NationStates Jolt Archive

I wanna' bump up my knowledge of politics a little (actually a lot) and I was wondering if anyone could suggest some good books!
View doesn't matter because I'm actually considering one book from Rush Limbaugh and one book from Al Franken to start (preferably "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot")!
I figure a book from each of the mortal enemies should give me one hell of an extremists view of each side! Any other suggestions?

I've actually read Rush's books The way things ought to be and see I told you so. Neither was very good, but the second one comes off as even more preachy and irritating than the first. And I was still a republican when I read them.

Of Al Frankens I really enjoyed Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.

You might also take a look at The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - by Greg Palast

Just read a lot. All the time. Read multiple news sources. Read commentaries from right, left and center. Read www.sciam.com because you'd be surprised how much science, or the understanding or lack thereof, plays a role in current events. Also, read a lot about oil and energy because it is always at the base of everything. I like to start my day with cnn.com because it's fast, meaning they get breaking news quickly and the page is updated so fast that you can find new headlines every half hour or so. then I read latimes.com for a little more indepth coverage and because I grew up with teh times. Then I read marketwatch.com. foxnews.com, thedrudgereport.com, wallstreetjournal.com and finally energybulletin.net. When I'm done with those I log into few different message boards that are political in nature and see what people are talking about and then read stories people post. The point is: READ.

anything by Zygmunt Bauman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygmunt_Bauman)

The Wanting Seed, by Anthony Burgess.

It's all you need to know.

Whichever of Noam Chomsky's books is the newest.

Bill Maher: New Rules. Not really as political as it could be, but absolutely hilarious.

The Prince

Do you mean current affairs or politics?

A good satirical biography that I'd recomend is 'Things can only get better - eighteen miserable years in the life of a labour supporter' by John O'Farrell. He's written for Splitting Image and Have I Got News for You.

But I'd only recomend that if you were British.

America the book!

Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter
The Politics of Deceit by Glenn W. Smith
Gag Rule by Lewis Lapham
Fear's Empire by Benjamin R. Barber
The Essential America by George McGovern
The 9/11 Commission Report

The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad - 1750 to the Present, Second Edition, by Walter LaFeber
Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet by James Mann
Strategy for Empire: U.S. Regional Security Policy in the Post-Cold War Era edited by Brian Loveman
Contemporary Cases in U.S. Foreign Policy: From Terrorism to Trade, Second Edition, edited by Ralph G. Carter
Logics of American Foreign Policy by Patrick Callahan
Counting on the Latino Vote: Latinos as a New Electorate by Louis DeSipio
Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity by David G. Gutiérrez
Political Science Quarterly, published by The Academy of Political Science (http://www.psqonline.org/)
The Middle East Journal, published by Middle East Institute (http://www.mideasti.org/programs/programs_journal.html)
BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/


Edit: as a general rule, avoid the "politics" section at the local bookstore and instead spend some time at the local college/university library reading academic works. The vast majority of books in the "politics" section at the local bookstore are written simply for the purpose of selling political celebrity, whereas the vast majority of books on social/political science at the college/university library are written for the purpose of actual examination, criticism, analysis, and academic discourse. This is not to say that bias or worship of political celebrity do not exist in academia. Neither is it true that absolutely no worthwhile works exist at the local bookstore (I regularly purchase issues of Political Science Quarterly and The Middle East Journal at my local Barnes & Noble). However, I think that it is safe to say that the college/university library is the best source for those seeking to actually educate themselves on the topic of politics and social issues.

Edit: All that said, I also recommend America (the book) by Jon Stewart/The Daily Show :D

The Republic - Plato.

If you are looking for less philosophical works, I would suggest:

"Bowling Alone", by Robert Putnam
"Slouching Towards Gamorrah", by Robert Bork
"What's the Matter with Kansas", by Thomas Frank
"What Liberal Media?", by Eric Alterman

The first is primarily sociological and does little partisan digging, but it is one of the most influential books that describes contemporary American society. The second, third, and fourth are three of the most influential partisan texts produced in the last 25 years, with the Bork piece being an argument for conservatism, with the other two pieces being liberal reactions to elements of the Bork project.

If you are looking for more philosophical texts, then I would recommend:

"The Republic", by Plato
"Politics", by Aristotle
"Second Treatise on Government", by John Locke
"The Wealth of Nations", by Adam Smith
"A Theory of Justice", by John Rawls
"The Prince", by Niccolo Machiavelli

There is a preponderance of liberal-based readings (not in the sense of Democratic Party-liberal, but small-L liberalism in the sense of expansive views of human rights when dealing with government policy), but those are all in the top-ten most important philosophical treatises on government.

Watership Down.

Blood! Rabbits! Politics!