5. Politics Resource Reviews
(Keep scrolling down to skip this introduction and go directly to the list of current reviews)
About This Section
This section contains my reviews of the resources that are making significant contributions to healthy forms of politics. For me, "healthy forms" means that they are grounded in center-left or center-right faith values, actions and beliefs in dialectical relationship with each other. What makes those positions "centrist" is that while they are primarily located one side of the left/right political spectrum, they also have significant secondary commitments to positions on the other side. This is what makes them "principled centrisms" (see page 2.2 for my understanding of what makes these different from "superficial centrisms".)
Some of the ideas that together constitute my basic understanding of "healthy" politics:
(under construction - keep scrolling to see current reviews)
freedom/equality -
constitutional (not strict constructionist) -
conservative/liberal (historical shifts and cycles) -
must be grounded in healthy faith (religious or secular) or idolatrous -
abuse of power and wealth - obscene inequality -
the corrupting influence of big money -
not unregulated capitalism -
what should be law and what morality - coercive power -
Just War -
Some of the ideas that together constitute my basic understanding of "healthy" politics:
(under construction - keep scrolling to see current reviews)
freedom/equality -
constitutional (not strict constructionist) -
conservative/liberal (historical shifts and cycles) -
must be grounded in healthy faith (religious or secular) or idolatrous -
abuse of power and wealth - obscene inequality -
the corrupting influence of big money -
not unregulated capitalism -
what should be law and what morality - coercive power -
Just War -
Navigation Note: Clicking a title in the list below takes you to the Quick Look webpage for that resource. There you'll find some basic information about its author and a list of its main contributions to the goals of this website.
For some resources there will also be a link on the bottom of the page to either a Highlights Review PDF or a Detailed Review PDF (both external to the website) which provide my interpretation and evaluation of its main contributions. The only links to the review PDFs are on the bottom of Quick Look webpages. (When you finish with a PDF, you'll need to click the back arrow on your browser to come back to this website.)
For some resources there will also be a link on the bottom of the page to either a Highlights Review PDF or a Detailed Review PDF (both external to the website) which provide my interpretation and evaluation of its main contributions. The only links to the review PDFs are on the bottom of Quick Look webpages. (When you finish with a PDF, you'll need to click the back arrow on your browser to come back to this website.)
Political Resource Reviews
(For an alphabetical list by author of all the reviews on this website, see Section 8--Resource Reviews Index)
(Note: While there are several resource reviews relevant to the importance of President Obama’s second term for the establishment of a solid foundation of a political center-left at this opportune time in our history, I encourage you to start with my first two. Those books challenge some of the most common unfair criticisms of the nature of the President's politics and his decision-making style, which can lead people to oppose his policy initiatives due to misunderstandings.)
(For an alphabetical list by author of all the reviews on this website, see Section 8--Resource Reviews Index)
(Note: While there are several resource reviews relevant to the importance of President Obama’s second term for the establishment of a solid foundation of a political center-left at this opportune time in our history, I encourage you to start with my first two. Those books challenge some of the most common unfair criticisms of the nature of the President's politics and his decision-making style, which can lead people to oppose his policy initiatives due to misunderstandings.)
Dorrien, Gary (2012) The Obama Question: A Progressive Perspective. 5.1
The author explains why progressives should still strongly support Obama, even if they are disappointed with some
of his positions. He also skewers the key far-right hate-mongers for their disinformation campaigns.
Kloppenberg, James T. (2012) Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope and the American Tradition [paperback edition with new preface; hardback (2011)]. 5.2
I think this book provides the best explanation of why Obama governs in the unconventional way he does, and
why it has worked better than most people believe it has even in the midst of unprecedented obstructionism.
Sullivan, Andrew (10/1/2012) The Democrats' Reagan: What Obama Will Achieve in His Second Term. Newsweek, Oct. 1 & 8, 2012. 5.3
Here's a conservative who wanted to help recreate a strong center-right in the Republican Party by urging
Republicans to vote for Obama in 2012; and a detailed prediction that, if he gets a second term, Obama will be a
transformation president like Reagan.
Lewis, Michael (10/12) "Obama's Way." Vanity Fair, October 2012. 5.4
This bestselling author got unparalleled access to the president, and gives a revealing look at the pace, values and
focus of his daily routine.
Freeland, Chrystia & Matt Taibbi (10/19/2012) "A Discussion of Plutocracy and Growing Inequality." A Moyers and Company PBS interview. 5.5
Freeland and Taibbi team up to illuminate the extent of plutocracy worldwide, and issue a challenge for everyone to
get involved in helping diminish the damage this super-class is causing by creating such massive inequality.
Mann, Thomas E. and Ornstein, Norman J. (2012) It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. New York: Basic Books. 5.6
This team--one center-left, one center-right--show that the gridlock in American politics is almost entirely the result
of the "asymmetric" polarization instigated by far-right Republicans, not the center-left Obama administration.
Kobylka, Joseph F. (2006) Cycles of American Political Thought (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company 5.7
This is the best resource I've found that shows the similarities and differences between the political struggles of
today and those at several earlier points in American history; it helps us separate the healthy from the unhealthy.
Allitt, Patrick N. (2009) The Conservative Tradition (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company. 5.8
The British origins of this excellent historian puts him in a excellent position to compare American conservatism
with its cousin in Britain in very illuminating ways--ways that challenge the assumption that there is only one true
path.
Krugman, Paul (2007, 2009 paperback) The Conscience of a Liberal. New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company. 5.9
This very popular Nobel prize economist and liberal commentator interprets the last 70 years of American political
history on the basis of his principles and values.
Sullivan, Andrew (2006, 2007 paperback) The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom, and the Future of the Right. New York, London, Toronto & Sydney: Harper Perennial. 5.10
This popular center-right conservative (and gay!) blogger is a severe critic of the hard rightward swing taken by the
Republican party and its Religious Right allies; his stance is shaped by his British origins and Roman Catholic faith.
Cahoone, Lawrence (2014) The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, Virginia: The Teaching Company. 5.11
Cahoone's is an expert on the historical precedents of the ideas that shaped the original experiment of American
republicanism and the struggles between its two main elements--liberal and civic republicanism--that still define
the current political situation today. Along with 5.7 this resource provides the historical grounding for this
website's view of American politics.
Ricoeur, Paul (1986) Lectures on Ideology and Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press. 5.12
In this book Ricoeur spells out the philosophical concepts of "utopia" and "ideology," which lead to crucial
distinctions between the dialectical relationship of healthy forms of each in contrast to the unhealthy forms of
each. Unlike the common misunderstanding of both (they are usually used only with negative meanings) this
provides a much needed way of using both in positive ways in philosophy and theology.
West, Cornel (2004) Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. New York: The Penguin Press. 5.13
This liberal philosopher and public intellectual illumines the lethal threat of the current form of the American Empire
to our unique experiment in democracy and the possible responses drawing on our strong traditional resources.
Wasserman Schultz, Debbie (with Julie M. Fenster) (2013) For the Next Generation:A Wake-Up Call to Solving Our Nation's Problems. New York: St. Martin's Press. 5.14
This progressive Democrat is a working woman with three full-time jobs: she is the mother of three who has held
elective office since she was 26-years old and is currently serving as the the Chair of the Democratic National
Committee. In this book she shows how her political life is primarily devoted to the wellbeing of all American
children--that generation which does not have a political voice of their own. It is also a powerful witness to how
her life and politics have been grounded in the secular-Jewish values of her family upbringing.
The author explains why progressives should still strongly support Obama, even if they are disappointed with some
of his positions. He also skewers the key far-right hate-mongers for their disinformation campaigns.
Kloppenberg, James T. (2012) Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope and the American Tradition [paperback edition with new preface; hardback (2011)]. 5.2
I think this book provides the best explanation of why Obama governs in the unconventional way he does, and
why it has worked better than most people believe it has even in the midst of unprecedented obstructionism.
Sullivan, Andrew (10/1/2012) The Democrats' Reagan: What Obama Will Achieve in His Second Term. Newsweek, Oct. 1 & 8, 2012. 5.3
Here's a conservative who wanted to help recreate a strong center-right in the Republican Party by urging
Republicans to vote for Obama in 2012; and a detailed prediction that, if he gets a second term, Obama will be a
transformation president like Reagan.
Lewis, Michael (10/12) "Obama's Way." Vanity Fair, October 2012. 5.4
This bestselling author got unparalleled access to the president, and gives a revealing look at the pace, values and
focus of his daily routine.
Freeland, Chrystia & Matt Taibbi (10/19/2012) "A Discussion of Plutocracy and Growing Inequality." A Moyers and Company PBS interview. 5.5
Freeland and Taibbi team up to illuminate the extent of plutocracy worldwide, and issue a challenge for everyone to
get involved in helping diminish the damage this super-class is causing by creating such massive inequality.
Mann, Thomas E. and Ornstein, Norman J. (2012) It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. New York: Basic Books. 5.6
This team--one center-left, one center-right--show that the gridlock in American politics is almost entirely the result
of the "asymmetric" polarization instigated by far-right Republicans, not the center-left Obama administration.
Kobylka, Joseph F. (2006) Cycles of American Political Thought (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company 5.7
This is the best resource I've found that shows the similarities and differences between the political struggles of
today and those at several earlier points in American history; it helps us separate the healthy from the unhealthy.
Allitt, Patrick N. (2009) The Conservative Tradition (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, VA: The Teaching Company. 5.8
The British origins of this excellent historian puts him in a excellent position to compare American conservatism
with its cousin in Britain in very illuminating ways--ways that challenge the assumption that there is only one true
path.
Krugman, Paul (2007, 2009 paperback) The Conscience of a Liberal. New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company. 5.9
This very popular Nobel prize economist and liberal commentator interprets the last 70 years of American political
history on the basis of his principles and values.
Sullivan, Andrew (2006, 2007 paperback) The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism, Freedom, and the Future of the Right. New York, London, Toronto & Sydney: Harper Perennial. 5.10
This popular center-right conservative (and gay!) blogger is a severe critic of the hard rightward swing taken by the
Republican party and its Religious Right allies; his stance is shaped by his British origins and Roman Catholic faith.
Cahoone, Lawrence (2014) The Modern Political Tradition: Hobbes to Habermas (Audio or Video with Course Guidebook). Chantilly, Virginia: The Teaching Company. 5.11
Cahoone's is an expert on the historical precedents of the ideas that shaped the original experiment of American
republicanism and the struggles between its two main elements--liberal and civic republicanism--that still define
the current political situation today. Along with 5.7 this resource provides the historical grounding for this
website's view of American politics.
Ricoeur, Paul (1986) Lectures on Ideology and Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press. 5.12
In this book Ricoeur spells out the philosophical concepts of "utopia" and "ideology," which lead to crucial
distinctions between the dialectical relationship of healthy forms of each in contrast to the unhealthy forms of
each. Unlike the common misunderstanding of both (they are usually used only with negative meanings) this
provides a much needed way of using both in positive ways in philosophy and theology.
West, Cornel (2004) Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. New York: The Penguin Press. 5.13
This liberal philosopher and public intellectual illumines the lethal threat of the current form of the American Empire
to our unique experiment in democracy and the possible responses drawing on our strong traditional resources.
Wasserman Schultz, Debbie (with Julie M. Fenster) (2013) For the Next Generation:A Wake-Up Call to Solving Our Nation's Problems. New York: St. Martin's Press. 5.14
This progressive Democrat is a working woman with three full-time jobs: she is the mother of three who has held
elective office since she was 26-years old and is currently serving as the the Chair of the Democratic National
Committee. In this book she shows how her political life is primarily devoted to the wellbeing of all American
children--that generation which does not have a political voice of their own. It is also a powerful witness to how
her life and politics have been grounded in the secular-Jewish values of her family upbringing.
(Click on the titles of any of the reviews above to go to it.)
Some Upcoming Reviews in This Section
Dionne, E. J. (2012) Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent. New York: Bloomsbury.
Hill, John Lawrence (2009) The Political Centrist. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Obama, Barack (1995, 2004 paperback) Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Three rivers Press.
__________ (2006) The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. New York: Crown Publishers.
Ricoeur, Paul (1990, 1992 English, 1994 paperback) Oneself as Another. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press.
Dorrien, Gary (2009) Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Cahoone, Lawrence (2010) The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida. Chantilly, Virginia: The Teaching Company.