The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State By Lisa McGirr
Examines the United States' "noble experiment" of alcohol prohibition and how it impacted American society, both between 1920-1933 and beyond. Details the growth of the temperance movement in the early 20th century, which led to the implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act. Explores ways in which the prohibition of alcohol changed America's social culture, leading to women more regularly joining in social drinking and the integration of illicit drinking establishments in higher numbers than had been previously seen. Profiles the expansion of policing, surveillance, and punishment under the Volstead Act, which greatly increased the number of people incarcerated in America, and served as a precursor to modern anti-narcotics campaigns.
W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. 330 pages.
363.41 M178W 2016
Texas and the Mexican Revolution: A Study in State and National Border Policy 1910-1920 By Don M. Coerver and Linda B. Hall
Explores responses and interactions of Texas Governors and Washington politicians as each dealt with the border upheaval caused by the Mexican revolution in the decade, 1910-1920. Suggests jurisdictional friction and misunderstandings were partially due to the differing goals of the state's border policy versus federal foreign policy. Concludes while the border is a legal concept, the Rio Grande represented a region in which social, cultural, religious, and economic relationships transcended an international boundary and integrated the area, intensifying the effect of the revolution in the United States.
Trinity University Press, 1984. 167 pages.
976.4 C651T 1984
Diploma Mills: How For-Profit Colleges Stiffed Students, Taxpayers, and the American Dream By A.J. Angulo
Explores the history of colleges and universities in America from the earliest colonial period. Explains that while the earliest non-profit colleges mainly offered a classical curriculum, profit seekers realized that apprenticeships with more practical applications were badly needed in the colonies. Discusses the idea that these apprenticeships were the basis of what is now a multi-billion dollar industry mainly referred to as "for-profit colleges and universities," and how, in many cases, these institutions have become disreputable diploma mills. Argues a large number of for-profit colleges engage in predatory practices and poverty profiteering. Explains that these for-profit institutions are responsible for a large portion of the 1.2 trillion dollar student debt that threatens to destabilize the entire federal student aid program and could potentially bring about the next major economic downturn in this country.
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016. 203 pages.
378.04 AN48D 2016
Toward a More Perfect University By Jonathan R. Cole
Examines challenges facing modern American research universities, including admission policies, rising costs, innovation, governance, and academic freedom. Addresses the economic value and affordability of higher education and the role of state governments. Proposes structural university finance reforms at the state and federal levels.
PublicAffairs, 2016. 409 pages.
378.73 C675T 2016
The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know By Phillip Cook and Kristin A. Ross
Presents the topic of guns and gun control in a Q&A format. Challenges both the gun rights and gun control movements with a variety of insightful, well-researched, and objective inquiries. Explores the history, culture, and politics of the gun debate that leads to such divisive and ardent stances on the issue of guns.
Oxford University Press, 2014. 280 pages.
363.33 C772G 2014
Provides an account of the varied political battles over the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the fifty states. Attributes the diversity of state level opposition to and acceptance of Obamacare implementation to the politics of health care reform. Focuses on three major policy reform streams of the ACA - health insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion, and regulatory reforms - to explain the law's complex and uneven implementation. Highlights the implementation of the ACA in Texas.
University Press of Kansas, 2016. 215 pages.
368.382 B41O 2016
