politics papers

Book Review

Assignment Due on November 1

For this assignment select ONE of the following books and write a book report on it. See the instructions below on how to write a book review.

BOOKS: (can be obtained from libraries or purchased on Amazon)

Larry Diamond, The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World 

Paul Collier, Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places 

Fareed Zakaria. The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Revised Edition)

Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity . New York: Free Press, 1995

James Pfiffner,. The Modern Presidency , 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007.

Dennis Kavanaugh,. Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus, 2nd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Allwood, Gill, and Khursheed Wadia. Women and Politics in France: 1958–2000. London: Routledge, 2000.

Fisher, Marc. After the Wall: Germany, the Germans, and the Burden of History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995

Gifford, Rob. China Road: A Journey Into the Future of a Rising Power. New York: Random House, 2007.

Zhao Ziyang, Bao Pu, Renee Chiang, and Adi Ignatius. Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang . New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Roderic Camp. Politics in Mexico. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013

Methodology:

The book review for this course should be approximately 10 pages in length. It should use APA format and be double-spaced with an 11 or 12 font.

To get all the credit, you will need to relate the book to topics and additional readings assigned during the semester. One way to do that is

A book review describes, analyzes, and evaluates the quality, meaning, and significance of a book. It is not a retelling. It should focus on the book's purpose, content, and authority. A critical book review is not a book report or a summary. It is a reaction paper in which strengths and weaknesses of the material are discussed and analyzed. It should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluates how well (in the opinion of the reviewer) the author has succeeded, and presents evidence to support this evaluation.

 

The following are standard procedures for writing book reviews;

1. Write a statement giving essential information about the book: title, author, first copyright date, type of book, general subject matter, special features (maps, color plates, etc.), price and ISBN.

 

2. State the author’s purpose in writing the book. Sometimes authors state their purpose in the preface or the first chapter. When they do not, you may arrive at an understanding of the book’s purpose by asking yourself these questions:

a. Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?

b. From what point of view is the work written?

c. Who is the intended audience

d. Scan the Table of Contents, it can help understand how the book is organized and will aid in determining the author's main ideas and how they are developed - chronologically, topically, etc.

e. How well has the book achieved its goal

f. Would you recommend this book or article to others? Why?

3. State the theme and the thesis of the book.

a.  Theme : The theme is the subject or topic.

b.  Thesis : The thesis is an author’s generalization about the theme, the author’s beliefs about something important, the book’s philosophical conclusion, or the proposition the author means to prove.

5. Evaluate the book for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness to its intended audience. Show whether the author's main arguments are true. Respond to the author's opinions. What do you agree or disagree with? And why? Illustrate whether or not any conclusions drawn are derived logically from the evidence. Explore issues the book raises. What possibilities does the book suggest? What has the author omitted or what problems were left unsolved? What specific points are not convincing?

7. Relate the book to themes, topics, research findings in other articles and chapters assigned in the course (such as Hauss, Dahl, VanCreveld, etc.)

6. Try to find further information about the author - reputation, qualifications, influences, biographical, etc. - any information that is relevant to the book being reviewed and that would help to establish the author's authority. Can you discern any connections between the author's perspective, life experience and the reviewed book?

7. Summarize (briefly), analyze, and comment on the book’s content. State your general conclusions. Pay particular attention to the author's concluding chapter. Is the summary convincing? How did the book affect you? Were any previous ideas you had on the subject changed, abandoned, or reinforced due to this book?