Contemporary American Public Discourse

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Brown Tide Rising

Author : Otto Santa Ana
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 029277480X
Total Pages : 468 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (927 download)

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Book Synopsis Brown Tide Rising by : Otto Santa Ana

Download or read book Brown Tide Rising written by Otto Santa Ana and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2002 – Best Book on Ethnic and Racial Political Ideology and/or Political Theory – Organized Section on Race, Ethnicity, and Politics of the American Political Science Association "...awash under a brown tide...the relentless flow of immigrants..like waves on a beach, these human flows are remaking the face of America...." Since 1993, metaphorical language such as this has permeated mainstream media reporting on the United States' growing Latino population. In this groundbreaking book, Otto Santa Ana argues that far from being mere figures of speech, such metaphors produce and sustain negative public perceptions of the Latino community and its place in American society, precluding the view that Latinos are vested with the same rights and privileges as other citizens. Applying the insights of cognitive metaphor theory to an extensive natural language data set drawn from hundreds of articles in the Los Angeles Times and other media, Santa Ana reveals how metaphorical language portrays Latinos as invaders, outsiders, burdens, parasites, diseases, animals, and weeds. He convincingly demonstrates that three anti-Latino referenda passed in California because of such imagery, particularly the infamous anti-immigrant measure, Proposition 187. Santa Ana illustrates how Proposition 209 organizers broadcast compelling new metaphors about racism to persuade an electorate that had previously supported affirmative action to ban it. He also shows how Proposition 227 supporters used antiquated metaphors for learning, school, and language to blame Latino children's speech—rather than gross structural inequity—for their schools' failure to educate them. Santa Ana concludes by calling for the creation of insurgent metaphors to contest oppressive U.S. public discourse about minority communities.

Contemporary American Public Discourse

Author : Halford Ross Ryan
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780881336290
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (362 download)

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Book Synopsis Contemporary American Public Discourse by : Halford Ross Ryan

Download or read book Contemporary American Public Discourse written by Halford Ross Ryan and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This expansive collection provides students with the two essential elements they need in order to master contemporary public address, rhetorical criticism, and persuasion: significant speeches and critical essays written by rhetorical scholars. This collection of 37 speeches and 12 essays is an excellent resource, offering the texts of timely and interesting discourse!

Public Discourse in America

Author : Judith Rodin
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 0812221613
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (122 download)

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Book Synopsis Public Discourse in America by : Judith Rodin

Download or read book Public Discourse in America written by Judith Rodin and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-04-07 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A distinguished group of scholars and prominent figures here offers thoughtful new perspectives on the tenor and conduct of public life in contemporary America. Originating in a shared concern that our civic culture was becoming coarser and more polarized, Public Discourse in America provides a critical corrective to this widespread misperception about declining civility in public culture and the ways we as citizens negotiate our differences. Together these essays explore the current condition and centrality of public discourse in our democracy, investigating how it has changed through our history and whether it fails to approach our widely held, but often unarticulated, ideal of "reasoned and reasonable" public deliberation. Contributors consider whether rationality is really the best standard for public discussion and argument, and isolate the features and principles that would characterize a truly exemplary, more productive public discourse at the beginning of the twenty-first century. They investigate why public conversations work when they work well, and why they often fail when we need them the most, as in our nation's so often aborted "national conversation" on race. Taking a comprehensive look at institutional and leadership practices in recent public debates over a variety of "hot button" public policy issues, Public Discourse in America outlines how such conversations can be used to reintegrate our fragmented communities and bridge barriers of difference and hostility among communities and individuals. These essays speak to urgent and perennial questions about the nature of American society, the responsibilities of leaders, the rules of democracy, and the role of public culture in times of crisis, conflict, and rapid change. Public Discourse in America originated in the work of the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture, and Community, convened in 1996 by Judith Rodin, President of the University of Pennsylvania. Distinguished members of the Commission, leading experts, commissioned researchers, and leaders in America's nascent public discourse movement offer unexpected insights and an optimistic vision of the health of our politics and culture. Readers—of all political persuasions—from the halls of political power to the streets of urban neighborhoods, from newsrooms and studios to think tanks and universities, will find these essays opening up new paths to robust public discussion, more engaged citizenship, and stronger communities. Contributors include: Joyce Appleby, Thomas Bender, Derek Bok, Alex Boraine, Graham G. Dodds, Christopher Edley, Jr., Drew Gilpin Faust, Neal Gabler, Richard Lapchick, Don M. Randel, Richard Rodriguez, Jay Rosen, David M. Ryfe, Michael Schudson, Neil Smelser, and Robert H. Wiebe.

Divisive Discourse

Author : Joseph Zompetti
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781634878838
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (788 download)

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Book Synopsis Divisive Discourse by : Joseph Zompetti

Download or read book Divisive Discourse written by Joseph Zompetti and published by . This book was released on 2017-08-14 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Divisive Discourse challenges assumptions about political ideology. The book examines the techniques and contents of the divisive discourse that pervades contemporary American political conversation. It teaches us about extreme rhetoric, thus enabling readers to be more critical consumers of information. The book provides a framework for identifying and interpreting extreme language. Readers learn about rhetorical fallacies and the strategies used by political pundits to manipulate and spin information. In subsequent chapters the author examines and analyzes how divisive discourse is used in discussions of specific political issues including homosexual rights, gun control, and healthcare. Divisive Discourse provides insight into how divisive discourse leads to societal fragmentation, and fosters apathy, confusion, animosity, and ignorance. By exposing the rhetoric of division and teaching readers how to confront it, the book reinvigorates the potential to participate in politics and serves as a guide for how to have civil discussions about controversial issues. Divisive Discourse is an ideal teaching tool for anyone interested in contemporary issues and courses in political science, media studies, or rhetoric."--Page 4 of cover.

A Crisis of Civility?

Author : Robert G. Boatright
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351051962
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis A Crisis of Civility? by : Robert G. Boatright

Download or read book A Crisis of Civility? written by Robert G. Boatright and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-02-18 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The state of political discourse in the United States today has been a subject of concern for many Americans. Political incivility is not merely a problem for political elites; political conversations between American citizens have also become more difficult and tense. The 2016 presidential elections featured campaign rhetoric designed to inflame the general public. Yet the 2016 election was certainly not the only cause of incivility among citizens. There have been many instances in recent years where reasoned discourse in our universities and other public venues has been threatened. This book was undertaken as a response to these problems. It presents and develops a more robust discussion of what civility is, why it matters, what factors might contribute to it, and what its consequences are for democratic life. The authors included here pursue three major questions: Is the state of American political discourse today really that bad, compared to prior eras; what lessons about civility can we draw from the 2016 election; and how have changes in technology such as the development of online news and other means of mediated communication changed the nature of our discourse? This book seeks to develop a coherent, civil conversation between divergent contemporary perspectives in political science, communications, history, sociology, and philosophy. This multidisciplinary approach helps to reflect on challenges to civil discourse, define civility, and identify its consequences for democratic life in a digital age. In this accessible text, an all-star cast of contributors tills the earth in which future discussion on civility will be planted.

Toward a Civil Discourse

Author : Sharon Crowley
Publisher : University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN 13 : 0822973006
Total Pages : 357 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (229 download)

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Book Synopsis Toward a Civil Discourse by : Sharon Crowley

Download or read book Toward a Civil Discourse written by Sharon Crowley and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2006-04-02 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Toward a Civil Discourse examines how, in the current political climate, Americans find it difficult to discuss civic issues frankly and openly with one another. Because America is dominated by two powerful discourses—liberalism and Christian fundamentalism, each of which paints a very different picture of America and its citizens' responsibilities toward their country-there is little common ground, and hence Americans avoid disagreement for fear of giving offence. Sharon Crowley considers the ancient art of rhetoric as a solution to the problems of repetition and condemnation that pervade American public discourse. Crowley recalls the historic rhetorical concept of stasis—where advocates in a debate agree upon the point on which they disagree, thereby recognizing their opponent as a person with a viable position or belief. Most contemporary arguments do not reach stasis, and without it, Crowley states, a nonviolent resolution cannot occur.Toward a Civil Discourse investigates the cultural factors that lead to the formation of beliefs, and how beliefs can develop into densely articulated systems and political activism. Crowley asserts that rhetorical invention (which includes appeals to values and the passions) is superior in some cases to liberal argument (which often limits its appeals to empirical fact and reasoning) in mediating disagreements where participants are primarily motivated by a moral or passionate commitment to beliefs.Sharon Crowley examines numerous current issues and opposing views, and discusses the consequences to society when, more often than not, argumentative exchange does not occur. She underscores the urgency of developing a civil discourse, and through a review of historic rhetoric and its modern application, provides a foundation for such a discourse-whose ultimate goal, in the tradition of the ancients, is democratic discussion of civic issues.

A Time to Build

Author : Yuval Levin
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 1541699289
Total Pages : 230 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (416 download)

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Book Synopsis A Time to Build by : Yuval Levin

Download or read book A Time to Build written by Yuval Levin and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2020-01-21 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A leading conservative intellectual argues that to renew America we must recommit to our institutions Americans are living through a social crisis. Our politics is polarized and bitterly divided. Culture wars rage on campus, in the media, social media, and other arenas of our common life. And for too many Americans, alienation can descend into despair, weakening families and communities and even driving an explosion of opioid abuse. Left and right alike have responded with populist anger at our institutions, and use only metaphors of destruction to describe the path forward: cleaning house, draining swamps. But, as Yuval Levin argues, this is a misguided prescription, rooted in a defective diagnosis. The social crisis we confront is defined not by an oppressive presence but by a debilitating absence of the forces that unite us and militate against alienation. As Levin argues, now is not a time to tear down, but rather to build and rebuild by committing ourselves to the institutions around us. From the military to churches, from families to schools, these institutions provide the forms and structures we need to be free. By taking concrete steps to help them be more trustworthy, we can renew the ties that bind Americans to one another.

Contemporary American Speeches

Author : Richard L. Johannesen
Publisher : Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
ISBN 13 : 9780757576942
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (769 download)

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Book Synopsis Contemporary American Speeches by : Richard L. Johannesen

Download or read book Contemporary American Speeches written by Richard L. Johannesen and published by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. This book was released on 2010-11-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forget about searching the Internet for current speeches, Contemporary American Speeches, contains speeches from the 1960's through the 1990's. This book can serve as a core textbook in courses such as Contemporary Public Address and Contemporary Speakers and Speeches. As in previous editions, this edition contains speeches that typify current public scrutiny of some of society's most pressing questions. NEW TO THIS EDITION: Includes speeches by well-known speakers. The speech forms themselves assure coverage of the spectrum of contemporary public address. An addition in Chapter 1 is a lengthy section on diverse public speaking traditions as influenced by culture and gender. Chapter 2 contains important additions on narration as a rhetorical technique and on ideological criticism as a perspective for evaluation. Chapter 2 also contains a new section on "Civility in Public Discourse." The language in all chapters has been changed in places to increase clarity

Freedom from Reality

Author : D. C. Schindler
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780268102623
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis Freedom from Reality by : D. C. Schindler

Download or read book Freedom from Reality written by D. C. Schindler and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a critique of the deceptive and ultimately self-subverting character of the modern notion of freedom, retrieving an alternative view through a new interpretation of the ancient tradition.

Sex and the Unreal City

Author : Anthony Esolen
Publisher : Ignatius Press
ISBN 13 : 1642291293
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (422 download)

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Book Synopsis Sex and the Unreal City by : Anthony Esolen

Download or read book Sex and the Unreal City written by Anthony Esolen and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2020-07-20 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unreal City: a cartoon megalopolis where towers are built of cotton candy, facts scatter like pixie dust, and the truth is whatever you feel it to be. And it's no fantasy. It's where we live. "We dwell in Unreal City. We believe in un-being." With saber-like wit, poet and professor Anthony Esolen leads readers on a tour through the ruins of their own Western world—through king-size bookstores, manicured college campuses, strobe-lit choir lofts, mechanized farms, divorce courts, drag-queen libraries, and beyond. This hilarious guide to a culture gone mad with sex and self-care minces no words and spares no egos. We the people of Unreal City are no better, and certainly no smarter, than our fathers. But fear not. Sex and the Unreal City insists there's no need to settle down in the ninth circle of unreality. Esolen lights a torch and heads up the well-trod path back to our cleaner, kinder, truer homeland: Earth. Along the way, the author sings the songs of masters long forgotten—Shakespeare, Dante, Milton, the Evangelists—and asks us to join in.

Rights Talk

Author : Mary Ann Glendon
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1439108684
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Rights Talk by : Mary Ann Glendon

Download or read book Rights Talk written by Mary Ann Glendon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political speech in the United States is undergoing a crisis. Glendon's acclaimed book traces the evolution of the strident language of rights in America and shows how it has captured the nation's devotion to individualism and liberty, but omitted the American traditions of hospitality and care for the community.

The Politics of Resentment

Author : Jeremy Engels
Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 0271071982
Total Pages : 181 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis The Politics of Resentment by : Jeremy Engels

Download or read book The Politics of Resentment written by Jeremy Engels and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the days and weeks following the tragic 2011 shooting of nineteen Arizonans, including congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, there were a number of public discussions about the role that rhetoric might have played in this horrific event. In question was the use of violent and hateful rhetoric that has come to dominate American political discourse on television, on the radio, and at the podium. A number of more recent school shootings have given this debate a renewed sense of urgency, as have the continued use of violent metaphors in public address and the dishonorable state of America’s partisan gridlock. This conversation, unfortunately, has been complicated by a collective cultural numbness to violence. But that does not mean that fruitful conversations should not continue. In The Politics of Resentment, Jeremy Engels picks up this thread, examining the costs of violent political rhetoric for our society and the future of democracy. The Politics of Resentment traces the rise of especially violent rhetoric in American public discourse by investigating key events in American history. Engels analyzes how resentful rhetoric has long been used by public figures in order to achieve political ends. He goes on to show how a more devastating form of resentment started in the 1960s, dividing Americans on issues of structural inequalities and foreign policy. He discusses, for example, the rhetorical and political contexts that have made the mobilization of groups such as Nixon’s “silent majority” and the present Tea Party possible. Now, in an age of recession and sequestration, many Americans believe that they have been given a raw deal and experience feelings of injustice in reaction to events beyond individual control. With The Politics of Resentment, Engels wants to make these feelings of victimhood politically productive by challenging the toxic rhetoric that takes us there, by defusing it, and by enabling citizens to have the kinds of conversations we need to have in order to fight for life, liberty, and equality.

Natural Law and Human Rights

Author : Pierre Manent
Publisher : University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN 13 : 0268107238
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (681 download)

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Book Synopsis Natural Law and Human Rights by : Pierre Manent

Download or read book Natural Law and Human Rights written by Pierre Manent and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2020-02-28 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first English translation of Pierre Manent’s profound and strikingly original book La loi naturelle et les droits de l’homme is a reflection on the central question of the Western political tradition. In six chapters, developed from the prestigious Étienne Gilson lectures at the Institut Catholique de Paris, and in a related appendix, Manent contemplates the steady displacement of the natural law by the modern conception of human rights. He aims to restore the grammar of moral and political action, and thus the possibility of an authentically political order that is fully compatible with liberty. Manent boldly confronts the prejudices and dogmas of those who have repudiated the classical and Christian notion of “liberty under law” and in the process shows how groundless many contemporary appeals to human rights turn out to be. Manent denies that we can generate obligations from a condition of what Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau call the “state of nature,” where human beings are absolutely free, with no obligations to others. In his view, our ever-more-imperial affirmation of human rights needs to be reintegrated into what he calls an “archic” understanding of human and political existence, where law and obligation are inherent in liberty and meaningful human action. Otherwise we are bound to act thoughtlessly and in an increasingly arbitrary or willful manner. Natural Law and Human Rights will engage students and scholars of politics, philosophy, and religion, and will captivate sophisticated readers who are interested in the question of how we might reconfigure our knowledge of, and talk with one another about, politics.

Did America Have a Christian Founding?

Author : Mark David Hall
Publisher : HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN 13 : 1400211115
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Did America Have a Christian Founding? by : Mark David Hall

Download or read book Did America Have a Christian Founding? written by Mark David Hall and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A distinguished professor debunks the assertion that America's Founders were deists who desired the strict separation of church and state and instead shows that their political ideas were profoundly influenced by their Christian convictions. In 2010, David Mark Hall gave a lecture at the Heritage Foundation entitled "Did America Have a Christian Founding?" His balanced and thoughtful approach to this controversial question caused a sensation. C-SPAN televised his talk, and an essay based on it has been downloaded more than 300,000 times. In this book, Hall expands upon this essay, making the airtight case that America's Founders were not deists. He explains why and how the Founders' views are absolutely relevant today, showing that they did not create a "godless" Constitution; that even Jefferson and Madison did not want a high wall separating church and state; that most Founders believed the government should encourage Christianity; and that they embraced a robust understanding of religious liberty for biblical and theological reasons. This compelling and utterly persuasive book will convince skeptics and equip believers and conservatives to defend the idea that Christian thought was crucial to the nation's founding--and that this benefits all of us, whatever our faith (or lack of faith).

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

Author : Richard Hofstadter
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307388441
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis The Paranoid Style in American Politics by : Richard Hofstadter

Download or read book The Paranoid Style in American Politics written by Richard Hofstadter and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2008-06-10 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs.In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence — and derail — the larger agendas of a political party. He investigates the politics of the irrational, shedding light on how the behavior of individuals can seem out of proportion with actual political issues, and how such behavior impacts larger groups. With such other classic essays as “Free Silver and the Mind of 'Coin' Harvey” and “What Happened to the Antitrust Movement?, ” The Paranoid Style in American Politics remains both a seminal text of political history and a vital analysis of the ways in which political groups function in the United States.

Amusing Ourselves to Death

Author : Neil Postman
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 9780143036531
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (365 download)

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Book Synopsis Amusing Ourselves to Death by : Neil Postman

Download or read book Amusing Ourselves to Death written by Neil Postman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-12-27 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when media and politics become forms of entertainment? As our world begins to look more and more like Orwell's 1984, Neil's Postman's essential guide to the modern media is more relevant than ever. "It's unlikely that Trump has ever read Amusing Ourselves to Death, but his ascent would not have surprised Postman.” -CNN Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals. “A brilliant, powerful, and important book. This is an indictment that Postman has laid down and, so far as I can see, an irrefutable one.” –Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World

The Leader and the Crowd

Author : Daria Frezza
Publisher : University of Georgia Press
ISBN 13 : 0820336475
Total Pages : 349 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (23 download)

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Book Synopsis The Leader and the Crowd by : Daria Frezza

Download or read book The Leader and the Crowd written by Daria Frezza and published by University of Georgia Press. This book was released on 2010-01-25 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Daria Frezza covers six tumultuous decades of transatlantic history to examine how European theories of mass politics and crowd psychology influenced American social scientists' perception of crowds, mobs, democratic "people," and its leadership. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the development of an urban-industrial mass society and the disordered influx of millions of immigrants required a redefinition of these important categories in American public discourse. Frezza shows how in the Atlantic crossing of ideas American social scientists reelaborated the European theories of crowd psychology and the racial theories then in fashion. Theorists made a sharp distinction between the irrationality of the crowd, including lynchings, and the rationality of the democratic "public." However, this paradigm of a rational Anglo-Saxon male public in opposition to irrational mobs--traditionally considered to be composed of women, children, "savages"--was challenged by the reality of southern lynch mobs made up of white Anglo-Saxons, people who used mob violence as an instrument of subjugation over an allegedly inferior race. After World War I, when the topic of eugenics and immigration restrictions ignited the debate of exclusion/inclusion regarding U.S. citizenship, Franz Boas's work provided a significant counterbalance to the biased language of race. Furthermore, the very concept of democracy was questioned from many points of view. During the Depression years, social scientists such as John Dewey critically analyzed the democratic system in comparison to European dictatorships. The debate then acquired an international dimension. In the "ideological rearmament of America" on the eve of World War II, social scientists criticized Nazi racism but at the same time stressed how racism was also deeply rooted in America. This is a fresh and provocative look at the parallels between the emergence of America as a world power and the maturing of the new discipline of social science.