Elections in Oxford County, 1837-75 is a unique exploration of the forms, practices, and issues of democracy in a mid-nineteenth-century colonial setting. In this case study of thirty-eight elections in Oxford County — first as part of the United Province of Canada, then in early Ontario — George Emery delves into the advances, setbacks, and flaws of a partially democratic system. Emery demonstrates that while its forms and issues evolved, the net amount of democracy remained stable over time. Elections in Oxford County, 1837-75 breaks new ground with its detailed treatment of the county's voice-vote method of election, which ended with the adoption of the secret ballot in 1874. Employing an idealized parliamentary democracy as an explanatory model, Emery captures both geographically specific details and general features of this era's electoral process to enrich current understandings of nineteenth-century Canadian democracy.

The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, two New York Times bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in the newest volume in the series, one of America's most esteemed historians, Gordon S. Wood, offers a brilliant account of the early American Republic, ranging from 1789 and the beginning of the national government to the end of the War of 1812. As Wood reveals, the period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite the release of many slaves and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country. Named a New York Times Notable Book, Empire of Liberty offers a marvelous account of this pivotal era when America took its first unsteady steps as a new and rapidly expanding nation.

American political and policy history has revived since the turn of the twenty-first century. After social and cultural history emerged as dominant forces to reveal the importance of class, race, and gender within the United States, the application of this line of work to American politics and policy followed. In addition, social movements, particularly the civil rights and feminism, helped rekindle political and policy history. As a result, a new generation of historians turned their attention to American politics. Their new approach still covers traditional subjects, but more often it combines an interest in the state, politics, and policy with other specialties (urban, labor, social, and race, among others) within the history and social science disciplines. The Oxford Handbook of American Political History incorporates and reflects this renaissance of American political history. It not only provides a chronological framework but also illustrates fundamental political themes and debates about public policy, including party systems, women in politics, political advertising, religion, and more. Chapters on economy, defense, agriculture, immigration, transportation, communication, environment, social welfare, health care, drugs and alcohol, education, and civil rights trace the development and shifts in American policy history. This collection of essays by 29 distinguished scholars offers a comprehensive overview of American politics and policy.

In this bold and original study, David Eastwood offers a reinterpretation of politics and public life in provincial England. He explores the ways in which power was exercised, and reconstructs the social and cultural foundations of political authority in provincial England. Professor Eastwood demonstrates the crucial role played by local elites in policy-making, and shows how English public institutions and political culture can only be understood in terms of the long-run development of the English state.