In a nation built by immigrants and bedevilled by the history and legacy of slavery, issues of liberty, equality and community continue to challenge Americans. In considering the Los Angeles riots, the patterns of ethnic representation in Congress, or examples of discrimination in schools, it can be seen that "getting along" is intimately connected with "who gets what, when, and how" - the traditional definition of politics. This book combines traditional elements of political-science analysis - history, constitutional theory, institutions, political behaviour and policy actors - with a detailed survey of the political status of four major groups: African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and American Indians. The authors identify similarities and differences in these groups' political action and experience, and point the way toward coalition, competition and consensus-building in the face of continuing conflict. Two dilemmas shape the book: how the American nation reconciles a commitment to equality with persistent inequality and discrimination, and what can be done about it from the perspective of ethnic and racial minorities as well as within the dominant culture.
Paula D. McClain is professor of political science; and professor of law, public policy, and African and African American Studies at Duke University. She also directs the American Political Science Association’s Ralph Bunche Summer Institute hosted by Duke University, and funded by the National Science Foundation and Duke University. A Howard University Ph.D., her primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority political and social competition, and urban politics, especially public policy and urban crime. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals, including theJournal of Politics,American Political Science Review, Urban Affairs Review, andAmerican Politics Quarterly. Westview Press has published the fourth edition of her book “Can We All Get Along?" Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics, co-authored with Joseph Stewart, Jr. (2005). She is a past vice president of the American Political Science Association, a past president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, served as Program Co-Chair for the 1993 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, served as Program Chair for the 1999 annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association, served as Vice President of the Midwest Political Science Association, recently served as Vice President and 2002 Program Chair of the Southern Political Science Association, and recently completed her term as a Vice President and Program Co-Chair of the 2003 International Political Science Association World Congress which was held in Durban, South Africa in the summer of 2003. She is currently president of the Southern Political Science Association.Joseph Stewart, Jr. (Ph.D., University of Houston, 1977) is Chair of the Political Science Department at Clemson University. His research interests span civil rights policies, racial and ethnic politics, public policy, and educational policy, with occasional other miscellaneous topics. His work has appeared in a variety of political science, education, public policy, public administration, public law, and interdisciplinary journals. His books includeRace, Class, and Education (with Kenneth J. Meier and Robert E. England, 1989),The Politics of Hispanic Education (with Kenneth J. Meier, 1991), and"Can We All Get Along?" Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics (with Paula D. McClain, Westview, 4th ed., forthcoming), each of which has received a Gustavus Myers Award as an “Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights in the United States.” In addition, he is the co-author ofPublic Policy: An Evolutionary Approach (with James P. Lester, West, 2nd ed., 2000), which was published in a Chinese edition in 2001. Stewart currently serves on the Editorial Boards ofAmerican Review of Politics, the National Political Science Review and the University Press of Virginia’s"Race, Ethnicity and Politics" Series. He is currently Co-Editor of Rowman & Littlefield’s“Spectrum” Series. He is currently (2005-2006) President of the Southwestern Social Science Association and serves on the Executive Council of the Southern Political Science Association.In addition to the book awards noted earlier, Stewart has been honored with the Herbert Kaufman Award (with Kenneth J. Meier) by the American Political Science Association’s Section on Public Administration for the best paper presented at the 1991 conference and an AP® Special Recognition Award by the College Board Southwestern Regional Office in 2000.Despite all of this professional activity, Stewart is probably best known for his alleged sense of humor, which has been manifest in an article in which the discipline of political science is presented as a “rotisserie” game (with Kenneth J. Meier, 1992, "Rotisserie Political Science,"PS: Political Science & Politics, 25, 565-568), a convention paper “analyzing” the work of “Texas’ fastest rising Jewish country music star” and current candidate for governor of Texas, Kinky Friedman, and appearances on roundtables and panels at professional meetings, such as "The Contributions of Elvis Presley to the Study of Political Science," “Country Music and Political Science,” and “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Political Science.”
