Three Scenarios for the Future of Technology and Strong Democracy
Benjamin R. Barber argues that although there is a Jeffersonian scenario in which new telecommunication technologies foster democracy and civil society, there are two other equally probable scenarios that are far less optimistic. Uses of technology that will nurture "strong" democracy require hard and imaginative work for which the political will does not yet appear to be present.

The Escalation of U.S. Immigration Control in the Post-NAFTA Era
Peter Andreas examines the rapid escalation of U.S. immigration control efforts along our southwest border in recent years. He argues that enhanced border policing has less to do with actual deterrence and more to do with projecting an image of order and coping with the deepening contradictions of economic integration.

Soviet Reassessment of Ronald Reagan, 1985-1988
William D. Jackson analyzes Soviet assessments of the Reagan administration in the period 1985-1988 as revealed in recent memoirs by key Soviet officials and other Soviet documents. He concludes that a shift from the "outflanking" strategy aimed at the U.S. originally embraced by Gorbachev to a strategy of conciliatory engagement was closely linked to shifting assessments of the Reagan administration on the part of Gorbachev and his key advisers.

The Government Operations Committee and Foreign Policy during the Cold War
Robert David Johnson discusses the forays of the Senate Government Operations Committee into foreign policy issues during the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations. He argues that the committee's expansion of its role provides one example of the way in which the altered committee structure of Congress enabled the legislature to influence international issues even during the height of the cold war.

Necessity in Foreign Policy
Gregory A. Raymond analyzes the justifications for foreign policy decisions that appeal to the exigencies of necessity. He shows how such appeals portray situations of limited options as if they were situations with no options and how decision makers use these appeals to insulate themselves from responsibility while, paradoxically, ennobling their actions.

Regimes and Regime Building in American Government: A Review of Literature on the 1940s
Karen Orren and STEPHEN SKOWRONEK review the concept of regimes and the processes of regime formation in American national government in six recent works that discuss how liberal reform priorities of the 1930s were transformed into a coherent and stable system of national governance in the 1940s. The authors offer some general propositions about why political formations such as these congeal periodically in American political development and what they represent.

Italy Since 1989: Events and Interpretations, Vittorio Bufacchi and Simon Burgess ; The Italian Guillotine: Operation Clean Hands and the Overthrow of Italy's First Republic, Stanton H. Burnett and Luca Mantovani
Reviewed by Joseph LaPalombara

"Empire" by Integration: The United States and European Integration, 1945-1997, Geir Lundestad
Reviewed by James McAllister

The Political Participation of Asian Americans, Pei-te Lien ; Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience, Angelo Ancheta
Reviewed by Claire Jean Kim

Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany, Charles S. Maier
Reviewed by Melvin Croan

Changing Course: Ideas, Politics, and the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan, Sarah E. Mendelson
Reviewed by Richard L. Russell

Caught between Roosevelt and Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow, Dennis J. Dunn
Reviewed by Cathal J. Nolan

Chronic Condition: Why Health Reform Fails, Sherry Glied
Reviewed by Lawrence R. Jacobs

Rethinking Health Care Policy, Robert B. Hackey ; Politics, Power and Policy Making: The Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s, Mark E. Rushefsky and Kant Patel
Reviewed by Richard Himelfarb

Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution, Timothy E. Cook
Reviewed by Jeffrey J. Mondak

Becoming Citizens in the Age of Television: How Americans Challenged the Media and Seized Political Initiative during the Iran-Contra Debate, David Thelen
Reviewed by David L. Paletz

Communication Consultants in Political Campaigns: Ballot Box Warriors, Robert V. Friedenberg
Reviewed by Peter W. Wielhouwer

Networks of Champions: Leadership, Access, and Advocacy in the U.S. House of Representatives, Christine DeGregorio
Reviewed by Georgia Duerst-Lahti

The End of Parliamentary Socialism: From New Left to New Labour, Colin Leys and Leo Panitch
Reviewed by Kent Worcester

Partisan Politics in the Global Economy, Geoffrey Garrett
Reviewed by William Roberts Clark

Unwinnable Wars: American Power and Ethnic Conflict, David Callahan
Reviewed by Roy Licklider

Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems, Gary W. Cox
Reviewed by Olga Shvetsova

Party System Change: Approaches and Interpretations, Peter Mair
Reviewed by John Carey

The Tides of Reform: Making Government Work, 1945-1995, Paul C. Light
Reviewed by B. Guy Peters

Worlds of Welfare: Understanding the Changing Geographies of Social Welfare Provision, Steven Pinch
Reviewed by David Dodenhoff

The Political Economy of Turkey in the Post-Soviet Era: Going West and Looking East?, Libby Rittenberg, ed.
Reviewed by David Waldner

Ethnic Conflict: Commerce, Culture, and the Contact Hypothesis, H. D. Forbes
Reviewed by Daniel L. Byman

Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: The Tigray People's Liberation Front, 1975-1991, John Young
Reviewed by Stephen F. Burgess

Pluralism by the Rules: Conflict and Cooperation in Environmental Regulation, Edward P. Weber
Reviewed by Christian Hunold

Environmental Federalism, Terry L. Anderson and Peter J. Hill
Reviewed by Denise Scheberle

The Farrakhan Phenomenon: Race, Reaction, and the Paranoid Style in American Politics, Robert Singh
Reviewed by Hanes Walton, Jr.

Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65, Taylor Branch
Reviewed by Steven F. Lawson

Urban Elections in Democratic Latin America, Henry A. Dietz and Gil Shidlo
Reviewed by Douglas Chalmers

Decentering the Regime: Ethnicity, Radicalism, and Democracy in Juchitan, Mexico, Jeffrey W. Rubin
Reviewed by Susan Eckstein

Challenging the State: Crisis and Innovation in Latin America and Africa, Merilee S. Grindle
Reviewed by Leonardo A. Villalon

Liberal Peace Liberal War: American Politics and International Security, John M. Owen IV
Reviewed by Mlada Bukovansky

Nations at War: A Scientific Study of International Conflict, Daniel S. Geller and J. David Singer
Reviewed by Erik Gartzke

The Political Institution of Private Property, Itai Sened
Reviewed by Timothy Frye

Growth, Debt, and Politics: Economic Adjustment and the Political Performance of Developing Countries, Lewis W. Snider
Reviewed by Carol Wise

Citizenship Rights and Social Movements: A Comparative and Statistical Analysis, Joe Foweraker and Todd Landman
Reviewed by David S. Meyer

International Theory: To the Brink and Beyond, Andrew P. Dunne
Reviewed by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson

What's Wrong with Liberalism? A Radical Critique of Liberal Political Philosophy, Maureen Ramsay
Reviewed by John P. McCormick

The Political Discourse of Anarchy: A Disciplinary History of International Relations, Brian C. Schmidt
Reviewed by Keith Krause

Domesticating Revolution: From Socialist Reforms to Ambivalent Transition in a Bulgarian Village, Gerald W. Creed
Reviewed by Muzaffar Assadi