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A literary criticism is provided of the 2010 American book "Zeitoun," and the 2014 novel "The Circle," by David Eggers. The books' depiction of U.S. national, or homeland, security, including after 2005 Hurricane Katrina, is discussed. The portrayal of politics in "Zeitoun," including biopolitics, is also discussed.

The article discusses the literary works that made significant contributions to international scholarship in 2014. Topics covered include the history- and political science-based approaches that dominated U.S. literature scholarship, the publication of collective works investigating issues or gender and race, and how the aesthetic discourse have triggered the interest of French scholars.

In ‘From Signing to Strangling: Arthur Miller, the Work of Art, and the National Security State’, I argue that two of Miller's major plays respond directly to trends in US Cold War politics—but in much more abstract ways than have yet been realized. Far from merely satirizing mores, Miller deployed a historically distinctive politics of authorship which sought to distinguish literary texts from the documents and archives of the security state. WhenThe Crucible(1953) was received primarily as political allegory, Miller was incensed; by focusing on the final scene of the play, I show how John Proctor was meant less as a political, than an aesthetic, dissident. I extend my analysis to Miller's 1964 playAfter the Fall, which reworks the distinction between artistic and state discourses by way of a vanishing distinction between the marriage of two characters in the play, and Miller's own marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Via two scenes of strangulation, one in each play, Miller's work makes the mournful passage from work to text, from author to writer, consistent with critical understandings of the passage from modern to postmodern literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A literary criticism of the book "The Savage Detectives," by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer, is presented. Topics include the reception of Bolaño's work by U.S. critics, comparison's of Bolaño to author Jorge Luis Borges, and political aspects of "The Savage Detectives." The novel is compared to Bolaño's novel "2666."

The article provides a literary criticism of the political novel "Primary Colors," by Joe Klein, which focuses on a fictional U.S. Presidential campaign modeled after the 1992 campaign of U.S. President Bill Clinton. The similarities between the novel and the book "All the King's Men," by Robert Penn Warren, are outlined, as is the role of race in the novel. Emphasis is given to the ways in which the novel reflects the realities of politics despite its fictional nature.

This focus article discusses the recent book by Robert D. Putnam and D.E. Campbell, which has recently won the 2011 Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association. Framing this piece of research in the context of the extremely rich and influential work developed by Robert D. Putnam for about fifty years, Sergio Fabbrini illustrates the main findings of American Grace with reference to the recent developments and the assets of the US democracy. Luca Ozzano draws attention to the consequences determined by the relationship between religion and political participation on the foreign policy developments and, more generally, on the complex world of international relations. The third review, by Giuliano Amato, develops a broader reflection on the effect of religions on the current difficulties of our democracies, in America and in Europe, focusing on the notion of post-secular society. Finally, a quick but dense response by Robert D. Putnam highlights the main points from these threefold review, individuating some new possible questions and puzzles for future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the writings of author Walt Whitman, focusing on differences in his style and subject matter following the end of the American Civil War in 1865. The author examines Whitman's poetry in the book "Leaves of Grass," which was first published in 1855 but later revised in 1888. Poems discussed include "The Sleepers," "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," and "Song of Myself." The opinion of critics on Whitman's postwar career is discussed, noting speculation that he made an effort to utilize more traditional poetic forms. The author comments on the theme of time and politics within Whitman's later works.

The author considers the campaign literature for the 1828 U.S. presidential election between incumbent U.S. President John Quincy Adams and General Andrew Jackson, focusing particularly on anti-Jackson handbills. He analyzes the "Coffin Handbill," an article from the newspaper "Democratic Clarion," and a broadside urging voters to "Read, Pause, and Reflect." He also discusses various reports published within this special issue on political writing and American literature from 1800 to 1835, including one by Ed White about republicanism in literature, one by Christopher Apap on the political oratory of U.S. Senator Daniel Webster, and one by Susan Graham on author Catharine Read Williams.

This article describe the structure of republicanism based on their reading of the novel "Ormond" by Charles Brockden Brown. According to the authors, Brown offers less a republican novel than an anatomy of republican fantasy. They argue that the novel's crystallization of republican fantasy helps understand how the ideology of republicanism is itself complicit in the perpetuation of slavery in the nation. They also analyze the representation of U.S. conservatism and liberalism in the novel by Brown.

Dwight Waldo (1913–2000) is commonly known as a “heterodox” critic of the dichotomy between politics and administration. But is this reputation supported by his writings? It seems to be primarily based on The Administrative State (1948) and other early publications, in which he conceptualized politics/administration narrowly as deciding/executing and, indeed, sharply criticized it. Waldo’s later publications, by contrast, offer much broader conceptualizations and a more ambivalent, even positive appraisal of the dichotomy. Such conceptualizations are also found in an important unpublished book Waldo worked on during several phases of his career. On the basis of these published and unpublished writings, we should reconsider Waldo’s reputation and, pursuing his line of reasoning, reconceptualize the politics–administration dichotomy as a layered construct and reappreciate it as a constitutional doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the works of the late political scientist Nelson W. Polsby concerning the U.S. Congress. His classic articles include "The Institutionalization of the U.S. House Representatives" and "The Growth of Seniority System in the U.S. House of Representatives." It states that Polsby emphasized that legislatures can contain the opposition of a society. It mentions that he has an eye for developing relevant political concepts.

This article presents a critique of "The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murieta, the Celebrated California Bandit," an 1854 novel by mixed blood Cherokee author John Rollin Ridge. The literary work was the first published novel by a Native American. Focusing on the newly annexed contested terrain of California, Ridge encounters Euroamerican narratives of discovery and the Edenic representations of Western virgin land making space for the ethno-racialized cultures of displacement. In doing so, Ridge, appropriated the forms, rhetoric and conventions of Euroamerican print culture, utilizing them as tactics to intervene in Euroamerican literary and political histories, for example in "Joaquín," Ridge utilizes the novel form as a medium for oral materials of legend and myth, transforming the genre and unsettling its racial and colonial origins. But Ridge further complicates the text's ethnic and cultural parameters. Ridge can be seen as a trickster figure who tells the story of genocide, geographic displacement and cultural devastation perpetrated against his Cherokee people through the figure of the celebrated California outlaw, Joaquín Murieta, who experiences economic and political disenfranchisement by the Anglos. Reading Ridge's text requires that the reader read between the lines and listen to the truth in things not said. A narrative about displaced Mexicans in California written by a displaced Cherokee, twice removed from his land and people and intended for a popular readership.

Although the tradition of poetry that resists war extends from the first writings in Mesopotamia, it is not unfair to say that poets and poetry contributed generously to the ideologies of warrior heroism and sacrificial nationalism that underlie warfare. Many poets have depicted war as a terrifying but often glorious spectacle of honor and sacrifice. Since the Vietnam War, when American poets Allen Ginsberg, Robert Lowell, Denise Levertov, Robert Bly, Adrienne Rich, and Daniel Berrigan took central roles in the peace movement, many poets in the United States have shrunk from such public displays of resistance. The retreat from political poetry resulted as much from what was perceived as the excesses of Vietnam-era poetry as it was from politics itself. June Jordan, one of the few poets whose resistance persisted, and even grew more forcefully articulate until her untimely death in 2002, offers a model for poet-activists attempting that difficult balance between working at the art of poetry and contributing to the effort to resist war and violence.

Focuses on the speeches of humorist Mark Twain against American imperialism in the Phillipines. Use of the British situation in South Africa as a point of comparison; Views of Twain on the issue depicted in the book "Following the Equator"; Strategy of the writer in presenting political struggles.

Focuses on seven Jewish neoconservatives involved in the establishment of the magazine `National Review' in the United States. Conversion of Jewish intellectuals from liberalism to conservatism; Details on the individual contribution of the neoconservatives to the success of magazine; Personal and career backgrounds of the seven Jewish writer-activists.

Discusses Theodore White's books. Description of his narrative of the 1960 U.S. presidential election; Aspect of White's writing; Denial of White on the existence of an Eastern Establishment; Views on election process; Details on his work on Richard Nixon's administration.

Discusses the political ideology in the play "They are Dying Out," by Peter Handke. Production of the play at the Yale Repertory Theater in the U.S. in 1979; Views of critic Manfred Mixner on the play; Comparison of the play with the novel "Short Letter: Long Farewell."

There is not an extensive recent literature on the relationship between Congress and the bureaucracy, but this relationship is central to most of the U.S. national public policy. There is also a surprising lack of systematic analyses of state legislative-administrative relations. The scope of this article will be limited to a review of the most important literature and recent reforms which have had an impact upon legislative-administrative relations. The article will focus primarily upon congressional oversight and recent congressional efforts to increase legislative influence over the administration with several references to state legislative administrative relations.