Search results for ""author benjamin ginsberg""

The gold standard analytical approach reinvigorated

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Think critically about American government

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Franklin Moses Jr. is one of the great forgotten figures in American history. Scion of a distinguished Jewish family in South Carolina, he was a firebrand supporter of secession and an officer in the Confederate army. Moses then reversed course. As Reconstruction governor of South Carolina, he shocked and outraged his white constituents by championing racial equality and socializing freely with former slaves. Friends denounced him, his family disowned him, and enemies ultimately drove him from his home state. In Moses of South Carolina, Benjamin Ginsberg rescues this protean figure and his fascinating story from obscurity. Though Moses was far from a saint-he was known as the "robber governor" for his corrupt ways-Ginsberg suggests that Moses nonetheless deserves better treatment in the historical record. Despite his moral lapses, Moses launched social programs, integrated state institutions, and made it possible for blacks to attend the state university. As a Jew, Moses grew up on the fringe of southern plantation society. After the Civil War, Moses envisioned a culture different from the one in which he had been raised, one that included the newly freed slaves. From the margins of southern society, Franklin Moses built America's first black-Jewish alliance, a model, argues Ginsberg, for the coalitions that would help reshape American politics in the decades to come. Revisiting the story of the South's "most perfect scalawag," Ginsberg contributes to a broader understanding of the essential role southern Jews played during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

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In this provocative book, Benjamin Ginsberg examines the cycle of Jewish success and anti-Semitic attack throughout the history of the Diaspora, with a concentrated focus on the "special case" of America. For Ginsberg, the essential issue is not anti-Jewish feeling, but the conditions under which such sentiment is likely to be used in the political arena. The Fatal Embrace identifies the political dynamics that, historically, have set the stage for the persecution of Jews.

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Noted political scientist Benjamin Ginsberg has written an essential text for courses on the United States presidency. An invaluable resource, Ginsberg’s comprehensive analysis emphasizes the historical, constitutional, and legal dimensions of presidential power. He explores the history and essential aspects of the office, the president’s relationship to the rest of the executive branch and to a subordinated Congress, and the evolution of the American president from policy executor to policy maker. Compelling photo essays delve into topics of special interest, including First Spouses, Presidential Eligibility, and Congressional Investigations of the White House.

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Truth and power have a difficult relationship. Decision makers are often required to make judgements that depend upon specialized knowledge and thus reluctantly surrender power. They are apt to reject advice inconsistent with their perceived interests, experiences and cognitive capacities. Speaking Truth to Power aims to guide the reader through the tangled relationship between truth and power, manifesting as the interplay between experts and decision-makers in society.Through a combination of careful observation and original analysis, the authors draw out the incentives and tensions that drive the relationship between these actors. They review some of the history of expertise, consider the values of experts and decision-makers, and analyze what has succeeded and what has failed as truth and power have worked together and against one another, primarily in the U.S. but also drawing on international examples. Policymaking professionals, academic experts interested in evidence-based policymaking and graduate and undergraduate students in public policy, government, or political science will value this assessment of truth and power.

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Originally publushed in 2002. In Downsizing Democracy, Matthew A. Crenson and Benjamin Ginsberg describe how the once powerful idea of a collective citizenry has given way to a concept of personal, autonomous democracy. Today, political change is effected through litigation, lobbying, and term limits, rather than active participation in the political process, resulting in narrow special interest groups dominating state and federal decision-making. At a time when an American's investment in the democratic process has largely been reduced to an annual contribution to a political party or organization, Downsizing Democracy offers a critical reassessment of American democracy.

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An introduction to the U.S. Congress, from seasoned political historians and teachers In this accessible overview of the United States Congress’s past and present, Ginsberg and Hill introduce students to the country’s most democratic institution. This text surveys Congressional elections, the internal structure of Congress, the legislative process, Congress and the President, and Congress and the courts. Congress: The First Branch offers a fresh approach to the First Branch grounded in a historical, positive frame.

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The first available textbook on the rapidly growing and increasingly important field of government analytics This first textbook on the increasingly important field of government analytics provides invaluable knowledge and training for students of government in the synthesis, interpretation, and communication of “big data,” which is now an integral part of governance and policy making. Integrating all the major components of this rapidly growing field, this invaluable text explores the intricate relationship of data analytics to governance while providing innovative strategies for the retrieval and management of information.

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