1996 Vote: The "No Majority" Realignment Continues
Everett Carll Ladd analyzes the 1996 presidential and congressional elections and finds continuities with other contests of the so called postindustrial era. Party ties are weak for a large and growing segment of the population so that neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have been able to become a long-term dominant majority. From this condition of unanchored voters emerges divided government and powerful splits along race, region, religion, and gender in ways without precedent.

Peace, Interdependence, and the Middle East
Steve A. Yetiv examines the effect of Middle East peace on Israel's national welfare and on its regional and global relations. He argues that changes in global politics and economic relations, and specifically Israel's particular economic and security position, have significantly increased the costs of conflict for Israel and the potential benefits of peace.

Governing, Campaigning, and Organizing the Presidency: An Electoral Connection?
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas and Matthew J. Dickinson assess the growing dominance of the presidential staff in presidential reelection campaigns. This dominance, they conclude, contributes to a higher incidence of staff turnover, as presidents must juggle their advisors to respond to the diverging tasks of governing and campaigning.

Deciphering Africa's Divergent Transitions
Michael Bratton documents and analyzes the divergent political trajectories of sub-Saharan African regimes in the early 1990s. While some regime transitions have resulted in a minimal form of democracy, others have been flawed, blocked, or precluded.

Transitional Electoral Systems in Post-Communist Eastern Europe
John T. Ishiyama examines causes for the emergence of different post-Communist electoral systems in Eastern Europe. He argues that the type of democratized electoral system that emerged depended on the degree to which the Communist party and opposition leaderships had begun to think of their organizations as primarily seat-maximizing political parties, rather than as mass movements.

Full Faith and Credit for Same-Sex Marriages?
Ken I. Kersch addresses federalism questions involving the obligations of states to recognize same-sex marriages under the full faith and credit clause. He argues that a consideration of traditional norms of comity among states along with the nation's experience with analogous disputes concerning slavery and antimiscegnation statutes would be useful to policy makers grappling with the issue.

A Review Essay of Robert M. Gates's Memoirs
Raymond L. Garthoff's review essay critiques the memoirs by Robert Gates, a past director of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Council staffer. Garthoff concludes that Gates's memoirs, while not without bias, nonetheless offer interesting insights into bureaucratic political interplay and the role of intelligence in the policy process.

Internationalization and Domestic Politics, Robert O. Keohane and Helen V. Milner, eds.
Reviewed by J. Samuel Barkin

High Hopes, The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition, Stanley A. Renshon
Reviewed by Erwin C. Hargrove

War Powers: The President, the Congress, and the Question of War, Donald L. Westerfield
Reviewed by Michael Rubner

The Sources of Russian Foreign Policy after the Cold War, Celeste A. Wallander, ed.
Reviewed by Steve Marks

Senators on the Campaign Trail: The Politics of Representation, Richard F. Fenno, Jr.
Reviewed by Sarah A. Binder

"Tell Newt to Shut Up", David Maraniss and Michael Weisskopf
Reviewed by Richard M. Pious

Clinton and Post-Cold War Defense, Stephen J. Cimbala, ed.
Reviewed by James J. Wirtz

Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations, James A. Thurber, ed.
Reviewed by Bruce Miroff

Congress and the Presidency, Michael Foley and John E. Owens
Reviewed by Louis Fisher

Masters of War: Military Dissent and Politics in the Vietnam Era, Robert Buzzanco
Reviewed by Robert J. McMahon

The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Struggle over Policy, Roger Hilsman
Reviewed by Richard Ned Lebow

Democratizing Mexico: Public Opinion and Electoral Choices, Jorge I. Domínguez and James A. McCann ; Rebuilding the State: Mexico after Salinas, Monica Serrano and Victor Bulmer-Thomas, eds.
Reviewed by Robert A. Pastor

American Presidential Elections: Process, Policy, and Political Change, Harvey L. Schantz, ed.
Reviewed by Jeffrey S. Walz

Presidents and the Presidency, Stephen Hess
Reviewed by Samuel T. McSeveney

The End of the Republican Era, Theodore J. Lowi
Reviewed by Hugh Davis Graham

Turning Points in Social Security: From "Cruel Hoax" to "Sacred Entitlement", Sheryl R. Tynes
Reviewed by Edward D. Berkowitz

The War against the Poor: The Underclass and Anti-Poverty Policy, Herbert Gans
Reviewed by Loic J. D. Wacquant

Casting Her Own Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of Postwar Liberalism, Allida M. Black
Reviewed by James P. Young

The Rise and Fall of Development Theory, Colin Leys
Reviewed by M. Crawford Young

Funding the Modern American State, 1941-1995, W. Elliot Brownlee, ed.
Reviewed by C. Lowell Harriss

Wrong for all the Right Reasons: How White Liberals Have Been Undone by Race, Gordon MacInnes
Reviewed by James Borchert

Liberalism's Crooked Circle: Letters to Adam Michnik, Ira Katznelson
Reviewed by William E. Scheuerman

Cornerstones of Peace: Jewish Identity Politics and Democratic Theory, Maria Brettschneider
Reviewed by Alan Dowty

Shame and Humiliation: Presidential Decision Making on Vietnam, Belma S. Steinberg
Reviewed by Robert A. Divine

Globalization in Question: The International Economy and the Possibilities of Governance, Paul Hirst and Grahame Thompson
Reviewed by Richard L. Merritt

Talking to Strangers: Improving American Diplomacy at Home and Abroad, Monteagle Stearns
Reviewed by Greg Russell

Voting Rights and Democracy: The Law and Politics of Districting, Richard K. Scher, Jon L. Mills and John J. Hotaling
Reviewed by Frank J. Macchiarola

The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968, Kevin Boyle
Reviewed by Amy Bridges

The Face of the Nation: Immigration, the State, and the National Identity, Keith Fitzgerald
Reviewed by Elliott Robert Barkan

Down from Bureaucracy: The Ambiguity of Privatization and Empowerment, Joel F. Handler
Reviewed by Laurence E. Lynn, Jr.

The Politics of Abortion and Birth Control in Historical Perspective, Donald T. Critchlow, ed.
Reviewed by Sally G. McMillen

Abortion Rates in the United States: The Influence of Opinion and Policy, Matthew E. Wetstein
Reviewed by Christopher Wlezien