From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up. No other resource packs in so much political party, election, and congressional information in such an accessible manner. Two volumes are devoted to the Republicans and two to the Democrats and each pair is organized identically. The first volume contains chapters on history, issues and ideology, and biographies. The signed essays on issues and ideology are the most salient features of this set. Listed alphabetically, they may be several pages in length. Although the literature is rife with information on abortion, the political history and significance of the abortion issue provided here is unique. Included in the biographies are presidents, vice presidents, losing presidential candidates, speakers, and other notable politicians. References and bibliographies follow each essay and biographical sketch. Members of congress and state governors are listed alphabetically with dates of birth, death, and service. Spanning the years 1856-1992, the second volume looks at conventions, platforms, and elections. Appendixes present party rules, party headquarters, committee chairs, and other statistical information. Volumes two and four feature general, biographical, and geographical indexes, as well as indexes of minorities and women. Black-and-white illustrations include many political cartoons, slogans, portraits, and photographic reproductions. This set is indeed a celebration of American political history.?Marsha S. Holden, Lincolnwood Public Library, IL
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Although many fine histories of the major U.S. political parties are available, there has not been until now a standard reference work on the Republican and Democratic parties. An attempt at such a work was made with the two-volume Political Parties and Elections in the United States (LJ 8/91), though that work contained primarily only brief entries on people and events from U.S. political history. A much more comprehensive approach is provided with the timely publication of this dual four-volume encyclopedia. Each party receives equal space and treatment within an identical two-volume format. The first volume begins with a 66-page historical essay, followed by a section on "Issues and Ideology." This part consists of approximately 50 brief articles, arranged alphabetically. Most of the topics are the same for both parties?big government, campaign finance, defense, foreign policy, party discipline, and term limits. However, several unique entries are also included: for the Republicans, the Contract with America, McCarthyism, and Reaganomics, and for the Democrats, the Democratic Leadership Council and the McGovern-Fraser Commission. The next section contains brief biographical sketches of the presidents, vice presidents, losing presidential candidates, speakers of the House, and other notable Republicans/Democrats. Except for the presidential profiles, most of these entries are only one to two pages long. Additionally, there are long listings of members of Congress and all governors affiliated with each party. These sections provide only birth and death dates and years in office. Volume 2 focuses on the presidential campaign efforts of the party, offering a chronological accounting of the nominating conventions (with nearly 400 pages devoted to the text of the party platforms) and a rundown on each presidential election (with photos and examples of campaign buttons and posters). There are nine appendixes in this volume: party rules, House leaders, Senate leaders, party defections in Congress, convention sites and dates, chairs of the party's national committee, state party headquarters, House election victories, and party affiliations in Congress. Four indexes complete the encyclopedias: general, biographical, geographical, and an index of minorities and women. Although much of this material can be found in other sources, this double set will be a useful complement to other standard political reference works, such as Congressional Quarterly's latest guides to U.S. Elections (1994, 3d ed.), The Presidency (1996, 2d ed.), and Congress (1991, 4th ed.). Highly recommended.?Thomas Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, Pa.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
