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Liberalism And Its Critics

by Kirk F. Koerner

~~50,01€~~ 40,01€ 20% OFF

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 First published in 1985. This book argues that liberalism is of central importance. It discusses the arguments against liberalism put forward by four major political theorists, refuting the general thrust of their criticisms and taking issue with many points of detail used by them to support their arguments.
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Problem Of Federalism - A Study In The History Of Political Theory - Volume Two

by Sobei Mogi

~~67,56€~~ 54,05€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1931. The Problem of Federalism provides a comprehensive and critical survey of the historical development and practical application of the idea of federalism as a form of state organisation. The author explores federal ideas from the eighteenth- up until the early twentieth-century. This extensive study will be useful to students of politics and philosophy.
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J. A. Hobson - A Reader

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1988. This anthology from the major writings of J. A. Hobson helps to establish his reputation as one of the most influential social, economic and political theorists of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain. The wide range of his writings makes him essential reading for historians, economists, political theorists, students of imperialism and of international relations. In a general introduction Michael Freeden analyses the key organizing concepts of Hobson’s work, identifying the main areas of impact and controversy, and he suggests a framework of interpretation that demonstrates Hobson’s innovatory radicalism. He emphasizes Hobson’s humanist, qualitative understanding of economics, his significant contributions to the transformation of liberal theory, his trenchant critique of imperialism and his ‘heretical‘ theory of underconsumption. Hobson is placed in the intellectual context of his times and shown to be an important member of groups that helped to formulate the ideology of the modem welfare state. A wide selection of Hobson’s writings is made available for student and scholar alike. Grouped thematically, extracts include pieces from major works such as The Problem of the Unemployed, Imperialism: A Study, The Crisis of Liberalism and The Industrial System and span a period from 1896 to 1938.
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On Political Obligation

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1990. The individual’s obligation to obey the law, the state and the government is a fundamental part of contemporary political theory. The contributors to this volume, drawn from a variety of disciplines including philosophy, political science and law, take a fresh look at the dilemmas of political obligation. They discuss the extent to which we should allow the need for conformity to override individual liberties, and ask whether individualism is indeed feasible without a highly developed sense of the ‘public interest’ or the ‘common good‘. The contrast between individualism and communitarianism is examined throughout the book. The contributors also look at the various means through which the state can coerce or persuade the individual to be obedient. The emphasis throughout this collection is on the substantive problems themselves, rather than on the way these issues have been addressed in the history of political thought. The book offers a number of different perspectives on political obligation, and will be valuable to students of moral, political, social and legal philosophy.
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Form Of Ideology - Investigations Into The Sense Of Ideological Reasoning With A View To Giving An Account Of Its Place In Political Life

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1980. Of all the concepts deployed in the study of politics the application of the concept of ideology is by far the least precise. Those who have sought to clarify its meaning have concluded that ideology is not an independent constituent of political life and indispensable to an adequate representation of the form of political association; but, rather, a kind of epiphenomenal, parasitic and irrational thought that misguides the unfortunate, ignorant or confused in the pursuit of the unobtainable. The Form of Ideology attempts to demonstrate that this view is wholly mistaken. It offers students an understanding of ideology free from the conceptual confusion involved in the belief that ideology is in any sense a theory that can be put into practice. In addition, it argues that ideology is not a defective theory of politics, because, properly understood, ideology is not theoretical understanding of the world at all. It is not the product of any kind of investigation yielding information. The Form of Ideology permits beliefs in ideological claims, not proof of ideological assertions. It affords political inspiration and aspirations rather than judgement and knowledge. If the argument in this book succeeds in demonstrating the truth of this conclusion then the study of politics must take a completely new direction. The first three chapters explore the grounds for the methodological break the group has made with previous investigations and offer a critique of some current misconceptions; the remaining three chapters mark out the limits of the intelligibility of ideology within the context of political thought and life following the direction indicated by the previous three. The book’s concern will be of central interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses on ideology, the history of political thought, political theory and political movements in departments of political science, sociology, philosophy and history; it is unique in that it offers an account of the form of ideological understanding seen as a mode of thought in its own right.
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Anarchy Or Hierarchy

by S. De Madariaga

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 Originally published in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, the country was split into pro-fascists and pro-communists, the author felt that the conflict in Spain threatened to develop into an international war, perhaps an international civil war since the issue cut across frontier lines. The situation had no parallel at the time. The author looks back to wars of the sixteenth century to find a precedent for this dramatic duel between two political conceptions. Using examples from Europe including the conflict between Catholics and Protestants he shows that, as in England who led their own way at the time, there are alternative solutions and hopefully a way to find a middle ground.
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Study Of The Principles Of Politics - Being An Essay Towards Political Rationalization

by George E. G. Catlin

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 Originally published in 1930, this title brings to its conclusion a work first published, in part, in the earlier volume The Science and Method of Politics. The work was undertaken at first with a view to discovering the forces at work which form the anatomy and determine the physiology of States. However, it became apparent that not States but Society must be the object of study if any progress were to made, and if the inquiry were to be radical enough to disclose, and indicate the means of controlling, the causes which conduce to such social disorders as war. The subject might very well have been treated from a very different point of view. However, the author felt that the approach to politics from the angle of political philosophy and the humanities was less important for the needs of the time than an approach from the angle of psychology and of statistics.
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Romantic Tradition In British Political Thought

by Jonathan Mendilow

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1986. It is often suggested that the great first generation of Romantics, after the first flush of their revolutionary enthusiasm, ‘sold out’ to the forces of conservatism and reaction. This book starts from the thesis that the ideas of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey did always contain powerful radical and reformist implications that set the tone of liberal and left-wing discussion for several generations. The message of the French Revolution and Wordsworth’s youthful enthusiasm continued to imbue the thought of Carlyle, and his disciples Ruskin and Kingsley, and its characteristic articulations are still visible in later socialists such as Keir Hardie and Blatchford. This thoughtful book not only shows how surprising are the original roots of some great socialist thinkers, but also argues for a strong continuity in the English tradition of political thought from the 1780s to the early years of the twentieth century. Both students of politics and of literature and Victorian ideas will be stimulated by The Romantic Tradition in British Political Thought.
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In The Twilight Of Revolution - The Political Theory Of Amilcar Cabral

by Jock Mcculloch

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1983. Amilcar Cabral was one of Africa’s leading revolutionary figures. Universally recognised as the founding father at the independent state of Guiné-Bissau, he was also the first truly important political thinker to have emerged from Africa’s two decades of revolution. This book was the first publication to present a critical analysis of his standing as a political theorist. Born in 1925 in the then Portuguese colony of Guiné, Cabral devoted his life to the liberation of his people from colonialism and was instrumental in founding the PAIGC, the African Party for the Independence of Guiné and Cape Verde. He was assassinated early in 1973, but the PAIGC continued his task and Guiné-Bissau gained independence in September 1973. Guiné’s revolution came late, but it was a genuine revolution and, like all revolutions, was accompanied by a theory of its own. That theory is found in the writings of Cabral. In this study Jack McCulloch explains that, because of the conjunction of a number of historical factors, the revolution in Guiné assumed an importance for out of proportion to the size or economic significance of the country, and shows that consequently Cabral’s theory has come to have an historical significance of its own. This account of Cabral’s political theory demonstrates clearly that the effect of Cabral’s career was to help bring down the last of the great colonial empires in Africa and, in the realm of theory, to dismantle the central shibboleths of African socialism.
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Political Science And Political Theory

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1987. The key issues, concepts and figures relevant to the study of political science and theory today are covered in this volume, and useful suggestions for further reading are included. In political science, topics range from the analysis of voting to decision making; philosophical issues from anarchism through human rights to utopianism; and the biographies deal with major thinkers such as Arendt, Burke, Hobbes, Marx and Rousseau.
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Politics, Innocence, And The Limits Of Goodness

by Peter Johnson

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1988. Moral innocence is of enduring interest because it seems to embody our ideals in their purest form. The place of moral innocence in politics is the central theme of Peter Johnson’s subtle and original book. Are there moral dispositions which are not only incompatible with politics but actually endanger it? If it is sometimes necessary to act badly in order to achieve desirable objectives, what moral standpoints would exclude such a course at action? Peter Johnson demonstrates convincingly why philosophical accounts of morality, past and present, are unable to explain moral innocence: its full impact on politics can only be grasped by putting aside traditional theories. Literature provides the key to a deeper understanding of the relationship between politics and morality. Melville’s Billy Budd, Shakespeare’s Henry VI, and Graham Greene’s The Quiet American reveal moral innocence at work in political circumstances of great intensity. Through these and other literary figures, we see at last the specific character of moral innocence and why it is connected with political disaster. This closely reasoned yet deeply passionate book illuminates a problem of great contemporary interest and nowhere more so than in American public life. Original in theme and content, it confronts central issues of concern to the modern mind, not simply to academics, both teachers and taught, but to all those interested in how they might be governed.
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Nikolai Bukharin And The Transition From Capitalism To Socialism

by Michael Haynes

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1985. Although Bukharin wrote against the background of the Russian Revolution, the very change in political climate is always relevant. How exactly is the transition from capitalism to socialism conceived and achieved? Michael Haynes'' study shows that the theoretical applicability of Bukharin’s ideas is still far from exhausted, and he provides a clear exposition of his main themes which does not shirk criticism. There can be no better introduction to the thought of this important theorist.
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Social Contract And Political Obligation - A Critique And Reappraisal

by Peter J. Mccormick

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1987. This study is concerned with the problem of political obligation, the normative question of why one should obey the law, and with social contract thought as an answer to this question. It is entitled a critique, but the critique is not of social contract theory as such, but rather of the "orthodox" treatment of contract that yields so readily to the rough handling and easy rejection that is the normal lot of contractarianism in contemporary treatments. In its place will be suggested a reinterpretation of contract that sees it as making different assumptions and requiring different premises, and that is proof against many of the orthodox refutations of social contract theory; the reinterpretation is thus in the nature of a vindication. First, from an examination of the most commonly cited champions of contractarianism (namely Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau) will be derive a reinterpretation of contract in the form of a new model or syllogism, the features of which will be brought out by contrasting it first with the contemporary ideas of John Rawls and then with the orthodox model itself. Democratic consent theory, as the heir to the remnants of the orthodox model, will be examined, and the ideas of T. H. Green will be considered as embodying an important feature of contractarianism omitted or ignored by the orthodox model (and hence by democratic theory.) Finally, the new model of contract will be suggested as a potentially useful approach to the problem of political obligation in the modern context. This title will be of interest to student of politics and philosophy.
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Studies In Rebellion

by E. Lampert

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1957. This volume is a study of the history of revolutionary thought in nineteenth-century Russia in some of its outstanding representatives. The author examines the ideas of Vissarion Belinksky, Mikhail Bakunin and Alexander Herzen. This title will be of great interest to students of politics, philosophy, and history.
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Rethinking Socialism - A Theory For A Better Practice

by Gavin Kitching

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1983. Socialism was generally unpopular in Britain in the 1980s. The Left needed new ideas and fresh approaches if it was ever to escape its isolation from the mainstream of political and cultural life. Rethinking Socialism brought such a perspective to socialist thought and practice in Britain. Gavin Kitching contended that the unpopularity of the Left was not due primarily to the pernicious influence of the press and media, as many socialists argued, but reflected fundamental changes in the British social structure and, above all, the simple incredibility and irrelevance of many socialist beliefs and policies. He also claims that socialism will continue to be unpopular so long as it is divorced from the values and concerns of the majority of British people. Kitching shows how basic and obvious facts about Britain, and other advanced capitalist countries, were ignored or wished away, and how crucial lessons of the Soviet and East European experience had not been learnt. He argues that radical politics in Britain both reflected and reinforced a ‘ghetto’ mentality bred by the Left’s political and intellectual isolation. The book is more than just a critique, however; it presented as well a more relevant and popular alternative strategy for the Left. This focused on extending and deepening political and economic democracy, and aimed to preserve the benefits which people had derived from capitalism and parliamentary democracy while extending them and thus transforming the system that conferred them.
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Theory Of Liberty - The Constitution And Minorities

by H. N. Hirsch

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1992. A Theory of Liberty seeks to change the way we think about the American constitution. The focus of the book is the legal status of minority groups in the United States a topic at the top of the current political agenda. Arguing that minority rights were vitally important to the founding fathers, H. N. Hirsch presents an original and provocative look at issues such as affirmative action, abortion, and the rights of children, lesbians and gay men, mental patients, and the physically disabled. In an analysis which blends history, philosophy, law, and social science, Hirsch attacks both liberals who hide from history and conservatives who push for "original intent." He argues that we can remain faithful to the most basic intent of the founding fathers without losing our ability to reinterpret the Constitution against the backdrop of contemporary social "facts." Hirsch exposes the errors and hypocrisy of the current Supreme Court majority, and argues that the Constitution’s liberty can and should be interpreted to protect the rights of minority groups. Timely and controversial, this title offers a challenging look at some of America’s most basic ideological commitments, and will appeal to anyone concerned with the current state of American law or the treatment of minority groups.
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Politics And Philosophy In The Thought Of Destutt De Tracy

by Brian W. Head

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1987. This study describes and analyses the published writings of the French philosopher Antoine Destutt de Tracy. The author focuses on the three decades from the calling of the Etats-généraux to the early years of the Restoration - the period of Tracy’s entire literary production, and the period of his greatest influence and reputation. This title will be of great interest to students of history, philosophy and politics.
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Pluralism And Corporatism - The Political Evolution Of Modern Democracies

by Reginald J. Harrison

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1980. In Pluralism and Corporatism the author examines the ‘pluralist'' conception of democratic advanced industrial societies and shows to what extent an alternative conception the ‘corporatist'' society is more appropriate today. The book reviews criticisms of standard conceptions of industrial society and draws empirical support for some new approaches from the politics of Britain, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Japan and the United States: an analysis which shows that there are tendencies everywhere towards the fragmentation of government responsibility and its assumption both by governmental and organised group bureaucracies. The author argues that this pattern of policy-making is in fact in conflict with standards of behaviour which are fundamental to the ideal of representative and accountable democratic government. Both critical review and analysis are organised in a way which will maximise the usefulness of Pluralism and Corporatism as a theoretical complement to those more standard texts in comparative government which already provide a study in-depth of individual countries. It seeks to review changing political culture, political economy, party and interest intermediation, bureaucratic influence, constitutional effects on political behaviour and the international constraints upon government which arise from interdependence. It will become essential reading for courses on the politics of advanced industrial societies and particularly of Western Europe.
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Domination And Power

by Peter Miller

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1987. Our understanding of the nature of power in western societies is currently undergoing a major reassessment. The significance of this reassessment emerges forcefully through comparing the writings of the principal exponents of Critical Theory - Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas - with those of Michel Foucault. Peter Miller suggests that these two traditions embody fundamentally distinct philosophical and sociological principles. He grounds his analysis in the concepts of domination (Critical Theory) and power (Foucault). Miller identifies the notion of subjectivity as central to a differentiation of the respective approaches of Critical Theory and Foucault. For Critical Theory it is the repression of subjectivity which provides the evidence of domination and the rationale for its critique, while for Foucault subjectivity in western societies is fabricated through power and linked to the deployment of specific knowledges. Miller shows that despite the achievements of Critical Theory in bringing to light the repressive nature of advanced industrial societies, its thinking is inadequate as a basis for future analysis and critique. He argues that Foucault’s genealogy of the modern subject, which highlights the role of the human sciences in its fabrication, is a more fruitful basis for charting and investigating the mode of operation of contemporary forms of power. The book includes a survey of all published works by Foucault, up to the time of his death in 1984, and commentaries on the writings of Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas.
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Liberalism And Its Critics

by Kirk F. Koerner

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1985. Liberalism was under increasing attack from both socialists and conservatives towards the end of the twentieth century. This book argues that, far from having little to contribute towards solving the problems of the modern world, liberalism is, in fact, of central importance. It discusses the arguments against liberalism put forward by four major political theorists, refuting the general thrust of their criticisms and taking issue with many points of detail used by them to support their arguments. It analyses the origins of liberalism, discusses its major achievements and explains why it continues to be a crucially important movement.
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History Of Political Thought

by Raymond G. Gettell

~~67,56€~~ 54,05€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1924. This extensive volume explores the history of political theory from Ancient Greece up until proletarian thought in the early twentieth century. The author pays particular attention to the connection between economic and political theory during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. History of Political Thought will be of great interest to students of history, politics, and philosophy.
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Modern Liberal Theory Of Man

by Gerald F. Gaus

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 First published in 1983. The primary argument of this book is that there is a coherent tradition of liberal thinking that extends from L. S. Mill, through liberals like T. H. Green, Bernard Bosanquet, L. T. Hobhouse and John Dewey to John Rawls. The author places Rawls within a longstanding tradition of liberal thinking, while also arguing that Green and Hobhouse are not simply of historical interest but represent genuine and interesting attempts to develop a modern liberal theory. It is argued that modern liberal theory centres on a conception of human nature; that modern liberals have sought to harmonise the pursuit of individuality with participation in social and communal life. Although the book focuses on six modern liberals, the discussion proceeds topically rather than according to author, thus highlighting similarities and disagreements and providing a comprehensive study of modern liberalism.
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Science And Method Of Politics

by G. E. G. Catlin

~~49,01€~~ 39,21€ 20% OFF

 Originally published in 1927, this book was written as a reaction to the First World War, hoping to try and analyse the causes leading up to it. The author states in the Preface that he puts this forward as an unsystematic contribution to what he is conscious is a very great subject, and he adds since Aristotle, an almost untouched one. He starts by looking at the nature, methods and uses of history, considered from a political point of view. He goes on to look at the possibility of a political science; the place of politics among the social sciences, and the process of politics. In conclusion he considers the relation of politics and ethics.
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Development Of Political Theory

by Charles Vereker

~~46,36€~~ 37,09€ 20% OFF

 Originally published in 1957, this short essay on an intricate historical theme, to which, according to the author, it is customary and proper to devote large volumes, was designed to whet but not to satisfy the appetite. The chapters provide the framework for a presentation of the views of theorists from Plato to Lenin on the character and purpose of political association. Its perusal will, the author hoped, provoke a wider and more intense study of social and political thought; it was not intended to be regarded or used as a substitute for further reading and reflection but as an invitation to prosecute these activities.
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