Other books that might interest you

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  Europeans and the Public Sphere...

  Maximilian Conrad

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  What kind of public sphere is possible in the European Union with its considerable diversity of national identities, languages, and media systems? Against the backdrop of debates about a fundamental European community deficit and the possibility of postnational democracy, this book explores the role of a European public sphere not only in bridging presumed gaps between citizens and their representatives in the European institutions, but also in creating transnational communicative spaces that contribute to the politicization of EU politics.
  
  Drawing on Deweyan pragmatism, social constructivism, and the Habermasian notion of constitutional patriotism, this book moves beyond the conventional wisdom that a European public sphere necessitates the existence of a sense of European 'identity light'. Arguing that a political sense of community along the lines of a European constitutional patriotism can only emerge out of the democratic process itself, Maximilian Conrad looks at the role of daily newspapers not only as framers of public debate, but also as actors with distinct normative views regarding the future of the integration process, both in terms of the nature of the EU as a polity and the nature of democratic rule in this polity.  The crucial empirical question addressed in the book is: Do newspapers with a pronounced preference for more democracy beyond the nation state also play a more active role in providing forums for transnational debate?

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  Vote for US - How to Take Back...

  Joshua A. Douglas

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  In contrast to the anxiety surrounding our voting system, with stories about voter suppression and manipulation, there are actually quite a few positive initiatives toward voting rights reform. Professor Joshua A. Douglas, an expert on our electoral system, examines these encouraging developments in this inspiring audiobook about how regular Americans are working to take back their democracy, one community at a time.Told through the narratives of those working on positive voting rights reforms, Douglas includes chapters on expanding voter eligibility, easing voter registration rules, making voting more convenient, enhancing accessibility at the polls, providing voters with more choices, finding ways to comply with voter ID rules, giving redistricting back to the voters, pushing back on big money through local and state efforts, using journalism to make the system more accountable, and improving civics education.Unusually accessible for a lay audience and thoroughly researched, this audiobook gives anyone fed up with our current political environment the ideas and tools necessary to affect change in their own communities.

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  Wheels of normality - Building...

  Alex Gertschen

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  Norms and standards make it easier for companies and other organisations to reliably meet high expectations. They thus contribute to our trust in a normality that is characterised by quality, safety and comfort - and is therefore by no means "normal". As necessary and effective as norms and standards are for a society based on the division of labour and complexity, the public awareness of them is low. That is why this non-fiction book provides for the first time an overview of norms and standards systems in Switzerland.
  From a historical and a future-oriented perspective, the book takes up the following questions: Why and how have norms and standards become so important in recent decades? How exactly do they create their economic and social benefits? To what extent can they hinder or promote innovation and transformation - and what potential does this offer for sustainable development?
  Journalists, academics and other experts provide answers based on fundamental articles and case studies from companies and other organisations.

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  Operation Al-Aqsa flood The...

  Jacques Baud

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  Why did Operation Al-Aqsa Flood take place, and what were Hamas’s objectives? What really happened on the ground on October 7th? What lessons can we learn from the operations carried out by both sides? 
  To answer these three questions and many others, Jacques Baud revisits the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from its very beginnings. Why has it still not found a solution? What strategies have Israelis and Palestinians adopted over the past 75 years? What is the impact of this conflict on our security? What are the options for Israel and Palestine in the coming years? 
  In this book of rare clairvoyance, Jacques Baud deplores the fact that Western decisions are colliding with international law. The question is not who we are for, but how the international order created after 1945 should be applied. Israel’s failure to respect this law is provoking its downfall. As with any conflict, the solution will not come from emotion, but from objective, dispassionate analysis and honest mediation.

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  Coxey's Army - Popular Protest...

  Benjamin F. Alexander

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  A colorful study of the nineteenth century march on Washington, the man who led it, and the national sensation that prefigured the New Deal. 
   
  In 1893, America was suffering a serious economic depression. Fed up with government inactivity, Populist agitator Jacob S. Coxey led hundreds of unemployed laborers on a march from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, D.C. Their intention was to present a “petition in boots” for government-financed jobs building and repairing the nation’s roads.  
   
  On May 1, the Coxeyites descended on the center of government, where a melee ensued between them and the police. Soon, other Coxey-inspired contingents were on their way east from places as far away as San Francisco and Portland. Some even hijacked trains along the way. 
   
  In Coxey’s Army, Benjamin F. Alexander brings Coxey and his fellow leaders to life, along with the reporters and spies who traveled with them and the captivated readers who followed the story in the newspapers. Alexander explains how the Coxeyite demands fit into a larger history of economic theory and the labor movement. Despite running a gauntlet of ridicule, the marchers laid down a rough outline of what emerged decades later as the New Deal.

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  Outside the Wire - Ten Lessons...

  Jason Kander

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  A smart and revealing political memoir from a rising star of the Democratic Party. 
  "In life and in politics, the most important work is often that which happens outside the wire." 
  Going "outside the wire"—military lingo for leaving the safety of a base—has taught Jason Kander to take risks and make change rather than settling for the easy option. After you've volunteered to put your life on the line with and for your fellow Americans in Afghanistan, cynical politics and empty posturing back home just feel like an insult. 
  Kander understands showing political courage really just means doing the right thing no matter what. He won a seat in the Missouri legislature at age 27 and then, at 31, became the first millennial in the country elected to statewide office. An unapologetic progressive from the heartland, he rejected conventional political wisdom and stood up to the NRA in 2016 with a now-famous Senate campaign ad in which he argued for gun reform while assembling a rifle blindfolded. 
  That fearless commitment to service has placed him at the forefront of a new generation of American political leaders. In his final interview as president, Barack Obama pointed to Kander as the future of the Democratic Party. 
  "...do something rather than be something..." 
  In Outside the Wire, Jason Kander describes his journey from Midwestern suburban kid to soldier to politician and details what he's learned along the way: lessons imparted by his dad on the baseball diamond, wisdom gained outside the wire in Kabul, and cautionary tales witnessed under the Missouri Capitol dome. Kander faced down petty tyrants in Jefferson City—no big deal after encountering real ones in Afghanistan. He put in 90,000 miles campaigning for statewide office in 2012—no sweat compared to the 37 miles between Bagram Air Base and Camp Eggers. When confronted with a choice between what's easy and what's right, he's never hesitated. 
  Outside the Wire is a candid, practical guide for anyone thinking about public service and everyone wishing to make a difference. It's a call to action, an entertaining meditation on the demands and rewards of civic engagement, and, ultimately, a hopeful vision for America's future—all seen through the eyes of one of its most dedicated servants.

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