Ballot Reviews

Joanne Gowa's thinking is clear with full of empirical investigations on "interest-based explanation" free from often unnecessary and misguided value-judgment prevalent in liberal thoughts. Gowa not only makes it possible that the richness of realism continues but she also authoritatively put an end to the so-called value-laden "Democratic Peace" thesis... Very well written and well researched with full of theoretical insights and policy implications.... ...

This book was a really good read, and helped me out greatly with my political science course. Highly recommended!

This story takes place in the late 1800's when Mrs. Stanton-the famous women's rights activist-was still alive. It deals with a young girl, Cordelia, who wants to ride Mrs. Stanton's horse. Mrs. Stanton instead of letting her ride the horse tells her about her childhood experiences. Mrs. Stanton also also makes a great impact on Cordelia when she tries to vote and is not allowed. This in turn inspires Cordelia to stand up for herself.

It is a well-written story that shows what life was like for women before they got to vote. It shows that injustices can be overcome when we put our minds to it and when we don't let what others say get in our way of realizing our dreams. This would be a good story to read to 5th and 6th graders as an introduction to American history in this century.

The pictures are beautiful. They recall images of a by-gone era. It is interesting that men and boys are painted in darker colors, while Cordelia wears lighter colors.

Very well written and easy to read, this book is all about helping you pick a voting system. The professor helps you pick criteria that are important to you. Then, he explains the major types of voting systems, and explains their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, you get help on how to take those criteria and election systems and determine what system you prefer.

In the context of this crazy presidential election, for example, you can compare the advantages and disadvantages of plurality voting v.s. two round runoff voting v.s. instant runoff voting.

A must read if you are interested in voting systems, you are a student of voting systems, or *especially* if you are trying to make an informed choice about what voting system best fits your community.

Have you ever said, in frustration, "There ought to be a law"? If so, the book Citizen Lawmakers is for you. Every election day in America, millions of voters decide not just whom to elect -- the voters make the laws directly, at the ballot box -- by voting on ballot propositions, also known as Initiatives and Referendums.

Citizen Lawmakers answers all your questions about this growing political phenomenon. Why do some states have controversial ballot proposition campaigns, and others don't? How did voters get the power to enact laws? How can I get a proposition on the ballot in my home city or state? What kinds of laws have the voters enacted this way? How did California's tax-cutting Proposition 13 come about? Why do so many politicians hate citizen-sponsored ballot propositions? It's all here.

Dr. Friedenberg has left nothing to chance in Communication Consultants in Political Campaigns: Ballot Box Warriors, his easy to read book about how a political campaign is run. This book is a must read for anyone interested in running for office or interested in becoming involved in the political process. After having read this detailed and factual book by Robert Friedenberg, you will be able to impress your friends on your knowledge of political campaigning. You will know all of the campaign buzz words. You will even be able to introduce your colleagues to terms they may not have known. The benchmark poll, tracking poll, pre-decision poll, telephone poll, and a plethora of other political practices are discussed thoughout the book. You will be the talk of the cocktail party with your new found knowledge. Know the facts, and if you are seriously interested in running for office, read this book to see the cost of doing business in the political arena.

Robert M. Goldman's A Free Ballot And A Fair Count provides a treatise on the enforcement of voting rights in the South from 1877-1893. This also is quite specific but will appeal and is recommended for college-level civil rights studies programs. A scholarly, important pick, especially for American political science and history students.

I can't recommend this book highly enough! It's the first to publish songs AND their music together under one cover, and also includes color reproductions for some of the original sheet music covers. As if that weren't enough, there are also excellent historical notes for each song, and it has a spiral binding to make it easy to use as a songbook.

Venet writes an in-depth examination of early grass-roots political power of women. This often unexamined subject goes beyond the single person biographies commonly available and weaves a well-researched tapestry of people, places, and ideology. Highly recommended, especially for those looking for another view of Civil War Era women. Highly readable.

Having been active in one of the 'constituencies of support' as Ian Martin calls them, I was eager to read the perspective of a senior UN official on the period between Habibie's June 1988 announcement that Indonesia would be willing to grant East Timor wide-ranging autonomy and the arrival on 20 September 1999 of Australian-led INTERFET troops. I was not disappointed.

Ian Martin, former secretary-general of Amnesty International, acted during this period as the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the East Timor Popular Consultation. As such he has a unique perspective on both occurrences on-the-ground in East Timor during that fateful time (he was stationed in Dili and travelled extensively throughout East Timor), and on the overt and discreet diplomatic goings-on within the UN and between governments. In a mere 131 pages of text (plus several useful appendices), Martin creates a very readable and very informative narrative. His keen eye for when to go in-depth into important details and when to merely mention something in passing keeps this small book from being an exhausting or dull memoir. Yet, amazingly, he is very thorough in covering the events and in offering candid analysis of their meaning in hindsight.

Not a fan of the UN, I found his insights and candor regarding the UN in East Timor, Kosovo and other places quite educational. I grew especially to appreciate the role of Kofi Annan in East Timor's independence and in ending the murder and destruction following the 'consultation' vote. Far from a mere bureaucrat, Mr Annan apparently showed real leadership and an iron will when it was most critical to do so. One of the highlights of the book was to read Martin's description of Annan's 10 September statement to Indonesia threatening prosecution for crimes against humanity if it did not immediately request deployment of an international force to stop TMI-supported violence. The following day, Habibie phoned Annan directly 'to call for UN assistance to restore peace and security in East Timor.' (p.112)

My only disappointment in the book turns out to be a minor one: in mentioning the murders of a number of UNAMET pesonnel he fails to give their names, effectively reducing them to statistics. Earlier on, I thought he was downplaying the contribution of NGOs both in East Timor and abroad, but in a later chapter titled International Intervention, Martin describes how 'the nongovernmental East Timor solidarity network had become highly effective during the 1990s' and following the vote 'now went into overdrive.' (p. 106) Martin credits NGOs, human rights organizations, the Catholic church, and even World Bank president James Wolfensohn, who wrote to Habibie less than a week after the vote that 'For the international financial community to be able to continue its full support, it is critical that you act swiftly to restore order, and that your government carry through on its public commitment to honor the referendum outcome.' (p. 108)

This is an excellent book and the International Peace Academy is to be commended for requesting and publishing it.

William Quandt has produced a brief look at the Algerian crisis that will give the reader with a time deficit a chance bone up quickly and accurately.

Between Ballots & Bullets by William Quandt is an excellent and exhaustive study of Algeria's transition from authoritarianism. The book is split into two parts: political history and political analysis. In Part I, the reader gets an excellent political history of the country, beginning with the struggle for independence from France all the way to aftermath of the 1997 elections (the book was published in 1998). In Part II, Quandt offers contending "perspectives" for analyzing Algeria's plight. He details cultural, socioeconomic and political explanations for the situation, while taking care never to dismiss the power of human agency and contextualized choice. In this book review, I will briefly summarize the book, review Quandt's style, and propose future implications for Algeria based on the knowledge I have gained.
It almost seems repetitive to give a summary of this book, because Quandt is extremely concise. He begins with a political account of the Algerian struggle for independence. He observes,

...the revolution that was launched November 1, 1954 was not only against the French, but also against the existing political institutions that Algerians had forged over the previous generation. In its origins, the Algerian revolution was antipolitics and antiparty. (18)

This observation is important because it helps the reader understand the importance of nationalism in the revolution. The Algerians did not fight with a detailed governance plan in their back pocket. Rather, they fought for a chance to establish themselves as independent people.
After discussing the Revolution and its rhetorical emphasis on unity, Quandt moves into the Boumedience Era. He notes that Algeria's first president, Ben Bella, lacked an institutional base of support and spent much of his time in office manipulating factions against each other. Ben Bella quietly faded into the background and Boumediene arose as the stable and rather "faceless" leader. He downgraded the FLN (the party credited with winning independence) in importance and suppressed any emerging opposition to his regime. Indeed, after 1968, there was very little internal opposition. During the 1970s, his regime had an Islamic cultural orientation but functioned in a secular socialist manner. There was definitely not much emphasis on a transition to democracy, but "Boumedience, at least, had brought stability to a country that had known far too much political violence" (29).
In the next chapter, Quandt explains that there was inevitable pressure to change, and Boumediene, as an authoritarian ruler, was unable to enact it. Chadli Benjedid became president in 1979, and long-suppressed demands for change came with the Berber spring of 1980. This initial movement for the rights of Berber-speaking people gave rise to other political movements, the most significant being the Algerian Islamic Movement. Beginning in 1982, the Islamic Movement took up arms and gained momentum, though for the most part the stability of the existing order kept protestors at bay. This all changed in 1988, when "the bottom fell out of the oil market." The rentier state was in trouble.
Quandt writes, "the mass protests of October 1988 proved to be one of those turning points that define a country's political trajectory for years to come. It was a nationwide youth revolt, but Islamic activists soon took charge. The military was called in and violence ensued. Hundreds of young Algerians were killed in the first use of the Algerian military against its own people.
As disturbing as this scene was, Quandt notes that it could have been a dramatic turn toward political expression and eventually democracy. Indeed, in 1989 reform-minded allies of Chadli drafted a new constitution. At least on paper, it created three distinct branches of government and guaranteed individual liberties--including what was to soon become a very significant free press. The army was supposed to now be above politics, and a significant new political party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) challenged the government on a plethora of issues. Many young unemployed and disillusioned men joined this group. Through political mediums such as strikes and the 1991 elections (in which the FIS received about twice the number of votes as the FLN in the first round), the FIS established itself as the new power in Algeria. In June of 1991, however, the army stepped in yet again (it had stepped in during the strike and arrested FIS leaders) and showed itself to be right in the middle of politics-certainly not above it.
In 1991 the army cancelled the constitutionally mandated second round of elections and forcefully removed both Chadli and the FIS from power. Quandt explains the army's motives well:

Many in the military had fought for Algeria's independence and genuinely felt that they had a legitimate role to play in the political life of the country. The FIS was a threat to all that they had fought for and, like the Turkish military, they would not stand by and watch the principles of the state be trampled. (60-61).

Thus, the military took over the state and political violence and terrorism was the norm for most of the nineties. Within months, the FIS was declared illegal. The leader appointed by the military, Boudiaf, was assassinated, and thousands of ordinary Algerians lost their lives in the chaos. Quandt writes, "The inability-or unwillingess-of the state to provide basic security was shocking" (75). Many Algerians emigrated to other nations.
Thus, the political history of Algeria is a complex and sometimes sad one. Quandt's book covers it so well because he understands that there is hope for the country. It has experimented with liberalization and might just be able to make it work. After all, nobody really expected Algeria to rebel against France in the first place, much less win a war of independence. Quandt's book is good because it presents this history in a very detailed fashion (Part I), and then it presents various perspectives to clarify the events and give insight to the future (Part II). An alternate format, like an interwoven mixture of history and analysis, might be very confusing to the average reader.

Ballots and Bullets is only one of several books I have read dealing with Algerian Politics recently, and it amazed me how Quandt was able to grasp the fundamental themes of the transition Algeria has made in the past years. Quandt has a perspective on the subject that had never entered my mind before, and he explains it in the most comprehensive manner possible.