Citizen Democracy: Political Activists in a Cynical Age (People, Passions, and Power: Social Movements, Interest Organizations, and the P) - Softcover

Frantzich, Stephen E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0742564460 ISBN 13: 9780742564466

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008

Synopsis

Apathy and antipathy toward politics are epidemic. Citizen Democracy provides the antidote. In this revised and updated edition, Stephen E. Frantzich portrays citizens from every walk of life--rich and poor, old and young, black and white, male and female, left and right, famous and obscure--as they choose to become involved in politics at a level to which readers can relate. Some of the stories contain unexpected twists. Candy Lightner, the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, now works as a liquor industry lobbyist and argues that MADD has gone too far. College freshman Gregory Watson reacted to receiving a OCO on a political science paper by quitting school and becoming the driving force behind passage of a constitutional amendment that had been the subject of his paper. Two young women independently wrote letters of application to the U.S. Naval Academy and in the process moved military education in the direction of gender neutrality. Citizen Democracy shows ordinary people engaged in extraordinary civic activity. Their causes run the gamut from civil rights to flag burning, from the Internet to the environment--but their common cause is the fact that they creatively entered the arena of national public policy making and made a difference.

About this title

Review:

In this thoughtful book, Stephen Frantzich provides concrete evidence that ordinary citizens can make a difference in public policy outcomes through a commitment to political organizing. What a timely book, one that nicely challenges the assumption of citizen apathy often imposed on our times.--Craig Rimmerman, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

About the Author:

Stephen E. Frantzich is professor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0742564460
• ISBN 13: 9780742564466
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 296