The Governance Gauge: Making Citizens

We hope you’re enjoying your Sunday, and hope that this weekend’s Governance Gauge will get you ready for the coming week! For more reading materials, our reading list is constantly updated.

“Making Citizens” is a political psychology treatise by Purdue and Illinois university professors Tawnya Adkins and Philo Wasburn. The book examines the process of instilling a feeling of community in a mass society — the example given is the USA. The history of the US is split into the pre-New Deal USA, then the Democratic consensus ending with Reagan, a small-government period lasting until the end of Clinton’s presidency, followed by the post-Clinton years. The book examines a creation of a feeling of community and cooperation.

The book is made up of 7 chapters that describe the various socio-economic aspects of citizenship and political affilitation, which explain why certain demographic groups politically lean the way they do.

Creators of zones and societies will find chapters 3 and 4 most useful as a fundamental guide to demographic groups and what kinds of governance models best suit which market demographics.

Policymakers and analysts can take a look at chapters 1, 2 and 7: these describe the political history of the US and how the government created discrepancies in the societal playing field, which it later attempted to correct.

Scholars and experts may use chapters 5 and 6 for reference on racial and socio-economic effects on mass psychological events and developments. The book’s sourcing is thorough, but sometimes outdated.

The book can be found here.