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5821. Asia's Flying Geese: How Regionalization Shapes Japan

Author:
Akira Iriye
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
This is not an easy book to read. It is filled with the authorʼs self-deprecatory remarks, such as: “the results of my fieldwork are neither extraordinary nor groundbreaking” (p. 88), and “[this] book does not break completely new ground” (p. 247). As if to confirm such statements, the book is littered with quotes from other writers, so that the authorʼs own contributions tend to be buried under them. That is a shame, for the book does undertake something important, that is, delineating factors that account for Japanʼs economic troubles that began in the 1990s and continued into the new century.
Political Geography:
Japan and Asia

5822. Adrift: Charting Our Course Back to a Great Nation

Author:
Raymond A. Smith
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
The “big picture” political book has become a staple of political campaigns, in which high-profile politicians diagnose the full range of problems besetting the country and present their broad agenda for change; Barack Obamaʼs The Audacity of Hope is perhaps only the best known of these volumes. Authors without such a preexisting audience tend to either rely on a single “big idea” to tie together their books or else provide original data with detailed policy analysis in order to persuade readers. Thomas L. Friedmanʼs various concept-driven books fit into the prior category, while the work of most rank-and-file social scientists falls into the latter mode.
Political Geography:
America

5823. Cosmopolitan Power in International Relations: A Synthesis of Realism, Neoliberalism, and Constructivism

Author:
Stacie Goddard
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Power is integral to world politics. This statement is hardly controversial, yet what constitutes power is among the most-contested questions in international relations theory. Realists contend that hard power — the coercive use of military might — is the primary determinant of behavior and outcomes in the inter- national system. In contrast, neoliberals and constructivists argue that “ soft power ” — the capacity to get what one wants through persuasion rather than coercion — is as important, if not more so, than military might.

5824. Power, Politics, and Universal Health Care: The Inside Story of a Century-Long Battle

Author:
Daniel Skinner
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
While the impact of Barack Obamaʼs 2010 health care initiative will not be known for some time, Stuart Altman and David Shactman make clear that it was a long time coming. Altman himself was directly involved in the reform efforts of Obama and Richard Nixon, and was bitter for having been sidelined by Bill Clinton. The book reads as a recounting of lessons learned during the Nixon administration, anger for Clinton ʼ s refusal to heed those lessons, and ultimate redemption with the passage of health care reform under Obama, when Altman was brought back into the fold. At its best, the book recounts the twists and turns of a longstanding quest for a better American health care system.
Topic:
Health
Political Geography:
America

5825. Coalitions of Convenience: United States Military Interventions after the Cold War

Author:
Daniel R. Lake
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States was left alone with an unusual degree of power preponderance. Such a position of preponderance could have led to a series of unilateral military interventions, but instead, the United States has intervened multilaterally more often than not. In Coalitions of Convenience , Sarah E. Kreps offers a convincing explanation for this mixture of unilateralism and multilateralism.
Topic:
Cold War
Political Geography:
United States and Soviet Union

5826. Playing Our Game: Why China's Rise Doesn't Threaten the West

Author:
Scott Kennedy
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
As Chinaʼs economy grows larger and the country more powerful, most scholars are focused on the distinctive nature of the Chinese state and the depth of its intervention in the economy. China is often identified as an East Asian developmental state, or as representing a new model of development distinct from the West. Edward Steinfeld of MIT asserts that these interpretations over- look the fundamental transformation that Chinese society writ large has under- gone during the past two decades to become much more Western than most observers recognize.
Political Geography:
China and East Asia

5827. Politics and Strategy: Partisan Ambition and American Statecraft

Author:
Meena Bose
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
In the twenty-first century, the numerous and diverse challenges — security, economic, political — that the United States faces in a highly interdependent internationalsystempointtotheneedforanoverarchinggrandstrategytoguide foreign policy making. But the obstacles to developing such a strategy can be daunting, both substantively, in identifying long-term interests and the resources to achieve them, and politically, in building support for a doctrine to reshape policy priorities and choices. Peter Trubowitzʼs ambitious undertaking to examine the development of grand strategy from the origins of the American Republic to the present significantly advances prospects for achieving such far-reaching goals.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
United States and America

5828. Leaders at War: How Presidents Shape Military Interventions

Author:
David A. Crockett
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
In The Federalist, No. 70, Alexander Hamilton argues in favor of an executive office comprising one person, principally because that unitary structure will provide “energy in the executive,” which for Hamilton is a “leading character in the definition of good government.” Qualities directly associated with this unity – energy relationship include “decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch.” This structural feature of the second branch of government would seem to make the identity of the president rather important. After all, the loss of one member of Congress leaves 534 legislators to soldier on. Change the president, however, and you end up with a completely different administration, even if subordinate personnel do not change.
Topic:
Military Strategy

5829. Changing Inequality

Author:
Patrick Flavin
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
In recent years, a growing chorus has sounded the alarm about rising income inequality in the United States. Concerned citizens, ranging from academics to political pundits to those participating in the "Occupy Wall Street" protests, contend that decisive action is necessary to reverse this trend. Amidst this backdrop, a crucial question often goes neglected: Why, exactly, has income inequality increased so markedly? In her highly accessible book, Rebecca Blank sets out to empirically answer this question.
Political Geography:
United States

5830. Agenda Setting in the U.S. Senate: Costly Consideration and Majority Party Advantage

Author:
Gregory Robinson
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Political Science Quarterly
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
Chris Den Hartog and Nathan W. Monroe note that for a variety of reasons, the study of the U.S. Senate has been stubbornly resistant to scientific, theoretically sound inquiry. For them, previous arguments about the Senate have tended to be as post hoc and inductive as the process and procedure of the chamber are thought to be ad hoc and idiosyncratic. The authors seek to change this with their ambitious attempt to integrate the descriptive understanding of the Senate found in the literature with a deductive theory of Senate politics centered on majority party advantage.
Political Geography:
United States