Reddit mentions: The best us local government books

Other people have addressed the EU question, so I'll focus more on politics in general. There's some decent BBC media which covers current politics, it can sometimes be a bit tedious, some shows are better than others, and I certainly wouldn't recommend rigorously following all of them, but it's pretty good for familiarising yourself with the current state of affairs. Some TV and radio shows to follow -

Daily Politics - daily show analysing politics, which often gets high profile politicians on.

This Week - weekly show, airing after Question time, with a slightly comedic approach to political analysis.

Andrew Marr Show - weekly show, the one which senior ministers (the prime minister, the chancellor, the home secretary, etc) are most likely to appear on.

Question Time - weekly topical debate program, with questions from the audience directed towards politicians.

Any Questions - radio version of Question Time. Often not quite as annoying as Question time.

Today in Parliament - daily radio show covering news from parliament.

 

Parliament.uk and gov.uk are both great resources for learning how parliament and government functions, and learning about legislation. If you'd prefer a less fragmented read, such as a book, then Exploring British Politics by Garnett and Lynch seems like a good introductory source, though I will add the disclaimer that I've only used it occasionally as a reference book, and it is fairly pricey.

 

It can sometimes be difficult to understand the significance of things in politics without a basic grounding in the historical context, so I will recommend some more books to help with that (although much of the info can be found online). Two of the most important figures in recent British political history are Thatcher, and Blair. Charles Moore's Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Volume One is a good book for starting to understand the political context of the Thatcher era, although it is obviously quite biographical too, and being the first volume it only covers roughly the first third of her time in government. The comprehensive tome on Blair and his wide-ranging effect on the functioning of british politics is surely Seldon's Blair's Britain, 1997-2007, although I will warn you that is it most definitely a tome - incredibly thorough and a bit of a slog. The best way to approach this is probably to read the sections on things you are interested in, like the NHS, and leave the rest until you feel you want to learn about them. Sections of Seldon's Cameron at 10 are definitely worth a read if you want some more insight into the first Cameron ministry, and the coalition years.

 

I can't really recommend any comprehensive histories on the political parties (although what I've read of Tim Bale's The Conservatives Since 1945 is pretty good). One I would recommend is Goodwin's Revolt on the Right, which offers a fairly original analysis of the phenomenon that is UKIP. There's a more up-to-date follow-up to that, (UKIP: Inside the Campaign to Redraw the Map of British Politics), which I imagine is also pretty good, but I haven't read it. Familiarising yourself with general political ideologies (to rattle off an incomplete list: one nation conservatism, high toryism, classical liberalism, social liberalism, libertarianism, social democracy, democratic socialism, etc), how these relate to each other, and how they have manifested in the various 3 main parties over time is a must for understanding the parties and the political tensions within them. Wikipedia should suffice in filling in the details there (and in other places), for now.

I have figured out how to take back our country from Republicans in one word:

Texas

If we can turn Texas blue by 2020 and keep California and New York, the Republicans will freak out.

I have been researching this for two weeks and I know we can turn Texas blue by 2024 and possibly by 2020.

Though Texas went for Trump, he only won by 9 percent, which might seem like a lot but HRC got more votes than Obama got in 2012. Texas is only getting bluer.

I will be spending the Thanksgiving holiday deciding if I will be starting a PAC or joining with one that already exists. I will be sure to keep you all updated!

A lot of my ideas from the book Turn Texas Blue, which I highly recommend. It is what the Democrats should be using to Turn America Blue.

I know we can do this! #TexasBlue2020

Inside the Carnival was a pretty great book that goes through all the best highlights of Louisiana politics... the big-name all stars, why we vote at strange times, why our system is different than the 'other 49 normal states.' It's non-fiction though.... or at least as non-fiction as Louisiana politics can be.

Seriously though, funny... except when it's depressing.

By the People: Debating American Government. Brief Fourth Edition ... { https://www.amazon.com/People-Debating-American-Government-Brief/dp/0190928727 }

California Politics: A Primer. Fifth Edition { https://www.amazon.com/California-Politics-Renee-Van-Vechten/dp/1506380352 }

If you could find those two textbooks, that’d be awesome. Thanks.

And, if you could .. can you try to find any of these ati teas books ? { https://testprephq.com/best-teas-study-guides/ }

This is a huge problem in California. We have large and complex issues and only the special interests know the ins and outs.

More then that it also makes it impossible to form the long term relationships that form the basis of trust and enable negotiation and compromise.

Term limits are emotionally satisfying but terrible in practice.

Rethinking California (https://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-California-Politics-Policy-Golden/dp/0131842927) has some great references to the damage term limits has created here.

Alright. First I would like to apologize for calling you a pleb. That was uncalled for but you did struck a nerve.

Second, the subject of American corporations involvement in the 19th century, and early 20th century American politics is a very broad topic, and it is really unpractical for me to explain it here. But since you insist that I do, I will size it down in scope, so instead of the overall American politics I would explain it in a state level, specifically California.

In the early 20th century, California was heavily manipulated by the Southern Pacific Railroad due to the fact that they played a large role in its infrastructure and transportation of people and goods (Johnston, Patrick. Governing California, Third Edition, http://www.amazon.com/Governing-California-Politics-Government-Public/dp/0877724202). As a response Hiram Johnson established the initiative process in California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Johnson). Johnson and the initiative process stripped power from corrupt officials, and boss-led parties. But how did Johnson come to power? Well, the people were sick of politicians being puppets of these railroad companies, thus they elected him as governor.

Additionally, California before the arrival of Jesse Unruh and his Proposition 1A had a part-time legislature which made them vulnerable to individuals like Artie Samish who was a political boss in the 1950s. Since the Californian legislature was part-time with little pay, and no professional staff they were dependent on Artie Samish and other political patrons (lobbyists) for information and guidance, if not even livelihood. Artie Samish would set up these "shrimp hour" where he can buy the loyalty of politicians through "shrimps and alcohol" (Johnston. http://www.amazon.com/Governing-California-Politics-Government-Public/dp/0877724202) But, when the people again got tired of the overwhelming influence of corporations in the legislature they elected Jesse Unruh, and supported and voted on his Proposition 1A that transformed the legislature into a professional body that worked full time with increased pay, which ultimately led to the legislature's independence from lobby groups.

Thus, these facts of history support my argument that a century ago corporations/private interest groups had more opportunities to influence the American politicians due to the fact that laws, regulations, policies, even infrastructure was not there to limit their back-handed affairs. Like I stated above, California's legislature was once dependent on private groups for their livelihood, and staffing due to the fact that they worked part-time with little or no pay. But, today it's different. The legislature due to Proposition 1A is a fully functioning body that can confront, mediate, and regulate corporations. Not only that due to the establishment of the initiative process by Hiram Johnson the Californians can petition and amend constitutional and statutory laws with a simple majority in the ballot (Johnston, Governing California).

Thus, today there is a developed infrastructure to confront corporations from overwhelming American politicians. It may not be perfect, and corporations may have found new routes to lobby and influence the government, but in no way is it in the level of the 19th century or the early 20th century. In no way is it dominating American politics as it did a century before.

I've been reading The State by Franz Oppenheimer, and enjoying it. It's quite enlightening. And it's only $10 plus shipping and handling. There are two reviews of it here on Amazon, but it's more expensive there.

You can read the whole thing online here (The website alone should tell you this is next level crazy):

http://www.reg6.com/

Amazon has a page for the book, which on its inside cover boasts it's in its 124th print run and has over 40 million copies (most of which were probably sent as junk mail). The reviews are kinda funny:

https://www.amazon.com/National-Sunday-Law-Jan-Marcussen/dp/0912145080

Looking for:

California Politics: A Primer, 4th edition, by Renee B. Van Vechten. ISBN-13: 978-1483375595

Amazon Link - https://www.amazon.com/California-Politics-Renee-Van-Vechten/dp/1483375595

$5 Paypal F&F

EDIT; Found already

BTW, books:

Campaign Manager by Catherine Shaw

Political Campaign Desk Reference

Correct Link

The Shame of the Cities by Lincoln Steffens. A muckraking book about urban corruption in the gilded age.

Embracing Defeat by John W. Dower. Insights into the American occupation of Post WWII Japan.

Homeward Bound by Elaine Tyler May. A close examination of American life during the Cold War era.

In Pharaoh's Army by Tobias Wolff. Absolutely fantastic first person account of the Vietnam War. Better even, than "The Things They Carried."

John Stossel in his book Myths, Lies, Downright Stupidity, talked about several real world examples of bad lawsuits regarding sexism. Like a man suing a bar because of ladies night, or a man and EEOC going after hooters for not hiring him as a 'hooters girl'.