Power Plays

Sample

John Erik Fossum

The creation and privatization of Petro-Canada provides an important lesson in state intervention and Canadian public policy. John Erik Fossum explores the reasons for the federal government's intervention in the energy industry between 1973 and 1984 and shows how its initial objectives failed, culminating in the privatization of Petro-Canada in 1990. In other countries, state oil policy unfolded along state-industry lines of conflict. Fossum shows us how in Canada the conflict was deflected to focus on the jurisdictional and constitutional concerns of governmental actors. The dismantling of state intervention was associated with a reverse deflection and reduced conflict in both the state-industry and intergovernmental arenas. Oil, the State, and Federalism is a sophisticated analysis of statist and federalist theories of Canadian public policy-making that will spark debate among political scientists, analysts, and policy-makers.

Sample

John Erik Fossum

The creation and privatization of Petro-Canada provides an important lesson in state intervention and Canadian public policy. John Erik Fossum explores the reasons for the federal government's intervention in the energy industry between 1973 and 1984 and shows how its initial objectives failed, culminating in the privatization of Petro-Canada in 1990. In other countries, state oil policy unfolded along state-industry lines of conflict. Fossum shows us how in Canada the conflict was deflected to focus on the jurisdictional and constitutional concerns of governmental actors. The dismantling of state intervention was associated with a reverse deflection and reduced conflict in both the state-industry and intergovernmental arenas. Oil, the State, and Federalism is a sophisticated analysis of statist and federalist theories of Canadian public policy-making that will spark debate among political scientists, analysts, and policy-makers.

Sample

Lyman Tower Sargent

An innovative departure from traditional approaches to political thought, Lyman Tower Sargent's groundbreaking anthology includes minority ideologies and positions where they occurred historically. By interweaving minority voices with majority documents rather than grouping them separately, Political Thought in the United States presents us with a uniquely organic portrait of American political life. Beginning with the time of the explorers and early settlers, the volume presents the political beliefs and ideologies of religious minorities, women, North American Indians, and African Americans as fundamental components of American thought. Emphasizing that such minority perspectives never melted together into the mainstream, Sargent subscribes to a "tossed salad" approach which emphasizes the distinctness of minority opinions. Sargent's introductory comments, which preface the selections, serve as connecting narratives and help the reader follow ideological disputes as they occurred, revealing a historical continuum and enriching our understanding of contemporary politics.

Sample

Judy Kaplan and Linn Shapiro

Red Diapers is the first collection of autobiographical writings by children of American communists. These first-person memoirs, short stories, and poems reflect red diaper baby experiences spanning generations, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and geographical areas. This multi-author account of how it felt and what it meant to grow up Communist in twentieth-century America gives insight into the joys and perils of living in a subculture defined by its opposition to society's most deeply held values. Some of the works speak of fond memories of family activism, others recall a past full of ambivalence and pain. In disparate voices, the contributors elaborate on coming to terms with a political inheritance of radical politics.