About the Book
This fourteenth edition of "Taking Sides: Social Issues" presents current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor's manual with testing material is available for each volume. "Using Taking Sides in the Classroom" is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each "Taking Sides" reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by our student website.
Table of Contents:
PART 1. CULTURE AND VALUES ISSUE 1. Is America in Moral Decline? YES: Robert H. Bork, from Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline" (Regan Books, 1996) NO: Kay S. Hymowitz, from "Our Changing Culture: Abandoning the Sixties," Current" (June 2004) Robert H. Bork, famous for being nominated for the Supreme Court but not confirmed by the Senate, argues that modern liberalism is responsible for the decline in morals. Journalist Kay S. Hymowitz argues that the permissive culture of the sixties, which led to less respect for authority, crime, sexual promiscuity, and other indicators of moral decline, is waning. The cultural pendulum is swinging back to a more traditional culture of commitment, moderation, and family values.ISSUE 2. Does the News Media Have a Liberal Bias? YES: William McGowan, from Coloring the News: How Crusading for Diversity Has Corrupted American Journalism" (Encounter Books, 2001) NO: Robert W. McChesney and John Bellamy Foster, from "The 'Left-Wing #8217; Media?" Monthly Review" (June 2003) Journalist William McGowan argues that political correctness pertaining to diversity issues has captured media newsrooms and exerts a constraining pressure on reporters. Robert W. McChesney and John Bellamy Foster argue that news reporting is bent in the direction of the political and commercial requirements of media owners, and heavy reliance on government officials and powerful individuals as primary sources biases news toward the status quo.ISSUE 3. Is Third World Immigration a Threat to America #8217;s Way of Life? YES: Patrick Buchanan, from "Shields Up!" The American Enterprise" (March 2002) NO: Ben Wattenberg, from "Immigration Is Good," The American Enterprise" (March 2002) Political analyst Patrick Buchanan asserts that the large influx of legal and illegal immigrants, especially from Mexico, threatens toundermine the cultural foundations of American unity. Ben Wattenberg, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that the United States needs a constant flow of immigrants toavoid population decline and also to avoid the diminishment of power and influence.PART 2. SEX ROLES, GENDER, AND THE FAMILY ISSUE 4. Is the Decline of the Traditional Family a National Crisis? YES: David Popenoe, from "The American Family Crisis," National Forum: The Phi Kappa Phi Journal" (Summer 1995) NO: Frank Furstenberg, from "Can Marriage Be Saved?" Dissent" (Summer 2005) Sociologist David Popenoe contends that families play important roles in society but how the traditional family functions in these roles hasdeclined dramatically in the last several decades, with very adverse effects on children. Sociologist Frank Furstenberg argues that diversity of and change in family forms are common throughout history, and the move away from the unusual family form of the 1950s does not indicate a crisis. It does present some problems for children but the worst problem for children is the lack of resources that often results from divorce or single parenting. ISSUE 5. Should Mothers Stay Home with Their Children? YES: Claudia Wallis, from "The Case for Staying Home," Time" (March 22, 2004) NO: Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels, from The Mommy Myth" (Free Press, 2004) Journalist Claudia Wallis reports that more and more mothers are choosing to quit work and stay home to care for the children. The work demands on professional women have increased to the point that very few can do both work and family. Forced to choose, growing numbers choose family. Communication studies professor Susan Douglas and writer Meredith Michaels attack the media for promoting the mommy myth, that "motherhood is eternally fulfilling and rewarding, that it is always the best and most important thing to do, ... and that if you don #8217;t love each and every second of it there #8217;s something really wrong with you." They object to the subtle moral pressure that the media puts on mothers to stay home with their children.ISSUE 6. Should Same-Sex Marriages Be Legally Recognized? YES: Human Rights Campaign, from "Answers to Questions about Marriage Equality" (HRC #8217;s FamilyNet Project, 2004) NO: Peter Sprigg, from "Questions and Answers: What #8217;s Wrong with Letting Same-Sex Couples 'Marry #8217;?" (Family Research Council, 2004) America #8217;s largest lesbian and gay organization, The Human Rights Campaign, presents many arguments for why same-sex couples should be able to marry. The main argument is fairness. Marriage confers many benefits that same-sex couples are deprived of. Researcher Peter Sprigg presents many arguments for why same-sex couples should not be able to marry. The main argument is that the state has the right and duty to specify who a person, whether straight or gay, can marry so no rights are violated.PART 3. STRATIFICATION AND INEQUALITY ISSUE 7. Is Increasing Economic Inequality a Serious Problem? YES: Christopher Jencks, from "Does Inequality Matter?" Daedalus" (Winter 2002) NO: Christopher C. DeMuth, from "The New Wealth of Nations," Commentary" (October 1997) Christopher Jencks, professor of social policy at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, presents data on how large the income inequalityis in the United States and describes the consequences of this inequality. Christopher C. DeMuth, president of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, argues that the "recent increase inincome inequality #8230; is a very small tick in the massive and unprecedented leveling of material circumstances that has been proceeding now foralmost three centuries and in this century has accelerated dramatically."ISSUE 8. Is the Underclass the Major Threat to American Ideals? YES: Charles Murray, from "And Now for the Bad News," Society" (November/December 1999) NO: Barry Schwartz, from "Capitalism, the Market, the 'Underclass, #8217; and the Future," Society" (November/December 1999) Author Charles Murray describes destructive behavior among the underclass. Murray asserts that this type of behavior will result in serioustrouble for society even though, according to statistics, the number of crimes committed has decreased. Psychology professor Barry Schwartz states that the underclass is not the major threat to American ideals. He counters that "the theoryand practice of free-market economics have done more to undermine traditional moral values than any other social force." ISSUE 9. Has Affirmative Action Outlived Its Usefulness? YES: Curtis Crawford, from "Racial Preference Versus Nondiscrimination," Society" (March/April 2004) NO: Lawrence D. Bobo, from "Inequalities that Endure?" in Maria Krysan and Amanda E. Lewis, eds., The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity" (Russell Sage Foundation, 2004) Curtis Crawford, editor of the Web site , explores all possible options for bettering the situation of disadvantaged minorities in a truly just manner. He argues that the right of everyone, including white males, to nondiscrimination is clearly superior to the right of minorities to affirmative action. Sociologist Lawrence D. Bobo demonstrates that racial prejudice still exists even though it has become a more subtle type of racism, which he calls laissez-faire racism. Though it is harder to identify, it has significant effects that Bobo illustrates. In fact, it plays a big role in current politics. ISSUE 10. Are Boys and Men Disadvantaged Relative to Girls and Women? YES: Michelle Conlin, from "The New Gender Gap," Business Week Online" (May 26, 2003) NO: Joel Wendland, from "Reversing the 'Gender Gap #8217;," Political Affairs" (March 2004) Journalist Michelle Conlin reviews the many disadvantages of boys and men in school from kindergarten to grad school. Since education is the route to success, men will be less able to compete in the marketplace. Joel Wendland acknowledges the edge that females have over males today in education but argues that females are still disadvantaged in the marketplace.PART 4. POLITICAL ECONOMY AND INSTITUTIONS ISSUE 11. Is Government Dominated by Big Business? YES: Bill Moyers, from "This Is the Fight of Our Lives," Timeline" (September/October 2004) NO: Jeffrey M. Berry, from "Citizen Groups and the Changing Nature of Interest Group Politics in America," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science" (July 1993) Television journalist Bill Moyers describes the harmful consequences of the influence and power of businessess and the rich over government. To him, the stories and evidence that he presents are "something to get mad about." Jeffrey M. Berry, a professor of political science, contends that public interest pressure groups that have entered the political arena since the end of the 1960s have effectively challenged the political power of big business. ISSUE 12. Should Government Intervene in a Capitalist Economy? YES: Eliot Spitzer and Andrew G. Celli Jr., from "Bull Run: Capitalism with a Democratic Face," The New Republic" (March 22, 2004) NO: John Stossel, from "The Real Cost of Regulation," Imprimis" (May 2001) Attorneys Eliot Spitzer and Andrew G. Celli Jr. argue that the government plays an essential role in enabling the market to work right. Capitalism runs amuck if it is not regulated to protect against abuse and ensure fairness. John Stossel, a TV news reporter and producer of one-hour news specials, argues that regulations have done immense damage and do not protect us as well as market forces.ISSUE 13. Has Welfare Reform Benefited the Poor? YES: Scott Winship and Christopher Jencks, from "Understanding Welfare Reform," Harvard Magazine" (November/December 2004) NO: Sharon Hayes, from "Off the Rolls: The Ground-Level Results of Welfare Reform," Dissent Magazine" (Fall 2003) Sociologists Scott Winship and Christopher Jencks show that welfare reform and a good economy reduced welfare rolls by more than half and reduced poverty at the same time. They argue that the critics of welfare reform were wrong. Sharon Hayes, professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, got to know many welfare mothers and learned what happened to them since the welfare reform. Her article points out that while quite a few mothers have left welfare since the reform, many cannot hold a job and are now worse off than before. ISSUE 14. Is Competition the Reform That Will Fix Education? YES: Clint Bolick, from "The Key to Closing the Minority Schooling Gap: School Choice," The American Enterprise" (April/May 2003) NO: Ron Wolk, from "Think the Unthinkable," Educational Horizons" (Summer 2004) Clint Bolick, vice president of the Institute for Justice, presents the argument for school choice that competition leads to improvements and makes the case that minorities especially need school choice to improve their educational performance. Educator and businessman Ron Wolk argues that school choice and most other educational reforms can only be marginally effective because they do not get at the heart of the educational problem, which is the way students learn. Too much attention is directed to the way teachers teach when the attention should be placed on how to stimulate students to learn more. Wolk advocates giving students more responsibility for their education. ISSUE 15. Should Biotechnology Be Used to Alter and Enhance Humans? YES: President #8217;s Council on Bioethics, from Beyond Therapy" (Regan Books, 2004) NO: Michael J. Sandel, from "The Case Against Perfection," The Atlantic Monthly" (April 2004) The President #8217;s Council on Bioethics was commissioned by George Bush to report to him their findings about the ethical issues involved in the uses of biotechnology. Included in this selection are the expected positive benefits from the biotechnologies that are on the horizon. Political science professor Michael J. Sandel was on the President #8217;s Council on Bioethics but presents his private view in this selection, which is very cautionary on the use of biotechnology to alter and enhance humans. Many other uses of biotechnology he praises, but he condemns using biotechnology to alter and enhance humans. In these activities, humans play God and attempt in inappropriate remaking of nature.PART 5. CRIME AND SOCIAL CONTROL ISSUE 16. Is Street Crime More Harmful Than White-Collar Crime? YES: David A. Anderson, from "The Aggregate Burden of Crime," Journal of Law and Economics" XLII (2) (October 1999) NO: Jeffrey Reiman, from The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice," 5th ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 1998) David A. Anderson estimates the total annual cost of crime including law enforcement and security services. The costs exceed one trillion, with fraud (mostly white collar crime) causing about one-fifth of the total. His calculations of the full costs of the loss of life and injury comes to about half of the total costs. It is right, therefore, to view personal and violent crime as the big crime problem. Professor of philosophy Jeffrey Reiman argues that the dangers posed by negligent corporations and white-collar criminals are a greatermenace to society than are the activities of typical street criminals.ISSUE 17. Should Drug Use Be Decriminalized? YES: Ethan A. Nadelmann, from "Commonsense Drug Policy," Foreign Affairs" (January/February 1998) NO: Eric A. Voth, from "America #8217;s Longest 'War, #8217;" The World & I" (February 2000) Ethan A. Nadelmann, director of the Lindesmith Center, a drug policy research institute, argues that history shows that drug prohibition iscostly and futile. Examining the drug policies in other countries, he finds that decriminalization plus sane and humane drug policies and treatmentprograms can greatly reduce the harms from drugs. Eric A. Voth, chairman of the International Drug Strategy Institute, contends that drugs are very harmful and that our drug policies havesucceeded in substantially reducing drug use.ISSUE 18. Does the Threat of Terrorism Warrant Curtailment of Civil Liberties? YES: Robert H. Bork, from "Liberty and Terrorism: Avoiding a Police State," Current" (December 2003) NO: Barbara Dority, from "Your Every Move," The Humanist" (January/February 2004) Robert H. Bork, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, recognizes that the values of security and civil rights must be balanced while we war against terrorism, but he is concerned that some commentators would hamstring security forces in order to protect nonessential civil rights. For example, to not use ethnic profiling of Muslim or Arab persons would reduce the effectiveness of security forces, while holding suspected terrorists without filing charges or allowing them council would increase their effectiveness. Barbara Dority, president of Humanists of Washington, describes some specific provisions of the Patriot Act to show how dangerous they could be to the rights of all dissidents. She argues that provisions of the act could easily be abused.PART 6. THE FUTURE: POPULATION/ENVIRONMENT/SOCIETY ISSUE 19. Is Mankind Dangerously Harming the Environment? YES: Lester R. Brown, from "Pushing Beyond the Earth #8217;s Limits," The Futurist" (May/June 2005) NO: Bjorn Lomborg, from "The Truth About the Environment," The Economist" (August 4, 2001) Lester R. Brown, founder of the Worldwatch Institute and now president of the Earth Policy Institute, argues the population growth and economic development are placing increasing harmful demands on the environment for resources and to grow food for improving diets. Bjorn Lomborg, a statistician at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, presents evidence that population growth is slowing down, naturalresources are not running out, species are disappearing very slowly, the environment is improving in some ways, and assertions about environmentaldecline are exaggerated.ISSUE 20. Is Globalization Good for Mankind? YES: Johan Norberg, from "Three Cheers for Global Capitalism," The American Enterprise" (June 2004) NO: Herman E. Daly, from "Globalization and Its Discontents," Philosophy & Public Policy Quarterly" (Spring/Summer 2001) Author Johan Norberg argues that globalization is overwhelmingly good. Consumers throughout the world get better quality goods at lower prices as the competition forces producers to be more creative, efficient, and responsive to consumers #8217; demands. Even most poor people benefit greatly. Herman E. Daly, professor at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland, does not object to international trade andrelations, but he does object to globalization that erases national boundaries and hurts workers and the environment.
