Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Press has released a second edition of Politics in Georgia by Arnold Fleischmann and Carol Pierannunzi. Fleischmann, a University of Georgia associate professor of political science, and Pierannunzi, a professor of political science at Kennesaw State University, have updated their popular 1997 book to reflect various political changes that have occurred in the state in the last decade.
In keeping with the state’s major demographic upheavals of recent decades, Georgia politics are an interesting and sometimes volatile mix of tradition and change. In contrast to the state’s rural past, most Georgians now live in cities or suburbs, and more than 40 percent of the population was born outside the state. However, religion and race remain issues that politicians ignore at great peril, and the state still fares poorly in measures of poverty, education and voter turnout.
Politics in Georgia uses a comparative framework to examine four major topics: the foundations of contemporary Georgia politics; political participation; major political institutions; and selected public policies.
Material new to this edition includes:
• analysis of 2006 state elections;
• coverage of trends and events since the book first appeared in 1997;
• an examination of the Republican Party’s rise in Georgia;
• an entirely new chapter on public opinion;
• significantly expanded treatment of public policy on such issues as the environment, social welfare, education, transportation, economic development and public safety; and
• discussions of major federal court cases that deal with Georgia and that have set important precedents for the nation.
For more information on the University of Georgia Press, see http://www.ugapress.uga.edu.