Politics: An Introduction

Preface and Acknowledgements. Introduction. PART 1: People and Politics Chapter 1: Individuals: Is politics really about people?: Introduction: Three questions for analysis; Parts or wholes: should we study individuals or structures?; The modern individual; Individuals as utility maximisers: the myth of 'economic man; Individualism in action; Individuals and rights; Individualism and collectivism; Communitarianism; Beyond individualism and collectivism: the postmodern condition; Individuals and the capacity for meaningful political action; Conclusion; Further reading; Chapter 2: Introduction; Political socialisation; What is political socialisation for?; The process of political socialisation; When?; How?; The importance of political socialisation; What does political socialisation tell us about political science?; What does political socialisation tell us about politics?; What does political socialisation tell us about the political system?; Conclusion; Further reading; ; Chapter 3: Introduction; The uses of political culture; The civic culture; Criticisms of The Civic Culture; An alternative approach: political culture and ideology; Subcultures; Culture and political identity; Three case studies of political culture; The rise of the 'Asian Tigers: a cultural phenomenon; Northern Ireland: Irreconcilable subcultures?; European integration: creating a new political culture?; Conclusion; Further reading; ; Chapter 4: Introduction: What is political participation?; Political participation and democracy; Democracy: good or bad?; The idea of democracy; Indirect or representative democracy and participation; Elite theories of participation and democracy; Rethinking political participation and democracy; Who participates: some individual and social correlates of political participation; Selected variables and political participation: a brief inventory; Why do some people participate in politics and why do some abstain?; Agency: political efficacy; Structure: the law, society and ideas; Conclusion; Further reading; ; Chapter 5: Introduction; The study of political and social change; Key questions in the explanation of social and political change; What causal factors are privileged for explanatory purposes?; Does the theory seek to generalise about political and social change?; Does the theory emphasise order or change?; Is change continuous or discontinuous, evolutionary or revolutionary?; Modernisation and change: functionalism, evolutionism and teleological theories of change; Revolutionary change; Values and revolution - functionalist accounts; Revolutions and violence; Revolutions from above; Revolutions as a means of going back to the future; Two studies in political and social change; Short-term behavioural change: electoral change; Revolutionary change in East-Central Europe; Conclusion; Further reading; PART 2 POLITICS AND IDEAS; Chapter 6: Concepts and issues; Introduction; Conceptual analysis; Freedom; The Rushdie Case; Righ