Book Reviews
This Month's Featured Selections
Trusting Nothing to Providence:
History of Wisconsin's Legal System
By Joseph A. Ranney
(Madison, WI: U.W. Law School,
Continuing Education & Outreach, 2000).
778 pgs. $30. Order, (800) 355-5573.
Reviewed by Jack Stark
Persons who have read Joseph Ranney's excellent series of articles on
Wisconsin legal history in this magazine will be delighted to learn that
he has recently published a full-scale legal history of Wisconsin. In
addition to a long history, his book contains a useful bibliographical
essay, a timeline, a table of cases, and an index.
Having gathered an enormous amount of material, Ranney faced several
strategic decisions. He solved the historian's invariable problem of
combining chronological and thematic development by dealing with themes
in the part of the chronological narrative in which they are the most
prominent. He analyzes cases enough to communicate their meaning and
significance without writing, in effect, a series of law review
articles. He provides enough legal and historical context so that a
reader can discern the way that each legal development fits into this
state's legal history and general history. That choice allowed him to
introduce many colorful characters, such as John R. Commons, Edward
Ryan, and Charles McCarthy. Each of these decisions was the wisest that
could have been made.
Having made these decisions, Ranney turned on his fluent, clear prose
style and set to work producing a book that is interesting, immensely
learned, and in virtually all its details convincing. Very rarely I came
across an analysis with which I disagreed (such as the acceptance of
some negative comments on Knowlton v. Rock County (1859), which
I think is still good law in regard to the necessity of either taxing or
exempting all the property of a class and that has helped to spare us
some special-interest property tax exemptions). When he covered a topic
that I knew well, I almost always agreed; when he covered one of the
many topics that I knew only slightly or not at all, he almost always
convinced me.
For the legal profession and the citizens of this state, Joseph
Ranney has performed a great service by conducting some prodigious
research and then turning it into a book that is intellectually
eminently respectable and enjoyable. Every member of Wisconsin's legal
profession ought to own and read it.
First Break All the Rules: What the
World's Greatest Managers Do
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
(New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1999).
256 pgs. $25.
Reviewed by Brian S. Kern
The authors' unique approach with this book makes it a worthwhile
addition to both the beginning and experienced manager's bookshelf. As
source material, the authors synthesize the thoughts of more than 80,000
managers and 1 million employees as garnered by the Gallup Organization
over the past 25 years. They then locate common themes expressed by the
managers and employees and present them in an easy-to-read and
understandable manner. Those fearing an overuse of statistical
information should not be concerned. For the most part, statistical
analysis is left to the appendix thus freeing the reader to enjoy the
clear and concise text.
A major highlight of this book is that the authors go beyond simply
analyzing the data and attempt to provide readers with tools for use in
their workplaces. For example, they delve into such topics as hiring
right the first time, playing favorites in the workplace, and
understanding what employees are looking for in a manager. While some of
their conclusions appear to go against conventional wisdom, I'm not sure
that the first thing great managers do is to break all the rules.
However, this book does offer intriguing viewpoints on the interaction
between managers and those being managed.
This book offers a broad spectrum analysis of what managers in all
size companies are doing and thinking. The text is conveniently written
for those having limited reading time. If you are a manager looking for
a different approach to common problems, this may be the book for
you.
Can We All Get Along? Racial and Ethnic
Minorities in American Politics
By Paula D. McClain & Joseph Stewart Jr.
(Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998).
272 pgs. $17.
Reviewed by Timothy McAllister
One of the most volatile dilemmas facing our nation is explored in
this book. This well-organized text begins with a discussion of
terminology issues and a brief historic overview of the constitutional
and citizenship aspects of the major racial and ethnic minorities the
book covers: Blacks, Latinos, American Indians, and Asians.
Using an abundance of maps and tables, subgroups of these minority
groups are identified, dispelling the concept that these groups are
constructed of stereotypical individuals. These subgroups vary
distinctly in median income, education, and voting habits.
Resources and voting habits are broken down and discussed, as are
group identity, perceptions of discrimination, and political ideology.
Variations among the subgroups' habits and perceptions are covered to
differentiate their beliefs and voting patterns. The importance of this
becomes evident as the maps and tables clearly indicate the variations
in what is generally perceived as a single entity "minority."
The formation of minority interest groups is discussed. Most
originally were centered on fighting back against mainstream policies
and segregation. It was necessary to establish interest groups in order
to attempt to place issues on the political agenda of local, state, and
federal governmental bodies.
Public policy-making is a cyclical process of agenda setting,
formulating proposals, adoption between competing proposals,
implementation, and ongoing evaluation of implemented policies. Minority
groups struggle to get into the initial agenda setting stage of the
process due to limited economic resources and population size. For
minority groups, the greatest influence on agenda setting has been
through the efforts to create outside initiative.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has enabled minority groups to gain
some inside access, but it has been limited in its success. The Supreme
Court has been a more effective access point for minorities since the
actions of policy makers can be appealed to ensure that the actions are
consistent with the Constitution and not just what the majority wants.
Affirmative action, equal educational opportunities, and judicial
histories are well covered.
The book deals in depth with problems concerning minority group
coalition formation and competition. Specific interests, rather than
ideology, tends to be the foundation of group coalitions. Coalitions
tend to dissolve when policy formation that favors one participant group
over another becomes reality.
The text totally dispels the stereotype that all minorities think
alike because of their minority status. A continuing problem is the fact
that minorities have been socialized in a manner that perceives them as
less than "white people," which has led minority groups to believe that
other minority groups are less than themselves. The depth of prejudice
in policies and beliefs ingrained in many people will always hinder the
realization of equal human potential and worth for all.
This text deserves to be used in advanced high school or introductory
college public policy courses and as an adjunct text for more advanced
courses. The quality of the writing, coupled with the tables, maps, and
photographs pro-duces a volume that should be read by all.
Religion in the Workplace: A Comprehensive
Guide to Legal Rights and Responsibilities
By Michael Wolf, Bruce Friedman, & Daniel Sutherland
(Chicago, IL: ABA Tort & Insurance Practice Section, 1998).
267 pgs. $69.95.
Reviewed by Kevin L. Keeler
Numerous areas of federal law may apply to religious conflicts in the
workplace, including the First Amendment, Title VII, the EEOC
Guidelines, executive orders, federal personnel laws and regulations
relating to religious accommodation, the National Labor Relations Act,
and the White House Guidelines on Religious Exercise and Expression.
This book provides a clear and practical road map through these various
areas as well as the relevant case law.
After an overview of the relevant federal laws and a discussion of
the types of employers covered, the book examines how the courts have
attempted to define religious beliefs under Title VII and the First
Amendment. Although courts generally defer to an individual's own
declaration of religious principle, they have drawn the line in extreme
cases, holding, for example, that a personal religious creed requiring
an employee to eat cat food is not a religious practice.
The book highlights the potential catch-22 for employers that occurs
when an employee's proselytizing on the job is objected to by coworkers.
The law appears to require an employer to prevent the proselytizer from
harassing other employees and at the same time to accommodate the
proselytizer's religious beliefs. However, courts have upheld employers
who have suppressed proselytizing activities that have become harassing
to other employees.
What private and public employers must do to accommodate an
employee's religious beliefs is an important focus of the book, taking
up the book's last five chapters. The employer generally is not required
to grant an accommodation if it creates an undue hardship for the
employer, which the courts have interpreted to mean anything more than a
de minimis cost. Further, the courts have held that employers need only
offer an employee one reasonable accommodation, and are not required to
agree to accommodations requested by the employee.
In addition to Title VII, public sector employers are subject to the
First Amendment's restrictions prohibiting government from promoting or
interfering with religion. The authors show how the law in this area has
changed markedly over the last decade, beginning with the 1990 Supreme
Court decision in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources
v. Smith, which held that a state does not have to show a
compelling interest if religion is only incidentally affected by a
neutral, generally applicable law. In response to Smith,
Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) which
restored the compelling interest test in all cases where free exercise
of religion is substantially burdened. After the Supreme Court declared
RFRA unconstitutional as applied to the states in City of Boerne v.
Flores, the federal government decided to voluntarily adhere to the
RFRA standards.
The book's emphasis on practical applications and its avoidance of
legal jargon should make it an accessible reference for human resource
personnel and other nonlawyers. Attorneys will appreciate its
comprehensive discussion of the important cases and appendices
containing the full text of the federal law sources.
Wisconsin Lawyer
