1st Edition
Reviving Citizen Engagement Policies to Renew National Community
A Turning Point for America
America Adrift
Weakened Citizenship: The Catalyst for Disaffection
Characteristics of the Hollowed Out Society
Plan of the Book
DETACHED SPIRIT
Cracks in the Pavement
The Stagnant Society
Divisions Over Basic Values
The Fractured Society—The Greater Good No More
I’ve Got Mine…Go Get Yours
Summing Up
An Uneven Electorate
Blurred Windows of Opportunity
Competing Power Wielders
Election Impediments
Conclusion: Coping With a Disjointed Participatory Network
The Opportunity Conundrum
The Growing Chasm Between the "Haves" and "Have Nots"
The Challenge of Equal Opportunity
Equality: Substance versus Symbolism
BROKEN INSTITUTIONS
The Search For Public Investment
A Poorly Educated Nation
Decaying Infrastructure
Research and Development
Leaving the Future Behind
Policy Making Institutions At A Crossroads
Congress: A Branch in Disrepair
Changing Boundaries of the Executive Branch
Subtleties in the Judiciary
Institutions on Shaky Ground
A TALE OF TWO ECONOMIES IN ONE NATION
An Economic System That Divides Its Members
The Growing Chasm Between Those at the Bottom and Those at the Top
Changes in the Workplace
Safety Net programs in the 21st Century: On the Money or Out of Touch?
A Gap That Must Be Bridged
The Struggle For Corporate Inclusion
Loyalty to Stockholders First, Nation Last
Lower Salaries, Diminished Benefits
The Great Tax Escape
On the Outside Looking In
REPAIR AND RENEWAL
Toward The Resumption of Citizenship
Bolstered Public Education
Restored Citizenship Rights and New Obligations
Substantive tax Reform
Policies Repositioned More for the Whole Than the Parts
Biography
Larry Gerston is Professor Emeritus of political science at San Jose State University. A specialist in public policy, he has written eleven other books in addition to Reviving Citizen Engagement: Policies to Renew National Community. His policy books include Making Public Policy: From Conflict to Resolution (1983), Public Policy Making: Process and Principles (1997), Public Policy Making in a Democratic Society: A Guide to Civic Engagement (2002), and Confronting Reality: Ten Issues Threatening to Implode American Society (2009). Gerston’s Not So Golden After All: The Rise and Fall of California was published by Taylor & Francis in 2012.
Along with his larger works, Gerston has written numerous journal articles and penned more than 125 op-ed pieces in leading newspapers. He appears weekly as the political analyst at NBC Bay Area (the NBC-owned television station in the San Francisco Bay Area), and has also been interviewed for his political insight on NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, BBC, NPR, and CNN’s Inside Politics.
"This broad-ranging critique of the American political and economic system attempts to help readers understand contemporary citizen disengagement. Replete with extensive public opinion and empirical data, this book by Gerston (emer., San Jose State Univ.) chronicles significant shortcomings of the political system such as income inequalities, voter suppression, and disregard for international law. … the book ends with a wide-ranging set of corrective actions that might be taken. …. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections."
—S. E. Frantzich, United States Naval Academy
