Comparative Politics

In his book, Peter Hitchens describes the misjudgements made by politicians over the years that have led to the increase of class distinction and privilege in our education system. This is of course the opposite of what was intended, especially by former Minister of Education Shirley Williams and Margaret Thatcher, her successor in that role, who closed down many more Grammar Schools than Williams.

China's reform era is ending. Core factors that characterized it - political stability, ideological openness, and rapid economic growth - are unraveling.

Media and public discussion tends to understand Russian politics as a direct reflection of Vladimir Putin's seeming omnipotence or Russia's unique history and culture. Yet Russia is remarkably similar to other autocracies - and recognizing this illuminates the inherent limits to Putin's power. Weak Strongman challenges the conventional wisdom about Putin's Russia, highlighting the difficult trade-offs that confront the Kremlin on issues ranging from election fraud and repression to propaganda and foreign policy.

An historical and hypothetical survey of revolution, civil war, and sedition. Tracing the causes of government overthrow from the beginning of humanity to 2019, this book has enough meat for the political scientist and political junkie alike yet easy-to-listen for the curious. Its contents will prompt further investigation or at least a good cynical knee-jerk.

Drawing from classical as well as contemporary examples and ranging across politics, business, science, technology, and the arts, Enough Said is a smart and shrewd look at the erosion of language by an author uniquely placed to measure its consequences.

Fantasy is the USA’s primary product. From the Pilgrim fathers onward, America has been a place where renegades and freaks came in search of freedom to create their own realities with little objectively regulated truth standing in their way. The freedom to invent and believe whatever the hell you like is, in some ways, an unwritten constitutional right. But this do-your-own-thing freedom also is the driving credo of America's current transformation, where the difference between opinion and fact is rapidly crumbling.

Here, political scientist Jakub J. Grygiel brings to light the importance of incorporating geography into grand strategy. He argues that states can increase and maintain their position of power by pursuing a geostrategy that focuses on control of resources and lines of communication.

Today, globalism has a bad reputation. 'Citizens of the world' are depicted as recklessly uninterested in how international economic forces can affect local communities. Meanwhile, nationalists are often derided as racists and bigots. But what if the two were not so far apart? What could globalists learn from the powerful sense of belonging that nationalism has created? Faced with the injustices of the world's economic and political system, what should a responsible globalist do?

Everybody wants breathable air, a healthy population, civil politics. We want a peaceful world, a stable economy. The fundamental point of politics is to deliver them. And yet clearly our political systems are failing. The answer is that politics we aspire to - democracy, equality, solidarity, security and prosperity - is also the politics that creates traps for us. But there is hope. Ansell explains the cul-de-sac of modern politics - and how we can make it better.

James Carville is the best-known and most-loved political consultant in American history. He is also a speaker, a talk-show host, an actor, and an author with six New York Times best sellers to his credit. Part of a large Southern family, he grew up without a television and loved to listen to the stories his mama told. Mr. Carville lives with his wife, Mary Matalin, and their two daughters in New Orleans.

Barack Obama famously said that the purpose of social movements is to get a seat at the table. However, as Deva Woodly argues in Reckoning—a sweeping account of the meaning and purpose of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)—the value of such movements is something much more profound: they are necessary for the health and survival of democracy. Drawing from on-the-ground interviews with activists in the movement, Woodly analyzes the emergence of the M4BL, its organizational structure and culture, and its strategies and tactics.

Traveling across India, interviewing Hindu zealots, armed insurgents, jailed dissidents, and politicians and thinkers from across the political spectrum, Siddhartha Deb reveals a country in which forces old and new have aligned to endanger democracy. The result is an absorbing—and disturbing—portrait. India has become a religious fundamentalist dystopia, one depicted here with a novelist's precise language and eye for detail.

El neoliberalismo es un fenómeno de perfiles borrosos, como tantas cosas, y hay un empleo retórico del término, de intención derogatoria, que no ayuda a aclarar nada. Pero es un fenómeno perfectamente identificable, cuya historia se puede contar. Es en primer lugar, y sobre todo, un programa intelectual, un conjunto de ideas cuya trama básica es compartida por economistas, filósofos, sociólogos, juristas. Es también un programa político: una serie de leyes, arreglos institucionales, criterios de política económica, fiscal, derivados de aquellas ideas.

There is a great deal to learn in studying the successes and failures of Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Biden, and Trump, four presidents whose administrations coincided with dramatic societal changes and challenges.

This conversational interview by Michael Albert, who has been close to Chomsky for roughly half a century and talked with him many hundreds of times, spans a wide range of topics including journalism, science, religion, the racist foundations of American society, education as indoctrination, issues of class and resistance, colonialism, imperialism, and much more.

The world is currently experiencing the lowest levels of democracy we have seen in over thirty years. Autocracy is on the rise, and while the cost of autocracy seems evident, it nevertheless remains an attractive option to many. While leaders like Viktor Orbán disrupt democratic foundations from within, autocrats like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin do so from abroad, eroding democratic institutions and values and imperilling democracies that appear increasingly fragile.

With its emphasis on relation over substance and possibility over predetermined endings, open and relational theology provides a way forward for both Muslims and Christians. This way, as “Open and Relational Theology and its Social and Political Implications: Muslim and Christian Perspectives” posits, aligns beautifully with important and ancient thinking from both traditions. Our world desperately needs “people of the book” to pursue cooperation over competition. Open and relational theology affords us that possibility. These essays were presented in their original forms at a ...

Present day American politics are at a historical state of divisiveness. Democrats and Republicans alike cling to their respective ideologies, their grip more firm today than yesterday. Both parties claim to only want what is best for the American people. The Liberty Solution proposes a bold rekindling of liberty for all, highlighting the various ways that federal, state, and local governments usurp the natural rights belonging to every individual. Using both historical evidence and news stories of today, Wills presents his case of grievances against the state.

It feels like the world is falling apart. So how do we keep hold of our optimism? How do we nurture the parts of ourselves that hope, trust and believe in something better? And how can we stay sane in this world of division? In this beautifully written and illuminating polemic, Booker Prize nominee Elif Shafak reflects on our age of pessimism, when emotions guide and misguide our politics and misinformation and fear are the norm.

Together, the adherents of Christianity and Islam make up over half of the world's population, and their numbers are expected to keep growing. The influence of these two faiths—and their relations with each other—is seen in politics, economics, and social interactions. This book provides a comprehensive overview of Christianity and Islam, covering three interrelated areas: historical developments and encounters, the influence of religion on politics, and religious beliefs and worldviews.