What You Should Know About Politics...But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues [Paperback]

Jessamyn Conrad (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2008

Its a very exciting time in American politics. Voter turnout in primaries and caucuses across the nation have shattered old records. More than ever, in this election year people are paying attention to the issues. But in a world of sound bites and deliberate misinformation and a political scene that is literally colored by a partisan divide--blue vs. red--how does the average educated American find a reliable source that's free of political spin?

What You Should Know About Politics . . . But Don't breaks it all down, issue by issue, explaining who stands for what, and why--whether it's the economy, the war in Iraq, health care, oil and renewable energy sources, or climate change. If you're a Democrat, a Republican, or somewhere in between, it's the perfect book to brush up on a single topic or read through to get a deeper understanding of the often-mucky world of American politics.

Polls have shown that interest in the presidential campaign traditionally peaks 3-6 weeks before the elections. But this is also a book that transcends the season. It's truly for anyone who wants to know more about the issues, which are perennial issues that will continue to affect our everyday lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Conrad’s father is the senior Democratic senator of North Dakota, and her uncle is the Republican U.S. agricultural secretary and former governor of North Dakota. Still, she manages to be nonpartisan in this very helpful guide to American politics. She highlights the foibles of both parties when explaining campaign financing, special interest groups, and voting irregularities. Conrad gives readers the essentials on elections, the economy, foreign policy, the military, civil liberties, and other issues. She details all the elements that go into a presidential election, from primaries and caucuses to pledged delegates and superdelegates, and why more Americans need to pay attention to the mechanics of elections before things go wrong. She begins with a brief background of current debates on issues from abortion and the right to die (under the topic “Culture Wars”) to highway privatization and FEMA (under “Homeland Security”).This is an essential resource for Americans of whatever political persuasion, including independents, libertarians, progressives, and populists, all of which she defines and explains. --Vanessa Bush

About the Author

Jessamyn Conrad earned her bachelorÕs degree in social anthropology and Islamic art history from Harvard University and her masterÕs degree in history from Cambridge University. She is pursuing her doctorate in art history at Columbia University. She is 30 years old, and lives in New York City.

Jessamyn Conrad earned her bachelor's degree in social anthropology and Islamic art history from Harvard University and her master's degree in history from Cambridge University. She is pursuing her doctorate in art history at Columbia University. She is 30 years old, and lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (August 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559708832
• ISBN-13: 978-1559708838
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Nonpartisan?" Not Quite., August 13, 2008

By 

Michael Shore (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What You Should Know About Politics...But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues (Paperback)

As a Washington DC economist, I've lost patience with factless partisan political screeds (Coulter, Moore), and have hoped for more books that provide solid, factual backgrounds on economic issues. For that reason, I really wanted to love this book.

I was very disappointed. Readers who see "Nonpartisan Guide to The Issues" and therefore let their guard down will be fed "facts" that are mostly Democratic viewpoints, and "myths" that are mostly Republican viewpoints. Often these are based on factual inaccuracies, or misrepresentations.

It is worth noting that Jessamyn Conrad is the daughter of Democratic US Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). So it is not surprising that even if she is trying to be fair, she seems more comfortable explaining/defending liberalism than conservatism. Consequently, the book always steers the reader right back to her Father's midwestern liberalism.

Take her defense of farm subsidies. Mountains of studies have shown that the system overwhelmingly subsidizes a small group of corporate agri-businesses and actually harms the farm economy. Yet rather than challenge (or better yet, endorse) these economic critics, Conrad fails to even acknowledge their existence. Instead, she merely asserts (with no data) that farm subsidies are vital for stabilizing the farm economy. She also says that "only $55 billion" is spent on farm subsidies anyway, and that amount is too small to worry about (!). The section may as well have been written by Washington farm lobbyists. No balance whatsoever from the daughter of the Senate's leading farm subsidy defender.

On taxes, Conrad simplistically blames the ENTIRE 1980s budget deficits on the Reagan tax cuts (the 30% expansion of government is not mentioned), and defines supply-side economics as the belief that all tax cuts pay for themselves (it actually assumes they *partially* pay for themselves through economic growth). Finally and most implausibly, she denies that wealthy families pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than poor families (the Congressional Budget Office shows that the top quintile pays 25.5% of their income in combined federal taxes, versus 4.3% for the bottom quintile - see data table 1A at http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=8885). Conrad's economic section needs a fact checker.

I could go on and on.

Let me repeat that I am not questioning Conrad's integrity. She seems to have tried to be fair to both sides. Yet she ultimately fails to provide an even-handed account of the issues. Of course, being even-handed does not mean that the facts must show conservatives & liberals each being correct 50% of the time. The facts should lead where they lead. But Conrad too often misrepresents/ignores conservative viewpoints, or commits factual errors when trying to debunk them. Adding a co-author who better understands conservatism could have solved this problem.

True, the book is endorsed by former Republican Senators Bob Dole and Trent Lott. Yet they do not speak for conservatives. Both Senators' conservative reputations were based more on their midwestern/southern roots and conservative demeanor than their voting records. Both generally favored expanded government (especially farm subsidies) & pork-barrel spending, and often expressed skepticism towards tax relief. Their endorsement of this book is therefore not surprising or particularly meaningful.

Overall, a great idea for a book. But poor execution -- too many factual errors and misrepresentations.

(now, most will rate this honest and detailed critique "unhelpful" simply because it doesn't mindlessly cheerlead for the book - apparently more nuanced reviews are not welcome here.)

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A guide worth reading, August 20, 2008

By 

Florian Ulrich (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What You Should Know About Politics...But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues (Paperback)

If you are interested in politics, this is the book for you. In fact, it got me `hooked off' the internet, scimming through pundits' views back and forth, and instead presented me with a real basis on which to form my political opinion.

Jessamyn Conrad gives a concise and balanced overview to a vast array of topics in nowadays politics: elections, economy, foreign policy, military, health care, energy, environment, civil liberties, culture wars, socioeconomics, homeland security, education and trade. These are basically all fields of great importance and consequence for society, and certainly areas where decisions now will have a tremendous impact on the future.

I have to disagree with the previous commenter; everyone is entitled to his own opinion, and in my view, this is fine even for authors of nonpartisan books. Overall, this book provides an easy-going introduction into important questions of society and subjects of political discussion and leaves the reader with a well-balanced base of knowledge.

It is written in a witty and humourous style and leaves you enjoying it from front to back. Very informative, yet easy to read.

Anyone who is interested in politics and wants to inform himself well before the election - or about the political debates in general - will enjoy this book. Strongly recommended!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars true to its title, useful for everyone!, August 22, 2008

By 

Erica Samuels - See all my reviews

This review is from: What You Should Know About Politics...But Don't: A Nonpartisan Guide to the Issues (Paperback)

I picked up this book by chance while browsing through a bookstore. After reading the preface, and being struck by the clarity, wit, and thoughtfulness with which the author expressed her ideas, I decided to buy it. I read the book out of order, starting with the issues that interested me most, and was surprised to discover that I'd read all of it in one sitting. The author is true to her word, and gives an unbiased, non-partisan overview of the issues. It is what it promises to be --a guide-- easy to follow, and one that can finally empower voters to make decisions without blindly following the preaching of any political party. This book would make an excellent addition to an American politics/government class syllabus, and I commend Jessamyn Conrad for a job incredibly well done!