AP Government Reading Assignment
As a part of the AP U.S. Government and Politics course you are required to write two book reports. You are to take rough outline notes as you read the books (which are to be attached to your reports).
YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THE COURSE WITHOUT THE BOOK REPORTS !!!
1. Choose any two books from the list below.
2. Check to see if the books listed below are available in a library before buying them.
3. Refer to the instructions for directions.
READING LIST
Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them - Al Franken
Living History - Hillary Clinton
Rogue Nation - Clyde Prestowitz
Karl Rove : Bush's Brain - James Moore and Wayne Slater
Power Plays - Dick Morris
Off With Their Heads - Dick Morris
The Future of Freedom - Fareed Sakaria
Spin This - Bill Press
Media Wars: the Permanent Campaign
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy - Greg Pallast
Parliament of Whores - P.J. O'Rourke (a humourous account of how the government works)
Hell Fire nation: The Politics of Sin in American History - James Morone
Why Americans Hate Politics - F.J. Dionne
48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene (how to be "powerful")
The 15 Biggest Lies About Politics - Major Garret
Lies My Teacher Told Me - James Loewen
Blinded by the Right - David Brock
What Went Wrong - Bernard Lewis
Everything You Think You Know About Politics and Why You Are Wrong - Kathleen Jameson
Whatever it Takes: The Real Struggle for Political Power in America - Elizabeth Drew
The Corruption of American Politics: What Went Wrong and Why - Elizabeth Drew
Free Speech for Me, But not for Thee - Nat Hentoff
Hats in the Ring - Brad Chapinsky
The Buying of the Congress - Charles Lewis (how access and influence is "purchased" in Washington)
The Buying of the President 2000 - Charles Lewis
The Paradox of American Democracy - John Judas
The Art of Political War - David Horowitz (So, you want to win an election ? Here's how.) www.politicalwar.com
Presidential Ambition: How the presidents gained power, kept power, and got things done - Richard Shenkman
Front Row at the White House - Helen Thomas
Thank You for the Memories Mr. President - Helen Thomas
Eyewitness to Power - David Gergen
Spin Cycle - Howard Kurtz (the art of "spin" revealed)
The Courage of Their Convictions - Peter Irons (key "freedom of expression" cases)
Gideon's Trumpet - Anthony Lewis (the story behind the famous Gideon v. Wainwright case)
In Our Defense - ("milestone" civil rights cases)
Closed Chambers - Edward Lazarus ("behind the scenes" one more time, this book reveals how the U.S. Supreme Court really operates)
We the Students - Dr. Jamin Raskin
All too Human - George Stephanopolous (a controversial "tell all" by President Clinton's former top advisor)
Politics in the Clinton Years - Molly Ivins
Dead Center: Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderation - Burns and Sorensen
Hillary Rodham Clinton: A First Lady for our Time - Donnie Radcliffe
Stickin: The Case for Loyalty - James Carville
Flawed Giant - Robert Dalik (a behind the scenes look at LBJ, "the supreme manipulator", in action)
Means of Ascent - Robert Caro (another look at LBJ, this time dealing with his dubious rise to power)
No Fault Politics: Modern Presidents, The Press, and Reformers - Eugene McCarthy
In Defense of Government: The Fall and Rise of Public Trust - Jacob Weisberg
How Women Legislate - Sue Thomas
The New Prince: Macciavelli in the 21st Century - Dick Morris
The Presidency of James Earl Carter - B.T. Kaufman
Ronald Reagan - Dinesh D'Souza (a new book about Reagan the man)
Ronald Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime - Joe Cannon
Hail to the Chief - Robert Dalik
Showdown at Gucci Gulch - Jeffrey Birnbaum and Alan Murray
A Call to Revolution - Martin L. Gross (an expose of how our tax dollars are squandered in Washington)
Man of the House - Tip O'Neill (former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill's autobiography)
All Politics is Local - Tip O'Neill (the former Speaker tells us the tricks of the political game)
Eat the Rich - P.J. O'Rourke
We're Right, They're Wrong - James Carville (former President Clinton's top "spin doctor" and campaign manager, Carville, a liberal, is one of the most colorful characters in American politics)
The Way Things Ought to Be - Rush Limbaugh (a similar theme to Carville's book but from a conservative perspective)
Shadow - Bob Woodward (a book dealing with presidents and the media by one of the two journalists who broke the Watergate story).
Political Ambition - Linda Fowler and Robert McClure (engaging, highly readable study of the recruitment of congressional candidates)
Bowling Alone - Robert Putnam
The Coldest War - James Brady
The Politics of Rich and Poor - Kevin Phillips
The Cousins' Wars; Religion, Politics and the Triumph of Anglo-America - Kevin Phillips
The Natural; the misunderstood presidency of Bill Clinton - Joe Klein
Primary Colors -Anonymous (actually Joe Klein)
The Political Bestiary - Eugene McCarthy (former Senator McCarthy equates politicians with animals)
You may also choose to read any political book published since 2000 or a biography of any recent (since 1960) president or "prominent" American politician.
Book Report Instructions
Each book report should be approximately 700-800 words in length and should include the following:
1. A basic bibliographical citation --- author, title, place and date of publication at the top of the first (title) page.
2. A brief identification of the AUTHOR(S), which might include answers to the following: When/where born ? Where/how educated ? Special expertise or qualifications to write about this subject ? Present position ?
3. A SUMMARY of the book's contents and a description of its general scope and nature; also a brief identification of the book's major themes, content and conclusion. Points covered might include:
a) Subject matter covered
b) Author's purpose: what is he/she trying to do ?
c) Period of time covered ?
d) Topics/issues emphasized ?
e) Supporting evidence presented
f) Organization ?
g) Is the book historical/political/social/economic/biographical ?
h) What did the book teach you about how the "game" of politics is played ?
4. Outline notes are to be stapled to the back of the report.
5. A CRITICAL EVALUATION, which might include:
a) Strengths or weaknesses of the book ?
b) Were the sources presented by the author primary or secondary ?
c) Was the author balanced, objective or biased ?
d) Charts/illustrations used ?
e) Literary style ?
Hardball Project
In the book Hardball, Chris Matthews defines the title term:
"Hardball is clean, aggressive Machiavellian politics. It is the discipline of gaining and holding power, useful to any profession or undertaking, but practiced most openly and unashamedly in the world of public affairs".
Matthews supports his observations and conclusions with quotes from a variety of sources. Below are a list of political maxims, from Hardball and a series of quotes from the book. Your task is to choose any 10 quotes and for each quote:
(a) Describe the context of the quote, giving appropriate details including the speaker and background of the quote
AND
(b) Explain its meaning using one of the listed political maxims.
Political Maxims-
What've ya done for me lately?
All politics is local.
It's better to receive than to give.
Triangulation
Dance with the one that brung ya.
Keep your enemies in front of you.
Don't Get Mad; Don't Get Even; Get Ahead.
Leave no shot unanswered.
Hang a Lantern on Your Problem.
Politics = Power
Only talk when it improves the silence.
Positioning.
Retail politics.
The quotes are taken from the latest edition of Hardball:
1. "He's not going to win. It's a Republican district. He'd be better for us is he loses. He'll work for me. He'll bring his organization with him."
2. No, Ronald Reagan is a man of the media: the Great Wholesaler ... he was positioning himself with enormous science, establishing himself in the public mind not as an aloof head of government but as the man next door. Every action was designed to make him appear close to the people and distant from the government.
3. "I've lived across the street from you for 18 years ... I shoveled your walk in winter. I cut your grass in summer ... I didn't think I had to ask you for your vote. He never forgot her response. 'Tom, I want you to know something: people like to be asked.'"
4. "Better to have them p....n' inside the tent than outside p....n' in."
5. ... the elections of 1994 were a rough slap in the face. His party lost control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1954 ... Rather than join his fellow Democrats in defeat, he took advisor Dick Morris's advice ... "parroting the rhetoric of the congressional Democrats would merely be sharing the storm cellar with them ... Adopting the Republican agenda begged the question. The president needed to take a position that blended the best of each party's position." (DO NOT USE POSITIONING TO EXPLAIN THIS QUOTE)
6. "... His message came across clear and appealing ... He described America as a country 'where no Catholic prelate would tell the President -- should he be a Catholic - how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote. This is a country where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one Church is treated as an act against all."
7. "Florida Senator, Lawton Chiles, rejected the well-tailored dark blue suit so fashionable in D.C. 'When I dress like that, no one comes up to me in the airport to say hello.'"
8. "We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we posses, but we excel at those which also make use of our defects"...(relate to Ed Muskie)
9. The waiter said, "Well, maybe you don't know who I am." "Well, as a matter of fact, I don't ... who are you" "I'm the guy who's in charge of the butter."
10. "Cry Baby", screamed the headline of the New York Daily News above a picture of Newt in diapers. "Newt's Tantrum: He closed down the government because Clinton made him sit at the back of the plane."
11. "Don't give it all at once. Give five thousand at the start and indicate they can come back for more if they need it. Halfway through the campaign, they'll be back. This time give them another five thousand and indicate that is all you intend to contribute. About a week before the election, they'll be some desperate for money that someone will suggest that maybe you can be induced to come to the rescue..."
12. "It's been said that I'm not the most compelling speaker, and there are actually those who claim that I don't always communicate in the clearest, most concise way. Well, I may not be the most eloquent ... and I may somtimes be a little awkward ... but there is nothing self-concious in my love of country. I am a quiet man, but I hear the quiet people others don't. The ones who raise a family, pay the taxes, met the mortgages."
13. "JFK would call 5 or 6 ... LBJ would take 19 names and call them all."
14. "The purpose of the war room was not just to respond to Republican attacks ... It was to respond to them fast, even before they were broadcasted or published, when the lead of the story was still rolling around in the reporter's mind..."