Freedom in America

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William Muir - University of California - Berkeley

Courses:
American Political Thought | Introduction to American Government

July 2011 | 456 pages | CQ Press

If you want students to really understand the concept of power, moving beyond a survey book's quick discussion of Laswell's "who gets what and how," Muir's thoughtful Freedom in America might be the book for you. Exploring the words and ideas of such thinkers as Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Tocqueville, Muir discusses the nature and limits of three types of power—coercive, reciprocal, and moral—and then uses this framework to explain how American political institutions work.

If looking for an alternative to a long survey text—or itching to get students grappling with The Federalist Papers or Democracy in America with more of a payoff—Muir's meditation on power and personal freedom is a gateway for students to take their study of politics to the next level. His inductive style, engaging students with well-chosen and masterfully written stories, lets him draw out and distill key lessons without being preachy. Read a chapter and decide if this page turner is for you.

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ISBN: 9781608718443	Paperback	Suggested Retail Price: $75.00	Bookstore Price: $60.00
ISBN: 9781483305264	Electronic Version	Suggested Retail Price: $54.00	Bookstore Price: $43.20

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PART ONE: FREEDOM AND POWER

Anarchy

Coercive Power

Tyranny

The Police Power

The American Constitution

The Declaration of Independence

Tocqueville and Marx

Reciprocal Power

Moral Power

Demagoguery

Social Pluralism

Political Democracy

PART TWO: INSTITUTIONS OF FREEDOM

The Presidency

The Coercive Power of the Presidency

The Presidency’s Reciprocal and Moral Powers

Legislatures as Schools

Congress as Defender of Freedom

The Supreme Court as Freedom’s Protector

The Moral Power of the Courts

Political Parties: Machines, Coalitions, Churches

American Newspapers and Ideas

Free-Market Capitalism

The Moral Effects of Taxation

Federalism and Freedom Part

PART THREE: AMERICAN SOCIETY

We the People

The American Electorate

Tocqueville’s Warnings

Equality

Racial Equality

Americans and Foreign Relations

The Democratic Vision

I considered this book a very good choice for supplemental reading for my course this semester. It contains several chapters that are best for suggested reading rather than class reading. However, I might use this as a text book for a new class that I am designing about democracy in the world.

Dr Miguel Buitrago

Department of Social Science, University of Hamburg

September 18, 2012

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