Nevada's highly individualistic political culture has produced a conservative political philosophy in an open society. Economic developments resulting from mining and gambling reinforced and heightened the individualistic ethic that many early settlers brought to the frontier state. This ethic is also evident in the opposition of most Nevadans to big government, big labor, and big business. Belief in limited government partially explains the apparent anomaly of the electorate's backing a pro-choice position on abortion while opposing the Equal Rights Amendment. The book discusses the important roles played by Nevada's present U.S. senators in two of the state's ongoing controversies with the federal government: the longstanding water rights dispute between Native Americans, backed by the federal government, and Nevada's ranchers; and the decade-long fight against the establishment of the nation's first permanent nuclear waste depository at Yucca Mountain. Don W. Driggs is Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is the author of The Constitution of the State of Nevada: A Commentary. Leonard E. Goodall is a professor of management and public administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is the author of numerous works, including State Politics and Higher Education.

In northwestern Nevada, the waters of the Truckee, Carson, and Walker river systems are fought over by competing interests: agriculture, industry, Native Americans and newer residents, and environmentalists. Much of the conflict was caused by the Newlands Project, completed in 1915, the earliest federal water reclamation scheme. Diverting these waters destroyed vital wetlands, polluted groundwater, nearly annihilated the cui-ui and the Lahontan cutthroat trout, and threatened the existence of Pyramid Lake. Water Politics in Northern Nevada examines the Newlands Project, its unintended consequences, and decades of litigation over the abatement of these problems and fair allocation of water. Negotiations and federal legislation brought about the Truckee River Operating Agreement in 2008. This revised edition brings the reader up to date on the implementation of the agreement, including ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance Pyramid Lake. The second edition now also includes a discussion of the Walker River basin, following a major project undertaken to address concerns about the health and viability of Walker Lake. The approaches taken to save these two desert treasures, Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake, are offered as models for resolving similar water-resource conflicts in the West. Leah J. Wilds’s study is crucial reading for students and scholars of water politics and environmental issues, not just in Nevada but throughout the western United States.

Nevada has changed dramatically over the past quarter century, and in this third edition of The Silver State, renowned historian James W. Hulse recounts the major events—historical, political, and social—that have shaped our state. Hulse’s cohesive approach offers students and general readers an accessible account of Nevada’s colorful history. The new edition highlights the social and political changes that have occurred since the original publication of The Silver State in 1991. Hulse discusses the impact of a growing population; changes in the economy and education system; expanding roles of women; recent developments in state politics, including the 2003 legislative session; the influence of Nevada’s growing ethnic population and increasingly divergent demographic groups; and the impact of federal policies, including President George W. Bush’s 2002 decision to authorize the opening of a nuclear-waste depository at Yucca Mountain. In addition, all the recommended reading lists have been updated. The Silver State explores many dimensions of the Nevada experience and its peoples. This book will inspire readers to take another look at the rich cultural heritage and eventful history of Nevada, the Silver State.

One Man's Planet is a slightly off-centered geologist's introduction to how politics, pop-culture and the earth sciences mix it up every day in all of our lives. A humorous look at a myriad of issue that grace the news and drive political debates from local councils to international discourse. One Man’s Planet picks apart the rhetoric on all sides of these debates to look at how the science describes the issue, often to the nakedness of the opposing parties. Tackling topics like climate, energy, water, and hazards, Stephen Testa channels Beanie Babies, Mad Max, and Shakespeare among others to examine the latest scientific understanding of these issues. Author Stephen Testa weaves science, personalities, pop culture and politics into a very informative and entertaining tapestry on the planet today and the planet's tomorrow. Come tour the Earth with Testa as your guide!

"Water is not only a source of life and culture. It is also a source of power, conflicting interests and identity battles. Rights to materially access, culturally organize and politically control water resources are poorly understood by mainstream scientific approaches and hardly addressed by current normative frameworks. These issues become even more challenging when law and policy-makers and dominant power groups try to grasp, contain and handle them in multicultural societies. The struggles over the uses, meanings and appropriation of water are especially well-illustrated in Andean communities and local water systems of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia, as well as in Native American communities in south-western USA. The problem is that throughout history, these nation-states have attempted to 'civilize' and bring into the mainstream the different cultures and peoples within their borders instead of understanding 'context' and harnessing the strengths and potentials of diversity. This book examines the multi-scale struggles for cultural justice and socio-economic re-distribution that arise as Latin American communities and user federations seek access to water resources and decision-making power regarding their control and management. It is set in the dynamic context of unequal, globalizing power relations, politics of scale and identity, environmental encroachment and the increasing presence of extractive industries that are creating additional pressures on local livelihoods. While much of the focus of the book is on the Andean Region, a number of comparative chapters are also included. These address issues such as water rights and defence strategies in neighbouring countries and those of Native American people in the southern USA, as well as state reform and multi-culturalism across Latin and Native America and the use of international standards in struggles for indigenous water rights. This book shows that, against all odds, people are actively contesting neoliberal globalization and water power plays. In doing so, they construct new, hybrid water rights systems, livelihoods, cultures and hydro-political networks, and dynamically challenge the mainstream powers and politics."--Publisher's description.

This volume presents a series of case studies from around the world that examine the complex culture and power dimensions of water resources and management. Chapters describe highly contentious cases that span the continuum of concerns from dam construction and hydroelectric power generation to water quality and potable water systems. They address the values and meanings associated with water and how changes in power result in changes both in meaning and in patterns of use, access, and control.

This all-encompassing encyclopedia provides a broad perspective on U.S. politics, culture, and society, but also goes beyond the facts to consider the myths, ideals, and values that help shape and define the nation. Demonstrating that political culture is equally rooted in public events, internal debates, and historical experiences, this unique, three-volume encyclopedia examines an exceptionally broad range of factors shaping modern American politics, including popular belief, political action, and the institutions of power and authority. Readers will see how political culture is shaped by the attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of Americans, and how it affects those things in return. The set also addresses the issue of American "exceptionalism" and examines the nation's place in the world, both historically and in the 21st century. Essays cover pressing matters like congressional gridlock, energy policy, abortion politics, campaign finance, Supreme Court rulings, immigration, crime and punishment, and globalization. Social and cultural issues such as religion, war, inequality, and privacy rights are discussed as well. Perhaps most intriguingly, the encyclopedia surveys the fierce ongoing debate between different political camps over the nation's historical development, its present identity, and its future course. By exploring both fact and mythology, the work will enable students to form a broad yet nuanced understanding of the full range of forces and issues affecting—and affected by—the political process.