Introducing Government
A Reader
Published on 8. October 1993
Book
Hardback
464 pages
978-0-7190-3980-5 (ISBN)
Description
This textbook, specially designed for the first-year undergraduate Government course at the University of Manchester, brings together some of the key writings and writers in contemporary political science. The 40 articles and extracts in the book are arranged in four parts. The first covers theories of politics and the meanings of "government", "state" and "democracy"; Parts 2 and 3 explore the workings of two western polities, those of Britain and the United States; and Part 4 assesses the central political narrative of the 20th century - the creation, growth, stagnation and collapse of the Soviet Union. Contributors include: Barry Holden, R.A. Dahl, Geraint Parry, Richard Rose, Anthony King, H. Heclo, Lester Salamon, R.C. Tucker, Alec Nove, David Lane, Mikhail Gorbachev and Stephen White. The book is a designed as a source of analytical comment on the central concerns of political science.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Manchester
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
12 line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7190-3980-5 (9780719039805)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
Part 1 Theories of politics: government and the State, R.A.Dahl; defining democracy, B. Holden; democracy and polyarchy, R.A. Dahl; contemporary models of democracy, G. Parry; elite theory and democracy, G. Parry; the class bias of capitalist democracies, J.Cohen and J. Rogers. Part 2 The British political system: problems of the "constitution", A. Lester; political participation in Britain, G. Parry and G. Moyser; interest groups - the poverty lobby, P. Whitely and S. Winyard; British political parties, S. Ingle; Parliament and legislation, G. Drewry; Parliament, party and dissent, R. Rose; the British Prime Minister, A. King; the Cabinet under Mrs Thatcher, M. Burch; ministers and civil servants, S. Williams; patterns of public policy. Part 3 The American political system: a pluralist defense of the US constitution, J. Madison; the Civil Rights movement, F.F. Piven and R.A. Coward; the over-representation of business interests in the American pressure system, K.L Schlozman; American voter turnout - non-voting and its causes, G.B. Powell Jr;,democrats and republicans - what is the difference?, H. Reiter;safe seats and the congressman as "errand boy", M.P. Fiorina; issue networks and executive establishment, H. Heclo; the Reagan presidency as a case study of presidential power, L.M. Salamon and A.J. Abramson; the post-Vietnam formula under siege - the imperial presidency and Central America; government and inequality, B.I. Page. Part 4 The Soviet political system in perspective: background to revolution, S. Fitzpatrick; the Russian Revolution of 1917 - from February to October, S. Fitzpatrick; the mature Stalinist system, S. Bialer; is there a ruling class in the USSR, A. Nove; the urban revolution in the USSR, M. Lewin; perestroika - the challenge of radical reform, M. Gorbachev; democratizing the political system, S. White; the August 1991 coup, S. White.