At a moment when our democratic abilities seem to have eroded, and political, economic, and technological forces have weakened the capacity for collective action, People, Power, Change is a once-in-a-generation book for anyone who wants to create real and lasting change.Marshall Ganz is one of the world's leading authorities on democratic organizing, and this book is the culmination of his decades of teaching, research, and work. In People, Power, Change, Ganz distills for students, practitioners, and activists the principles he has gleaned over the last half-century of creating collective action. Ganz explores the forces, craft, and learned skill of organizing and provides an actionable framework for how to actually do it. He focuses the book on the creation and substance of relationships, the fuel of values and narrative, the resources and power of strategy, the necessity of structure, and the accountability of action. Across these five organizing ideas, Ganz weaves in his personal experiences from a lifetime of organizing in iconic social movements and campaigns to illustrate how collective action actually works and to build the practices and skills that must be developed to do it with intention and with success. Read more

“Start here, and then go about the work of imagining the world anew.” ―Arimeta Diop, Vanity Fair In this revelatory work, Ruha Benjamin calls on us to take imagination seriously as a site of struggle and a place of possibility for reshaping the future.A world without prisons? Ridiculous. Schools that foster the genius of every child? Impossible. Work that doesn’t strangle the life out of people? Naive. A society where everyone has food, shelter, love? In your dreams. Exactly. Ruha Benjamin, Princeton University professor, insists that imagination isn’t a luxury. It is a vital resource and powerful tool for collective liberation.Imagination: A Manifesto is her proclamation that we have the power to use our imaginations to challenge systems of oppression and to create a world in which everyone can thrive. But obstacles abound. We have inherited destructive ideas that trap us inside a dominant imagination. Consider how racism, sexism, and classism make hierarchies, exploitation, and violence seem natural and inevitable―but all emerged from the human imagination.The most effective way to disrupt these deadly systems is to do so collectively. Benjamin highlights the educators, artists, activists, and many others who are refuting powerful narratives that justify the status quo, crafting new stories that reflect our interconnection, and offering creative approaches to seemingly intractable problems.Imagination: A Manifesto offers visionary examples and tactics to push beyond the constraints of what we think, and are told, is possible. This book is for anyone who is ready to take to heart Toni Morrison’s instruction: “Dream a little before you think.” 7 illustrations Read more

"A superb book.…Mearsheimer has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the behavior of great powers."―Barry R. Posen, The National Interest The updated edition of this classic treatise on the behavior of great powers takes a penetrating look at the question likely to dominate international relations in the twenty-first century: Can China rise peacefully? In clear, eloquent prose, John Mearsheimer explains why the answer is no: a rising China will seek to dominate Asia, while the United States, determined to remain the world's sole regional hegemon, will go to great lengths to prevent that from happening. The tragedy of great power politics is inescapable. Read more

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"[A] passionate, compelling, and disturbing argument that the ills of democracy in the United States today arise from the default of its elites." ―John Gray, New York Times Book Review (front-page review) In a front-page review in the Washington Post Book World, John Judis wrote: "Political analysts have been poring over exit polls and precinct-level votes to gauge the meaning of last November's election, but they would probably better employ their time reading the late Christopher Lasch's book." And in the National Review, Robert Bork says The Revolt of the Elites "ranges provocatively [and] insightfully." Controversy has raged around Lasch's targeted attack on the elites, their loss of moral values, and their abandonment of the middle class and poor, for he sets up the media and educational institutions as a large source of the problem. In this spirited work, Lasch calls out for a return to community, schools that teach history not self-esteem, and a return to morality and even the teachings of religion. He does this in a nonpartisan manner, looking to the lessons of American history, and castigating those in power for the ever-widening gap between the economic classes, which has created a crisis in American society. The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy is riveting social commentary. Read more

What if the state as we know it didn’t exist? Our air would be poisonous, our votes uncounted, and our markets dysfunctional. Yet across the world, in countries as diverse as Hungary, Israel, the U.K., and the U.S., attacks on the modern state and its workforce are intensifying. They are morphing into power grabs by self-aggrandizing politicians who attempt to seize control of the state for themselves and their cronies. What replaces the modern state once it is fatally undermined is not the free market and the flowering of personal liberty. Instead, the death of government agencies organized under the rule of law inevitably leads to the only realistic alternative: the rule of men.In The Assault on the State, political scientists Stephen Hanson and Jeffrey Kopstein offer an impassioned plea to defend modern government against those who seek to destroy it. They dissect the attack on the machinery of government from its origins in post-Soviet Russia to the core powers of Western democracy. The dangers of state erosion imperil every aspect of our lives. Hanson and Kopstein outline a strategy that can reverse this destructive trend before humanity is plunged back into the pathological personalistic politics of premodern times.Also available as an audiobook. Read more

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) are pleased to bring you Fire Investigator: Principles and Practice, Sixth Edition, the next evolution in fire investigator training. Covering the entire spectrum of the 2020 Edition of NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigation and 2021 Edition of NFPA 1033: Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigator, the Sixth Edition offers a comprehensive introduction to the knowledge and skills needed to be an effective fire investigator. The textbook opens with details on how to use available investigation resources and the basics of fire science and investigation methodology, then evolves to discuss processes and special considerations for investigating specific types of fires and explosions. This progression helps readers understand complex intricate subject matter as theyand advance from basic technical knowledge to high-level analysis and be able to understand and understanding of complex fire events. Fire Investigator: Principles and Practice, Sixth Edition enhancements: Re-organized and consolidated content now delivered in only 18 chapters to better align to common course lengths Updated and expanded coverage of critical topics like fire investigator ethics, scene safety, legal issues, and scientific method analysis New cNew coverage of topics includinglike conducting research onlineonline research, controlled demolition approaches, use of canines, documentation ofing wildland fires, and more New cases, exercises, and thought-provoking questions to stimulate critical thinking Learn more in this interview with expert George Codding: https://www.psglearning.com/blog/videos/2022/09/22/webinar-recording-fire-investigator-6e-overview-and-q-a-with-george-codding Read more

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience with policy analysis, best-selling authors Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik use real-world examples to teach you how to be effective, accurate, and persuasive policy analysts. The Sixth Edition of A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis presents dozens of concrete tips, new case studies, and step-by-step strategies for the budding analyst as well as the seasoned professional. Read more

For more than a century, no US adversary or coalition of adversaries - not Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, or the Soviet Union - has ever reached sixty percent of US GDP. China is the sole exception, and it is fast emerging into a global superpower that could rival, if not eclipse, the United States. What does China want, does it have a grand strategy to achieve it, and what should the United States do about it?In The Long Game, Rush Doshi draws from a rich base of Chinese primary sources, including decades worth of party documents, leaked materials, memoirs by party leaders, and a careful analysis of China's conduct to provide a history of China's grand strategy since the end of the Cold War. Taking readers behind the Party's closed doors, he uncovers Beijing's long, methodical game to displace America from its hegemonic position in both the East Asia regional and global orders through three sequential "strategies of displacement." Beginning in the 1980s, China focused for two decades on "hiding capabilities and biding time." After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, it became more assertive regionally, following a policy of "actively accomplishing something." Finally, in the aftermath populist elections of 2016, China shifted to an even more aggressive strategy for undermining US hegemony, adopting the phrase "great changes unseen in century." After charting how China's long game has evolved, Doshi offers a comprehensive yet asymmetric plan for an effective US response. Ironically, his proposed approach takes a page from Beijing's own strategic playbook to undermine China's ambitions and strengthen American order without competing dollar-for-dollar, ship-for-ship, or loan-for-loan. Read more

Arizona became the nation’s 48th state in 1912 and since that time the Arizona constitution has served as the template by which the state is governed. Toni McClory’s Understanding the Arizona Constitution has offered insight into the inner workings and interpretations of the document—and the government that it established—for almost a decade. Since the book’s first publication, significant constitutional changes have occurred, some even altering the very structure of state government itself. There have been dramatic veto battles, protracted budget wars, and other interbranch conflicts that have generated landmark constitutional rulings from the state courts. The new edition of this handy reference addresses many of the latest issues, including legislative term limits, Arizona’s new redistricting system, educational issues, like the controversial school voucher program, and the influence of special-interest money in the legislature. A total of 63 propositions have reached the ballot, spawning heated controversies over same-sex marriage, immigration, and other hot-button social issues. This book is the definitive guide to Arizona government and serves as a solid introductory text for classes on the Arizona Constitution. Extensive endnotes make it a useful reference for professionals within the government. Finally, it serves as a tool for any engaged citizen looking for information about online government resources, administrative rules, and voter rights. Comprehensive and clearly written, this book belongs on every Arizonan’s bookshelf. Read more

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience with policy analysis, best-selling authors Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik offer practical tips and real-world examples to equip effective, accurate, and persuasive policy analysts. The Seventh Edition of A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis includes new case studies, expanded discussion, new guidance for policy analysis in a polarized age, and step-by-step strategies for the budding analyst as well as the seasoned professional. Read more

A new biography of the 8th president of the United States, the first chief executive not born a British citizen and the first to use the party system to chart his way from tavern-keeper's son to the pinnacle of power.Martin Van Buren was one of the most remarkable politicians not only of his time but in American presidential history. The principal architect of the party system and one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he came to dominate New York-then the most influential state in the Union-and was instrumental in electing Andrew Jackson president. Van Buren's skills as a political strategist were unparalleled (he was known as the "Little Magician"), winning him a series of high-profile offices: US senator, New York's governor, US secretary of state, US vice president, and finally the White House. In his rise to power, Van Buren sought consensus and conciliation, bending to the wishes of slave interests and complicit in the dispossession of America's Indigenous population--two of the darkest chapters in American history.This new biography of Van Buren -- the first full-scale portrait in four decades -- charts his ascent from a tavern in the Hudson Valley to the presidency, concluding with his late-career involvement in an antislavery movement. Offering vivid profiles of the day's leading figures (Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, DeWitt Clinton, James K. Polk), James Bradley's book depicts the struggle for power in the tumultuous decades leading up to the Civil War. Read more

Social Policy for Effective Practice: A Strengths Approach sharpens students' awareness of social welfare policy and offers a considerable array of resources and knowledge foundations to both understand and thrive within a continually evolving policy landscape. Throughout the text, the authors tell the stories of social workers who impact policy, incorporate frameworks for policy analysis, center social work values and strengths principles, and integrate the series' interactive and downloadable cases to demonstrate policy's relevance and application to practice settings and situations in concrete ways. Students may use the text as an introduction to social policy, a tool for deeper examination of policy topics, and as a lifelong companion for their policy-relevant practice. Now in its sixth edition, the textbook is fully updated to reflect substantial changes in policy arenas such as health care, family economic support, immigration and asylum, criminal justice, housing, reproductive rights, substance use disorder, mental health treatment, and childcare, as well as the implications of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.With additional support and extensions available at www.routledgesw.com, Social Policy for Effective Practice makes policy relevant, accessible, and meaningful for social work students and is a perfect complement to undergraduate and graduate courses on social policy and practice. Read more

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Alliance politics is a regular headline grabber. When a possible military crisis involving Russia, North Korea, or China rears its head, leaders and citizens alike raise concerns over the willingness of US allies to stand together. As rival powers have tightened their security cooperation, the United States has stepped up demands that its allies increase their defense spending and contribute more to military operations in the Middle East and elsewhere. The prospect of former President Donald Trump unilaterally ending alliances alarmed longstanding partners, even as NATO was welcoming new members into its ranks.Military Alliances in the Twenty-First Century is the first book to explore fully the politics that shape these security arrangements – from their initial formation through the various challenges that test them and, sometimes, lead to their demise. Across six thematic chapters, Alexander Lanoszka challenges conventional wisdom that has dominated our understanding of how military alliances have operated historically and into the present. Although military alliances today may seem uniquely hobbled by their internal difficulties, Lanoszka argues that they are in fact, by their very nature, prone to dysfunction. Read more

How do we fix a healthcare system that’s too complex, costly, and often unequal? In The Center of the Star, Judith Kunisch offers a groundbreaking perspective on reform, introducing a practical framework that makes sense of healthcare’s tangled web of consumers, providers, payers, policymakers, and the health industrial complex.Drawing from decades of leadership in healthcare strategy and operations, Kunisch reveals the interdependencies that drive systemic challenges and opportunities for improvement. With a systems thinking approach, she unpacks the “Hidden Triple Aim” of power, control, and money, showing how these forces shape outcomes and costs. Her insights empower readers to rethink how we collaborate across sectors to drive meaningful, sustainable change.This book is an essential resource for healthcare professionals, policymakers, students, and anyone passionate about creating a fairer, more efficient system. From understanding the nuances of healthcare economics to identifying actionable strategies for reform, The Center of the Star provides the clarity and tools needed to navigate complexity and spark innovation.Whether you’re working within the system or advocating for change from the outside, this guide will inspire and equip you to play a pivotal role in reshaping the future of US healthcare. Read more

Completely revised and updated, this textbook continues to offer the most comprehensive resource available. Concise chapters from a diverse mix of established and emerging global scholars offer accessible, in-depth coverage of the history and theories of international organization and global governance and discussions of the full range of state, intergovernmental, and non-state actors.All chapters have been revised and rewritten to reflect the rapid development of world events, with new chapters added on:Chinese approaches to international organization and global governance The UN SystemThe Global SouthSustaining the PeaceQueering International Organization and Global GovernancePost-colonial Global GovernanceThe Sustainable Development GoalsThe English School Inequality MigrationDivided into seven parts woven together by a comprehensive introduction, along with separate introductions to each part and helpful pointers to further reading, International Organization and Global Governance provides a balanced, critical perspective that enables readers to comprehend more fully the role of myriad actors in the governance of global life. Read more

Deepen your knowledge of the American government with this OFFICIAL, affordable print version of American Government 3e by OpenStax. For students who prefer printed textbooks, this popular government textbook is available in hardcover (in color) and paperback (in black and white). Free, digital versions of the textbook can be accessed online at openstax-dot-org.Why this textbook?OpenStax is the world’s leading publisher of open educational resources (OER) and a nonprofit education initiative of Rice University. We believe that learning is a public good and that every learner has the fundamental right to pursue and access education. Our extensive library of high-quality, peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks for higher education and K12 is made possible thanks to the generous financial support of philanthropic supporters, individual donors, public grants, and learning and technology partners. Purchasing this OFFICIAL print copy of American Government 3e makes you part of our mission! Thank you for supporting learners everywhere, and welcome to the OpenStax community!About the textbookThis American Government 3e textbook is written and designed to meet the needs of today's learners. Aligning with the topics and objectives of many government courses, this textbook is arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. With even more examples and details regarding the lived experiences of diverse groups and communities within the United States, it is no surprise that American Government 3e by OpenStax is widely regarded as one of the best government textbooks available.Free supporting resourcesOpenStax offers a variety of free, aligned resources for each of our textbooks. On openstax-dot-org, instructors and students can gain access to supplementary materials including LMS course cartridges, lecture slides, test banks, review questions, and more!Join the ranks of millions of students who have discovered the joy of learning with OpenStax! Read more

There are few movements more firmly associated with civil disobedience than the Civil Rights Movement. In the mainstream imagination, civil rights activists eschewed coercion, appealed to the majority's principles, and submitted willingly to legal punishment in order to demand necessary legislative reforms and facilitate the realization of core constitutional and democratic principles. Their fidelity to the spirit of the law, commitment to civility, and allegiance to American democracy set the normative standard for liberal philosophies of civil disobedience.This narrative offers the civil disobedience of the Civil Rights Movement as a moral exemplar: a blueprint for activists who seek transformative change and racial justice within the bounds of democracy. Yet in this book, Erin R. Pineda shows how it more often functions as a disciplining example―a means of scolding activists and quieting dissent. As Pineda argues, the familiar account of Civil Rights disobedience not only misremembers history; it also distorts our political judgments about how civil disobedience might fit into democratic politics.Seeing Like an Activist charts the emergence of this influential account of civil disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement, and demonstrates its reliance on a narrative about black protest that is itself entangled with white supremacy. Liberal political theorists whose work informed decades of scholarship saw civil disobedience "like a white state": taking for granted the legitimacy of the constitutional order, assuming as primary the ends of constitutional integrity and stability, centering the white citizen as the normative ideal, and figuring the problem of racial injustice as limited, exceptional, and all-but-already solved. Instead, this book "sees" civil disobedience from the perspective of an activist, showing the consequences for ideas about how civil disobedience ought to unfold in the present. Building on historical and archival evidence, Pineda shows how civil rights activists, in concert with anticolonial movements across the globe, turned to civil disobedience as a practice of decolonization in order to emancipate themselves and others, and in the process transform the racial order. Pineda recovers this powerful alternative account by adopting a different theoretical approach--one which sees activists as themselves engaged in the creative work of political theorizing. Read more