Customer Reviews

The Almanac of American Politics 2000

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 2000 Almanac is a clear improvement on the 1998 version with more up-to-date analysis, newer pictures of the elected officials and the Cook analysis of each district.

As always, the observations regarding the representatives and senators and their states and districts are outstanding. The insight and understanding of both politics and policy exhibited by Barone is inspiring to all those who are fascinated by the electoral process.

The addition of Cook's impression of each district and his handicapping of upcoming races provides some additional insight but is a bit terse in most cases and provides little more than Barone's predictions within member profiles included in previous almanacs.

That said, this is clearly an improvement on the 1996 and 1998 versions, which seemed to go overboard in defending the new GOP majority.

I have enjoyed several editions of this book. They make excellent references, for when you want some background on some congressman or Senator who is in the news, who you might not be too familiar with. The descriptions of the local districts are very interesting, and in cases where I am familiar with the districts, I have found the write-ups to be remarkably fair and accurate, written in a pithy "Zagats" style perhaps. The criticism of "bias" from other reviewers, I feel is unfounded. The authors do characterize the politicians tendencies, but that is key to the value of the book, they do not mock or poke fun, just inform. Only problem is that they should publish the new editions FASTER after the November elections. Since most incumbents are re-elected, they should, in my opinion, come out with new edition by Jan after Nov elections.

If you have an interest in American Politics, you must have this guide. The bio information, history, and comments alone on each Congressmen, Senator, and Governer alone make it must have. Plus information such as past election results, committee assignments and political ratings.

Also, it provides political insight and backround on each state and congressional district itself. As I said, its a must read.

The writing is lively, the facts comprehensive, and with online updates included with the purchase, it's irreplacable as a Congressional reference.

... and her politics than by reading this book. Barone and Ujifusa's Almanac serves not only as "the Bible of American politics," providing a wealth of information on our Senators and representatives, but paints memorable portraits of culture and society in all of America's states and in each of our country's 435 Congressional districts. If you have read Barone's classic, Our Country, you will remember his thesis that culture, ethnicity and geography (rather than economic status) are the driving forces behind Americans' political choices. Barone's detailed sketches of individual American communities illuminate these geographic and cultural rifts. Better than any other work I've seen, the Almanac explains WHY the politics of San Francisco is different than that of rural Kansas or Appalachian Kentucky.

I have started to read the book cover to cover. Even though I haven't been to all 50 states, this book takes me there. It gives a detailed description of state and district politics that is easy to understand. The book is especially valuable now with all the elections coming up in 2000 - this is the most important time to be an informed voter.

As a student studying political science, I found this book an incredible asset to writing political reports and seeking internships. It includes appx. 2 pages per Governor, Senator, and Representative, along with their voting record, district information, and a picture of them. Excellent reference book, yet be aware that it is SLIGHTLY opinionated...

As a reader of this series for many years I can certainly appreciate the breadth of information the Almanac provides for each and every state, Congressional district, Senator and Representative. To have all of this contained in one book is quite impressive.

Unfortunately I have grown tired of the author's personal opinions filtering into the text. Such bias has grown with each edition to the point that it is virtually impossible not to question the figures the books quotes out of concern that they are merely there to further the author's agenda and personal political viewpoints. This is a shame, as it has ruined a good series.

This book, as always, contains lots of useful information. I have been reading the Almanac since I was 13 years old (the 1976 version).

However, it is VERY biased in favor of the conservative conventional wisdom of the day--not so much on the big issues like abortion (where any intelligent person is fairly well versed on both sides of the issue) but on the obscure issues where it takes a lot of research to learn both sides of the argument.

One example is the author's treatment of Portland and its approach to suburban sprawl (p. 1340-41), the sort of issue where it takes a lot of work to dig up both sides of the issue. The authors recite a lot of rubbish about how Portland's policies "guarantee greater traffic congestion" (a matter of opinion) and "Income disparities are already growing" (a nationwide trend of course). What happened? They probably read an article in Reason or another environmentalist-bashing magazine, and lifted it into their book without hearing the other side of the argument.

The authors of this reference book have a clear ideological bent, and it's expressed in favor of those politicians who combine cultural liberalism or libertarianism with free-market economics; thus, if a Representative or Senator leans rightward culturally or leftward economically, you can expect an editorial evaluation of him or her less favorable than the former sort, whether, it seems, deserved or not of that person.