Political Science: State and Local Governments

With The Politics of Resentment, Katherine J. Cramer uncovers an oft-overlooked piece of the puzzle: rural political consciousness and the resentment of the "liberal elite." Rural voters are distrustful that politicians will respect the distinct values of their communities and allocate a fair share of resources. What can look like disagreements about basic political principles are therefore actually rooted in something even more fundamental: who we are as people and how closely a candidate's social identity matches our own.

A Washington Post reporter's intimate account of the fallout from the closing of a General Motors' assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin--Paul Ryan's hometown--and a larger story of the hollowing of the American middle class.

In the early 1960s, as members of Milwaukee's growing African American population looked beyond their segregated community for better jobs and housing, they faced bitter opposition from the real estate industry and union leadership. In an era marked by the friction of racial tension, the south side of Milwaukee earned a reputation as a flashpoint for prejudice, but it also served as a staging ground for cooperative activism between members of Father Groppi's parish, representatives from the NAACP Youth Council, students at Alverno College and a group of Latino families. Paul Geenen chronicles the challenges faced by this coalition in the fight for open housing and better working conditions for Milwaukee's minority community.

In "Unintimidated," Governor Walker tells the story of his fight to save Wisconsin from a $3.6 billion budget deficit while simultaneously improving the state's schools and public infrastructure. He describes how he stood for his convictions against enormous political pressure and personal attacks. He explains how he knew his reforms would work, based on his experience as a local official. Speaking from the perspective earned from his resounding victory, he outlines lessons conservatives on the national stage can learn from his success, such as: - Change the polls, not your principles. - Don't accept the false choices presented to you. - You can reform entitlements and survive. - Austerity is not the answer. - Never stop reforming. Walker is living proof that conservatives need not move to the center to win. He argues that Republicans must offer Americans big, bold, positive solutions for our nation's challenges--and have the courage to implement them. Walker has shown that even President Obama will back down when faced with reforms promoted with common sense and courage.

This book recounts the battle between the Republican governor and the unions. The struggle drew the attention of the country and the notice of the world, launching Walker as a national star for the Republican Party and simultaneously energizing and damaging the American labor movement. Madison was the site of one unprecedented spectacle after another: 1:00 a.m. parliamentary maneuvers, a camel slipping on icy Madison streets as union firefighters rushed to assist, massive nonviolent street protests, and a weeks-long occupation that blocked the marble halls of the Capitol and made its rotunda ring. Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, award-winning journalists for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, covered the fight firsthand. They center their account on the frantic efforts of state officials meeting openly and in the Capitol's elegant backrooms as protesters demonstrated outside. Conducting new in-depth interviews with elected officials, labor leaders, police officers, protestors, and other key figures, and drawing on new documents and their own years of experience as statehouse reporters, Stein and Marley have written a gripping account of the wildest sixteen months in Wisconsin politics since the era of Joe McCarthy.

Personal stories and 150 photos paint an intimate portrait of protesters as diverse as America itself. From the moving tale of an unsettled Vietnam vet who finally felt welcomed back to his country, to a delightful encounter with high school students who skipped class to support their teachers, these are the faces and stories behind the largest demonstrations to hit Wisconsin in forty years. Share the passion, motivations, and humor of these everyday people who marched in the snow, stood in opposition to their government, and captivated a nation.

In the spring of 2011, Wisconsinites took to the streets in what became the longest, largest, and livliest labor demonstrations in modern American history. This book includes a series of pieces from the frontline, including eyewitness reports by striking teachers, students and others.

Each spring during the 1960s and 1970s, a quarter million farm workers left Texas to travel across the nation, from the Midwest to California, to harvest America's agricultural products. During this migration of people, labor, and ideas, Tejanos established settlements in nearly all the places they traveled to for work, influencing concepts of Mexican Americanism in Texas, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, and elsewhere. In "The Tejano Diaspora," Marc Simon Rodriguez examines how Chicano political and social movements developed at both ends of the migratory labor network that flowed between Crystal City, Texas, and Wisconsin during this period. Rodriguez argues that translocal Mexican American activism gained ground as young people, activists, and politicians united across the migrant stream. Crystal City, well known as a flash point of 1960s-era Mexican Americanism, was a classic migrant sending community, with over 80 percent of the population migrating each year in pursuit of farm work. Wisconsin, which had a long tradition of progressive labor politics, provided a testing ground for activism and ideas for young movement leaders.

A candid and insightful book covering the last 45 years of Wisconsin politics. "RINGSIDE SEAT: Wisconsin Politics 1970 to Scott Walker" takes a look at not only the Act 10 episode but also Cullen's upbringing, how he came into public service, the two eras he served in the State Senate, the changes that occurred between these two time periods and the observations he made from his "ringside seat."