Measuring America

Measuring America
Author: Andro Linklater
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2003-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0452284597

In 1790, America was in enormous debt, having depleted what little money and supplies the country had during its victorious fight for independence. Before the nation's greatest asset, the land west of the Ohio River, could be sold it had to be measured out and mapped. And before that could be done, a uniform set of measurements had to be chosen for the new republic out of the morass of roughly 100,000 different units that were in use in daily life. Measuring America tells the fascinating story of how we ultimately gained the American Customary System—the last traditional system in the world—and how one man's surveying chain indelibly imprinted its dimensions on the land, on cities, and on our culture from coast to coast.

The Measure of America

The Measure of America
Author: Sarah Burd-Sharps
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2008
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780231154956

Introduces the American Human Development Index, which provides a single measure of well-being for all Americans, disaggregated by state and congressional district, as well as by gender, race, and ethnicity. The Index rankings of the 50 states and 436 congressional districts reveal disparities in the health, education, and living standards of different groups.

Public Opinion In America

Public Opinion In America
Author: James Stimson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2018-03-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0429974426

Public opinion matters. It registers itself on the public consciousness, translates into politics and policy, and impels politicians to run for office and, once elected, to serve in particular ways.This is a book about opinion?not opinions. James Stimson takes the incremental, vacillating, time-trapped data points of public opinion surveys and transforms them into a conceptualization of public mood swings that can be measured and used to predict change, not just to describe it. To do so, he reaches far back in U.S. survey research and compiles the data in such a way as to allow the minutiae of attitudes toward abortion, gun control, and housing to dissolve into a portrait of national mood and change.Using sophisticated techniques of coding, statistics, and data equalization, the author has amassed an unrivaled database from which to extrapolate his findings. The results go a long way toward calibrating the folklore of political eras, and the cyclical patterns that emerge show not only the regulatory impulse of the 1960s and 1970s and the swing away from it in the 1980s; the cycles also show that we are in the midst of another major mood swing right now?what the author calls the ?unnoticed liberalism? of current American politics.Concise, suggestive, and eminently readable, Public Opinion in America is ideal for courses on public opinion, public policy, and methods, as well as for introductory courses in American government. Examples and illustrations abound, and appendixes document the measurement of policy mood from survey research marginals. This revised second edition includes updated data on public opinion and voters through the 1996 presidential election.

Enchanted America

Enchanted America
Author: J. Eric Oliver
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2018-09-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 022657850X

America is in civic chaos, its politics rife with conspiracy theories and false information. Nationalism and authoritarianism are on the rise, while scientists, universities, and news organizations are viewed with increasing mistrust. Its citizens reject scientific evidence on climate change and vaccinations while embracing myths of impending apocalypse. And then there is Donald Trump, a presidential candidate who won the support of millions of conservative Christians despite having no moral or political convictions. What is going on? The answer, according to J. Eric Oliver and Thomas J. Wood, can be found in the most important force shaping American politics today: human intuition. Much of what seems to be irrational in American politics arises from the growing divide in how its citizens make sense of the world. On one side are rationalists. They use science and reason to understand reality. On the other side are intuitionists. They rely on gut feelings and instincts as their guide to the world. Intuitionists believe in ghosts and End Times prophecies. They embrace conspiracy theories, disbelieve experts, and distrust the media. They are stridently nationalistic and deeply authoritarian in their outlook. And they are the most enthusiastic supporters of Donald Trump. The primary reason why Trump captured the presidency was that he spoke about politics in a way that resonated with how Intuitionists perceive the world. The Intuitionist divide has also become a threat to the American way of life. A generation ago, intuitionists were dispersed across the political spectrum, when most Americans believed in both God and science. Today, intuitionism is ideologically tilted toward the political right. Modern conservatism has become an Intuitionist movement, defined by conspiracy theories, strident nationalism, and hostility to basic civic norms. Enchanted America is a clarion call to rationalists of all political persuasions to reach beyond the minority and speak to intuitionists in a way they understand. The values and principles that define American democracy are at stake.

The Laws of M.O.S.E.S (America's Financial Future)

The Laws of M.O.S.E.S (America's Financial Future)
Author: Claus M. Bohm
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2012-06-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1469126974

Dare to take a journey in a discussion to change the face of our financial world. Discover a new way to run the United States economy with a simple approach that gives us all real freedom. This content will not use economic jargon and complicated graphs. It will analyze our system with simple models and theories. We will then see how a system of fairness and equality can come from the effort. This will be a true revolution in how we view money today and how we will handle it in the future. This proposal, questions and critiques our financial institutions. It says we can do better to achieve something that has never been done before. This unusual view of our financial system by spirituality and political morality will identify the hypocrisy of our times. It will show and legitimize our reasons for building a new and sustainable capitalism.