Elephants and Pardons -Super PACs and Politics

For Midterm Election Season: a list of new releases from Cambridge University Press that dive deeply into stories behind stories of the power plays and decisions shaping and transforming American governance.

The Elephants in the Room by Seth Masket

June 2026

“The Elephants in the Room” attempts to understand what has happened within the Republican Party in recent years by focusing on the people most critical to it; and looks at how the party has changed, what we should be learning from it, and how the US political system has changed as result.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/elephants-in-the-room/8FE569EDD4526D7085BA1E63D022DEAF

Coverage Denied by Miranda Yaver

April 2026

In the aftermath of the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024, everyday Americans took to social media to share stories of the challenges they'd faced trying to navigate the American health insurance system.

In “Coverage Denied,” health policy professor Miranda Yaver explores why this event struck such a nerve with the public and offers a sobering account of the ways in which coverage denials damage patient health and exacerbate inequalities along income, education, and racial lines.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/coverage-denied/8555CC67A3FF0D1D5AEE942B9BB2CC86

Super PACs in the City by Henrik Schatzinger

November 2026

Following the landmark Citizens United ruling in 2010, a new era for campaigns has taken shape, not only at the federal and state level but also in many US cities. “Super PACs in the City” examines the transformation of the political landscape in urban America since then, tracing how outside money has moved into local elections for city council, mayor, and school boards.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/super-pacs-in-the-city/13002F9F4325DF694D7874916682A4D7

Pardons by Frank Bowman

November 2026

“Pardons” details an unprecedented history of the pardon power, chronicling how British monarchs and American presidents have wielded clemency to afford mercy, reconcile societies, and exert executive supremacy. The book traces the pardon power from its origins as an attribute of absolute monarchy to its adoption by the American Framers as one of the few enumerated powers of the president of the United States.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/pardons/5090A649EE720474D5538692017693FB