Volume 124 · Number 3 · Fall 2009

ALAN ABRAMOWITZ and RUY TEIXEIRA document the dramatic decline in the white working class and discuss the complicated ways this decline has transformed American politics. They also discuss the emergence of a mass upper-middle class whose effects on American politics may be similarly complicated.

DEMETRIOS JAMES CARALEY analyzes three key trends over the last eight presidential elections: the ending of party dealignment but without the emergence of a new majority party coalition, the geographic realignments making the South solid Republican and the Northeast and Pacific coast solid Democratic, and the volatility that has taken place among various politically relevant social and demographic groups. He also discusses whether the election of Barack Obama as president with the simultaneous election of solid Democratic majorities in the House and Senate signal a coming of a new majority Democratic realignment.

SHAREEN HERTEL, LYLE SCRUGGS, and C. PATRICK HEIDKAMP examine original public opinion data on American attitudes regarding human rights and ethical consumption. They find a higher acceptance of economic rights than have previous studies, and a high willingness to pay for ethically produced goods—though with notable variation among demographic groups.

URI BAR-JOSEPH and JACK S. LEVY look at the different ways in which the conscious distortion of information and the politicization of intelligence can lead to intelligence failure. They apply their categories to the Soviet failure to anticipate the German attack in 1941 and to the Israeli failure to anticipate the Arab attack in 1973.

MICHELE E. COMMERCIO discusses Russian political mobilization in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan and Latvia. She concludes that contentious voice is more likely to emerge when dissatisfied groups have an unambiguous source of blame for their grievances, while amicable voice is more likely to emerge when such groups lack an obvious target of blame.

JOSEPH M. PARENT compares Europe's hesitant steps toward unity with the successful unification of the United States. He finds that the reigning explanations of political integration are significantly limited, and urges policymakers and scholars interested in the European Union to consider an overlooked realist argument.

Book reviews

Reviewed by Tony Smith

Reviewed by Bruce W. Jentleson

Reviewed by Ronald Collins

Reviewed by Katherine Cramer Walsh

Reviewed by Jeremi Suri

Reviewed by Bruce Gilley

Reviewed by Maximilian Terhalle

Reviewed by Ann Southworth

Reviewed by Andrew Dowdle

Reviewed by Nolan McCarty

Reviewed by Evan Resnick

Reviewed by Glenn Hastedt

Reviewed by Jonathan Monten

Reviewed by Max J. Skidmore

Reviewed by Mark Tushnet

Reviewed by Danny Hayes

Reviewed by Allan J. Cigler

Reviewed by Jeanne L. Wilson

Reviewed by Patrice C. McMahon

Reviewed by Gary C. Bryner

Reviewed by Elena Mastors

Reviewed by Thomas W. Lippman

Reviewed by Julie Mertus

Reviewed by Andrea Vindigni

Reviewed by Michael Bernhard

Reviewed by Ryan Carlin

Reviewed by James L. Guth

Reviewed by Robert P. Stoker

Reviewed by Keesha M. Middlemass

Reviewed by Michael Craw

Reviewed by Elizabeth Beaumont

Reviewed by Costas Panagopoulos

Reviewed by Edward J.W. Park

Reviewed by Gustavo A. Flores-Macías

Reviewed by Abbas Milani

Reviewed by Alan J. Kuperman