The One-State Solution: A Breakthrough for Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Deadlock

Book Description

“A clear, trenchant book on a topic of enormous
importance... Overall this is a courageous plunge
into boiling waters. If it helps propel forward a
debate that has hardly begun in this country it will
have performed a signal scholarly and political
function.”
—Tony Judt, New York University

“. . . a pioneering text. . . . [A]s such it will take pride
of place in a brewing debate.”
—Gary Sussman, Tel Aviv University

The One-State Solution demonstrates that Israeli
settlements have already encroached on the occupied
territory of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the extent
that any Palestinian state in those areas is unviable.
It reveals the irreversible impact of Israel’s settlement
grid by summarizing its physical, demographic, . nancial,
and political dimensions. Virginia Tilley explains
why we should assume that this grid will not be withdrawn
—or its expansion reversed—by reviewing the
role of the key political actors: the Israeli government,
the United States, the Arab states, and the European
Union. Finally, the book addresses the daunting obstacles
to a one-state solution—including major revision
of the Zionist dream but also Palestinian and other
regional resistance—and offers some ideas about how
those obstacles might be addressed.

Customer Reviews:

Recipe for a second holocaust.......2007-08-10

Virginia Tilley distorts history, demonizes the Jewish people, and skips over fact.

Tilley ((a Hamas supporter) denies Israel's right to exist and calls for a 'unitary' Arab dominated 'Palestine' to replace Israel, in which Jews would be a helpless minority at the mercy and whim of HAMAS , as the Jews in Europe and the Arab countries (from which 800 000 Jews where expelled in 1948.) were at the mercy of their persecutors. If Tilley's demmand became a reality, Jews would wait, huddled in their ghettos, to be massacred by the Arabs.
YTilley and others who call for Israel's replacement by a 'unitary Palestine' know full well that this would lead to a second Holocaust of Israel's five million Jews.

How well did the 'unitary state ' work in Lebanon where hundreds of thousands of Christian Lebanese were massacred by the PLO and Syrians and went from being a majority in 1975 to a minority today? How well did the Animist and Christian Nilotic Blacks in Darfur and Southern Sudan fare in Sudan where millions have been massacred, or the Kurds in Iraq where 800 000 were butchered by Saddam Hussein?We all know how minorities fare in Arab countries and what makes anyone think the Jews in your suggested 'unitary Palestine' would fare any better, given the amount of hate in Palestinian society for Israel's Jews.

Why out of a massive landmass under Arab control , and a number of Arab states (today they number 22) it is regarded as such an injustice that a number of Arabs should be a minority in a Jewish State, where they enjoy full civil and political rights.
Jewish statelessness had led to the slaughter of 6 million Jews during the holocaust.

Tilley falsely refers to the nation-state as an anachronism, conveniently ignoring currents events around the world and recent history.
Those insulated academics who refer to the nation-state as an anachronism are ignoring the message of recent history, which has seen the birth (or rebirth) of a plethora of nation-sates, from the ruins of enforced multi-national artificial entities : Hence in the last 18 years we have seen the independence of nation-states including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Eritrea and East Timor.

The meaning of Israel is clear. The Jew has experienced too much death, and a portion of the Jewish people decided that they would die quietly no more (especially after Hitler's Holocaust). So it is: and no argument, no clever political talk, no logic and no parading of right and wrong can change this fact.The Jews returned to Israel because it was their ancient land. From 1810 onwards, Jews in the Land of Israel have been murdered by Arabs. The pious Jews of Safed, who would raise no hand in their defense, were robbed and murdered and burned out again and again by Arabs - as where the Jews in Jerusalem and Tiberias. Bedouin Arabs passed through Land of Israel at will-and robbed and killed Jews for profit. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Arab feudal lords in the Land of Israel organized pogroms precisely as the Tsar had organized pogroms.

In 1920 Jews where massacred by Arabs in Jerusalem, in 1921 in Jaffa and in 1929 in Hebron. Thousands of Jews where murdered in 1936 to 1939 in the Nazi inspired Arab Revolt. Since 1948 Arabs have launched wars against Israel to try to drive Jews into the sea and since Arafat launched the latest war in 2000, after rejecting a peace deal, thousands of Jewish men women and children have died in Israel by bomb, bullet and knife. Jews will never again be put into a position where they can be subjected to another Holocaust (particularly in the ancient Jewish homeland).

p.s Virginia Tilley now lives in South africa where she leads a campaign to demonize Israel and bully the Jewish community that supports Israel.
Her rhetoric is vicious and fanatical, and racist against the Jews of Israel.

A possible solution to the now defunct two state solution.......2007-06-21

As many Palestinian and even some Israeli scholars have already known for years (since Oslo), thw two state solution is no longer a reasonable option for a viable Palestinian state. The Israeli government with its illegal wall that cuts into West Bank, settlement blocks, and access roads have made it impossible for any state to emerge from the occupied territories. Based on what is known now, any new Palestinian state that would arise would be essentially within Israel.

Virginia Tilley's book shows the problems with the two state solution and shows an alternative argued by both sides of the conflict: the one state solution. She also presents the obvious political implications to this proposal (dismantling of the Zionist regime in Israel, etc).

This book is an excellent work to include amongst the vast scholarly literature on the conflict as well as its possible rational solution based on the facts on the ground today.

In an age of global multi-ethnic communities, one ethnic state is an obsolete concept and no longer applies to Israel (20% of their population is Arab). One multi ethnic and religious Palestine is the more realistic solution

Refreshing Take on an Intractable.......2007-01-19

Virginia Tilley offers a refreshing and, I suspect for most, a fairly novel perspective on viewing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, as well as offering some very substantive solutions to a seemingly insoluble dilemma. At times, she does paint the situation with some overly broad strokes, but her analysis is generally thorough and well documented. Her historical analysis tends to exaggerate Jewish/Israeli "complicity" in aggravating the conflict, and tends to overly downplay the role and impact of extremist elements in the Arab/Palestinian camp, which after all, led to early Palestinian Arab rejection of the very solution, based on the "bi-national" model, which she now offers. She does very correctly depict the conflict as more of a "civil war", rather than a general Arab vs. Jewish dispute; while at the same time she does allude to the very significant peripheral role that these larger communities play in fueling the conflict.

Overall, her proposal for a "one-state" solution, though somewhat simplistic in that it fails to depict the depth and intensity of opposing passions on both sides of the fence, is both reasonable and sound, and as she consistently points out, it's ultimately the ONLY solution. Much to her credit, she does recognize the role that passions, both rational and irrational play in this conflict, but fails to penetrate the role that historical circumstances play in generating and fueling them. Like almost all academics, she reflexively draws the parallel with South Africa, but in reality, the social situation in the "Jewish" state is more akin to the pre-civil rights era in this country, since the highly institutionalized structure of "apartheid" that existed in South Africa is far from present in Israel, though certain similarities in the apartheid mindset clearly inspire some Israeli laws.

In conclusion, I would applaud Virginia on her creativity and boldness in addressing this most volatile of issues from a refreshing perspective; after all, the "one-state" solution is what I've been advocating for over 30 years, long before it started to become trendy. However, I've always advocated the "one-state" to be establish under Israeli, not Palestinian, auspices, as you don't dismantle an existing, and certainly a very viable, apparatus to recreate one of dubious legitimacy. Obviously, Arab Palestinian would be given the opportunity for citizenship in this "new" Israel, and that citizenship would grant absolute equality for all; however, as Virginia well states, there would still be a role for cultural/ethnic (though not necessarily geographic) autonomy in this restructured state, along with essential guarantees that the nature of the state could never be changed without the majority consent of all concerned; i.e., both Jews and Arabs. While anathema to most Israeli Jews, and Jews worldwide, this does, in fact, represent the very solution that many Jews had previously embraced during the British Mandate period; albeit vehemently rejected by the Mufti of Jerusalem and apparently the bulk of the most vocal representatives of the Palestinian Arab community.

A must read for anyone involved in resolving this never-ending debacle; and one I believe is destined to set the bar on future publications regarding this conflict.

Changed my whole view.......2006-01-13

I first heard about this book from friends who are angry about it, so I figured I wouldn't bother with it. After all, only some seriously ignorant ideologue would think a one-state solution for this conflict could ever work, right? But then one of my uncles, who happens to be a Holocaust survivor, told me to read it and not have preconceptions, and that it had given him hope for the first time in years.

So partly out of curiosity and partly to be nice to him I picked up a copy. I couldn't put it down, read it in five days, stayed up after midnight... it wrecked several nights' sleep. First, Tilley writes plain brilliantly. Each chapter flows like a page-turner, which isn't easy to do with this kind of material. Mainly, though, she has so many facts at hand, and works through the arguments so carefully, that her argument hit me as air-tight. After each chapter I felt my whole understanding of this conflict spinning around on its axis. But just when I was ready to despair, Tilley offered a way forward that is truly inspirational to me, and that's not easy for a middle-aged Jewish cynic to say about any book these days, let alone one on the Middle East. By the last page, I had tears in my eyes... and nothing to do with them except write this review.

Anyone who trashes this book hasn't read it. Tilley covers so much ground, from history to sociology and geography... it makes a complete picture. She is also very careful, and balanced in her way, but not in that false meaning of "balance" that really means not dealing with Israel's policies and what is really going on, even if those facts are terribly painful to face. I felt her compassion in every line even while she was trashing some of my most closely held beliefs. I wanted to attack her argument several times but never could... rest assured, the book has full references for those who care about such things. Yet it escapes the academic trap (I see from the cover that she's a political science professor) and flows so well that most of us non-academics can float right through it.

But this book isn't just gripping. It's important. I've talked to my friends about putting together a reading group just on this book. Some great classroom debates could come out of it, I imagine. My only advice to anyone picking up this book is to really READ it... read all of it, maybe a chapter at a time, because you have to get the entire picture to realize how much ground it covers and how powerful it is, and how much it matters that we all start dealing with a one-state solution. Before I read this book, I thought the idea was nuts. After reading it, I think we can do it... but more, we have to do it.

Scholarly and Balanced.......2005-11-24

Few people are as qualified to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the author of this book. She is a professor of political science with a PhD from the university of Wisconsin with special emphasis on ethnic conflict. Further, Dr. Tilley has had twenty years direct experience with this conflict, including living there for two years. The book, is scholarly, well-documented, and illustrated with maps. It can serve as an excellent background for this conflict, and includes a discussion of the important international actors: the Zionist movement, the Arab States, the United States of America, Europe, and the United Nations.

Conflicts can be resolved by three ways: prevalence, compromise, and transcendence. The first alternative of prevalence, that is, of one party totally defeating the other has failed. Cleansing that land of historic Palestine of one ethnicity or the other has not been possible and is unthinkable, though some continue to advocate such a solution.

The second alternative is compromise: the two-state solution, one Jewish, the other Palestinian. This book convincingly argues that this is not a viable solution that will bring peace to the area and the world at large. Some of the reasons are:

1. The identity and mytho-history of both peoples are based on the total area of historic Palestine. Their collective consciousness will not rest with a fraction of the land.
2. Demographic mixture: Jews live in large numbers in the West Bank occupying 60% of the lad, and it has become unthinkable that they will vacate the area. Palestinians constitute 20% of the population of Israel. Any separation is tantamount to apartheid.
3. Natural resources, especially water, are impossible to divide, and will continue to be a source of tension. About two-thirds of the water Israel consumes comes from the aquifer under the West Bank.
4. Economic: the two economies and potentially the labor force are inextricably linked and interdependent.
5. Politico-legal legitimacy: basing a State on one ethnicity necessarily results with discrimination. Israel cannot be Jewish and also democratic.

A meta-conflict, such as this one, cannot be resolved with compromise and needs to be transcended by forming one democratic secular State for all concerned. After reading this book, I am left convinced of the statement at the end of Chapter 3: "Hence, the one-state solution is not an option to be argued. It is an inevitability to be faced."

This is not to say that this will be an easy solution. Dr. Tilley discusses the potential difficulties and offers proposals for their resolution. Rather than endlessly arguing how to divide this small piece of land, as has been done over the past fifteen years, the energy should be directed towards forming one-State.

Such a State will open the Arab and Muslim worlds for cultural and economic exchange. It will also serve as a bridge between the Middle East on one side and Europe and North American on the other side; contributing to the peace and stability of the entire world.

With this solution the concept of the "Promised Land" will be transformed from the physical to the moral. Rather than warring over a piece real estate, the struggle will be for human rights, justice, and the well-being of the individual. Could it be this is what the God of Abraham really meant by the "Promised Land"?

Professor Mahmoud N. Musa

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Now I get what all the fuss is about.
The Legend Continues...
Best Action Sequence in a V.I. Novel
NOT BAD...
Riveting and fast-paced!

Deadlock (V.I. Warshawski Novels)
Sara Paretsky
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0440213320
Release Date: 1992-03-02

Book Description

From Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author, comes another V.I. Warshawski novel. When Chicago Black Hawks hockey legend Boom Boom Warshawski drowns in Lake Michigan, his private-eye cousin, the intrepid V.I. Warshawski, questions the accidental death report and rumors of suicide. Armed with a bottle of Black Label and a Smith and Wesson, V.I. follows a trail of violence and corruption to the center of the Windy City's powerful shipping industry. Dodging attempts on her life with characteristic grit and humor, V.I. wends her way through a maze of grain elevators and thousand-ton freighters to ferret out Boom Boom's killer.

Customer Reviews:

Now I get what all the fuss is about........2007-06-26

Sara Paretsky, Deadlock (Dell, 1984)

Deadlock surprised me; Indemnity Only, the first Warshawski novel, was decent, but it never really grabbed me. Sometime between page twenty-five and page fifty, Deadlock did, to the point where I would spend far more time concentrating on it than I would anything else I was working on at the time. Paretsky seems to have come into her own with this one, and her own is pretty darned good.

The novel opens with the death of Boom Boom, Warshawski's ex hockey player cousin, from a fall into Lake Michigan. Warshawski, convinced he was pushed, starts investigating those at his new job at a grain company, and finds herself involved in big corporate corruption; kind of the flipside of the job in Indemnity Only. I'm sure the interest factor, for me, came at least in part because the stuff that happens in Deadlock is simply a lot more interesting to me (the intricacies and mechanics of corporations vs. those of unions being in the foreground), but I do think there was an improvement on Paretsky's part in the way the book is written; the pace is tighter, the characters slightly more complex. The ending once again seems to come somewhere between two paragraphs and a page before it should, but that's a minor thing. I'm starting to see why Warshawski gets so much respect. *** ½

The Legend Continues..........2002-02-27

The only mysteries I read feature strong women characters, and VI Warshawsky is one of the toughest. I had read these early books in the series years ago, but the recent discovery of JM Redmann's Mickey Knight made me want to revisit V.I. and her stories.

Paretsky has a way of punning her titles and this book is no exception. Deadlock. Dead lock. I had never considered the magnitude of tanker shipping commerce and her invention of a plot to clog one route across the great lakes... oh that's giving too much away. It's inventive, it's thrilling, once I started -- even knowing how it ended -- I couldn't put it down.

Best Action Sequence in a V.I. Novel.......2001-07-08

The title of this book truly is ingenious. (I won't give away any plot points by telling you why). But I do have to say that there is a scene set in the Soo Locks in Michigan that is truly the most gripping and well-written action scene that I have ever read in a V.I. (or any other) novel. I highly recommend this novel for all V.I. and Sara Paretsky fans.

NOT BAD..........2001-05-02

I have to admit that I am a HUGE fan of VI Warshawski, I love her tough-as-nails outlook on life, but still has a soft heart. She is a damn good investigator, street fighter and has a mouth on her that would make guys blush, she is a tougher version of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, and all VI's stories have a great element of humor in them too...

This time, VI is investigating the death of her cousin Boom Boom, who used to work in Chicago's shipping industry. Boom Boom has seemed to have drowned, but VI is convinced her cousin was murdered and spends her time trying to uncover secrets down in the shipyards.

Even though the story is good, it really isn't enough to keep me interested. I did finish the book, but there are many other VI stories out there are much better and much more fast-paced than this little sleeper.

Ok, if you are a VI fan and you want to read the series, otherwise choose another one.

Riveting and fast-paced!.......1999-03-27

This was my first introduction to tough-as-nails, but soft-hearted, V.I. Warshawski and I've been a fan ever since. V.I. is a welcome addition to the growing number of female private investigators. Paretsky's tale is tautly plotted, with ever-increasing tension. Hope she writes another V.I. book soon.

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A Great Story
Christian Legal Thriller-lite
James Scott Bell's "Deadlock" challenges court's "legislative role"
A solid legal drama
ENTERTAINING, ENLIGHTENING

Deadlock
James Scott Bell
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0310243882

Book Description

A suspense novel that asks what if a liberal Supreme Court Justice, and the all-important swing vote, has a religious conversion that changes her whole life--and the way she views the law?

Customer Reviews:

A Great Story .......2007-03-28

Deadlock is a well crafted legal thriller that is hard to put down.

It centers around Supreme Court Justice Milly Hollander who has some major life happenings including a near death experience that makes her examine her relationship with God. That leads to a major transformation of her legal philosophy.

This happens about the same time that she is nominated to be the Chief Justice by a liberal president. Her new views cause major consternation for the president and members of Congress who share his philosophy. They make it their mission to destroy her.

Along the way, the author weaves in a subplot of a young woman who has a major legal battle with the abortion industry.

Overall, the story was excellent. It addresses issues of concern to all and will make the readers think. There are two things that I did not like. One is a plot twist that I would have liked to have seen done differently. Although the way it was written led to a major surprise, I think it took away from some excitement that could have occurred later on had it been done differently.

The other criticism was this: One of the characters, Jack Holden, had written a legal brief exploring the big questions of life, God, etc. during his own spiritual searching. Holden shares it with the Justice. Mr. Bell only provided enough of the brief to whet the reader's appetite. I would like to see him expand on that. He could actually write a complete future novel based around that.

In spite of that, this is a great book with superb character development. I highly recommend it.

Christian Legal Thriller-lite .......2006-07-05

Deadlock by James Scott Bell is the story of Millicent Hollander, a Supreme Court justice who is a known atheist and liberal vote on the court. When she finds her life suddenly taking a drastic turn, she finds herself forced to face her lack of faith and re-evaluate everything she believes in. This was the first book I've read by Bell, and to me it seems a little like Randy Singer-lite. There's less emphasis on the law and characterizations and more on plot. It's very well written, and I enjoyed how Bell used coincidences to bring not just Millie but others to faith. But Millie's change of heart seemed a little forced, especially her decision at the end of the book. It also felt a bit like this was a set up for the beginning of a series (maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it felt). Bell does a good job of talking about Jesus and the Bible without proselytizing. This was definitely an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more of Bell's work, however if his other books are too similar to this one, I can see it would become formulaic.

James Scott Bell's "Deadlock" challenges court's "legislative role".......2006-06-21

James Scott Bell, is another fine craftsman of Christian-inspired legal and suspense novels (i.e., the "Terri Blackstock genre,"). His "Deadlock" is a direct and effective challenge to the nation's courts' continuing encroachment into the legislative branch of our government. Highly recommended!
--R.C. Howe

A solid legal drama.......2006-03-28

Deadlock is an exciting legal thriller by one of the best Christian authors today, James Scott Bell. In Deadlock, Bell tackles the hot button issue of abortion from the political and judicial point of view, pointing out just how divisive the issue is to our country.

Millie Hollander is a Supreme Court Justice on the verge of being the chief justice when she is hit by a car. This experience causes her to question her own beliefs in death, the afterlife and God.

Meanwhile, Senator Levering from Oklahoma (you know this is fiction because there is no way a hard drinking, womanizing, Ted Kennady-esque Senator would ever come from Oklahoma) is assuring the democratic president that Hollander would continue to keep the tenious liberal/moderate majority on the court.

Charlene Moore is taken on the national abortion lobby with a teenager as a client, alleging her client was warned of all the dangers of abortion before she had the procedure.

Senator Levering, his seedy operative, Anne Deveraux as well as Hollander are all great characters who at one time or another have to reconcile their actions with their belief in God.

This is a great legal novel with solid insights on how the Supreme Court operates. It also has strong relationships at its core, and that is what makes it a good novel. Bell doesn't solve the abortion crisis in this novel, but does make it apparent what he believes: God is the only way to really solve the problem.

ENTERTAINING, ENLIGHTENING.......2004-11-02

James Scott Bell tackles a fascinating dilemma: What if a Supreme Court Justice becomes a Christian right before appointment as chief justice? The one who holds tie-breaking power has changed her worldview. Bell handles the social debate with excellence and entertaining form. I meant to do a quick read, but had to peruse every word. The woman who had a knack for "beating God back with a stick," must scramble to open herself up to faith and the perplexity of answering why she's become the bait in a vicious public battle. Great enlightenment for anyone who'd like to understand the people behind the politics.

The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It

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What it takes to win.
Great analysis
Still trying to make the populist connection
Highly readable, surprisingly funny
Essential reading for the 2004 elections

The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It
Stanley B. Greenberg
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Elections | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312318391
Release Date: 2005-05-19

Amazon.com

Having spent a career closely watching the numbers, veteran Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who advised Bill Clinton in his 1992 victory, sees a nation entrenched into two opposing ideological camps, neither side getting much done. And so he presents solutions, of course to Democrats but also Republicans if they care to read the book, on how to break the gridlock and solidify power. Greenberg offers a history lesson, showing how for the last 50 years, neither party has had a solid grip on power and, as a result, lacked the mandate to lead. Instead, both fire up their base of supporters and scrap for small electoral groups in order to give them a tiny majority among national office holders. Armed with history and voluminous statistical data, Greenberg identifies the core constituencies of each party and assigns them catchy names in order to make his analysis more entertaining and easier to follow. The Republicans' base includes such groups as the "F-You Old Men," white blue-collar seniors with no college education, while over on the left side, the Democrats are anchored by groups like the "Secular Warriors," people who rarely attend church and don't own guns. Extensive polling took place in three communities that are battlegrounds on the electoral map and all three receive catchy nicknames as well: "Tampa Blue" (working class Florida), "The Heartland" (Iowa farm country), and "Eastside Tech" (the white-collar tech-heavy suburbs east of Seattle). After reading the pulse of these representative voters, Greenberg recommends the GOP offer up a second-generation Reagan campaign, emphasizing hope, independence, and industriousness. For the Democrats, his suggestions include taking classic Democratic themes of opportunity and equality and updating to encompass modern issues like environmental and health care concerns. This book was released in the early stages of the 2004 Democratic primaries and in the early going, the successful candidates seemed to be embracing Greenberg's notions, hoping to unseat a President Bush a second time. --John Moe

Book Description

Revised and expanded to account for results of the 2004 presidential election, Clinton pollster Stan Greenberg defines the political future of our nation America is divided by the thinnest of margins. The political world as we have known it for the last quarter century has been stuck at a partisan impasse. Politicians locked into this fight kowtow desperately to the two or three percent of indecisive and often reluctant voters who can tip the scales.

Customer Reviews:

What it takes to win........2006-09-06

This book was published in 2004 and is loaded with results of polls to indicate preferences of voters on all sorts of issues. It covers the issues and shows the direction that the Democrats and Republicans must take if they hope to sway voters from one party to the other. The book amplifies the miriad of issues that face both the voters and the party stratgeists.One of the difficult things is that ,while there are many issues,the voter must in his final analysis, choose one candidate over another.
Whe also see that a great number of voters have a large amount of party loyalty and will not vote against party loyalty,regardless. So,what this means is that the center ground and voter willingless to make their vote count is really what elections are all about. Each party has agendae and pressures that divide the voter. In the book we see why and how both parties play up or play down issues in hopes go gaining the most votes at the time.
The book is written more from the standpoint of how the Democrats must change to win.Reading this book now,we see that it is obvious that the Democrats failed to move to the center and thus loss the 2004 election. As November 2006 approaches,we will again see if the shifts will occur; and again in 2008.
One thing that has often occurred to me over the years ,particularly with the election of the President, falls under personality and traits such as trust,likability
and leadership.I think these factors overide party agenda,certainly in enough numbers from swing voters to result in one candidate winning over another.
Although most party loyalists would not likely agree but I believe that,Kennedy,Roosevelt, Truman,Eisenhower, Reagan and Bush were all winners on that score. As much as the media tried to destroy George W. Bush, when you get right down to it the swing voter liked these qualities better with him than with John Kerry...and that's why he won.
I am really surprised the author did not address this important factor in his otherwise extensive coverage of issues.
This is why the Debates are so important.It's not which candidate wins on debating skills ;but which one is the one the voter trusts,likes and thinks would make the best leader.

Great analysis.......2006-02-10

This book provides an excellent description of the American society and its current dilemma. Guns control, abortion, prayers at schools, and many other subjects have an equal number of supporters and detractors, and that is reflected in the polls. Why can't a political platform atract a vast majority of the Americans? This is the deadlock which the author refers to in the title.
Based on many surveys, he can identify many tipologies of citizens tbat help us understand their beliefs and thus, their electoral behavior.

Still trying to make the populist connection.......2004-09-10

Stan Greenberg is clearly no slouch when it comes to political analysis but he is wrestling with the same question he has wrestled with for two decades; how to make working and middle class voters vote "correctly".

Greenberg has an insightful way of dividing up the US electorate and his polling data is rich and useful, regardless of the reader's persuasion. He advises Democrats to take the appeal of cultural conservatism seriously, but what he recommends is the same grab bag of populist policy positions Democrats have been pushing since the 1980s with mixed results (with the exception of welfare reform). He assumes more progressive taxation, labor market regulation and government spending work as well in practice as in theory and thus if Democrats can finesse the cultural issues (without actually deviating from cultural liberalism) they should win the votes of the nonwealthy. Given what has occurred over the past two decades, his argument is unconvincing.

Highly readable, surprisingly funny.......2004-07-24

Stanley Greenberg has written a deeply researched, extensively footnoted, highly readable indictment of our current political state, and we should be humbly grateful for it.

From the preface, where he observes the press "...prefers the politics of character...." to reporting anything of substance, to the afterword, in which he presents the two scenarios he developed in the previous 300 pages to his focus groups, Greenberg holds very few cows sacred and presents a relatively even-handed treatment of the current political deadlock.

However, I give you fair warning: If you, the reader, are not of the liberal persuasion, this book may irritate the starch out of you. Remember, I said "relatively even-handed." Also remember, I'm a liberal.

Greenberg starts out with a short review of the last 200 years of political history, showing us that one-party domination is the rule rather than the exception. He devotes much attention to the last fifty years, in which no party has dominated, and even greater attention to the last 25, from the Reagan Revolution in 1980 to the bitterly contested and still controversial 2000 brouhaha, and on to the beginnings of the 2004 campaign. (Incidentally, I was reading the section on President Reagan when he died and for the first few days of our national mourning period. I was struck by irony: the facts in Greenberg's work versus the hyperbole issuing from every talking head on television.) Greenberg's liberal bias is highly evident in this section: he is far too easy on President Clinton. I laughed out loud at "...[he] advanced his proposals for gays to serve in the military, thus dramatically illustrating the breadth of the principle for America's ever-expanding rights." Oh, puh-leeze. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was hardly a milestone in civil rights.

The author goes on to discuss the makeup of each party's core voters, or base; to present hypothetical, occasionally foul-mouthed, and often amusing "secret planning sessions" in which potential party strategies are plotted; and in the final sections, to propose a plan for each party to break the deadlock and pull the majority of voters in line with its political views. Footnotes and graphs and "chalk talk" illustrations abound throughout.

Greenberg writes in clear lucid prose, plainly setting out his premise while using minimal political jargon. While the book is meaty and dense with facts, the only dry thing about it is Greenberg's somewhat sardonic wit. It is a surprisingly funny book which should be read by every voter, regardless of political party.

Essential reading for the 2004 elections.......2004-06-06

A comprehensive blueprint for thoughtful, responsible discussion and for the pivotal decisions that are ours to make at a critical juncture in American politics in an age of globalization. An essential, engaging handbook of political strategy perfectly timed for the 2004 elections. Read this book sooner rather than later.

The Deadlock of Democracy in Brazil (Interests, Identities, and Institutions in Comparative Politics)

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what motivates Brazilian politicians?

The Deadlock of Democracy in Brazil (Interests, Identities, and Institutions in Comparative Politics)
Barry Ames
Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0472089048

Book Description

Many countries have experimented with different electoral rules in order either to increase involvement in the political system or make it easier to form stable governments. Barry Ames explores this important topic in one of the world's most populous and important democracies, Brazil. This book locates one of the sources of Brazil's "crisis of governance" in the nation's unique electoral system, a system that produces a multiplicity of weak parties and individualistic, pork-oriented politicians with little accountability to citizens. It explains the government's difficulties in adopting innovative policies by examining electoral rules, cabinet formation, executive-legislative conflict, party discipline and legislative negotiation.

The book combines extensive use of new sources of data, ranging from historical and demographic analysis in focused comparisons of individual states to unique sources of data for the exploration of legislative politics. The discussion of party discipline in the Chamber of Deputies is the first multivariate model of party cooperation or defection in Latin America that includes measures of such important phenomena as constituency effects, pork-barrel receipts, ideology, electoral insecurity, and intention to seek reelection. With a unique data set and a sophisticated application of rational choice theory, Barry Ames demonstrates the effect of different electoral rules for election to Brazil's legislature.

The readership of this book includes anyone wanting to understand the crisis of democratic politics in Brazil. The book will be especially useful to scholars and students in the areas of comparative politics, Latin American politics, electoral analysis, and legislative studies.

Barry Ames is the Andrew Mellon Professor of Comparative Politics and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Pittsburgh.

Customer Reviews:

what motivates Brazilian politicians?.......2005-08-25

Ames furnishes a detailed political science analysis of the Brazilian parliament. An often quantitative assessment of various strategies used by the politicians. He explains these in terms of the need to build coalitions between groups of rather disparate interests. Where, given the size of Brazil, these groups might hark from different regions.

Perhaps the best chapter is on "Wheeling,Dealing and Appealing", where we look at the possible motivations of the deputies (politicians). Unsurprisingly, many of the deputies will vote for something if the package includes pork for their constituents. Just like any democracy. The problem, as given by the book's title, is in how this can, and often does, translate into a legislative stasis.

America: From Gridlock to Deadlock 1985-2001 (A Basic History of the United States)

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Flight From Reality

America: From Gridlock to Deadlock 1985-2001 (A Basic History of the United States)
Clarence B. Carson
Manufacturer: Amer Textbook Committee
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 1931789150

Customer Reviews:

Flight From Reality.......2007-08-24

We had struggled a bit with the most appropriate title for our review of this, the sixth and final(thank God!) of Clarence Carson's volumes on Basic American History. And then, in searching for this title on Amazon's search engine, we discovered that author Carson had another book by the name "Flight From Reality". Indeed, this serves as the perfect heading for Carson's final flight of fancy.

Within the corpus of this text, Carson reveals his admiration for the "political philosophy" of comedian Rush Limbaugh. Indeed, this is a book said comedian could well have written. Sadly, Limbaugh, like Carson, evidently, lacks much respect for ontological, logical, and moral truth. And this lack of respect for the essential types of truth comes across loud and clear in this final volume.

Carson includes an entire chapter on President Clinton's "assault on law". In this context, we wonder how Carson would comment on the much more egregious assault on the law lately conducted by neoconservative stooge George Walker Bush. Never mind that. We've heard enough of Rush's show to know the answer. Carson would be quite untroubled with illegal war, unconstitutional wire tapping, rendition, and the torture and unlawful detainment of American citizens. How truly sad that such a character as Carson was, for a time, allowed to don the garb of an academic.

Near the end of this volume, Carson includes a section on the death of Princess Diana. His gratuitous attack on this lovely and charitable woman says all that we need to know about the character of author Carson. It is not often that reading a book supposedly about history makes us truly angry. But the experience of finishing Carson's despicable work has done just that. No truly moral and honest person could actually enjoy this despicable work. We are stunned that some so called conservatives recommend this series to students. Perhaps they have never read it. Now that we have, we can make the following judgment: It should never be recommended. Rather it should be shunned.

Breaking the Deadlock: The 2000 Election, the Constitution, and the Courts

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As far as I'm concerned the whole matter is settled
All the votes that are fit to count....
Thorough, but tedious reading
Disappointing
Exposes Bugliosi as a liberal B.S artist

Breaking the Deadlock: The 2000 Election, the Constitution, and the Courts
Richard A. Posner
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Constitutions | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0691090734

Book Description

The 2000 Presidential election ended in a collision of history, law, and the courts. It produced a deadlock that dragged out the result for over a month, and consequences--real and imagined--that promise to drag on for years. In the first in-depth study of the election and its litigious aftermath, Judge Posner surveys the history and theory of American electoral law and practice, analyzes which Presidential candidate ''really'' won the popular vote in Florida, surveys the litigation that ensued, evaluates the courts, the lawyers, and the commentators, and ends with a blueprint for reforming our Presidential electoral practices.

The book starts with an overview of the electoral process, including its history and guiding theories. It looks next at the Florida election itself, exploring which candidate ''really'' won and whether this is even a meaningful question. The focus then shifts to the complex litigation, both state and federal, provoked by the photo finish. On the basis of the pragmatic jurisprudence that Judge Posner has articulated and defended in his previous writings, this book offers an alternative justification for the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore while praising the Court for averting the chaotic consequences of an unresolved deadlock.

Posner also evaluates the performance of the lawyers who conducted the post-election litigation and of the academics who commented on the unfolding drama. He argues that neither Gore's nor Bush's lawyers blundered seriously, but that the reaction of the legal professoriat to the litigation exposed serious flaws in the academic practice of constitutional law. While rejecting such radical moves as abolishing the Electoral College or creating a national ballot, Posner concludes with a detailed plan of feasible reforms designed to avoid a repetition of the 2000 election fiasco.

Lawyers, political scientists, pundits, and politicians are waiting to hear what Judge Posner has to say. But this book is written for and will be welcomed by all who were riveted by the recent crisis of presidential succession.

Customer Reviews:

As far as I'm concerned the whole matter is settled.......2004-07-06

This book, while a difficult read, lays out the Constitutional arguments for the legitimacy of the Supreme Court's decisions in the presidential election of 2000. I didn't vote for Bush, and I won't vote for him in November, but after reading this book, I can accept that his presidency, while controversial, is legitimate. (Opposition to Bush's policies is a separate matter entirely, and I won't be sorry if he loses.)

All the votes that are fit to count...........2003-07-29

We are a little over a year away from the 2004 Presidential election and you can bet that the 2000 election will cast its shadow over the electorate. For that reason, Breaking the Deadlock remains a very timely read. Going into 2004, it's worth bearing in mind the book's central point: that the question of who won the popular vote in Florida was not a question of fact, but of law. "If the recount was unlawful, the winner of the recount would not be the winner of the election even if he was in some sense the more popular candidate." At the same time,however, Judge Posner acknowledges that Courts, including the Supreme Court, that interpret the law, and were interpreting Florida election, and U.S. Constitutional law in 2000, are themselves exercising a level of discretion that invariably calls into play extra-legal factors. The "people" shall be judge, as the sagacious philosopher Mr. Locke asserted, but who then are the people? Who counts? This text confronts that question. Not all of the material covered in this book was new to me. Still, I learned a significant amount about the 2000 election, and about the electoral process in general. Teachers, students and voters in general will find in Breaking the Deadlock a superb survey of a critical facet of U.S. political life.

Thorough, but tedious reading.......2003-07-17

Unlike most of Posner's other writing (his judicial opinions included), this book lacks the verve and wit that marks his style. What is here is a thorough examination of the Bush-Gore contretemps, in which the author concludes, quite persuasively, that almost everybody was right. Yes, the Democrats had a point -- Gore might have gotten more votes, had they all been counted. But yes, Harris was within her discretion to stop the vote-counting. And yes, the Supreme Court majority made the right decision to close the whole show.

While his conclusions are interesting, the analysis makes for tedious reading as Posner drills down to the most mundane details of the vote-counting. It's almost like reading a political science text and times, and that's not a good thing if you are a general reader (Posner's target audience, I believe).

Disappointing.......2002-11-29

Unfortunately, Posner ultimately ends up relying on the same intellectual dishonesty in trying to justify the Supreme Court's decision that at least three of the justices used in crafting the opinion. Left unaddressed is the most disturbing of Dershowitz's observation that these same three (Rehnquist, Scalia and Thomas, and probably others) completely ignored their overall "judicial philosophies" (as contained in their previous opinions) to install "their" man in the White House. It isn't the judicial activism that is the problem. Had these justices been consistent with what they SAID they believed in, the decision would have at least been defensible. As it stands, the decision is justifiable only as a raw exercise of Machiavellian rationale. THAT is the tragedy.

Exposes Bugliosi as a liberal B.S artist.......2002-07-12

After reading the junk books by Bugliosi and Dumbshawitz it's nice to read a book that uses actual law as a criteria.

There is a reason that Bugliosi claims the verdict was 5-4 (Not 7-2) and why he avoids the Reynolds v Sims ruling..Bugliosi is a hack!

Book Description

Policy-Making and Diversity in Europe examines the European Union and its policy-making processes. In particular, it asks how an institution that is so riddled with veto points manages to be such an active policy maker. Héritier argues that the diversity of actors' interests and the need for consensus in European institutions would almost inevitably lead to deadlock, were it not for the existence of creative informal strategies and policy-making patterns. Termed by the author "subterfuge," these strategies prevent political impasses and "make Europe work."

Download Description

Policy-Making and Diversity in Europe examines the European polity and its policy-making processes. In particular, it asks how an institution which is so riddled with veto points manages to be such an active and aggressive policy maker. HÈritier argues that the diversity of actors' interests and the consensus-forcing nature of European institutions would almost inevitably stall the decision-making process, were it not for the existence of creative informal strategies and policy-making patterns. Termed by the author 'subterfuge', these strategies prevent political impasses and 'make Europe work'. The book examines the presence of subterfuge in the policy domains of market-making, the provision of collective goods, redistribution and distribution. Subterfuge is seen to reinforce the primary functions of the European polity: the accommodation of diversity, policy innovation and democratic legitimation. Professor HÈritier concludes that the use of subterfuge to reconcile unity with diversity and competition with co-operation is the greatest challenge facing European policy-making.

Average customer rating:

The best terrorist thriller in ages
A fast-paced read with many unexpected twists

Deadlock
Colin Forbes
Manufacturer: Trans-Atlantic Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0330303112

Customer Reviews:

The best terrorist thriller in ages.......2000-06-17

....The one main thing that surprised me about this is how well it's dated. I was wondering as I read it "when was it published" but it could have been released this week, and you wouldn't be able to tell when it was written.

As always, the atmosphere is amazing. Forbes has done a brilliant job of capturing the areas visited in the book, and the various peculiarities of the differant nations. There was a definite feeling of suspense, and I found it very hard to put the book down, sacrificing a lot of sleep getting through it!

In sum, I think it is a brillaint book, and if you can track down a copy, it is well worth it. This is far greater than any other terrorist thrillers out there at the moment.

A fast-paced read with many unexpected twists.......2000-05-15

Colin Forbes's favourite spies, England's finest, Tweed, Paula Grey(in her debut field assignment) and international foreign correspondent Bob Newman are hot on the trail of a former Russian strategic warfare planner who has in his possession Triton Three, the most powerful non-nuclear explosive in the world. What is his target? Who is the mysterious sniper called The Monk and whose side is he really on? The trail leads Tweed and co. to Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and a showdown at Rotterdam. The locations are once again well-researched, Forbes always visits them to get a good atmosphere and fire up his imagination! The action as well never stops, and the storytelling and prose is kept simple so it will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Which, along with memorable characters, shows why he is extremely popular. If you can track down a copy of DEADLOCK, get it - it is one of the best terrorist thrillers ever!

Deadlock: The Inside Story oF America's Closest Election

Average customer rating:

Nice read...
Excellent Primer
2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
More Detail Would Have Been Nice
Terrific re-telling of a gripping era in American history

Deadlock: The Inside Story oF America's Closest Election
Ellen Nakashima , Washington Post , David Von Drehle , Joel Achenbach , Mike Allen , Dan Balz , Jo Becker , David Broder , Ceci Connolly , Claudia Deane , Helen Dewar , Thomas B. Edsall , Juliet Eilperin , James V. Grimaldi , Robert G. Kaiser , Dan Keating , Howard Kurtz , Charles Lane , George Lardner Jr. , John Mintz , Dana Milbank , Sue Anne Pressley , Lois Romano , Susan Schmidt , Peter Slevin , Roberto Suro , Walsh, Ed , and Witt, April
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Elections | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

State & Local Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1586480804
Release Date: 2001-03-06

Book Description

When Americans cast their ballots on November 7, no one expected that the outcome would still be in doubt more than a month later. For the first time ever, it seemed, the presidential election had ended in a dead heat, with but a few hundred votes in Florida separating Al Gore and George W. Bush. The stage was set for an extraordinary drama of recounts, challenges, court cases - and hanging, swinging, and dimpled chads.

The Washington Post, America's premier newspaper for politics and elections, has been in the forefront of the post-election coverage, and in this book its award-winning staff provides the first full-length account of the closest and strangest election in our history - from the last frantic days of campaigning to the networks' premature election-night projections; from the "butterfly ballot" to the manual recounts; from the first legal challenges to the final adjudication. The Post has offered unsurpassed coverage of the events that transfixed the nation and the world, and now its all-star team of reporters has produced a page-turner to rival the best political thrillers. Deadlock is a wholly original work of history-in-the-making, written by David Von Drehle and Ellen Nakashima, two of the paper's most accomplished political writers, drawing on the reporting of over two dozen top reporters and columnists in Washington, Florida, and Texas. The Post will publish a seven-part front-page series based on the book right before Inauguration Day (January 14-20), and the book will contain additional chapters that will not have appeared in the newspaper. Books will be in stores by mid-February, making it the first post-election book available to readers. Phil Graham, the legendary publisher of The Washington Post in the 1950s and early 1960s, famously called newspapers "the first rough draft of history." His newspaper has now produced not a rough draft, but history itself - rich, detailed, nuanced, and groundbreaking. This is a book that no citizen should do without.

Customer Reviews:

Nice read..........2005-10-12

Good comprehensive play by play of the post election fiasco.

PW Vienna VA

Excellent Primer.......2004-09-19

If I could have given DEADLOCK another half-star, I would have. It's a fine, straight-ahead account of the disputed Florida election, and I've got only a couple of negative things to say. For one thing, there are a great number of characters who pop in and out of the book, and I wish the editor would have inserted a Cast of Characters page. And for another thing -- and this is not anybody's fault -- we know, almost four years later, more than the authors did when they wrote this book, almost immediately after the election. As I finished, I wanted to know the results of all those after-the-fact recounts that were conducted by various news organizations. But I'll have to find another source for those (though it's pretty silly to even care, at this point). Overall, a quick and informative read.

2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.......2003-10-16

DEADLOCK BY THE WASHINGTON POST IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THE BUSH/GORE 2000 ELECTION RECOUNT VOTE.

More Detail Would Have Been Nice.......2002-11-28

Two things struck me while reading this book, the first is that I doubt there is a book out there that is truly balanced and not somewhat biased. The second thing was that Gore really got the shaft, not so much by the recount wars, but by the election official that came up with the Butterfly Ballot. In the history of the USA this decision ranks up there with new Coke and the XFL, what a mistake. As far as the reporting in the book it was not bad for a review of all the articles they had in the paper, but it did not really dig into the particular issues very deeply. I wanted more detail and behind the scenes with both the candidates. I also wanted more details on the court cases; I felt like the sky-high overview of the issues of the cases did not do such an important issue justice.

In reading the book I think a little bit of a democratic bias comes out, just a little, but enough to notice. I also thought it interesting that they had far more details of the Gore group then the Bush camp, it follows the perception that the Post is somewhat liberal in its views. The book is an overview that came out almost 10 minutes after Gore hung up the phone on the second concession call so there are a few more details out now that they did not get in the book. Overall it is a good effort and a readable book, but not the end all be all on the subject.

Terrific re-telling of a gripping era in American history.......2002-03-01

I don't care what Repubs say, there was no liberal media bias apparent in this book. They showed both campaigns, warts and all, and let the public form its own opinion. The book was a fantastic behind-the-scenes re-telling of America's most recent Constitutional crisis, one that could have disrupted government for years to come. Of course, recent events have taken peoples' minds off of this contentious election, but this book should be pushed as much as possible so people will never forget that every vote actually does count sometimes.

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