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The Political Junkie Handbook: The Political Junkie Handbook: A Definitive Book on Politics (The Definitive Reference Book on Politics) Paperback – May 1, 2004

3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

The essential process of the U.S. political system is unknown or misunderstood by the vast majority of the American public. A recent poll revealed that nearly two thirds of adult Americans could not name a single States Supreme Court justice! The failure of our education system becomes more apparent when our high school and college students are tested. Things are so bad that the majority believe that the following Marxist dictum, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," is included in the U.S. Constitution.

This book is designed to inform the American public about the political system that influences much of their lives. It is divided into four parts.

The first part, more than half the book, is called "Issues". Nearly forty important issues, from abortion to welfare, are analyzed and dissected to give the reader an understanding of the important points, from all perspectives, of the forces that shape the topic.

Each "Issues" section contains the following:

* A Summary of the issue as seen by the Right and by the Left

* Well-chosen quotes from people related to the issue.

* Snippets of information that gives the issue substance and perspective.

* Hard facts, statistics, charts and graphs.

The "Political Groups" section lists more than 600 influential political groups. Along with their name, we give a mission statement, their cause, political orientation and their website. We give similar treatment to the next section: "People in Politics". About 550 media types are listed; we give their occupation, political orientation and brief biography. You can't understand the system if you don't speak the language; thus we include a glossary of 400 important political terms.

The book also features a complete index to facilitate readers navigation through the various sections.

Special sections include:

* A List of the 100 Differences between the Left and the Right
* An Elaborate Diagram of the Political Spectrum
* 100 Influential Political Books of the 20th Century
* A List of 100 American Spies, Traitors and Fellow Travelers
* A List of over 100 Political Publications
* A List of the Top 100 Radio Talk Show Hosts
* A List of Every Television News and Issue-oriented Talk Show
· Voting Records of each Senator and Congressman as compiled by 16 political groups

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2016
    Excellent dosier of the Clinton Machine. Good stuff on other folks too.
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2007
    the author clearly grabbed everything he could find from the Internet and jammed it into a book. typos abound, there's no rhyme or reason or overarching goal, and much of what's included is simplistic drivel or out-of-date data. a real disappointment.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2004
    I think it's great that someone is compiling all this data into a single source of information. As a political junky, I eat this sort of information up quickly, and am always hungry for more.
    I completely agree with the reason for publishing this sort of work: most Americans are woefully out of touch with how and why thier government works. Soundbites from election-year ads, talk-radio, and Fox News are a poor substitute for facts, analysis, and true discourse.
    I think if Mr. Crane updates this book in the future, he should get better help to check the numbers, facts, and quotes presented. My impression (I'm about half-way through) is that these figures were slapped together without much editing and checking of what's printed.
    Don't get me wrong -- there's lots of great info here, but inaccurate facts are worse than no figures at all.
    I saw several tables where columns were obviously missing (heading, but no data), numbers that were obvious mistakes, and even quotations repeated verbatim on the same page. Also, there were several presentations of data that (with a little math or spreadsheet technology) could have revealed much more valuable information. I believe most data was presented as-is from the source -- some analysis may have helped.
    Finally, the two-color graphics could have been much more interesting with more colors. I realize this would add to the cost of the book, but feel it would be worth it. Many graphs and maps were extremely hard to interpret with only shades of gray. It didn't help that some maps/graphs appeared to have been scanned in and blown up until they were blurry just to fill the page.
    Hopefully, Mr. Crane's next edition will incorporate some of these suggestions. The potential is there -- it just needs a bit of work to really shine.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2004
    I purchased this book a few weeks ago with the expectation of brushing up on the numerous political issues that are topping the news in this year's election season, and to simply become more knowledgeable about basic facts. As it turns out, the book spends more time on my desk at work than at home where I reference it frequently for insight on issues that our marketing research firm covers for various newspapers. Overall, a great resource for anyone interested in shoring up their knowledge base, and knowing what they're talking about. Remember, a smarter America is a better America!
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2005
    I have never read a book quite like this. Talk about informational overload: this book gives it in overtime. It was so fascinating that I couldn't put it down. I bought some to use as birthday gifts for my fellow political junkie.
    4 people found this helpful
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