Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics [Paperback]

John T. Rourke (Author), John Rourke (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072845155 | ISBN-13: 978-0072845150 | Publication Date: August 6, 2003 | Edition: 11

This edition contains "pro" and "con" articles that represent the arguments of world leaders, leading political scientists, and commentators on the world political scene. The readings reflect a variety of viewpoints and have been selected for their liveliness and substance and because of their value in a debate framework. This title is supported by the student web site, http://www.dushkin.com.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John T. Rourke, Ph.D., professor emeritus, is former head of the Department of Political Science at The University of Connecticut. He is author of International Politics on the World Stage, Eleventh Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2007); the author of Presidential Wars and American Democracy: Rally ‘Round the Chief (Paragon House, 1993); a coauthor of Direct Democracy and International Politics: Deciding International Issues through Referendums (Lynn Rienner, 1992); the editor of Taking Sides: Clashing Views in World Politics, Twelfth Edition, expanded (McGraw-Hill, 2007) and You Decide: Current Debates in American Politics (Longman, 2005); the author of Making Foreign Policy: United States, Soviet Union, China (Brooks Cole, 1990), Congress and the Presidency in U.S. Foreign Policymaking (Westview, 1985), and numerous articles and papers. He continues to teach and especially enjoys introductory classes. His regard for the students has molded his approach to writing—he conveys scholarship in a language and within a frame of reference that undergraduates can appreciate. Rourke believes, as the theme of this book reflects, that politics affect us all and we can affect politics. Rourke practices what he propounds; his career long involved the university’s internship program and advising one of its political clubs. Additionally, he has served as a staff member of Connecticut’s legislature, and has been involved in political campaigns on the local, state, and national levels. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin; 11 edition (August 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072845155
• ISBN-13: 978-0072845150
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,856,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking it over, September 29, 2003

By 

MJ Krom (Los Angeles,CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics (Paperback)

This series of books, "Taking Sides", are great for anyone who wants different perspectives on the controversial issues of today. I bought this book for a Political Science class. I found myself reading the book from cover to cover. The book gives several different topics. There is usually an introduction to the topic and two different essays written about the topic, one for and one against. It is organized in an easy to read format. I highly recommend this book and I would recommend trying some of the other books in the "Taking Sides" series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Read with Problems, August 18, 2005

By 

Daniel Moerner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics (Paperback)

Taking Sides is an excellent series. Each book contains a series of debates on the given topic. These normally take the form below.

1. 2-3 page introduction and background material
2. 'Yes' argument in favor of question
3. 'No' argument against question
4. 1-2 page concluding remarks with recommended additional reading

I love the style, and it gives a great sense of the different views on the topic.

However, this book also has some problems. First, the introduction is not impartial. For example, one of the introductions said that one of the debaters made a 'dubious' claim. However correct this assertation may be, I don't think it holds any place in the introduction for a debate.

A second problem was the source material for the debates. Some were lifted directly from a live debate, with no editing. Reading a speech that is often conducted on the fly is among the most difficult things one can do. Some of the debates refer to the debater showing graphs. However, the graphs are not provided in Taking Sides! In addition, one of the debates was out of order. When the debate occurred, the 'no' argument went first. However, in Taking Sides, the 'yes' argument is presented first. Therefore, the reader must wade through references to a speech they have yet to read!

Although it does have some problems, they are fortunately limited to only about 3/5 of the arguments--therefore the three stars.

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Format., February 14, 2011

By 

Ert - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics (Taking Sides: World Politics) (Paperback)

This book has a lot of useful information. It takes an issue and has two experts arguments one for each side of the issue.