our history [Kauffman] has latched on to some interesting facts (as opposed to opinions) that completely turn inside out the tedious liberal versus conservative debate, or grunting contest.. . . just the sort of wake-up call needed for anyone in search of a better understanding of the richly complex roots of the contemporary America First movement. -For the People News ReporterBill Kauffman deserves much credit for the good he has done in revising some of the cliches . . . dominating the media . . .[that] have distorted our sense of American history. . . . Kauffman has made an important and very readable contribution. -Chronicles. . . a highly relavant and readable book from start to finish. -The Freeman. . . some of the most enjoyable and fascinating reading [to be found]. . . . If you read only one political history book, here it is. -Booklist. . . perceptive and nearly always provocative. -The Tragedy of American Isolationism

A reexamination of party history and a detailed exposition of party politics in Illinois argues that constitutional issues, not economic or social affiliations, were key to early party development.

Gabriel Rockhill opens new space for rethinking the relationship between art and politics. Rather than understanding the two spheres as separated by an insurmountable divide or linked by a privileged bridge, Rockhill demonstrates that art and politics are not fixed entities with a singular relation but rather dynamically negotiated, sociohistorical practices with shifting and imprecise borders. Radical History and the Politics of Art proposes a significant departure from extant debates on what is commonly called "art" and "politics," and the result is an impressive foray into the force field of history, in which cultural practices are meticulously analyzed in their social and temporal dynamism without assuming a conceptual unity behind them. Rockhill thereby develops an alternative logic of history and historical change, as well as a novel account of social practices and a multidimensional theory of agency. Engaging with a diverse array of intellectual, artistic, and political constellations, this tour de force diligently maps the various interactions between different dimensions of aesthetic and political practices as they intertwine and sometimes merge in precise fields of struggle.

What determines the interests, ideologies, and alliances that make up political parties? In its entire history, the United States has had only a handful of party transformations. First to the Party concludes that groups like unions and churches, not voters or politicians, are the most consistent influences on party transformation.

Looks at the history of politics from Hobbes to the twenty-first century.

The ensuing debates and disagreements over the recent past, examined by the author, open up a window into the wider development of German memory, identity, and politics after the end of the Cold War."--BOOK JACKET.

Hume's Politics provides a comprehensive examination of David Hume's political theory, and is the first book to focus on Hume's monumental History of England as the key to his distinctly political ideas. Andrew Sabl argues that conventions of authority are the main building blocks of Humean politics, and explores how the History addresses political change and disequilibrium through a dynamic treatment of coordination problems. Dynamic coordination, as employed in Hume's work, explains how conventions of political authority arise, change, adapt to new social and economic conditions, improve or decay, and die. Sabl shows how Humean constitutional conservatism need not hinder--and may in fact facilitate--change and improvement in economic, social, and cultural life. He also identifies how Humean liberalism can offer a systematic alternative to neo-Kantian approaches to politics and liberal theory. At once scholarly and accessibly written, Hume's Politics builds bridges between political theory and political science. It treats issues of concern to both fields, including the prehistory of political coordination, the obstacles that must be overcome in order for citizens to see themselves as sharing common political interests, the close and counterintuitive relationship between governmental authority and civic allegiance, the strategic ethics of political crisis and constitutional change, and the ways in which the biases and injustices endemic to executive power can be corrected by legislative contestation and debate.

In Original Thinking, Glenn Aparicio Parry delves into the evolution of Western thought to recover the living roots of wisdom that can correct the imbalances in our modern worldview. Inspired by groundbreaking dialogues that the author organized between Native American elders and leading-edge Western scientists to explore the underlying principles of the cosmos, this book offers a radical revisioning of how we think. Asking questions such as, Is it possible to come up with an original thought?, What does it mean to be human?, and How has our thinking created our world today?, Parry challenges us to consider many of our most basic assumptions. To think originally--as in thinking new thoughts that have never been thought or said before--is according to Parry, largely an illusion. So, too, is the idea of linear human progress. Most of us have traveled far from our ancestral lands, and in so doing, lost connection with place, the origin of our consciousness. Original Thinking offers a radical revisioning of how we think and what it means to be human. It invites us to reintegrate our hearts with our heads and to expand our self-imposed narrowing of consciousness. In doing so we reconnect with the living, original source--nature and her interconnected elements and cycles--and embrace the communion of old and new, rational and intuitive, and masculine and feminine. Ultimately, Parry shows us how to create the tapestry of truly original thinking and to restore thought as a blessing, as a whole and complete transmission from Spirit. Contents PART ONE (ORIGIN): Is it possible to come up with an original thought? Chapter 1. Original Thought, Time, and the Unfolding of Consciousness Chapter 2. Looking Backward to Go Forward Chapter 3. Wheels Within Wheels Chapter 4. It's About Time PART TWO (DEPARTURE): What does it mean to be human? Chapter 5. Purpose, Potential, and Responsibility of Being Human Chapter 6. Rational Thought and Human Identity Chapter 7. Re-thinking Language Chapter 8. Beyond Rationality Chapter 9. A Tale of Two Directions PART THREE (RETURN): How has our thinking created the world today, and what is emerging? Chapter 10. The Essence of Thought Chapter 11. To Make Thought Whole Again Chapter 12. To Think Without Separation Chapter 13. Re-Thinking the "Dismal Science" Chapter 14. Toward An Original Economics PART FOUR (RENEWAL): Can education promote the renewal of original thinking? Chapter 15. Education as Renewal Chapter 16. Childhood and Education Chapter 17. Higher Education Chapter 18. A New (and Ancient) Vision Chapter 19. A Vision for Higher Education