John C. Pierce

Thomas S. Foley, a Democratic representative from the traditionally Republican region of eastern Washington, served in Congress from 1964 to 1994. In 1989 he became the first Speaker of the US House of Representatives from a district west of Texas. His thirty years of experience as a Democrat representing a Republican-leaning district contributed to his strong commitment to bipartisanship and institution building. His speakership came to an end when the Newt Gingrich-led “Republican Revolution” ushered in an era of ideological polarization and fierce partisanship.Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle is a political biography of this important but often overlooked figure in modern congressional history. While examining the story of Foley’s service as Speaker of the House, R. Kenton Bird and John C. Pierce place his career in the context of both his own life story and congressional politics in the late twentieth century. What emerges is the story of a leader whose strongly held political values motivated him to sustain a vibrant and responsive House of Representatives as an institution, with a stance that proved incompatible with the polarized and strident political environment that emerged in the early 1990s.Bird and Pierce offer the first major study of Tom Foley’s political career in this penetrating look at a unique and transformative congressional leader who focused on making Congress work by bringing politicians from both sides of the aisle together. Foley’s tenure spanned the crucial years of transition between this bipartisan ideology of governance and the politics of the twenty-first century, between the leadership styles of Democrats Jim Wright and Tip O’Neil and that of Republican Gingrich. Foley’s defeat in 1994 ended this remarkable career of leading from the middle and marked a seismic transition in the landscape of American politics.

The book examines contemporary immigration policy and immigrant assimilation with a focus on the adoption of sanctuary ordinances in US local governments in connection with Latino in-migration. It also investigates the adoption of anti-immigrant settlement local ordinances in many local governments with particular focus on local law enforcement positions taken on enforcement of federal immigration laws. The book investigates a wide range of county-level characteristics of 3,000+ U.S. counties (e.g., socio-economic and demographic traits, political culture, social capital, religious denominations present, etc.) to identify correlates of pro- and anti-immigrant settlement. The book also features the analysis of a national survey and three targeted surveys in pro-immigration (San Francisco), divided (Maricopa), and anti-immigration (Tulsa) counties to explore the individual-level factors associated with sentiments on immigration policy. Finally, the book presents findings from two case studies where active encouragement of Latino settlement (Twin Falls, ID) and active opposition (Hazleton, PA) characterize local reaction to Latino in-migration. The mixed methods study leads the authors to conclude that a funnel of causality concept, path dependency, pro-social attitudes, and the concepts of moral panic and moral dialogue collectively lead to great insight into the question of why some communities are open and accepting while others are exclusionary.

This book grows out of the authors' conviction that as public policy issues become suffused with scientific and technical content, they become difficult for the democratic citizens to understand. It attempts to determine mass public capacity and their motivation to respond to the challenges.

The book examines contemporary immigration policy and immigrant assimilation with a focus on the adoption of sanctuary ordinances in US local governments in connection with Latino in-migration. It also investigates the adoption of anti-immigrant settlement local ordinances in many local governments with particular focus on local law enforcement positions taken on enforcement of federal immigration laws. The book investigates a wide range of county-level characteristics of 3,000+ U.S. counties (e.g., socio-economic and demographic traits, political culture, social capital, religious denominations present, etc.) to identify correlates of pro- and anti-immigrant settlement. The book also features the analysis of a national survey and three targeted surveys in pro-immigration (San Francisco), divided (Maricopa), and anti-immigration (Tulsa) counties to explore the individual-level factors associated with sentiments on immigration policy. Finally, the book presents findings from two case studies where active encouragement of Latino settlement (Twin Falls, ID) and active opposition (Hazleton, PD) characterize local reaction to Latino in-migration. The mixed methods study leads the authors to conclude that a funnel of causality concept, path dependency, pro-social attitudes, and the concepts of moral panic and moral dialogue collectively lead to great insight into the question of why some communities are open and accepting while others are exclusionary.

This book grows out of the authors' conviction that as public policy issues become suffused with scientific and technical content, they become difficult for the democratic citizens to understand. It attempts to determine mass public capacity and their motivation to respond to the challenges.

This book poses the question of whether identifiable individual-level attributes (e.g., values, interests, knowledge, demographic characteristics) lead to support for or opposition to the development and implementation of alternative energy technologies. In recent years, attempts to site alternative energy technologies (e.g., wind, solar, wave) have been met by intense opposition from a variety of sources, including many environmentalists from whom one might expect support for non-carbon based renewable energy initiatives. This volume argues that there are indeed such discernible attributes, and moreover that the identification and exploration are important for the development of support strategies for the well-informed and achievable siting of such technologies.

This book poses the question of whether identifiable individual-level attributes (e.g., values, interests, knowledge, demographic characteristics) lead to support for or opposition to the development and implementation of alternative energy technologies. In recent years, attempts to site alternative energy technologies (e.g., wind, solar, wave) have been met by intense opposition from a variety of sources, including many environmentalists from whom one might expect support for non-carbon based renewable energy initiatives. This volume argues that there are indeed such discernible attributes, and moreover that the identification and exploration are important for the development of support strategies for the well-informed and achievable siting of such technologies.

River Earth is a personal exploration of family and community in and around the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. In these poignant essays, John Pierce probes the lifelong impact of a teenage boy's loss of a father, and how it led his own sons to a life on the river. He lifts the covers from the seeming tranquility of north Idaho's woods to reveal the personal impact of a friend's fear of racial violence. His mother's heroic lingering death forces him to confront who he is--while in the midst of a relationship that had lain dormant. Nighttime visits by Johnny Cash, two-foot long fish that don't exist, and a son who hears music in his head while wandering along Idaho's Jeru Creek all enliven and enrich this moving yet humorous book. Love, anger, wonder, a sense of place, of family, and of community, all emerge in this collection of evocative autobiographical excursions.

River Earth is a personal exploration of family and community in and around the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. In these poignant essays, John Pierce probes the lifelong impact of a teenage boy's loss of a father, and how it led his own sons to a life on the river. He lifts the covers from the seeming tranquility of north Idaho's woods to reveal the personal impact of a friend's fear of racial violence. His mother's heroic lingering death forces him to confront who he is--while in the midst of a relationship that had lain dormant. Nighttime visits by Johnny Cash, two-foot long fish that don't exist, and a son who hears music in his head while wandering along Idaho's Jeru Creek all enliven and enrich this moving yet humorous book. Love, anger, wonder, a sense of place, of family, and of community, all emerge in this collection of evocative autobiographical excursions.