Page 17 of Books Spring 2008 by SUNY Press

new york studies the government and politics of new york state second edition the government and politics of new york state second edition joseph f zimmerman comprehensive overview of new york state government and politics fort stanwix national monument fort stanwix national monument reconstructing the past and partnering for the future joan m zenzen a history of the reconstruction of fort stanwix new york by the national park service c·c reconstructing the past and partnering for the future joseph f zimmerman n this updated edition of his classic text joseph f zimmerman offers a balanced presentation of the institutions and political processes of the empire state he begins with an overview of the state and offers chapters on federal-state and interstate relations state-local relations the constitution political parties elections and interest groups the state legislature the governor the fourth branch the departments and agencies of the executive branch the judiciary and state finance including state-local fiscal relations zimmerman emphasizes the legal foundations of the state as they influence greatly the behavior of leading public officers and interest groups most importantly constitutional restrictions on the state legislature and local governments are examined as well as the ingenious ways by which several restrictions upon the state legislature have been circumvented within the american system of government the states play an extremely important role for that reason i think that residents of all states have a need to become as well informed as possible about the structure and workings of their state governments and about the political forces that influence the workings of their state governments this comprehensive and informative survey of new york state government and politics will fill that need and also serve as an excellent text for college courses frank j mauro rockefeller college of public affairs and policy and executive director of the fiscal policy institute joseph f zimmerman is professor of political science at the university at albany state university of new york he is the author of many books including the silence of congress state taxation of interstate commerce interstate disputes the supreme court s original jurisdiction congressional preemption regulatory federalism and interstate economic relations all published by suny press april · 382 pp 2 tables 3 figures $29.95 pb 978-0-7914-7436-5 $89.50 hc 978-0-7914-7435-8 i joan m zenzen his book looks at the history of fort stanwix and documents how the people of rome new york partnered with the national park service to create fort stanwix national monument a reconstructed log-and-sod revolutionary war fort located in the center of the city initially undertaken as part of rome s urban renewal effort to revive a failing economy through tourism the fort s reconstruction exemplifies how a regional interest successfully engaged the national park service in achieving its goals using extensive documentation and oral history interviews historian joan m zenzen examines the full sweep of the site s history by looking back at the 1777 siege that helped turn the tide at saratoga describing political commemorations during the turn of the twentieth century detailing events leading to urban renewal and fort reconstruction in the 1970s and explaining how the park s superintendents have managed this fort she also discusses four important themes in historic preservation authenticity reconstruction reenactment and memory to understand the processes that resulted in the establishment of fort stanwix national monument tied to these themes is the idea of partnerships a key ingredient that has kept the national park site engaged with such local communities as rome businesses oneida six nations new york state historic sites regional tourism boards and reenactment groups this book is specifically important in two areas historic preservation and american memory and generally to topics of tourism and national park service history in addition the book addresses the management of a specific historic site a subject of increasing importance to historic site managers and the visiting public dwight t pitcaithley former chief historian national park service and coeditor of the antiquities act a century of american archaeology historic preservation and nature conservation joan m zenzen is an independent scholar and the author of battling for manassas the fifty-year preservation struggle at manassas national battlefield park april · 300 pp 22 b/w photographs 9 line drawings 2 tables 2 figures $75.00 hc 978-0-7914-7433-4 t 15 www sunypress edu

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