Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was a prolific writer and public speaker whose impact on American literature and history has been long studied by historians and literary critics. Yet as political theorists have focused on the legacies of such notables as W. E. B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Douglass's profound influence on Afro-modern and American political thought has often been undervalued. In an effort to fill this gap in the scholarship on Douglass, editor Neil Roberts and an exciting group of established and rising scholars examine the author's autobiographies, essays, speeches, and novella. Together, they illuminate his genius for analyzing and articulating core American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom, particularly in the context of slavery. The contributors explore Douglass's understanding of the self-made American and the way in which he expanded the notion of individual potential by arguing that citizens had a responsibility to improve not only their own situations but also those of their communities. A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass also considers the idea of agency, investigating Douglass's passionate insistence that every person in a democracy, even a slave, possesses an innate ability to act. Various essays illuminate Douglass's complex racial politics, deconstructing what seems at first to be his surprising aversion to racial pride, and others explore and critique concepts of masculinity, gender, and judgment in his oeuvre. The volume concludes with a discussion of Douglass's contributions to pre– and post–Civil War jurisprudence.

Social media are now widely used for political protests, campaigns, and communication in developed and developing nations, but available research has not yet paid sufficient attention to experiences beyond the US and UK. This collection tackles this imbalance head-on, compiling cutting-edge research across six continents to provide a comprehensive, global, up-to-date review of recent political uses of social media. Drawing together empirical analyses of the use of social media by political movements and in national and regional elections and referenda, The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics presents studies ranging from Anonymous and the Arab Spring to the Greek Aganaktismenoi, and from South Korean presidential elections to the Scottish independence referendum. The book is framed by a selection of keystone theoretical contributions, evaluating and updating existing frameworks for the social media age.

'. . . this compendium offers a solid introduction into an economic field that is gaining in influence.' – Detmar Doering, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 'The first essay in this volume, "Public Choice at the Millennium," by the two editors, sets a high standard for all the essays to follow. . . The essay takes us through the early history of public choice research in a particularly lucid fashion. . . This first article is destined to be a must-read on many reading lists on both graduate and undergraduate courses in political economy. . . . the volume is likely to become a much-used reference tool. . . . for those researchers interested in a comprehensive discussion of the far-reaching literature in this area, and want some provocation in the mix, this is clearly the right choice.' – Sharon M. Oster, Public Choice 'Many of the chapters of this handbook will be an indispensable addition to any course reading list in public choice, or public economics. They serve as an excellent complement, integrating diverse lines of thoughts, to the core scholarly writings in the field. The essays are well-written and succeed, admirably, in accomplishing what a handbook must, making difficult and disparate material quite comprehensible to someone who wishes to become acquainted with the area.' – Harold M. Hochman, Lafayette College, US 'This is an extremely valuable insiders' account of what public choice is about. Presented in thirty well-reasoned and documented chapters, the book is a treasure trove for every political economist.' – Jürgen G. Backhaus, Maastricht University, The Netherlands This authoritative and encyclopaedic reference work provides a thorough account of the public choice approach to economics and politics. The Companion breaks new ground by joining together the most important issues in the field in a single comprehensive volume. It contains state-of-the-art discussions of both old and contemporary problems, including new work by the founding fathers as well as contributions by a new generation of younger scholars. The book reviews the literature of public choice, highlighting the common ground between all rational choice approaches to politics. It demonstrates the important impact of public choice on economics, political science, philosophy and sociology. It will be an indispensable source of reference for many years to the ideas, analytical methods and empirical research in the field. The Companion will serve as the standard reference work for all those engaged in the field of public choice and will be essential reading for politicians and policymakers, scholars in political science, public and social choice, as well as graduate students in economics, political science and public administration.