Once an impoverished, autocratic country, in just a few decades South Korea has transformed itself into a vibrant democracy with a highly developed economy. Using a comparative perspective to look at the factors behind South Korea's dynamism, Ji Young Choi provides a comprehensive, balanced, and accessible introduction to the country's politics, economy, and international relations. He    More >

How are budget decisions made by the US government? Is it fair to blame skyrocketing deficits on an inability to curtail spending? How—and why—are taxing and spending decidedly separate political processes? Emphasizing budgetary politics rather than economic theories, Patrick Fisher offers a clear, thorough overview of how money flows through our government coffers. A welcome    More >

The Poor Always Pay Back demystifies Grameen II, an improved and more flexible version of the classical Grameen model that has been used to financially empower the poorest families in more than a hundred countries across the globe.    More >

One of Future Survey's Super 70 books David Korten challenges capitalism's claim to being a means of creating wealth and a champion of democracy as he examines the fissure between the promises of the new global capitalism and the realities of financial insecurity, inequality, social breakdown, and environmental destruction. Rejecting the inevitability of our current trajectory, he    More >

Can increasing power in international politics be a bad thing for nations? In this provocative book, Giulio Gallarotti argues that the answer is clearly yes—as demonstrated by a series of examples that span geography, history, and issues. Gallarotti systematically develops the idea of the power curse and its concomitant, the power illusion. Establishing that the process by which nations    More >

Are female office holders most acceptable when they most resemble men? Why has a woman never led the Department of the Treasury, or Defense, or Veterans Affairs? Reflecting on these and similar questions, MaryAnne Borrelli explores women's selection for—and exclusion from—U.S. cabinet positions.   Borrelli considers how the rhetoric employed in the selection and confirmation    More >

Why do presidents bother to give speeches when their words rarely move public opinion? Arguing that "going public" isn't really about going to the public at all, Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha explores to whom presidential speeches are in fact targeted, and what—if any—influence they have on public policy.   Eshbaugh-Soha shows that, when presidents speak, their intent is    More >

Robert Watson's groundbreaking study on the presidents' wives proved that the first lady can be an influential force in presidential politics and is a subject worthy of scholarly attention. Now, this fully revised second edition incorporates the first ladyships of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama in each chapter. The new edition also includes a decade-and-a-half of    More >

Why, despite indisputably superior military might, have the US-led military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq been so fraught with setbacks? Does it make sense in today’s security environment to use military force to achieve strategic objectives? How does the contemporary battlefield function? Addressing these questions, Simon Murden explores the contradictions inherent in attempting to    More >

The increasing popularity of restorative justice has prompted new and varying applications of its core principles. The authors of The Promise of Restorative Justice highlight the ways that these new ideas now spark innovations both throughout the criminal justice system and in arenas as diverse as business, education, athletics, and the aftermath of ethnic conflict.  They offer fresh    More >