Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

Baby Ninth Amendments is the first and--to this point--only book-length treatment of an amendment that appears in two-thirds of US state constitutions. The amendments are called "Baby Ninths" because they are versions of the Ninth Amendment to the US Constitution, which says, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Until recently, so little attention has been paid to this amendment that the first book-length treatment of the US Constitution's Ninth Amendment was titled The Forgotten Ninth. Sanders (Institute for Justice) explores the history of these amendments: how and when they came to be, how judges have interpreted or ignored them, what they mean, and the potential role they offer state constitutions and their interpreters. Though involving some intricate points of constitutional law in the US system of dual constitutionalism, this book can be read with profit by college-educated lay people and constitutional scholars alike. Fascinating, informative, and essential.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

The environmental movement of the 1960s inspired protective attitudes toward the wilderness, and in this evolving political and social climate, Disney Productions presented a plan to build an enormous ski resort deep in the Sierra Nevada. The proposal initially received positive responses: skiing was popular, generated fees for the Forest Service, and could be deeply profitable. The problem was that the proposed location, Mineral King, was a small valley 25 miles into the wilderness through the protected area of Sequoia National Park. The Sierra Club sued to stop the project, and the resulting national trial had far-reaching consequences. This book is the comprehensive story of the seminal legal decision, which became the precedent by which wilderness development projects are judged. Selmi (law, Loyola Marymount Univ.) conducted extensive research and included both the miscalculations and successes of all participants: the Sierra Club, Disney, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Departments of Interior and Agriculture. Because of the author's meticulous analysis of this pivotal story, this book would be an excellent resource for students of public relations, environmental studies, political science, public administration, law, journalism, and more.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty.

Caughey (MIT) and Warshaw (George Washington Univ.) significantly contribute to the understanding of state governments' responsiveness to the political desires of their citizens. They use a wealth of data, including state policy adoption, party and ideological leaning of state citizens, and state public opinion data from several different sources. Overall, the findings create a positive picture of the responsiveness of state governments to the political wants and needs of their citizens. The book shows that state governments change to fit the preferences of their citizens, in some cases quickly, but in most cases, more slowly, though always reacting accordingly. The authors provide an extensive and compelling analysis of the causes and shifts in public policy over a large time frame--especially recent trends, such as the ideological nationalization of partisanship. The book is well researched and essential for all scholars who study state politics and policy. The quality is such that this reviewer is considering using the book for his own courses on state government and politics.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals.

This edited volume, part of a larger project of reimagining legal opinions from a feminist perspective, focuses on criminal law cases. It brings together an impressive array of scholars. The editors introduce each of the 14 selected cases with scholarly commentary that contextualizes the original case and describes the changes made in the new opinion. These commentaries sometimes also introduce criticisms of the revised opinion, showing where the author could have made different choices. This aspect highlights that feminism is not monolithic and includes contrasting perspectives. Authors write the revised opinion under the constraint that they can only use precedents and factual information that were available at the time of the original decision. This constraint helps demonstrate that even under the original historical conditions, the authors could have made decisions that offered a more nuanced and supportive framework that centered on the social role of gender. Of particular note is the inclusion of tribal cases--something rarely seen in criminal law books. Many of the cases note the intersectional nature of the problems before the courts and suggest approaches that take those factors more fully into account. This book is an ambitious project that absolutely succeeds.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

From 1968 to 1988, Republicans won the presidency five out of six times and were steadily making gains in the South. Many Democrats saw Republicans rising and felt they were losing the war of ideas about how government could help people, especially the poor. Those Democrats formed the Democratic Leadership Council and developed policy ideas about how to move away from economic redistribution and welfare and toward programs that encouraged and supported work. Geismer (history, Claremont McKenna College) examines these efforts. Democrats tried to develop ideas that used incentives to get people involved in entrepreneurial activity and the workforce. This resulted in enterprise zones, the earned income tax credit, and a significant restructuring of welfare, which put limits on how long someone could receive benefits. The goal was to empower people to become successful and move them into the labor force. Geismer reviews the development of these ideas, the significant limitations the various programs faced, and the worsening problem of economic inequality. This history of ideas is important, and the book does an excellent job of covering the policy transformation within the Democratic Party.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and general readers.

In Managed Dissent, Zick (law, William and Mary) presents an eye-opening, timely examination of the legal context of protests, especially in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. What he finds is not that encouraging from the perspective of healthy and necessary democratic dissent and protest. Regulatory barriers, lack of public support for dissent, and vast law enforcement latitude are among the most significant barriers to dissent. Law enforcement has the ability to sharply restrict protests, and officials largely escape accountability for violating protestors' First Amendment rights because of qualified immunity. Zick also finds the rise of armed protests, facilitated by a gun-rights-expanding Supreme Court, a concerning threat to dissent and public protest. A chapter on campus protest adds to an impressive scope of issue coverage and should be recommended reading for students, faculty, and administrators. Overall, Zick provides a thoughtful, compelling defense of dissent and an important analysis of why dissent is so constrained and disfavored, especially in a nation forged through dissent.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

Fields (law, Campbell Univ.) examines the myriad ways white Americans "police" African Americans to make white spaces "off-limits" to them. Fields scrupulously charts what he sees as the automatic, unconscious fear white Americans have of African Americans and carefully documents the sanctions, threats, unwarranted arrests, and violence resulting from whites' abuse of 911 emergency calls. Additionally, Fields delineates what he sees as the "weaponization" of racial fears reinforcing spatial separations of African Americans and white people. Fields contends that white fears of African Americans are "neurologically based" and cannot be changed, though this is debatable. One chapter examines white use and abuse of emergency 911 calls. Fields points out that the police must respond to all 911 calls, which creates unnecessary friction between African Americans and white police officers. However, Fields does not fully consider the consequences of the police not responding to emergency calls in African American communities. In another chapter, he argues that changing police departments, legislatures, and courts could reduce potentially negative contacts between white people and African Americans--making a strong case that the criminal legal system, policing, and society require a radical "racial reordering." This well-argued book is one of the most important titles this reviewer has ever reviewed for Choice.Summing Up: Essential. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

Levendusky (Univ. of Pennsylvania), an accomplished scholar of US political polarization, addresses an intriguing question: How can "affective polarization"--defined as "animosity and ill will between the parties" (p. 2)--be reduced? After ably summarizing the "pernicious consequences" of polarization (p. 11), he examines the prospects for three reduction strategies. Perhaps polarization can recede if (1) a common "American" identity is primed and made more salient, (2) partisans share important, personal, cross-party relationships, or (3) cross-partisan dialogue grows. Using observational surveys and experimental data, Levendusky finds evidence that each of these strategies reduces affective polarization, with cross-partisan dialogue having the biggest reductive effect. He concludes that affective polarization is "more malleable than we think" (p. 137), but also cautions that exposure to these strategies would need to be much more constant and lengthier for them to improve America's political system. Despite his promising findings, the real-world impact of his strategies is at best uncertain. Central traits of the national political environment--an ever-expanding policy agenda, social media dominated by extreme partisan voices, and electoral strategies that employ polarization successfully--remain big obstacles to Levendusky's remedies. This book will stimulate great classroom discussions.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

What is the impact of racial uplift on African American political thought? Is it a viable ideological strain or a remnant of conservative ideology with limited utility for understanding contemporary political debates? Malcolm (communications, Keene State College) explores the effects of this idea in this nuanced and impactful new book. He examines the works of several public intellectuals, including Ta-Nehisi Coates, Randall Kennedy, and Eugene Robinson, to interrogate how the idea of racial uplift is understood as a philosophy and in policy. He finds that the meaning of the idea has evolved from a shared goal of group advancement to an individualized state in which the achievements of a few symbolize racial possibility in the US. This shift from community empowerment to individual accomplishment complicates uses of this ideology in contemporary African American politics. This incisive, thought-provoking book illuminates the ideological tension at the root of an influential idea.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

Criticism of interest groups, special interests, and lobbyists often centers on the outsized influence these groups have on the policy-making process. However, the actual evidence is mixed, largely because it is difficult to prove direct cause and effect. McKay (Univ. of Exeter, UK) provides new evidence, which sheds light on what she refers to as "stealth lobbying." Using the Affordable Care Act as the backdrop, McKay examines meeting schedules, the amount of time lobbyists spend with legislators, the timing of when lobbyists meet with legislators, and how lobbyists choose to financially contribute to legislators. She finds that lobbyists often have limited access to committee chairs but are able to wield influence on very niche topics with other committee members, resulting in what she terms "microlegislation." Those who contribute campaign dollars are more likely to achieve repeat access to legislators--a key feature for influence. Toward this end, McKay finds a strong relationship between campaign donations and favorable committee amendments for interest groups. Like other scholars, she suggests lobbyists have their greatest influence when issue salience is low. Stealth Lobbying is an important contribution to the literature on lobbying, and all scholars studying the phenomenon should read it.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty and professionals.

Waldman (law, NYU) provides an effective primer on the current Supreme Court, placing the Court in its larger historical context but emphasizing the recent events that have led to the creation of a six-three supermajority of conservative justices. The book is entertaining as well as illuminating, with astounding facts, revealing quotations, and refreshingly astute political judgments. The author not only provides a larger institutional framework for understanding judicial politics but also describes the personal and political facets of Supreme Court relationships, filling the gap since Jeffrey Toobin's popular The Nine (2007) and updating Ian Millhiser's dissection of the Roberts court's jurisprudence in The Agenda (2021). Especially valuable are chapters on the most shocking decisions of 2022 (on guns, abortion, and climate controls) and the preliminary discussions of several 2023 cases on race and religion decided post-publication. The single best source for understanding the current Supreme Court, the book succeeds admirably in its overtly political purpose: educating citizens on the threats posed by the new "supermajority" and sounding a wake-up call to liberals to rethink this critical institution.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers.

Ginsberg's newest book is bracing and evergreen. Ginsberg (Johns Hopkins Univ.) begins by placing Donald Trump's administrative legacy (not his personal behavior) squarely within modern norms. Since FDR in particular, presidents maximize unilateralism at home and abroad through executive orders, memoranda, and national security directives. Ginsberg focuses on the origins and consequences of these permanent distortions in the US separation of powers system, which transcend the party in the White House. In fleeting times of unified government, presidents expect their party's majority to shepherd its agenda through the legislature quickly before the midterm flip. Then, in times of divided government, the little that is left of congressional ambition debases into histrionic investigations, sometimes resembling "coups." Opposition cries of presidential abuse of power and rule of law often ring hollow in federal courts as well. Judges rarely show sustained interest in pushing back on the imperial presidency when Congress is silent, divided, or hypocritical. Ginsberg demonstrates these points through a brisk walk through a variety of topics and the history of all three branches. The book's insightful, detailed peeks under the implementation hood of the executive office of the president show where lasting, real-world consequences flow from the edict pen.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; general readers; professionals.

Rice and Moffett (both, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville) explore the online and offline political activity of young adults in the US. They push back against the popular narrative that Generation Z is disengaged from politics or merely engaged in slacktivism. Using two large Amazon Mechanical Turk surveys fielded the day after the November elections in 2018 and 2020, they study links between Generation Z's reported concern with and their reported activities related to a highly relevant set of issues: #MeToo, the nominations of Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, gun violence and school shootings, immigration and border control, and #BlackLivesMatter. For each topic, the authors use matching analyses to investigate the connections between posting on social media, participating in protests, and contacting elected officials. The structure of the book is conducive to excerpting: each chapter--focused on one of the issues or on contacting government officials--includes descriptions of the surveys, the matching technique, relevant theories, current events, findings, and conclusions. The book is sure to spark productive classroom conversations about the power of Generation Z and the usefulness of posting online, protesting, and contacting elected officials on issues that matter to them.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates.

The central argument of this important book is that "the growth in affective partisan polarization, and the resulting negativity voters feel toward the opposition party, has far reaching, often toxic effects on how Americans behave both inside and outside the realm of politics" (p. 3). Using a wide range of quantitative techniques and experiments with YouGov and National Election Studies surveys, the authors deliver many important findings, including: (1) partisan attachments are stronger than more malleable underlying values and ideological viewpoints; (2) "polarization with the current information marketplace begets polarization" (p. 45); (3) "political party preferences drive people to differentiate further outside the political realm, from what they eat to what car they drive" (p. 68); (4) partisan information can change individuals' risk assessments; (5) political independents "respond to their lived context in more rational and informed ways than partisans" (p. 145); and (6) on questions of important policy knowledge, there is little difference between partisans and pure independents. In sum, widespread affective polarization and negative partisanship among knowledgeable and active citizens are troublesome conditions for American democracy, threatening rational and informed governance. This is an important cautionary tale, well supported by the authors' evidence.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

The Two Moralities provides a very valuable review of the basis of the dangerous partisan divide in American politics. Janoff-Bulman (emer., psychology, Univ. of Massachusetts) maintains that much of this divide centers on differing moralities, and her book does an excellent job of explaining the different moral visions involved and how they play out in policy debates. Conservatives embrace a notion of morality that focuses on rules and the importance of how people operate within them. If some people fail and others succeed, then the outcomes have a moral basis. Liberals approach society very differently. They believe that people should have the support and autonomy to succeed, and a moral society should offer these provisions. This means that social programs are necessary to help people in difficult circumstances. In short, while conservatives see individualism with rules as the sum of a moral society, liberals have concerns for collective conditions. The differences are emotional and fundamental. For readers seeking to understand these differences, this is an excellent book.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty and general readers.

Slobogin's timely and cogent writing about the controversial issue of the Fourth Amendment's effect on virtual searches--or, conversely, the effect of virtual searches on Fourth Amendment protections--makes clear the impact of these searches on constitutional rights. Slobogin (law, Vanderbilt Univ.) refers to the Supreme Court's authority to address the multiple definitions of the words "search" and "seizure" and, more broadly, whether Fourth Amendment protections, as Justice Alito refers to in Jones, should be "less heavily regulated" for more serious crimes in this new Information Age. Slobogin offers creative and rational approaches for the lawful administration of virtual searches, such as the "prevention rationale" and the "proportionality principle." The information in this book will be an asset to any class that covers policing and evidence, given the many different and ever-growing types of digital surveillance. This reviewer's copy of the book has many dog-eared pages, several comments written in the margins, and a lot of yellow highlighting throughout.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. Professionals.