Between Covers

2010

Books

Josh Busby, Moral Movements and Foreign Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Why do advocacy campaigns succeed or fail? What conditions motivate states to accept commitments championed by advocacy movements? Through in-depth case studies, Busby sheds light on these core questions by examining the ways in which campaigns use rhetoric to tap into cultural currents and the ways in which decision makers assess the values and costs of change.

Peter Frumkin, The Essence of Strategic Giving (The University of Chicago Press, 2010) and Serving Country & Community: Who Benefits from National Service? (Harvard University Press, 2010)

In The Essence of Strategic Giving, Frumkin distills the lessons of his award-winning study "Strategic Giving" into a concise, practical guide for everyone involved in private philanthropy. He defines five critical challenges all donors must address if their philanthropy is to amount to more than indiscriminate charity, including awareness of time frames that guide a gift, specifying the intended impact, and recognizing how a donation fits with a donor’s own identity and style.

In Serving Country & Community, Frumkin draws on years of fieldwork and data collection to examine the strengths and weaknesses of American national service programs. In the context of recent major expansions of government-sponsored voluntary service organizations, Frumkin opens up a conversation about what works and what needs reform in national service today.

James Galbraith, Galbraith: The Affluent Society & Other Writings 1952-1967 (The Library of America, 2010)

In The Affluent Society & Other Writings, James Galbraith edits the works of John Kenneth Galbraith, the best-known American economist of the twentieth century, and a writer of remarkable style and grace. Galbraith, who forged a brilliantly unconventional career as scholar, intellectual, writer and public servant, is represented here by four of his most important books: American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power, The Great Crash, 1929, The Affluent Society, and The New Industrial State.

James Galbraith also serves as an editor for the journal Structural Change and Economic Dynamics. The journal publishes articles about theoretical, applied and methodological aspects of structural change in economic systems.

 Additionally, Galbraith was elected to to the “Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei,” also known as the Lincean Academy, the oldest honorific scientific academy in the world. Although the academy covers all scientific and literary fields, Galbraith is a member of the division for moral, historical and philological sciences, specifically for the social and political sciences.

William Inboden III, Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment (Cambridge University Press, Paperback Edition, 2010)

In Religion and American Foreign Policy, Inboden examines the influences of religion on the Cold War. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and other American leaders believed that human rights and freedoms were endowed by God, that God had called the United States to defend liberty in the world, and that Soviet communism was especially evil because of its atheism and its enmity to religion. This public theology was used to mobilize domestic support for Cold War measures, to determine the strategic boundaries of containment, to appeal to people of all religious faiths around the world to unite against communism, and to undermine the authority of communist governments within their own countries.

Catherine Weaver, editor, International Political Economy: Debating the Past, Present, and Future (Routledge, 2010)

With International Political Economy, Weaver co-edits a set of lively, provocative essays by leading voices in international political economy to debate the evolution of IPE, its current state and its future directions. Featuring contributions from the most influential scholars in the field from North America, Europe and Australia, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the cutting edge debates in contemporary international political economy.

Awards:

Jacqueline Angel, " A Window of Vulnerability: Health Insurance Coverage Among Minority Women on the Cusp of Retirement"

Jacqueline Angel, "A Window of Vulnerability: Health Insurance Coverage Among Minority Women on the Cusp of Retirement," awarded the Senior Service America Senior Scholar Award by the Gerontology Society of America

Jennifer Bussell, Resisting Reform: Technological Backwardness in Political Perspective

Bussell’s dissertation, Resisting Reform, won the Virginia M. Walsh Award for Best Dissertation from the Science, Technology, and Environmental Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.

2009

Books

Jacqueline Angel, (with Ronald Angel), Hispanic Families at Risk: The New Economy, Work, and the Welfare State (Springer)

Hispanic Families at Risk: The New Economy, Work, and the Welfare State, (Springer) written by LBJ School Professor Jacqueline Angel (with Ronald Angel), examines the overrepresenation of Mexican Americans in low wage or service sector jobs, which rarely come with health insurance or retirement coverage.

In their analysis the authors work to deemphasize cultural or individual failure explanations of the persistent economic and benefit disparities between Hispanics and other groups and focus on the role of institutionalized structural factors.

This work will be of interest to anyone working in the fields of cultural studies, public health and the sociology of work. With the focus on real world causes for the problems as well as potential solutions, policy-makers will also find this informative book an essential resource.

Ken Flamm (ed.) (with Sadao Nagaoka, Masayuki Kondo, and Charles Wessner) 21st Century Innovation Systems for Japan and the United States (National Academies Press)

21st Century Innovation Systems for Japan and the United States: Lessons from a Decade of Change, (National  Academies Press), edited by LBJ School School Professor Kenneth Flamm (along with Sadao Nagaoka, Masayuki Kondo and Charles Wessner) is a collection of works from a major conference of leading policymakers, officials, and researchers held by Japan's National Institute of Science and Technology Policy and the U.S. National Academies Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy, in cooperation with Hititsubashi University.  Among the topics addressed in this published work are government programs and intitiatives to support the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises, government, university and industry collaboration and consortia, and the impact of the intellectual property regime on innovation.

Ethan B. Kapstein (with Nathan Converse) The Fate of Young Democracies (Cambridge University Press) 

LBJ School of Public Affairs Professor Ethan B. Kapstein, along with Nathan Converse, explores the recent backlash against democracy in such  countries as Bolivia, Venezuela, Russia  and Georgia and examines the concerns about viability of this regime type in the developing  world in The Fate of Young Democracies, (Cambridge University Press).

The Fate of Young Democracies draws on a data set of every democratization episode since 1960 and examimes the underlying reasons for backsliding and reversal in the world's fledgling democracies and offers some proposals with respect to what the international community might do to help these states stay on track toward political stability.

Peter Ward (with Alan Gilbert) Housing, the State, and the Poor: Policy and Practice in Three Latin American Cities (Cambridge University Press)

Housing, the State and the Poor: Policy and Practice in Three Latin American Cities, (Cambridge University Press) by LBJ School Professor Peter Ward with Alan Gilbert, is concerned with the housing and service needs of the poor in Latin American and how they are articulated and satisfied. It examines the aims and implementation of government policies towards low-income housing dwellers and tries to relate those policies to the wider interests of the state.

This book will interest not only those concerned with housing and planning but also those who wish to understand social and economic policies towards the poor in most kinds of developing countries.

Robert H. Wilson, (with Bryan R. Roberts) Urban Segregation and Government in the Americas (Palgrave MacMillan)

Urban Segregation and Governance in the Americas, (Palgrave MacMillan) edited by LBJ Professor and Associate Dean Robert H. Wilson, with Bryan R. Robert, uses the recent availability of geo-coded census data and techniques of spatial analysis to conduct the first detailed comparative examination of residential segregation in six major Latin American metropolises, with Austin, Texas, as a U.S. comparison. It demonstrates the high degree of residential segregation of contemporary Latin American cities and discusses implications for the welfare of urban residents.

Book Awards

Catherine Weaver, Hypocrisy Trap: The World Bank and the Poverty of Reform (Princeton University Press)

LBJ School Assistant Professor Catherine Weaver's book, Hypocrisy Trap: The World Bank and the Poverty of Reform, (Princeton University Press) was awarded the Chadwick Alger Award for Best Book on Multilateralism and International Organizations from the International Studies Association (February 2009) and was winner of the Harold Lasswell Prize from the Society of Policy Scientists (September 2009).

Using a rich sociological model and several years of field research, Weaver delves into the political and cultural worlds within and outside of the World Bank to uncover the tensions that incite and perpetuate organized hypocrisy -- the pervasive gaps between the organization's talk, decisions, and actions. She examines the courses and dynamics of hypocrisy in the critical cases of the Bank's governance and anticorruption agenda, and its recent Strategic Compact organization.

Special Recognition

Michele Deitch, From Time Out to Hard Time: Young Children in the Adult Criminal Justice System (LBJ School of Public Affairs)

David Eaton (ed.) Comprehensive Transboundary Water Quality Management Agreement (American Society of Civil Engineers)

Shama Gamkhar (with John Dinan) The State of American Federalism 2008-2009: The Presidential Election, the Economic Downturn, and the Consequences of Federalism (Publius the Journal of Federalism: Annual Review of American Federalism)

Ken Flamm (with other members of the Committee on the Rationale and Goals of the Civil Space Program), America's Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs(National Academies Press)

Ken Flamm (with other members of the Committee on Assessing the Need for a Defense Stockpile), Managing Materials for a Twenty-first Century Military (National Academies Press) 

2008

Books

Jacqueline L. Angel, Inheritance in Contemporary America: The Social Dimensions of Giving across Generations, (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)

With the baby boom generation on the cusp of retirement, life expectancies on the rise, and the nation’s cultural makeup in flux, the United States is faced with social and policy quandaries that demand attention. In Inheritance in Contemporary America, Jacqueline L. Angel tackles the complex legal, policy, and emotional issues that surround bequests and inheritances in an era of increasing longevity, broadening ethnicity, and unraveling social safety nets.

Robert Auerbach, Deception and Abuse at the Fed: Henry B. Gonzalez Battles Alan Greenspan’s Bank (University of Texas Press, 2008)

The Federal Reserve—the central bank of the United States—is the most powerful peacetime bureaucracy in the federal government. Under the chairmanship of Alan Greenspan (1987-2006), the Fed achieved near mythical status for its part in managing the economy, and Greenspan was lauded as a genius.  In Deception and Abuse at the Fed, Robert Auerbach, a former banking committee investigator, recounts major instances of Fed mismanagement and abuse of power that were exposed by Henry B. Gonzalez (D-TX)—chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services (banking) Committee. For commentary by Robert D. Auerbach on the nation’s current financial crisis, visit http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/news/story/597/.

James K. Galbraith, The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too (The Free Press, 2008)

The cult of the free market has dominated economic policy-talk since the Reagan revolution of nearly thirty years ago. Tax cuts and small government, monetarism, balanced budgets, deregulation, and free trade are the core elements of this dogma, a dogma so successful that even many liberals accept it. In The Predator State, James K. Galbraith explores how the Republican Party has been hijacked by political leaders who long since stopped caring if reality conformed to their message. For commentary by James K. Galbraith on the nation’s current financial crisis, visit http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/news/story/597/.

Eugene Gholz (with Harvey M. Sapolsky and Caitlin Talmadge), US Defense Politics: The Origins of Security Policy (Routledge Press, 2008)

This new textbook seeks to explain how U.S. defense and national security policy is formulated and conducted. The focus is on the role of the President, Congress, political partisans, defense industries, lobbies, science, the media, and interest groups, including the military itself, in shaping policies. This book shows how political and organizational interests determine U.S. defense policy, and warns against the introduction of centralizing reforms. In US Defense Politics, Eugene Gholz emphasizes the process of defense policy-making, rather than just the outcomes of that process.

Jeanne M. Lambrew (with Henry J. Aaron and Patrick F. Healy), Reforming Medicare: Options, Tradeoffs, and Opportunities (A Century Foundation Book, 2008)

Everyone agrees on the need to reform Medicare but not on how to do it. In Reforming Medicare, Jeanne M. Lambrew and Henry J. Aaron guide readers through this complex debate by identifying and analyzing the three leading approaches to reform: updated social insurance, premium support, and consumer-directed Medicare. In addition to rating each option on its ability to promote access to health care, improve the quality of care, and control costs, the authors evaluate each reform’s political strengths and weaknesses.

Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. (with Carolyn Hill), Public Management: A Three-Dimensional Approach (CQ Press, 2008)

In Public Management, Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. and Carolyn Hill show that constructing critical analyses and persuasive arguments is the principal tool for effectively managing in three dimensions, which include: administrative structures and processes, organizations and their cultures, and the skills and values of individual managers. The reader will learn how to analyze and explain managerial strategies and decisions, critically assessing real world case studies and building their own arguments.

Ray Marshall, The Case for Collaborative School Reform: The Toledo Experience (Economic Policy Institute, 2008)

The Case for Collaborative School Reform, Ray Marshall argues that the most successful school reforms will be undertaken collaboratively between teachers, school district officials, and union leaders. The study focuses on the superior results of the reform efforts of the Toledo School District and the Toledo Federation of Teachers, an innovative and collaborative teachers union in a representative urban school district.

James B. Steinberg (with Kurt M. Campbell), Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power (Brookings Institution Press, 2008)

Drawing on decades of government service—in the corridors of Capitol Hill, the intimate confines of the White House, the State Department, and the bare-knuckles Pentagon bureaucracy—James B. Steinberg and Kurt M. Campbell identify the major foreign policy pitfalls that face a new presidential administration in Difficult Transitions. They explain clearly and concisely what it takes to get foreign policy right from the start.

Robert H. Wilson, Peter M. Ward, and Victoria E. Rodriguez (with Peter K. Spink), Governance in the Americas: Decentralization, Democracy and Subnational Government in Brazil, Mexico and the United States (Notre Dame Press, 2008)

The authors of Governance in the Americas, Robert H. Wilson, Peter M. Ward, and Victoria E. Rodriguez, offer important new insights about decentralization, federalism, and democratic change in the three largest federal nations in the Americas: Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Originating in a major research project conducted by teams in each of the three countries, this study contributes significantly to our understanding of how representative and participatory democracy is being constructed at state and local levels in the recently emerged democracies of Brazil and Mexico, and is being recast and sustained in the United States.

Documentaries

David Eaton (co-producer with Marcel Dulay), Agua for Life, (University of Texas System, 2008)

Agua for Life reveals the extent to which the quality of life for people in the drought-prone region along the U.S.-Mexican border depends on the availability of water and on prudent wastewater management. Governments’ cooperation, institutional commitments to improve utilities infrastructure, and grassroots efforts involving the border communities have been pivotal in the dramatic positive changes that the region is undergoing.

Paul Stekler, The Choice 2008 (2008); host, Special Session (Texas statewide political news show on PBS)

The Choice 2008 is a two-hour examination of the rich personal and political biographies of John McCain and Barack Obama that goes behind the headlines to discover how they arrived at this moment and what their very different candidacies say about America.

2007

Books

• Jacqueline Angel, ed. (with Keith E. Whifield), The Health of Aging Hispanics (Springer, 2007)
• Terrell Blodgett (with Dorothy Blodgett and David L. Scott), The Land, the Law and the Lord: The Life of Pat Neff (Home Place Publishers, 2007)
• David Eaton (with Joseph W. Eaton), The American Title Insurance Industry: How a Cartel Fleeces the American Consumer (New York University Press, 2007)
• Deanna Schexnayder (with Laura Lein, Karen Douglas, and Daniel Schroeder), Life after Welfare: Reform and the Persistence of Poverty (University of Texas Press, 2007)
• Max Sherman (ed.), Barbara Jordan : Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder (University of Texas Press, 2007)

Book Awards

• Peter Frumkin’s book, Strategic Giving: The Art and Science of Philanthropy (University of Chicago Press, 2006) awarded the 2007 John Grenzebach Award for Outstanding Research in Philanthropy for Education from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
• James Steinberg’s book, Protecting the Homeland 2006/2007 (with Michael O’Hanlon, Peter Orszag and Jeremy Shapiro) (Brookings Institution Press, 2006) chosen for inclusion in the 2007 University Press Books Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries

Recognition of Scholarly Achievement

• Peter Ward, editor-in-chief of Latin American Research Review, 2002-2007