Bagby, Wesley M., CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN SOCIAL PROBLEMS, Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1981--Looks in depth at social stratification and the problems faced by members of minority groups; discusses the quest for quality education and the struggle over who should control public schools and evaluate teachers; examines crime, reform efforts and the causes of juvenile delinquency; explores issues related to health, the environment, energy conservation, urban deterioration and overcrowding. paper 213 pages
Carnoy, Shearer and Rumberger, A NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT: THE ECONOMY AND GOVERNMENT AFTER REAGAN, New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1983--Attacks conservative ideas which emerged during the eighties and attempts to show the failure of Reagan's economic policies. Outlines an original vision of new liberal economic policy, proposing the redistribution of resources to create more jobs, lessen staggering unemployment and meet public needs without increasing the individual's already heavy tax burden. 235 pages
Cassara, Ernest, THE ENLIGHTMENT IN AMERICA, New York, The University Press of America, 1988--Revolutionary 18th century America presented as an intellectual history. Shows how enlightened ideas continue to have an impact in several areas of American life. paper 200 pages
Cooke, Alistair, AMERICA, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1973--Follows the spirit and design of the 13-part television series, "America: A Personal History of the United States" which chronicles travels across the nation in pursuit of the lives, events and moments that make up America. Cooke looks beneath and beyond the sweep of history, of political debate to recall what is tough and good about the American system of government, to show what is unique and moving about the American experience and what is universal in the American story. 389 pages
Davis, J. Morton, MAKING AMERICA WORK AGAIN, New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.,1983--An analysis of how the economy is "supposed" to work and an explanation of why this leads to "planning by default." Perscriptions for repairing our social infrastructure and recommendations for refurbishing our educational system from one of Wall Street's most successful investment bankers. 288 pages
Dionne, E.J. Jr., WHY AMERICANS HATE POLITICS, Simon & Schuster 1991--A probing look at the current state of our national political life. The author maintains that Americans hate politics because they believe that conservatives have failed to represent their interests and liberals have lost touch wiith their values. 430 pages
Drucker, Peter F., THE NEW REALITITES: IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS/ IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS/ IN SOCIETY AND WORLD VIEW, New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc., 1989
Drucker, Peter THE AGE OF DISCONTINUITY--Explores what it means to be the world' largest debtor nation; 12 steps are offered showing how innovation in these areas can ease the deficit crisis.
Gorbachev, Mikhail, PERESTROIKA: NEW THINKING FOR OUR COUNTRY AND THE WORLD, Harper & Row, 1987--The Soviet leader's own account of the revolution he began in his country, a blueprint for change that had profound implications for the rest of the world. 254 pages
Gwaltney, John Langston, THE DISSENTERS: VOICES FROM CONTEMPORY AMERICA, New York, Random House, 1986--Interviews with hundreds of people across the nation who believe when they see something wrong they can do something about it. They tell their stories with humor and pathos and all are convinced that one person can make a difference and that we must all do our part to "fight city hall." 321 pages
Hadady, Earl, HOW SICK IS UNCLE SAM?, Key Books Press, CA, 1986--Offers a creative, concise and clearly stated step-by-step program for keeping Uncle Sam out of the intensive care unit. Tackles the economy, welfare, education, technolgy and special interest groups and much more. 454 pages
Hagstrom, Jerry, BEYOND REAGAN: THE NEW LANDSCAPE OF AMERICAN POLITICS, New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1988--Examines the state of the union at the end of the Reagan administration by investigating each region of the country and determining how it changed during the eighties. 312 pages
Heilbroner, Robert, THE WORLDLY PHILOSOPHERS, Simon & Schuster, 1986 edition--A classic history of economic thought which makes the ideas of great economic thinkers from Adam Smith to Malthus and from Marx to John Maynard Keynes come to life in the context of their times. paper 348 pages
Kahn, Herman, THE NEXT 200 YEARS: A SCENARIO FOR AMERICA AND THE WORLD, Quill, 1976--Members of the Hudson Institute offer their opinions on population, energy, mineral resources, food and the environment, painting a remarkably rosy picture of a global future marked by abundance and fulfillment. 241 pages
Lapham, Lewis, HIGH TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN FREEDOM, Papers by a variety of scholars, public servants and media representatives use George Orwell's visioi of a totalitarian state to probe issues related to the ethics of technology. 170 pages
Lea, James, POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, Univ Press of MS, 1983--Underlines the belief that the politial culture needs to be reshaped according to a Jeffersonian framework. 218 pages
Meyer, Jack, MEETING HUMAN NEEDS: TOWARD A NEW PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY, American Enterprise Institute, 1982--Presents a new conceptual framework for providing social services, one that incorporates the private sector, labor unions, and neighborhood groups in innovative activities to serve those in need. 469 pages
Minnesota Department of Administration, MANAGING CHANGE: A GUIDE TO PRODUCING INNOVATION FROM WITHIN, Urban Institute Press--
Osborne, David and Gaeble, Ted, REINVENTING GOVERNMENT: HOW THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IS TRANSFORMING THE PRIVATE SECTOR, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1993--
Perot, Ross, UNITED WE STAND: HOW WE CAN TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY, Hyperion, 1992--Spells out his program for making America strong again. 118 pages
Phillips, Kevin, THE POLITICS OF RICH AND POOR, Random House, 1990-- Blames the Reagan-Bush campaign liturgy for a raft of social and political problems rooted in bad management, politicized bureaucracies, runaway influence pedding and the gimme, gimme mentality of Americans of all classes. 262 pages
Price, Don, AMERICA'S UNWRITTEN CONSTITUTION: SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1983--Suggests that it is not our system of government that needs to be revised, but rather our contradictory, often irrational political prejudices. Price traces the nation's negative attitudes toward authority to the religious dissenters who dominated the intellectual life of the original colonies. 193 pages
Rogers, H.P., ALTERNATIVES, Wellington, CA 1992-- Lays out 151 Alternatives to current public policy. Each discussion begins with the goal of the policy, a paragraph showing how the proposed alternative might be implemented, another paragraph describes the practical benefits to society if the alternative were adopted and what Rogers calls the "soft power" benefits. Soft power is defined as power from within the individual--a kind of honor or ethical system----a national character as opposed to force from without by the enforcement of laws by a police state. soft cover 577 pages
Rogers, H.P., THE DEBT: 12 STEPS TO EASE THE CRISIS, Wellington, CA 1988-- Discusses what it means to be the world's largest debtor nation and explores the allegation that America is at the mercy of foreigners. Facts are presented to refute widely held myths regarding service and manufacturing jobs, foreign ownership of American assets, Japan's defense spending and budget deficit, our own trading practices, wages of Japanese vs American workers; points out that if the Grace Commission recommendations had been adopted when issued in 1983, we would have saved over $424 billion every three years after full implementation. 435 pages
Rogers, Helen, THE AMERICAN DEFICIT: FULFILLMENT OF A PROPHECY?, Wellington, CA 1988--Looks at our debt, past, present and future from various perspectives and casts doubt on some widely held beliefs. Well researched and readily understood. 230 pages
Roosevelt, Elliott, THE CONSERVATORS: TO STEER CIVILIZATION AWAY FROM THE SHOALS OF DESTRUCTION, New York: Arbor House Publishing Company, 1983-- Explores the perceived wrongs of American life--apathy, fatalism, the decay of leadership--and probes America's role in international politics, global exploitation and the arms race. Advances a specific plan by which America can defeat its problems. 412 pages
Simon, William E., A TIME FOR TRUTH, McGraw-Hill, 1978--Secretary of Teasury 1974 to 1977,William Simon seeks to make readers aware of the unbreakable connection between economic and political freedom; he warns we are losing both. Simon offers a blueprint for preserving our freedom before it is too late. 245 pages
Toffler, Alvin, FUTURE SHOCK, New York, Bantam Books, 1970--Describes the emerging super-industrial world--tomorrow's family life, the rise of new businesses, subcultures, life-styles and human relationships--all of them temporary. paperback 540 pages
Toffler, Alvin, THE ECO-SPASM REPORT, New York, Bantam Books, 1975--A look from the economic troubles of the early seventies at the possible breakdown of industrial civilization in the future with some approaches for dealing with it. paperback 105 pages
Toffler, Alvin, THE THIRD WAVE, New York, Bantam Books, 1980--Makes sense of the changes in the world and casts light on our new forms of marriage and family, business and economics; explains the role of cults, the new definitions of work, play, love and success. It points toward new forms of 21st century democracy. paperback 518 pages
Toffler, Alvin, POWER SHIFT: KNOWLEDGE, WEALTH AND VIOLENCE AT THE EDGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY, New York, Bantam Books, 1990--Explains a new system of wealth creation which transforms work capital and money. Toffler claims that because knowledge--including art, science, moral values and information and misinformation provide the raw material for wealth creation, today's power struggles reach deep into our mind, psyches and personal lives. 550 pages
Tugwell, Franklin, SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES: PUBLIC POLICY AND THE STUDY OF THE FUTURE, Winthrop Publishers, 1973--A survey of policy oriented futures research; theory and method are introduced, along with an examination of the future of institutions and policy systems, through the best material from all the social sciences. Among those included are Herman Kahn, Paul Ehrlich, Daniel Bell, Bertrand de Jouvenel and Alvin Toffler. paper 333 pages
Wilson, James Q. BUREAUCRACY: WHAT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES DO AND WHY THEY DO IT, New York, Basic Books, 1989--