Politics

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Stimulating, succinct ,and accessible, this highly successful text offers a truly comprehensive introduction to the study of politics, written from an international perspective. This third edition of Politics has a new chapter on the mass media and political communication and contains substantial new material on developments such as the "War on Terror," identity politics and multiculturalism, and state transformation. It also takes into account throughout of the increasing importance of the global dimension of politics, and features new boxed material on major thinkers and key concepts.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of boxes (p. xiii)
• Preface (p. xvi)
• Acknowledgements (p. xviii)
• Part 1 Theories of Politics
• 1 What is Politics? (p. 3)
• Defining politics (p. 4)
• Politics as the art of government (p. 5)
• Politics as public affairs (p. 7)
• Politics as compromise and consensus (p. 9)
• Politics as power (p. 10)
• Studying politics (p. 13)
• Approaches to the study of politics (p. 13)
• The philosophical tradition (p. 13)
• The empirical tradition (p. 14)
• The scientific tradition (p. 14)
• Recent developments (p. 15)
• Can the study of politics be scientific? (p. 17)
• Concepts, models and theories (p. 18)
• Summary (p. 21)
• Questions for discussion (p. 22)
• Further reading (p. 22)
• 2 Governments, Systems and Regimes (p. 25)
• Traditional systems of classification (p. 26)
• Why classify political systems? (p. 26)
• Classical typologies (p. 27)
• The 'three worlds' typology (p. 29)
• Regimes of the modern world (p. 30)
• Western polyarchies (p. 32)
• New democracies (p. 34)
• East Asian regimes (p. 36)
• Islamic regimes (p. 38)
• Military regimes (p. 39)
• Summary (p. 39)
• Questions for discussion (p. 40)
• Further reading (p. 40)
• 3 Political Ideologies (p. 43)
• What is political ideology? (p. 44)
• Liberalism (p. 45)
• Elements of liberalism (p. 45)
• Classical liberalism (p. 47)
• Modern liberalism (p. 47)
• Conservatism (p. 48)
• Elements of conservatism (p. 49)
• Paternalistic conservatism (p. 50)
• The New Right (p. 51)
• Neoliberalism (p. 52)
• Neoconservatism (p. 52)
• Socialism (p. 53)
• Elements of socialism (p. 54)
• Marxism (p. 55)
• Elements of Marxism (p. 56)
• Orthodox communism (p. 57)
• Modern Marxism (p. 58)
• Social democracy (p. 59)
• Third way (p. 60)
• Other ideological traditions (p. 61)
• Fascism (p. 61)
• Anarchism (p. 62)
• Feminism (p. 63)
• Environmentalism (p. 64)
• Religious fundamentalism (p. 65)
• The end of ideology? (p. 67)
• Summary (p. 68)
• Questions for discussion (p. 68)
• Further reading (p. 69)
• 4 Democracy (p. 71)
• Defining democracy (p. 72)
• Who are the people? (p. 72)
• How should the people rule? (p. 73)
• How far should popular rule extend? (p. 75)
• Models of democracy (p. 75)
• Classical democracy (p. 76)
• Protective democracy (p. 77)
• Developmental democracy (p. 78)
• People's democracy (p. 80)
• Democracy in practice: rival views (p. 81)
• Pluralist view (p. 82)
• Elitist view (p. 83)
• Corporatist view (p. 84)
• New Right view (p. 86)
• Marxist view (p. 86)
• Summary (p. 87)
• Questions for discussion (p. 88)
• Further reading (p. 88)
• 5 The State (p. 89)
• What is the state? (p. 90)
• Rival theories of the state (p. 92)
• The pluralist state (p. 92)
• The capitalist state (p. 94)
• The leviathan state (p. 96)
• The patriarchal state (p. 97)
• The role of the state (p. 99)
• Minimal states (p. 99)
• Developmental states (p. 100)
• Social-democratic states (p. 101)
• Collectivized states (p. 101)
• Totalitarian states (p. 102)
• The state in a global era (p. 102)
• The state and globalization (p. 102)
• State transformation (p. 104)
• Summary (p. 105)
• Questions for discussion (p. 106)
• Further reading (p. 106)
• Part 2 Nations and Globalization
• 6 Nations and Nationalism (p. 109)
• What is a nation? (p. 110)
• Nations as cultural communities (p. 111)
• Nations as political communities (p. 113)
• Varieties of nationalism (p. 115)
• Liberal nationalism (p. 115)
• Conservative nationalism (p. 118)
• Expansionist nationalism (p. 119)
• Anticolonial nationalism (p. 121)
• A future for the nation-state? (p. 123)
• Summary (p. 124)
• Questions for discussion (p. 125)
• Further reading (p. 125)
• 7 Global Politics (p. 127)
• Understanding world politics (p. 128)
• Idealism (p. 128)
• Realism (p. 130)
• Pluralism (p. 131)
• Marxism (p. 132)
• Twenth-first-century world order (p. 133)
• From biopolarity to unipolarity (p. 133)
• The 'war on terror' (p. 136)
• Rise of multipolarity (p. 140)
• Dynamics of globalization (p. 143)
• Globalizing tendencies (p. 143)
• Globalization: theories and debates (p. 145)
• Regionalization (p. 149)
• The European Union (p. 151)
• Global governance (p. 156)
• Towards world government? (p. 156)
• The United Nations (p. 158)
• Summary (p. 160)
• Questions for discussion (p. 161)
• Further reading (p. 161)
• 8 Subnational Politics (p. 163)
• Centralization or decentralization? (p. 164)
• Centre-periphery relationships (p. 165)
• Federal systems (p. 166)
• Why federalism? (p. 167)
• Features of federalism (p. 168)
• Assessment of federalism (p. 170)
• Unitary systems (p. 171)
• Local government (p. 172)
• Devolution (p. 173)
• Ethnic and community politics (p. 175)
• The rise of ethnic politics (p. 175)
• A politics of community? (p. 178)
• Summary (p. 179)
• Questions for discussion (p. 180)
• Further reading (p. 180)
• Part 3 Political Interaction
• 9 The Economy and Society (p. 183)
• Economic systems (p. 184)
• Capitalisms of the world (p. 185)
• Enterprise capitalism (p. 186)
• Social capitalism (p. 188)
• Collective capitalism (p. 188)
• Managed or unmanaged capitalism? (p. 189)
• Varieties of socialism (p. 191)
• State socialism (p. 193)
• Market socialism (p. 193)
• Is there an economic 'third way'? (p. 194)
• Social structure and divisions (p. 195)
• Social class (p. 197)
• The rise and fall of class politics (p. 197)
• Who are the underclass? (p. 199)
• Race (p. 200)
• Gender (p. 201)
• Summary (p. 202)
• Questions for discussion (p. 203)
• Further reading (p. 203)
• 10 Political Culture, Identity and Legitimacy (p. 205)
• Political culture (p. 206)
• Civic culture or ideological hegemony? (p. 206)
• Decline of social capital? (p. 209)
• Identity politics and multiculturalism (p. 212)
• Rise of identity politics (p. 212)
• Models of multiculturalism (p. 214)
• Drawbacks of multiculturalism (p. 217)
• Legitimacy and political stability (p. 219)
• Legitimizing power (p. 219)
• Legitimation crises (p. 222)
• Why do revolutions occur? (p. 224)
• Marxist theories of revolution (p. 224)
• Non-Marxist theories of revolution (p. 226)
• Summary (p. 228)
• Questions for discussion (p. 229)
• Further reading (p. 229)
• 11 Mass Media and Political Communication (p. 231)
• Theories of the mass media (p. 232)
• Pluralist model (p. 233)
• Dominant-ideology model (p. 233)
• Elite-values model (p. 234)
• Market model (p. 235)
• Media, democracy and governance (p. 235)
• Custodians of democracy? (p. 235)
• Mass media and governance (p. 238)
• Media globalization (p. 240)
• Political communication (p. 241)
• Propaganda machines (p. 241)
• Politics of spin (p. 243)
• Summary (p. 244)
• Questions for discussion (p. 245)
• Further reading (p. 245)
• 12 Representation, Elections and Voting (p. 247)
• Representation (p. 248)
• Theories of representation (p. 248)
• Trustee model (p. 249)
• Delegate model (p. 249)
• Mandate model (p. 251)
• Resemblance model (p. 252)
• Elections (p. 253)
• Functions of elections (p. 254)
• Electoral systems: debates and controversies (p. 256)
• What do elections mean? (p. 264)
• Voting behaviour (p. 265)
• Theories of voting (p. 266)
• Party-identification model (p. 266)
• Sociological model (p. 267)
• Rational-choice model (p. 267)
• Dominant-ideology model (p. 268)
• Summary (p. 268)
• Questions for discussion (p. 269)
• Further reading (p. 269)
• 13 Parties and Party Systems (p. 271)
• Party politics (p. 272)
• Types of party (p. 273)
• Functions of parties (p. 275)
• Representation (p. 276)
• Elite formation and recruitment (p. 278)
• Goal formulation (p. 278)
• Interest articulation and aggregation (p. 278)
• Socialization and mobilization (p. 279)
• Organization of government (p. 279)
• Party organization: where does power lie? (p. 280)
• Party systems (p. 282)
• One-party systems (p. 283)
• Two-party systems (p. 284)
• Dominant-party systems (p. 286)
• Multiparty systems (p. 287)
• The decline of parties? (p. 289)
• Summary (p. 290)
• Questions for discussion (p. 291)
• Further reading (p. 291)
• 14 Groups, Interests and Movements (p. 293)
• Group politics (p. 294)
• Types of group (p. 294)
• Communal groups (p. 295)
• Institutional groups (p. 295)
• Associational groups (p. 295)
• Models of group politics (p. 297)
• Pluralist model (p. 297)
• Corporatist model (p. 299)
• New Right model (p. 300)
• Patterns of group politics (p. 301)
• How important are interest groups? (p. 301)
• How do groups exert influence? (p. 304)
• Social movements (p. 307)
• New social movements (p. 308)
• Summary (p. 310)
• Questions for discussion (p. 311)
• Further reading (p. 311)
• Part 4 Machinery of Government
• 15 Constitutions, the Law and Judiciaries (p. 315)
• Constitutions (p. 316)
• Classifying constitutions (p. 317)
• The purpose of a constitution (p. 321)
• Empowering states (p. 322)
• Establishing values and goals (p. 322)
• Providing government stability (p. 323)
• Protecting freedom (p. 323)
• Legitimizing regimes (p. 324)
• Do constitutions matter? (p. 324)
• The law (p. 325)
• Law, morality and politics (p. 325)
• The judiciary (p. 328)
• Are judges political? (p. 329)
• Do judges make policy? (p. 330)
• Summary (p. 333)
• Questions for discussion (p. 333)
• Further reading (p. 334)
• 16 Assemblies (p. 335)
• Role of assemblies (p. 336)
• Parliamentary systems and presidential systems (p. 337)
• Functions of assemblies (p. 340)
• Legislation (p. 340)
• Representation (p. 341)
• Scrutiny and oversight (p. 342)
• Recruitment and training (p. 342)
• Legitimacy (p. 343)
• Structure of assemblies (p. 343)
• One chamber or two? (p. 344)
• Committee systems (p. 347)
• Performance of assemblies (p. 348)
• Do assemblies make policy? (p. 348)
• Why are assemblies in decline? (p. 351)
• Disciplined political parties (p. 352)
• 'Big' government (p. 352)
• Lack of leadership (p. 353)
• Interest group and media power (p. 353)
• The rise of assemblies? (p. 353)
• Summary (p. 354)
• Questions for discussion (p. 355)
• Further reading (p. 355)
• 17 Political Executives (p. 357)
• Role of the executive (p. 358)
• Who's who in the executive? (p. 358)
• Functions of political executives (p. 359)
• Ceremonial leadership (p. 360)
• Policy-making leadership (p. 360)
• Popular leadership (p. 360)
• Bureaucratic leadership (p. 361)
• Crisis leadership (p. 361)
• Power in the executive: who leads? (p. 361)
• Presidents (p. 362)
• Prime ministers (p. 366)
• Cabinets (p. 371)
• The politics of leadership (p. 372)
• Theories of leadership (p. 373)
• Styles of leadership (p. 376)
• Summary (p. 378)
• Questions for discussion (p. 379)
• Further reading (p. 379)
• 18 Bureaucracies (p. 381)
• Theories of bureaucracy (p. 382)
• Rational-administrative model (p. 382)
• Power-bloc model (p. 384)
• Bureaucratic oversupply model (p. 385)
• Role of bureaucracies (p. 386)
• Functions of bureaucracies (p. 386)
• Administration (p. 387)
• Policy advice (p. 387)
• Articulating interests (p. 388)
• Political stability (p. 388)
• Organization of bureaucracies (p. 389)
• Bureaucratic power: out of control? (p. 392)
• Sources of bureaucratic power (p. 392)
• How can bureaucrats be controlled? (p. 395)
• Political accountability (p. 395)
• Politicization (p. 397)
• Counter-bureaucracies (p. 398)
• Summary (p. 399)
• Questions for discussion (p. 400)
• Further reading (p. 400)
• 19 Militaries and Police Forces (p. 401)
• The military and politics (p. 402)
• Role of the military (p. 403)
• Instrument of war (p. 403)
• Guarantee of domestic order (p. 404)
• Interest group (p. 405)
• Alternative to civilian rule (p. 407)
• Controlling the military (p. 408)
• When does the military seize power? (p. 410)
• The police and politics (p. 413)
• Roles of the police (p. 414)
• Civil policing (p. 414)
• Political policing (p. 415)
• Police states (p. 417)
• Political control and accountability (p. 418)
• Summary (p. 420)
• Questions for discussion (p. 420)
• Further reading (p. 421)
• Part 5 Policy and Performance
• 20 Policy Process and System Performance (p. 425)
• The policy process (p. 426)
• Theories of decision-making (p. 426)
• Rational actor models (p. 426)
• Incremental models (p. 427)
• Bureaucratic organization models (p. 428)
• Belief system models (p. 429)
• Stages in the policy process (p. 430)
• Initiation (p. 430)
• Formulation (p. 432)
• Implementation (p. 434)
• Evaluation (p. 435)
• System performance (p. 437)
• Stability performance (p. 437)
• Material performance (p. 439)
• Citizenship performance (p. 440)
• Democracy performance (p. 441)
• Summary (p. 443)
• Questions for discussion (p. 444)
• Further reading (p. 444)
• Glossary of Political Terms (p. 445)
• Bibliography (p. 461)
• Index (p. 471)

Author notes provided by Syndetics