The Conservative Opportunity

The Conservative Opportunity PDF Author: Robert Blake
Publisher: London : Macmillan
ISBN: 9780333199718
Category : Conservatism
Languages : en
Pages : 159

Book Description


The Conservative Opportunity

The Conservative Opportunity PDF Author: Robert Blake
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349156655
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description


Burning Down the House

Burning Down the House PDF Author: Julian E. Zelizer
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1594206651
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book! A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice The story of how Newt Gingrich and his allies tainted American politics, launching an enduring era of brutal partisan warfare When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, President Obama observed that Trump “is not an outlier; he is a culmination, a logical conclusion of the rhetoric and tactics of the Republican Party.” In Burning Down the House, historian Julian Zelizer pinpoints the moment when our country was set on a path toward an era of bitterly partisan and ruthless politics, an era that was ignited by Newt Gingrich and his allies. In 1989, Gingrich brought down Democratic Speaker of the House Jim Wright and catapulted himself into the national spotlight. Perhaps more than any other politician, Gingrich introduced the rhetoric and tactics that have shaped Congress and the Republican Party for the last three decades. Elected to Congress in 1978, Gingrich quickly became one of the most powerful figures in America not through innovative ideas or charisma, but through a calculated campaign of attacks against political opponents, casting himself as a savior in a fight of good versus evil. Taking office in the post-Watergate era, he weaponized the good government reforms newly introduced to fight corruption, wielding the rules in ways that shocked the legislators who had created them. His crusade against Democrats culminated in the plot to destroy the political career of Speaker Wright. While some of Gingrich’s fellow Republicans were disturbed by the viciousness of his attacks, party leaders enjoyed his successes so much that they did little collectively to stand in his way. Democrats, for their part, were alarmed, but did not want to sink to his level and took no effective actions to stop him. It didn’t seem to matter that Gingrich’s moral conservatism was hypocritical or that his methods were brazen, his accusations of corruption permanently tarnished his opponents. This brand of warfare worked, not as a strategy for governance but as a path to power, and what Gingrich planted, his fellow Republicans reaped. He led them to their first majority in Congress in decades, and his legacy extends far beyond his tenure in office. From the Contract with America to the rise of the Tea Party and the Trump presidential campaign, his fingerprints can be seen throughout some of the most divisive episodes in contemporary American politics. Burning Down the House presents the alarming narrative of how Gingrich and his allies created a new normal in Washington.

Contract with America

Contract with America PDF Author: Newt Gingrich
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
ISBN: 9780812925869
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
The November 1994 midterm elections were a watershed event, making possible a Repbulican majority in Congress for the first time in forty years. Contract with America, by Newt Gingrich, the new Speaker of the House, Dick Armey, the new Majority Leader, and the House Republicans, charts a bold new political strategy for the entire country. The ten-point program, which forms the basis of this book, was announced in late September. It received the signed support of more than 300 GOP canditates. Their pledge: "If we break this contract, throw us out". Contract with America fleshes out the vision and provides the details of the program that swept the GOP to victory. Among the pressing issues addressed in this important book are: balancing the budget, stopping crime, reforming welfare, reinforcing families, enhancing fairness for seniors, strengthening national defense, cutting government regulations, promoting legal reform, considering term limits, and reducing taxes.

The Republican Opportunity

The Republican Opportunity PDF Author: Raymond Moley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description


The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution

The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution PDF Author: Joseph Fishkin
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 067424740X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 641

Book Description
“Eminently readable, and anybody who cares about the future of American democracy in these perilous times can only hope that it will be widely read and carefully considered.” —James Pope, Washington Post “Fishkin and Forbath’s accessible work serves as both history lesson and political playbook, offering the Left an underutilized—and perhaps counterintuitive—tool in the present-day fight against social and economic injustice: the Constitution.” —Benjamin Morse, Jacobin “Rousing and authoritative...attempt[s] to recover the Constitution’s pivotal role in shaping claims of justice and equality...Makes even the present court’s capture by the ideological right a compelling platform for a revived social-democratic constitutional politics.” —New Republic Oligarchy is a threat to the American republic. When too much economic and political power is concentrated in too few hands, we risk losing the “republican form of government” the Constitution requires. Today, courts enforce the Constitution as if it had almost nothing to say about this threat. But as this revolutionary retelling of constitutional history shows, a commitment to prevent oligarchy once stood at the center of a robust tradition in American political and constitutional thought. Joseph Fishkin and William Forbath demonstrate that reformers, legislators, and even judges working in this “democracy-of-opportunity” tradition understood that the Constitution imposes a duty on legislatures to thwart oligarchy and promote a broad distribution of wealth and political power. These ideas led Jacksonians to fight special economic privileges for the few, Populists to try to break up monopoly power, and Progressives to fight for the constitutional right to form a union. But today, as we enter a new Gilded Age, this tradition in progressive American economic and political thought lies dormant. The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution begins the work of recovering it and exploring its profound implications for our deeply unequal society and badly damaged democracy.

The Closing Door

The Closing Door PDF Author: Gary Orfield
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226632735
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Book Description
The Closing Door is the first major critique of the effect of conservative policies on urban race and poverty in the 1980s. Atlanta, with its booming economy, strong elected black leadership, and many highly educated blacks, seemed to be the perfect site for those policies and market solutions to prove themselves. Unfortunately, not only did expected economic opportunity fail to materialize but many of the hard-won gains of the civil rights movement were lost. Orfield and Ashkinaze painstakingly analyze the evidence from Atlanta to show why black opportunity deteriorated over the 1980s and outline possible remedies for the damage inflicted by the Reagan and Bush administrations. "The Closing Door is a crucial breath of fresh air . . . an important and timely text which will help to alter the 'underclass' debate in favor of reconsidering race-specific policies. Orfield and Ashkinaze construct a convincing argument with which those who favor 'race-neutrality' will have to contend. In readable prose they make a compelling case that economic growth is not enough."—Preston H. Smith II, Transition

The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement

The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement PDF Author: Steven Michael Teles
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780691122083
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 339

Book Description
Starting in the 1970s, conservatives learned that electoral victory did not easily convert into a reversal of important liberal accomplishments, especially in the law. As a result, conservatives' mobilizing efforts increasingly turned to law schools, professional networks, public interest groups, and the judiciary--areas traditionally controlled by liberals. Drawing from internal documents, as well as interviews with key conservative figures, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement examines this sometimes fitful, and still only partially successful, conservative challenge to liberal domination of the law and American legal institutions. Unlike accounts that depict the conservatives as fiendishly skilled, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement reveals the formidable challenges that conservatives faced in competing with legal liberalism. Steven Teles explores how conservative mobilization was shaped by the legal profession, the legacy of the liberal movement, and the difficulties in matching strategic opportunities with effective organizational responses. He explains how foundations and groups promoting conservative ideas built a network designed to dislodge legal liberalism from American elite institutions. And he portrays the reality, not of a grand strategy masterfully pursued, but of individuals and political entrepreneurs learning from trial and error. Using previously unavailable materials from the Olin Foundation, Federalist Society, Center for Individual Rights, Institute for Justice, and Law and Economics Center, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement provides an unprecedented look at the inner life of the conservative movement. Lawyers, historians, sociologists, political scientists, and activists seeking to learn from the conservative experience in the law will find it compelling reading.

The Conservative Heart

The Conservative Heart PDF Author: Arthur C. Brooks
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062795503
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Book Description
Arthur C. Brooks, one of the country’s leading policy experts and the president of the American Enterprise Institute, offers a bold new vision for conservatism as a movement for happiness, unity, and social justice—a movement of the head and heart that boldly challenges the liberal monopoly on “fairness” and “compassion.” Drawing on years of research, Brooks presents a social justice agenda for a New Right—an inclusive, optimistic movement with a positive agenda to fight poverty, promote equal opportunity, extol spiritual enlightenment, and help everyone lead happier and more fulfilling lives. Firmly grounded in the four “institutions of meaning”—family, faith, community, and meaningful work—it is a call for a government safety net that actually lifts people up and offers a vision of true hope through earned success. Clear, well-reasoned, accessible, and free of vituperative politics, The Conservative Heart is a welcome strategy for conservatives looking for fresh, actionable ideas—and for politically independent citizens who believe that neither side is adequately addressing their needs or concerns.

The Mind of a Conservative Woman

The Mind of a Conservative Woman PDF Author: Senator Marsha Blackburn
Publisher: Worthy Books
ISBN: 1546059202
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
Reject our society's liberal bias against conservative women and learn how traditional principles will secure a better future for us all with this inspiring guide from a political powerhouse. The Mind of a Conservative Woman challenges women to improve their place in life and open doors for themselves and the next generation through the courage of their convictions. Senator Blackburn expounds upon why beliefs labeled as "traditional" have common ground and can improve all of society, such as: Protecting the next generation, the family, and the freedom of faith and values, Supporting a free market that rewards women who apply their talents and rise to great heights, Respecting the institutions in our nation to make change from the inside, Securing an effective government that will not overreach, and Honoring and respecting those who hold differing opinions. Though it is politically liberal women who receive the attention of left-leaning media and universities, it is conservatism that guarantees what most women hold dear. Blackburn addresses the frustrations of working women and the false perceptions of women presented by the media in general. Her maxim "Leave Things in Better Shape Than You Found Them" will challenge you to improve your place in life and create opportunities you never dreamed possible for yourself and those around you.