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This book is the product of a multi-year dialogue between leading human rightstheorists and high-level representatives of international human rights NGOs(INGOs). It is divided into three parts that reflect the major ethicalchallenges discussed at the workshops: the ethical challenges associated withinteraction between relatively rich and powerful northern-based human rightsINGOs and recipients of their aid in the South; whether and how to collaboratewith governments that place severe restrictions on the activities of humanrights INGOs; and the tension between expanding the organization's mandate toaddress more fundamental social and economic problems and restricting it for thesake of focusing on more immediate and clearly identifiable violations of civiland political rights. Each section contains contributions by both theorists andpractitioners of human rights. ... Read more

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A Biblical primer on the purpose, place, and power of civil government. Samuel Rutherford’s Lex Rex for the modern reader.
The ideas in Lex Rex predate modern concepts of nationalism and politics.They are older than the United States Constitution, as well as the American Revolution – where many modern ideas of liberty originated.Lex Rex is even older than the Enlightenment that receives so much credit for concepts such as popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, and individual liberty.Nevertheless, Samuel Rutherford’s Lex Rex – written at a time that viewed kings as vessels of divine power – raised a Scriptural standard arguing for the dignity of the people and the accountability of earthly governments.Although some would seek to pigeonhole the book as merely a tract on civil resistance, Lex Rex contains a comprehensive examination of a Christian view of civil government.In doing so, Lex Rex actually formulates a blueprint for freedom applicable for any time and any place.Rutherford hoped to demonstrate the need for government based on law instead of the arbitrary decisions of fallible humanity.Throughout this process, the Bible is the final authority and basis for law.This Scriptural base was a primary reason for both the great support and opposition that met Lex Rex.
If there is one message that permeates Lex Rex, it is the continuing questioning of human authority.This is not necessarily in a rebellious sense, but in terms of accountability.Civil governments are ordained by God, but that does not mean that they are either responsible to God alone or given an absolute power which they may use as they please.Corrupt authority is no authority at all.Whether the ideas in Lex Rex are new or familiar to the reader, they serve as a dynamic reminder that people who wish to be free must practice responsible citizenship and undying vigilance. ... Read more

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In this important collection of essays Dennis Thompson argues for a more robust conception of responsibility in public life than prevails in contemporary democracies. He suggests that we should stop thinking so much about public ethics in terms of individual vices (such as selfishness or sexual misconduct) and start thinking about it more in terms of institutional vices (such as abuse of power and lack of accountability). Combining theory and practice with many concrete examples and proposals for reform these essays could be used in courses in applied ethics or political theory and will be read by professionals and graduate students in schools of political science, public policy, law, public health, journalism and business. ... Read more

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The Congressional ethics process has been transformed into a lethal, partisan political tool, feared by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.While members of the House and Senate confront the public's changing attitudes toward money, sex, and power, they are also forced to raise ever-escalating sums to finance their campaigns. Practices tolerated a decade ago now may cost lawmakers their seats or land them in jail. Lawmakers often don't know if they live in Salem or Gomorrah. Using new information culled from dozens of Capitol Hill interviews, Susan and Martin Tolchin show how ethics in Washington have changed over two centuries while offering new interpretations of past ethics cases. The first book to analyze the politicization of the ethics process, Glass Houses reveals in wicked and telling detail the forces that drive the modern lawmaker into a maelstrom of fierce corruption battles. ... Read more

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Business, Government, and Society, by Steiner and Steiner, tells the story of how forces in business, government and society shape our world. While current events move rapidly over the surface of the subject matter, the underlying principles and relationships at its core lie undisturbed. The Twelfth edition of this popular textbook is equipped with new chapter opening stories and cases that reflect current concerns in a changing environment. The thorough blend of history and today's events help students understand the entire context of forces at work in business, government, and society. A new emphasis on management issues and processes allows students to apply the principles they learn to real world situations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Revisionist Propaganda
This book is outrageously political: Businesses are bad and government is good. Christianity and with it Capitalism are responsible are responsible for environmental pollution and on and on and on...
Don't get me started on the praises they produce for Roosevelt and how heroically he defeated the "bad businesspeople."
This is simply revisionism and once again political propaganda in textbook form. I don't like it from the Left and I don't like it from the Right.

Several dealings with this vendor and all experiences great!
This is the third item I have purchased from PBShop through Amazon.All items were as advertised and delivered within the time that they promised.The last item I specifically chose them because of past good experience.

Somewhat deceptive
Seller indicated this was a brand new book, which was untrue.There was clear evidnece (writing, highlighting, the name and address of the former owner inside the cover) that it had been used.Book is in good condition, but is NOT new.

Outstanding
The book I purchased was amazing! It had tons of information and I definitely will not be selling this book back!

Business, Government & Society A Managerial Perspective
This book is a great read and gives good insight into the makings of business and management. The Book itself was in great shape and a bargin for a struggling student. ... Read more

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This book addresses the ambiguities of the growing use of private security contractors and provides guidance as to how our expectations about regulating this expanding -service- industry will have to be adjusted. ... Read more

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John Locke's classic work ... Read more

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This provocative and original book challenges the commonplace that contemporary international interactions are best understood as struggles for power. Eschewing jargon and theoretical abstraction, Mervyn Frost argues that global politics and global civil society must be understood in ethical terms. International actors are always faced with the ethical question: So, what ought we to do in circumstances like these?

Illustrating the centrality of ethics to our understanding of global politics and global civil society with detailed case studies, Frost shows how international actors constitute one another in global social practices that are underpinned by specific ethical commitments.

Case Studies examined include:

• The War on Iraq
• The ‘Global War on Terror’
• Iran
• Human Rights
• Globalization and Migration
• The use of Private Military Companies.

Global Ethics forces readers to confront their own necessary ethical engagement as citizens and rights holders in global society. Failure to understand international relations in ethical terms will lead to misguided action. This book should be read by all scholars and students of international relations as well as the general reader seeking an accessible account of the importance of ethical decisions in world affairs.

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Ethical constraints on relations among individuals within and between societies have always reflected or invoked a higher authority than the caprices of human will. For over two thousand years Natural Law and Natural Rights were the constellations of ideas and presuppositions that fulfilled this role in the west, and exhibited far greater similarities than most commentators want to admit. Such ideas were the lens through which Europeans evaluated the rest of the world. In his major new book David Boucher rejects the view that Natural Rights constituted a secularisation of Natural Law ideas by showing that most of the significant thinkers in the field, in their various ways, believed that reason leads you to the discovery of your obligations, while God provides the ground for discharging them. Furthermore, the book maintains that Natural Rights and Human Rights are far less closely related than is often asserted because Natural Rights never cast adrift the religious foundationalism, whereas Human Rights, for the most part, have jettisoned the Christian metaphysics upon which both Natural Law and Natural Rights depended. Human Rights theories, on the whole, present us with foundationless universal constraints on the actions of individuals, both domestically and internationally. Finally, one of the principal contentions of the book is that these purportedly universal rights and duties almost invariably turn out to be conditional, and upon close scrutiny end up being 'special' rights and privileges as the examples of multicultural encounters, slavery and racism, and women's rights demonstrate. ... Read more

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What do we owe Iraq? America is up to its neck in nation building--but the public debate, focused on getting the troops home, devotes little attention to why we are building a new Iraqi nation, what success would look like, or what principles should guide us. What We Owe Iraq sets out to shift the terms of the debate, acknowledging that we are nation building to protect ourselves while demanding that we put the interests of the people being governed--whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, or elsewhere--ahead of our own when we exercise power over them. Noah Feldman argues that to prevent nation building from turning into a paternalistic, colonialist charade, we urgently need a new, humbler approach. Nation builders should focus on providing security, without arrogantly claiming any special expertise in how successful nation-states should be made. Drawing on his personal experiences in Iraq as a constitutional adviser, Feldman offers enduring insights into the power dynamics between the American occupiers and the Iraqis, and tackles issues such as Iraqi elections, the prospect of successful democratization, and the way home. Elections do not end the occupier's responsibility. Unless asked to leave, we must resist the temptation of a military pullout before a legitimately elected government can maintain order and govern effectively. But elections that create a legitimate democracy are also the only way a nation builder can put itself out of business and--eventually--send its troops home.Feldman's new afterword brings the Iraq story up-to-date since the book's original publication in 2004, and asks whether the United States has acted ethically in pushing the political process in Iraq while failing to control the security situation; it also revisits the question of when, and how, to withdraw. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Good book... title not precise

This is not a discussion of what we owe Iraq, which Feldman states is a decent functioning government, but an analysis of the the issues involved in getting there.

The best parts, for me, were the examples from his experiencesuch as the practical problems facing those who worked in the early occuption, his description of the Republican Palace, the meeting with the Lawyers Association.

The heart of the book is an analysis of the issues involved in achieving the goal such as authority, occupation vs. trusteeship, paternalism, elections, legitimacy/perceived legitimacy, etc.

Do not compare Germany and Iraq ...
Condoleezza Rice always takes the concept of "Nation Building" with pleasure into her mouth and tries to explain with frown to the audience how important this task is. The author Noah Feldman is an expert for this concept -- and NATION BUILDING also has his development history: On the occasion of the 1st World War the United Nations formulated guidelines which were still whisked a little with the ideology of the colonial time and carried a little of the gesture of a patriarchal guardianship into themselves, though. After the second World War one lost something of this arrogance and put as an aim into the centre only, that a nation, political ethically lagging behind (at that time Germany), should be brought by the introduction of democracy to the global community standard. Cases like Kosovo or East Timor seemed to confirm the correctness of such a target. In the case Iraq an additional thinking effort must be done. While Condoleezza Rice still compares Germany 1945 with present Iraq a little school girlishly and assumes that everything has to be fixed in the time window of four years, the expert Noah Feldman is there already a little more skeptical. Compare the educational level, the religion dependence, the power of the different population groupings and the complete missing of national feelings of guilt: these different factors forbid the comparison Iraq/Germany actually. [Nevertheless the Washington administration-rhetoric continues to do so.] Noah Feldman seems to recognize the clear difference: Because the wave of terror-acts is not tearing off. Has there been this in Germany, that police stations were classified as collaborator collection places and regularly blown up into the air? Has there been this in Germany 1945, that permanently seeped over the national boundaries from the neighboring countries Christian sympathizers to Germany, which wanted to help to cast out the Americans? NO! The USA have completely underestimated the forming strength of Islamic solidarity and the connected high aggression level . Since the debacle was got going worldwide visibly now (perhaps justified a little recklessly and wrongly)?, the USA owes to the Iraqi people, not to leave the country till at least safety is established against assassinations - this is the NEW, what Feldman is saying. Unfortunately, the installation of a constitution suffices not at all (like 1945-1949 in Germany). The production of a civilian safety as an afterwards defined aim will take up substantially more time or is successful never -- and ends with an out throw of American know-all battalions as formerly in Vietnam. Noah Feldman does not mention this point, he likes to see a positive future, not the flashbacks of nightmare-views. Of course we all hope, there soon will shine the sun of peace and freedom in Iraq -- and the US will take a break, being a global ethic police ...

Arguably the best, most practical book on post-war Iraq
I think I'll begin by addressing the two negative reviews posted thus far...

At no point in this book does Feldman argue that the U.S. should have replaced Hussein with another dictator.That kind of statement runs completely against everything contained in this book.In my opinion, only someone that had never read the book could make a claim like that.

As for the other review (posted by someone that simply pastes academic reviews onto Amazon), the view is presented that the U.S. in fact does not owe Iraq much of anything and claims that Feldman presents no argument to the contrary.This type of statement is also in the wrong.

Feldman takes the position in this book that since the U.S. is in Iraq and completely dismantled the government, there is an ethical obligation on the part of the U.S. to see the job finished.A finished job would be a functioning, self-reliant Iraq that can defend itself and promote individual liberties.This book goes about describing the set of ethics the U.S. should abide by.

A lot of people argue about Iraq today as if it were only George W. Bush's problem.This approach is terribly flawed.Iraq in 2003 was a product of (1) Saddam Hussein, and (2) EVERY U.S. PRESIDENT SINCE REAGAN.Washington has had a roller coaster of a ride with Iraq ever since the early 80's.Every decision made by the U.S. since then has contributed to how Iraq would eventually end up.Yes...Hussein is also to blame and should not be given a free pass, but neither should the U.S.As far as ethics go, we owe a huge deal to Iraq.Hussein would have most likely been defeated by Iran in the 80's had it not been for U.S. and other Western support.It's time the U.S. owned up to our decisions, regardless of whether or not George W. Bush went about it in a patently dishonest way.

In the end, Feldman presents an argument that is both ethical and pragmatic.I think his argument is the one that should ultimately be adopted.If you can get past your own partisan issues and listen to Feldman with an open mind, you'll come away with a much better understanding of Iraq and what to do about it.

Obviously faulty thinking on Iraq situation by author
At one point the author, Feldman, talks about how the USA should have just replaced Saddam with someone more benevolent and not gone to war with Iraq. Feldman, just how would we have done that? Saddam was very determined to keep his postion in Iraq as leader. He even provenly employed doubles of himself to thwart any attempted assassination overthrow of him by plotters. Also, Saddam killed over a million of his own Iraqis amd terrorized close to all of them while he was in power. Strong state you claim he had, huh? Sure! Terrorizing, national dictators often do manage to have strong states under their sway. Also, he sent SCUD missiles at Israel. Feldman, aren't you Jewish? He was bad for your Jewish cousins, if you are. Think about that for a while. Lastly, the USA has 350 million people. Iraq had around 23 million. We have a right to put ourselves before them in importance due to our much greater numbers.

Legitimizing futile occupation
"A republic to keep, not anarchy or utopia" is the zest of this book. The author strives to rationalize the futility of U.S.'s involvement in a flawed war.He discerns similarities and differences between the chaos in Iraq and those of Germany, Japan, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, Kosovo, East Timor, Algeria, Uganda, Ireland, Haiti, and Afghanistan.

The book spans 130 pages of well-read and logically evolving description of the heuristic process of nation building. It falls into three chapters, plus an introduction and conclusion.

The INTRODUCTION outlines the objectives of nation building by an occupying power, the relationship between the occupier and the occupied, in the era of democracy, and the mechanism of exit, through election and security safeguards to ensure durable and sovereign government that could maintain order and legitimacy.

Chapter 1, NATION BUILDING: OBJECTIVES, compares the objective of nation building during the Cold War of thwarting the threat of "total destruction" through a "rational-actor model" of states (Germany, Japan, N. Korea) to the present involvement to restoring "civil order" through a "non-state violence actor model" (Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia, E. Timor, and Somalia).

The absence of any rational model for the Iraq War that toppled a deterrable and strong government is considered a foreign policy blunder that created a failed state, threatening regional instability, with low odds of success of democracy without long, costly, and bloody US support.

The author contends that ethics and morality have a role in International affairs. He cites the examples of Kosovo and E. Timor to prove that Internationalization does not impose ethical comfort, but our national believes that "ethnic cleansing" is immoral lent the needed support.

Chapter 2, TRUSTEESHIP, PATERNALISM, AND SELF-INTEREST starts by the author's admission to the guilt of the U.S. of high-handed behavior that led to a "serious fix", the rash and mistaken disbanding of Iraqi army that created chaos, and the de-ba'thification order of Ambassador Bremer that alienated the middle class. With the absence of civil society, there is little hope to impose security. Hence comes the ethical obligation on the U.S. to produce order through monopolizing violence.

The author confesses that we do not know what we are doing, we do not understand the complexities of the Iraqi society and politics, and we are woefully unprepared for external nation building. He then delves into the modern history of international law in order legitimize occupation, as follows.

The Spanish War:
The Spanish canonists rationalized governing the Indians of the new world through Europeans' "wardship" on their behalf, on the bases that the Indians possess polities, law, religion, and are reasonable men entitled to rule themselves.

Before WWI:
The Annex of the Hague Convention of 1907, restricts the authority of the occupying power to restore order, until cessation of hostilities, without violating property, pillage forbidden, and tax collection for the benefit of the occupied state.

After WWI:
During the era of the League of Nations, trusteeship took the form of a sacred covenant to civilize "underdeveloped" countries until they become able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of modern world.This paternalistic approach entrusted the "tutelage" of the occupied to the occupier, which caused the failure of the British nation building of monarchy in Iraq after WWI. The British imported King Faisel from Arabia without legal legitimacy (Notice the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the past and present: money and oil).

After WWII:
During the United Nations era, trusteeship defines the relationship between principals and agent: settlor creates a trust; trustee confers control; beneficiary gain ability to self-rule. The political power is based on the representative's judgment, acting like an agent, regardless of the opinion of the beneficiary, acting like principals. The Principals ensure her interests are promoted through: freedom of speech, assembly (protest and march), participation, and election. This trusteeship is limited in time and with defined responsibility of supervision. It does not intend to civilize, but to build a self-running machine that can rule itself and protect sovereignty.

Although the author observes few glimpses of the Islamic tradition through "hauza", "shura", and "fatwa", the author has a blind spot for the immense influence of Islamic thinking in that part of the world. That made him erroneously believes that the U.S. is serving the interest of the Iraqi by "seeing it through" and remaining after election to ensure a functioning republic. Although he admits that all Iraqis he had met, wanted U.S. out, he does seem to realize that that consensus undermines all American interferences in the affairs of Iraq, which had caused previous troubles when the U.S. took military bases in the Saudi Arabia.He also erroneously believes that the Iraqi Lawyers Association is an "empty shell" since he does not sense their deep mistrust and skepticism of western politics.Had the author dug into Islamic history, he might have learned that the Islamic Constitution would make the U.S. Constitution look primitive and that Muslims had occupied Spain for many centuries, on her canonists he bases his justification of occupation.

Chapter 3, THE MAGIC OF ELECTIONS AND THE WAY HOME, presents the role of modern election in legitimizing governments. The author contends that election is not a ticket home, but rather a "voice to the voiceless" to ensure large-scale accountability and enforce public preference on the choice of representatives. He cites the dangers that rose after election in Bosnia and Algeria, and concludes that the major task of occupation or nation building is to create the proper environment for election and not obsess with its magic, mystery, or danger. The author entirely misses that fact that western occupation, and American in particular, is the main cause of chaos, of murdering collaborators and resisting the humiliation of occupation by impartial and foreign authority.He skips the events of 1958 when the Iraqis dragged the dead body of their pro-American ruler in the streets of Baghdad to end their alliance with the Baghdad Pact.
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Aristotle provided many brilliant insights into the political thinking, strategy, of leaders and the military. In many ways, it remains unsurpassed and it ought to be required reading in undergraduate classes on political strategy.
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The Heart of Justice provides the first full account of the institutions and policies of a caring society, and should be of interest to anyone concerned with the nature of our moral obligations and the institutions of a just society. Integrating the insights of earlier care theorists with the aims of traditional justice theorists, Engster forges a new synthesis between care and justice, and argues that the institutional and policy commitments of care theory must be recognized as fundamental to any consistent theory of justice.

Engster begins by offering a practice-based account of caring and a theory of obligation that explains why individuals should care for others. He then systematically demonstrates the implications of this account of caring for domestic politics, economics, international relations, and culture. In each of these areas, he reviews the contributions of earlier care theorists and then extends their arguments to provide a more complete description of the institutions and policies of a caring society. Care ethics is further put in dialogue with diverse cultural and religious traditions and used to address the challenges of multicultural justice, cultural relativism, and international human rights.
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Listen to a short interview with Michael Sandel
Host: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & Crane

Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature--to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. What is wrong with re-engineering our nature?

The Case against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda.

In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable. Addressing them is the task of this book, by one of America's preeminent moral and political thinkers.

Customer Reviews (12)

Where's my book?
Have not got my book from this person yet, and it should have been there weeks ago!! Don't order a book from this person you will never get it.

Profoundly elitist; seeks to maintain the meritocratic status quo
Sandel tries to make the case for limiting individual reproductive choice. His none-too-subtle agenda is to maintain the advantages of the genetic elites, such as himself, at the expense of the rest of society.

Sandel says he's against allowing parents to choose their children's genes. He assumes (correctly) that many social advantages (energy level, self-confidence, intelligence) are innate, and unevenly distributed.Secretly, he's happy that he can pass along his own traits (ability to focus for long periods, mild charisma) to his children.(I say "his children" to refer to the children of meritocrats generally.)But he dreads that the great unwashed masses will soon be able to alter their own genes to be more like his, since then his children would become less rare and special in their innate traits.

Sandel says "there remains something troubling with the ambition to control the genetic characteristics of the next generation".That's all very well for someone who's already born with the "gifted character of human powers" (i.e. the genes for success).But what if you're born with other genes?You'll never achieve as much social influence or status as Sandel and his kids.

Sandel worries that the "meritocracy, less chastened by chance, would become harder, less forgiving".Yeah, and meritocrats would also become more commonplace, leading to less social disparity in income and status.Today, corporations pay millions in salary and bonues to a rare cadre of super-smart, super-motivated genetic elites, who can in turn afford better lifestyles, better healthcare, and greater social influence (through political donations, ability to launch a national journal, etc).

"Changing our nature to fit the world," argues Sandel, "is actually the deepest form of disempowerment."Really?For you, perhaps.

Very impressive
I was very impressed with the thinking of Professor Sandel in this book.The best part was the last chapter, where in about thirty pages, he makes an eloquent case for embryonic stem cell research. While being respectful of the beliefs of conservatives who oppose it, he shows why their arguments are weak. I liked his analogy of the acorn not being an oak tree just as the embryo is not a baby, even though the oak was an acorn at one time. This is a serious, well-reasoned, intellectual book.

The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering
Fast deliverly, I needed this book my Bioethics class and got it just in time. Thanks!

Interesting, not as insightful as others
The book was an interesting read, but frustrating. There was a genetic determinism about the discussion that made the author's stand feel naive. Clearly the variation in many human features are constrained to a particular range by genetics, but this does not mean that any individual can be engineered to guarantee the development a particular trait. Even extremely pro-genes books like The Nurture Assumption leave an important role for environment in human development (Harris just doesn't think parents are a particularly influential part of that environment).

The gift argument is repeated throughout, but not supported very well. Sandel also discusses genetic modifications as arms races, but misses the fact that the "improvement" of human characteristics need not entail an arms race or a zero sum game. There are traits that have a value that is non-competitive. If research has found that people with a happiness score of 8-9 on a scale of 1-10 succeed most in life, it is correct to note that success in many fields is competitive. Yet, the feeling of happiness and enjoyment of life is not a zero sum game. Every human can enjoy this at the same time. If genetic engineering made us all 8-9 on the happiness scale, we would all benefit individually in our quality of life, though we would only be keeping pace with regards to competitive advantage. Again, Sandel misses this nuance and his discussions suffer from it.

The part of the book I felt was worth reading was the section regarding hyper-parenting. This was a point neglected in other books I have read on the subject, such as Agar's and Glover's. Nevertheless, the other books are far superior discussions of the subject with more exhaustive and nuanced discussions of genetic engineering.

I would advise against reading only this book when reading on this subject. This book should be read to offer another perspective after reading a more well rounded discussion like Glover's. As with any of the books I mention in this review, you should understand views on the role of genetics in development before reading the books. Don't expect the books to teach those details, though Agar's does contain good discussions regarding the fallacy of genetic determinism. ... Read more

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Economics, Ethics, and Environmental Policy: Contested Choices offers a comprehensive analysis of the ethical problems associated with basing environmental policy on economic analysis, and ways to overcome these problems. ... Read more

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The Politics of Aristotle is the second part of a treatise of which the Ethics is the first part. It looks back to the Ethics as the Ethics looks forward to the Politics. For Aristotle did not separate, as we are inclined to do, the spheres of the statesman and the moralist. (Translated by William Ellis.) ... Read more

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outstanding
I found that Aristotle provided many brilliant insights into the political thinking, strategy, of leaders and the military.In many ways, it remains unsurpassed and it ought to be required reading in undergraduate classes on political strategy.On the downside, Aristotle referred to leaders of each city-state over decades, if not centuries, and, this made it difficult for at least this reader to fully appreciate the relevance and examples offered in this text.Brilliant and merits an A+. ... Read more

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Although the linking of "ethics" and "politics" may seem more like the ingredients for a comedian's monologue, it is a sober issue and one that affects every American - especially when it comes to state politics, where the cynical might say ethics can never survive. To find examples of the latest corruption du jour, all one has to do is turn to the newspaper, or switch on the local newscast (think Illinois and New Jersey). Scandals have been ubiquitous since the beginning of the Republic, but it wasn't until 1954 that ethical self-regulation began to move legislatively beyond bribery statutes to address deeper issues - those which, in New York Governor Thomas Dewey's words, skulked in the "shadowlands of conduct." Rosenson begins her exploration with that moment when New York became the first state to enact a general ethics law, setting standards and guidelines for behavior. Unforgiving and illuminating, she examines the many laws that have been enacted since and the reasons that many of these laws came into being.It is crucial to the functioning of a democratic government to understand how and why ethics laws vary across legislatures, and it is surprising to discover that many states have become far more stringent than the U.S. Congress in laws and regulations. Using both qualitative historical sources and rigorous statistical analysis, Rosenson examines when and why, from 1954 to the present, legislators have enacted ethics laws that seem to threaten their own well-being. Among the economic, political, and institutional factors considered that have helped or hindered the passage of these laws, the most consistent was pure scandal, abetted by the media. To have good government, one must be able to trust it, and this book can help all citizens understand and find their way out of the shadowlands into the light. ... Read more

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A scholarly study of how, why, and when state legislators enact ethics legislation that applies to their own behavior
The Shadowlands of Conduct: Ethics and State Politics is a scholarly study of how, why, and when state legislators enact ethics legislation that applies to their own behavior. Revealing that such self-regulation tends to take place only when public pressure becomes an irresistible force in democratic elections, thereby necessitating a constantly vigilant citizenry, The Shadowlands of Conduct meticulously applies case studies, extensive research, and the author's expertise as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. Chapters divide modern ethics legislation into pre-Watergate and post-Watergate periods, and also warn about the limitations of ethics self-regulation. An excellent history and thought-provoking discussion resource especially for political science and law students.

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The environmental crisis is global in scope, yet contemporary environmental ethics is centered predominantly in Western philosophy and religion. Earth's Insights widens the scope of environmental ethics to include the ecological teachings embedded in non-Western worldviews. J. Baird Callicott ranges broadly, exploring the sacred texts of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Zen Buddhism, as well as the oral traditions of Polynesia, North and South America, and Australia. He also documents the attempts of various peoples to put their environmental ethics into practice. Finally, he wrestles with a question of vital importance to all people sharing the fate of this small planet: How can the world's many and diverse environmental philosophies be brought together in a complementary and consistent whole? ... Read more

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It's About Ethicsand What We Do to the Land
I'm thrilled to find this paperback.Calicott tries to answer the ethical questions which have been ignored by all converts to the New Individualism.. The author is a philosopher and an excellent academic writer. It took me a while to get used to him.Since 1994 this work has been a guide for writerswho deal with the ethics of land use.In the U.S. we perceive the land as a commodity.Calicott surveys the ecological ethics of many cultures, now overwhelmed by Euroculture. He starts in the Mediterranean Basin withthe historical roots of our environmental attitudes and values. Then he covers the rest of the earth including those of the original settlers of the Western Hemisphere.But he also details"A Postmodern Evolutionary Ecological Environmental Ethic"and contrasts it with our traditional environmental actions. He admires the work of Hindu environmentalists as well as Buddists in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Where else can we learn about this? ... Read more

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In this innovative and learned study, Dennis Kezarexamines how Renaissance poets conceive the theme of killing as aspecifically representational and interpretive form ofviolence. Closely reading both major poets and lesser known authors ofthe early modern period, Kezar explores the ethical self-consciousnessand accountability that attend literary killing, paying particularattention to the ways in which this reflection indicates the poet'sunderstanding of his audience. Among the many poems through whichKezar explores the concept of authorial guilt elicited by violentrepresentation are Skelton's "Phyllyp Sparowe", Spenser's "FaerieQueene", Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", the multi-authored "Witch ofEdmonton", and Milton's "Samson Agonistes". ... Read more

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Those of us alive today are the first generation to know that we live in the Age of Global Warming. We may also be the last generation to have any chance of doing something about it. Our forebears had the excuse of ignorance. Our descendants will have the excuse of helplessness. We have no excuse.
&#151From Chapter One

Fast Forward is equal parts science primer, history lesson, policy prescription, and ethical treatise. This pithy and compelling book makes clear what we know and don t know about global warming; why the threat demands prudent and urgent action; why the transition to a low-carbon economy will be the most difficult political and economic transaction in history; and how it requires nothing less than a revolution in our sense of civic responsibility.

William Antholis and Strobe Talbott guide the reader through two decades of climate change diplomacy, explaining the national and international factors that have influenced and often impeded the negotiations. Their brisk narrative includes behind-the-scenes coverage of Barack Obama s impromptu meeting with key leaders in Copenhagen that broke a logjam and salvaged an agreement. The near-disaster of that summit demonstrated how the United Nations cannot move forward fast enough to produce a global deal. Instead, the Big Four of the United States, the European Union, China, and India must drive the next stage of the process. Antholis and Talbott also recommend a new international mechanism modeled on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that would monitor national commitments and create incentives for other countries to coordinate their efforts to cut emissions.

Antholis and Talbott put their recommendations for immediate congressional and diplomatic action into the larger context of our obligation to future generations. They note that this theme is stressed by a diverse coalition of religious leaders who are calling for ambitious political action on climate change. The world we leave to our children and grandchildren is not an abstraction, or even just a legacy; we must think about what kind of world that will be in deciding how live and act today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

When Historians Look Back in 75 Years...
...they'll wonder why we didn't heed the cogent and thoughtful message of Antholis & Talbott's brilliant book.I'm no global-warming expert, and I found myself riveted right up to the sobering final pages.(The global-warming expert I *do* know is using this book in his Princeton class this fall.)With Cassandras this pitch-perfect, we can no longer say we weren't warned about our destructive habits.And if policymakers heed the reasonable prescriptions here, those historians' generation will salute rather than despair.

Same old climate hysteria based on faulty science.
Back in the 60s, when I was a liberal hippie, I was very much into Earth Day and the need to abolish the evils of corporations and capitalism.For decades now the liberal environmental movements have dreamed of a giant bureaucracy that could regulate the industrial production of the whole world and in the process force all of us to live by what they imagine is an ethically correct and natural lifestyle. This giant bureaucracy would have the power to control the evil corporate entities and their devilish pursuit of the root of all evil; yes I speak the unspeakable, that demon called profit. It would have the power to redistribute wealth and level the economies of the world so that all of us would be "equal"; no one having more wealth than the other. "Climate change" and the hysteria behind it are the tools that those at the top of this movement are counting on to make this possible. The problem is that it's a scam pure and simple.
Talbott simply dismisses the skeptics of CO2 driven global warming as a fringe group and asserts that the issue is settled and the overwhelming scientific consensus supports Al Gore and his ilk. Well that assertion is the biggest lie in the history of science. The scientific establishment that pushes Gore and Talbott's view is so contaminated by politics that it is almost beyond the ability of one to imagine. But even if Talbott were correct, he has no practical plans to control CO2. Even if we destroyed the economies of ever industrialized nation on earth trying to hold back CO2 it would amount to no practical alteration of the climate. What it would do is nothing less than the destruction of civilization as we know it and plunge the whole world into an Orwellian climate bureaucracy that would control every aspect of our lives and make prosperity virtually impossible. It would kill far more people with devastating economic fallout than all the horrors the climate alarmists can project.

A must read for people who want to make changes in US environmental policy!
This is an exceptional book.It is clear and concise, a fairly quick read that packs a powerful knowledge punch.It has some really fascinating behind-the-scenes tidbits that any reader can enjoy, no matter how much (or little) one knows about politics. Lays out clear goals (and the reasons for those goals) for short and medium term US environmental policy.Helps to explain the political deadlock on this issue and the reasons why not-so-subtle pressure TODAY has a chance to make a real difference.Read it, then call up your representatives and demand that they make energy and climate legislation happen NOW, while we still have a chance to preserve our climate as we know it for our children and grand children. ... Read more

Product Description
Free Lunch answers the great mystery of our time: How did our strong and growing economy give way to job uncertainty, debt, bankruptcy, and fear for millions of Americans? Acclaimed reporter David Cay Johnston reveals how government policies and spending have reached deep into the wallets of the many to benefit the top 1% of the wealthiest.

He shows exactly who has been getting free lunches from the government—from $100 million to Warren Buffett, to $1.3 billion to the owners of the Yankees and Mets. But of course there’s really no such thing as a free lunch. The taxpayer always picks up the bill. With his in depth reporting, vivid stories, and sharp analysis, Johnston reveals the forces that shape our everyday economic lives—and shows us how we can finally make things better. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (113)

Government Expense is OUR Expense!
I think pretty much everyone believes that rich people use power and influence to become richer (at the expense of poorer people, generally).However, I do not think most of us think about this issue very often.It's not until you read a book like this that the real travesty hits home and you realize how bad the issue really is.

It's not about successful people becoming more successful (I don't have a problem with that).It's about successful people taking advantage of taxpaying citizens and our government allowing them to do it for the most part.

Reading a book like this strongly reinforces the need to elect representatives who will fight this kind of injustice and insure that everyone is treated equally under the law.

Eloquently bleak goldmine of what's wrong with the US
Reading any single chapter of this book should convince you that Johnston is not only a master of his research into US economic policy, but also a fantastic wordsmith who makes this extremely complex material easy to follow for even the least informed of us. The constant talk of "free lunch" subsidies, taxes, and corporate socialism will either depress you or drive you towards advocacy. I admit that I could only read this a few chapters at a time, but I was glad to finish it as I had gleaned some very significant insights into our broken system.

Inverted Totalitarianism
Free Lunch is a very good, case-by-case oriented book.

However, his empirical evidence is simply factually demonstrating what those in the critical and analytical tradition of political science already know.

We have a concept that covers what Mr. Johnston has presented in his presentation; it is "the hierarchy of interest satisfaction."

This concept posits the following law of capitalist politics, the higher an entity is located on the economic pyramid, the more likely that entity's interests will be served by government.Of course, the lower an entity is located on the economic pyramid, the less likely that entity's needs will be served by government.

In addition, the capitalist corporation that generates much of the wealth of the rich is a totalitarian hierarchy.When deregulation, privatization and all the forms of corporate welfare (as enumerated by Johnston) are accumulated, the government, in essence, has become privately owned by these totalitarian corporate bureaucracies.

Of course, the ownership isn't monolithic.Corporations do have different interests to pursue within the global economic context.However, enough corporate interest groups usually discover that they possess similar common interests; when they do, they form an "investor's alliance."

When the alliance is established, it invests in those politicians, political parties and political platforms that best its interests. Because of enormous resources the members of the investor's alliance controls, their selected cadidates and political parties win the elections.

Still, the global economic context inevitably changes, and these erstwhile allies soon find their interests diverge; thus they break up and begin building and establishing a new investor's alliance.

We must include that other large player in US politics, the Pentagon, which is another influential totalitarian organization. In fact, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pentagon became the largest command economy in the world. (Irony: free market fundamentalists tend religiously support the Pentagon; yet, the Pentagon does not respond to any form of "free" market activities.It responds to, and intitiates politically driven industrial and investment policies.}

As a result, we now have a government controlled by two totalitarian organizations: big business and big military (which was a subsidiary of the Federal government).

The Federal government, in turn, is being restructured along the totalitarian lines of the two organizations named above.

One of the US's leading political scientists, Sheldon Wolin, has developed a conceptual tool that, when applied to books such as Free Lunch, helps the rational and critical thinker analyze the above trends that I described.

The concept is "inverted totalitarianism."Though Wolin is one of the US's leading political scientists, the book, when published, was ignored by the corporate-owned media.

Google the term and learn a concept that may help you better approximate the reality of US political and economic life.

Important Information on Tax Subsidies
With all the GOP hype that attacks social subsides for the common good, this book helps to expose this fallacy with the different ways large companies lobby the government for subsidies, removing dollars from the public commons of the majority into the the private profits of the few. Very informative.

Illuminating
This book helped me greatly to understand the grimey financial interlocked-ness of our American corporate to political/governmental systems. I'm now in school for economics because of it because I would like to help enact US economic reform! Wish me luck! Join me! ... Read more