[From the Introduction by David Hubert:]

Dear Students,

I hope you enjoy this free textbook on the U. S. political system. Use it well.

Why is this textbook free? Textbook prices are too high. The barriers to higher education are many—cost being a major one—and this is my own small assault on those barriers. I also like the ideal that knowledge should be free from commercialization. I’m paid enough in my day job to keep a roof over my head; I don’t need to be padding my income at the expense of students. In addition, standard textbooks tend to be boring and unnecessarily academic, so I’ve tried to counter that with a writing style that is down-to-earth and accessible for students who may not know anything about politics. Even the research supporting this text is approachable: most of the sources are available either at a decent public library or through a simple Internet search. That was intentional. Finally, traditional textbooks contain way more material than any sane professor can cover in one semester. In this text, I focus only on content that I think every educated person should know, and I don’t waste time shoving every possible concept at you.

Between you and me, we should be clear that this text has a distinct perspective on American politics. Please know that all textbooks on the subject have a perspective, but students don’t often notice because the perspective is reflected in what is not covered in the text or because the authors take a subtle celebratory approach to U.S. government that echoes what students received in high school. However, some texts depart from that approach. When I was a student, I benefited greatly from Michael Parenti’s text Democracy for the Few. I have also used William Hudson’s American Democracy in Peril to great effect with students. Both offer a perspective like the one employed in Attenuated Democracy.

What is the perspective of this text? The U.S. political system suffers from endemic design flaws and is notable for the way that a small subset of Americans—whose interests often don’t align with those of the vast majority of the population—wields disproportionate power. Absent organized and persistent action on the part of ordinary Americans, the system tends to serve the already powerful. That’s why this text is called Attenuated Democracy. To attenuate something is to make it weak or thin. Democracy in America has been thin from the beginning and continues to be so despite some notable progress in ballot access for previously excluded groups. As political scientists Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens wrote, “The essence of democracy is not just having reasonably satisfactory policies; the essence of democracy is popular control of government, with each citizen having an equal voice.” (1) Since this is likely to be your only college-level course on the American political system, it is important to point out the structural weaknesses of our system and the thin nature of our democracy. Doing so is educational and patriotic. Whenever you get the chance—in the voting booth, in your job, perhaps if you hold elected office—I encourage you to do something about America’s attenuated democracy. 

[...]

Contents page

Foreword

Introduction

Part 1: Thinking Like a Political Scientist

• Ch. 1: What is Politics

• Ch. 2: The Nature of Political Power

• Ch. 3: Who Has Power in U. S. Politics?

• Ch. 4: Political Science as a Social Science

• Ch. 5: Common Fallacies in Argumentation

• Ch. 6: Making Strong Arguments

• Ch. 7: Basic Political Analysis

• Ch. 8: Six Very Powerful Questions

• Ch. 9: Critical Reading and Reflection

• Ch. 10: The Context of U. S. Government and Politics

Part 2: Constitutional Foundations

• Ch. 11: Deism, the Indigenous Critique, Natural Rights, and the Declaration of Independence

• Ch. 12: Articles of Confederation, Shays' Rebellion and the Road to the Constitution

• Ch. 13: Key Features of the U. S. Constitution

• Ch. 14: The Battle for Ratification and the Bill of Rights

• Ch. 15: A Federal Republic

• Ch. 16: The Historical Development of Federalism

• Ch. 17: A Secular Republic

• Ch. 18: Amending the Constitution

• Ch. 19: How Democratic is the U. S. Constitution?

Part 3: Congress

• Ch. 20: Who are Our Members of Congress and Whom Do They Represent?

• Ch. 21: Congressional Roles

• Ch. 22: How Congress Passes Legislation

• Ch. 23: Pathologies of Congressional Behavior

• Ch. 24: The Undemocratic Senate

Part 4: The Presidency

• Ch. 25: The President as Person and Institution

• Ch. 26: The Vice President and Presidential Succession

• Ch. 27: The President's Domestic Powers

• Ch. 28: The President's Foreign Policy Powers

• Ch. 29: Contemporary Issues of Presidential Power

• Ch. 30: Impeachment and Removal of the President

Part 5: The Supreme Court

• Ch. 31: Purpose and Operation of the Supreme Court

• Ch. 32: Paths to the Supreme Court

• Ch. 33: Appointing and Confirming Supreme Court Justices

• Ch. 34: The Interpretive Work of the Supreme Court

• Ch. 35: The Supreme Court as an Ideological Actor

Part 6: The Federal Bureaucracy

• Ch. 36: Government is Good

• Ch. 37: The Scope and Size of the Federal Government

• Ch. 38: The Work of the Federal Civil Service and Political Appointees

• Ch. 39: Revolving Doors and Corporate Capture of Federal Agencies

• Ch. 40: American Budget Priorities

Part 7: Linkage Institutions

• Ch. 41: What Do Political Parties Do?

• Ch. 42: The Historical Development of American Political Parties

• Ch. 43: Policy Preferences of American Political Parties

• Ch. 44: Why Do We Have a Two-Party System?

• Ch. 45: The Universe of Organized Interests

• Ch. 46: Strategies of Organized Interests

• Ch. 47: The Historical Development of the News Media

• Ch. 48: The Contemporary News Media Ecosystem

Part 8: Electoral Politics and Public Opinion

• Ch. 49: Expanding Voting Eligibility in American History

• Ch. 50: Early Election Reforms

• Ch. 51: The Electoral College

• Ch. 52: The Integrity of American Elections

• Ch. 53: Gerrymandering

• Ch. 54: Campaign Finance

• Ch. 55: The Advantages of Incumbency

• Ch. 56: Public Opinion and Political Socialization

Part 9: Individual Political Behavior

• Ch. 57: Voting

• Ch. 58: Beyond Voting

• Ch. 59: Civil Disobedience

• Ch. 60: Political Violence

• Ch. 61: A Guide to Living in an Attenuated Democracy

Part 10: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

• Ch. 62: The Difference Between Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

• Ch. 63: Incorporation or Nationalization of the Bill of Rights

• Ch. 64: The Boundaries of Freedom of Speech and the Press

• Ch. 65: The Law and Politics of Religious Freedom

• Ch. 66: The Individual and the Criminal Justice System

• Ch. 67: Threats to Individual Freedom--Government Versus Corporations

• Ch. 68: Civil Rights Case Study--Race

• Ch. 69: Civil Rights Case Study--Sex

• Ch. 70: Civil Rights Case Study--Sexual Orientation

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Glossary

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The rise of authoritarian, nationalist forms of populism and the implications for rural actors and settings is one of the most crucial foci for critical agrarian studies today, with many consequences for political action.

Authoritarian Populism and the Rural World reflects on the rural origins and consequences of the emergence of authoritarian and populist leaders across the world, as well as on the rise of multi-class mobilisation and resistance, alongside wider counter-movements and alternative practices, which together confront authoritarianism and nationalist populism. The book includes 20 chapters written by contributors to the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (ERPI), a global network of academics and activists committed to both reflective analysis and political engagement. Debates about ‘populism’, ‘nationalism’, ‘authoritarianism’ and more have exploded recently, but relatively little of this has focused on the rural dimensions. Yet, wherever one looks, the rural aspects are key – not just in electoral calculus, but in understanding underlying drivers of authoritarianism and populism, and potential counter-movements to these. Whether because of land grabs, voracious extractivism, infrastructural neglect or lack of services, rural peoples’ disillusionment with the status quo has had deeply troubling consequences and occasionally hopeful ones, as the chapters in this book show.

The chapters in this book were originally published in The Journal of Peasant Studies.

Contents page:

Preface

1. Emancipatory rural politics: confronting authoritarian populism

Ian Scoones, Marc Edelman, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ruth Hall, Wendy Wolford and Ben White

2. Counterrevolution, the countryside and the middle classes: lessons from five countries

Walden Bello

3. People and places left behind: work, culture and politics in the rural United States

Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad and Cynthia M. Duncan

4. Power and powerlessness in an Appalachian Valley – revisited

John Gaventa

5. The rural roots of the rise of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey

Burak Gürel, Bermal Küçük and Sercan Taş

6. Rural rage: the roots of right-wing populism in the United States

Chip Berlet and Spencer Sunshine

7. Neoliberal developmentalism, authoritarian populism, and extractivism in the ountryside: the Soma mining disaster in Turkey

Fikret Adaman, Murat Arsel and Begi Akbulut

8. The vanishing exception: republican and reactionary specters of populism in rural Spain

Jaume Franquesa

9. Understanding the silent majority in authoritarian populism: what can we learn from popular support for Putin in rural Russia?

Natalia Mamonova

10. Authoritarian populism in rural Belarus: distinction, commonalities, and projected finale

Aleh Ivanou

11. Land grabbing and the making of an authoritarian populist regime in Hungary

Noémi Gonda

12. Authoritarian populism and neo-extractivism in Bolivia and Ecuador: the unresolved agrarian question and the prospects for food sovereignty as counter-hegemony

Mark Tilzey

13. Pockets of liberal media in authoritarian regimes: what the crackdown on emancipatory spaces means for rural social movements in Cambodia

Alice Beban, Laura Schoenberger and Vanessa Lamb

14. Confronting agrarian authoritarianism: dynamics of resistance to PROSAVANA in Mozambique

Boaventura Monjane and Natacha Bruna

15. Populism from above and below: the path to regression in Brazil

Daniela Andrade

16. ‘They say they don’t see color, but maybe they should!’ Authoritarian populism and colorblind liberal political culture

Michael Carolan

17. Agrarian anarchism and authoritarian populism: towards a more (state-)critical ‘critical agrarian studies’

Antonio Roman-Alcalá

18. ‘Actually existing’ right-wing populism in rural Europe: insights from eastern Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ukraine

Natalia Mamonova, Jaume Franquesa and Sally Brooks

19. Unpacking ‘authoritarian populism’ and rural politics: some comments on ERPI

Henry Bernstein

20. From ‘populist moment’ to authoritarian era: challenges, dangers, possibilities

Marc Edelman

Reviews:

"Right-wing authoritarian populist movements, parties, and governments arise in great part from the discontents fueled by the iniquities of neoliberal capitalist globalisation. This book breaks new ground in searching for the usually neglected rural roots behind and consequences of such authoritarian populisms. The book is comparative in scope, so that its central argument about the significance of the agrarian and rural order is adequately tested and confirmed.　The book is also a call for further global research and study with the aim of identifying possibilities - a 'rural politics' and agential sources - that respectively can be articulated and mobilised to combat such populisms. The remarkable upsurge of farmers and rural workers against the Hindu nationalist Modi regime in India is a powerful testimony to the truth of the very politics that this book seeks to underscore."

- Achin Vanaik, Retired Professor of 'International Politics and Global Studies', University of Delhi

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This book [by Ludvig Beckman] provides a general theory of democratic inclusion for the present world. It presents an original contribution to our understanding of the democratic ideal by explaining how democratic inclusion can apply to individuals in a variety of contexts: the workplace, social clubs, religious institutions, the family, and, of course, the state. 

The book explores the problem of democratic inclusion, what it means to be subject to de facto authority, how this conception translates into legal systems, and the relationship between territorial claims by the state, and law’s claim to legitimate authority. 

The volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics, especially political theory and democracy.

Contents page

• Ch. 1|  The Unresolved Problem of Democratic Inclusion

• Ch. 2|  Democratic Inclusion in Associations

• Ch. 3|  Democratic Inclusion and the State

• Ch. 4|  Subject to Legal Authority

• Ch. 5|  The Scope of Legal Authority

• Ch. 6|  Authority and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction

• Ch. 7|  Authority and State Borders

• Ch. 8|  Does It Matter That State Borders Are Arbitrary?

• Ch. 9|  End Discussion: The Limits of Democratic Inclusion

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Citizens’ Assemblies (CAs) are flourishing around the world. Quite often composed of randomly selected citizens, CAs, arguably, come as a possible answer to contemporary democratic challenges. Democracies worldwide are indeed confronted with a series of disruptive phenomena such as a widespread perception of distrust and growing polarization as well as low performance. Many actors seek to reinvigorate democracy with citizen participation and deliberation. CAs are expected to have the potential to meet this twofold objective. But, despite deliberative and inclusive qualities of CAs, many questions remain open. The increasing popularity of CAs call for a holistic reflection and evaluation on their origins, current uses and future directions.

The De Gruyter Handbook of Citizens’ Assemblies showcases the state of the art around the study of CAs and opens novel perspectives informed by multidisciplinary research and renewed thinking about deliberative participatory processes. It discusses the latest theoretical, empirical, and methodological scientific developments on CAs and offers a unique resource for scholars, decision-makers, practitioners, and curious citizens to better understand the qualities, purposes, promises but also pitfalls of CAs.

Features:

• First comprehensive analytical overview of this increasingly used democratic innovation.

• Multidisciplinary approach

• Case studies and renewed thinking

• Useful resource for practitioners

Contents page:

• 1 Citizens’ assemblies: An introduction

PART 1: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

• 2 Representation and citizens’ assemblies

• 3 Citizens’ assemblies and accountability

• 4 Which decision-making authority for citizens’ assemblies

• 5 Linking citizens’ assemblies to policymaking: Real-life and visionary connections

• 6 Citizens’ assemblies and the public sphere

• 7 Beyond citizens’ assemblies: Expanding the repertoire of democratic reform

• 8 A problem-based approach to citizens’ assemblies

• 9 Citizens’ assemblies: A critical perspective

PART 2: THE USES OF CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES

• 10 Citizens’ assemblies and the crisis of democracy

• 11 Citizens’ assemblies: Top-down or bottom-up? – both, please!

• 12 Mixed-member deliberative forums: Citizens’ assemblies bringing together elected officials and citizens

• 13 Deliberation in citizens’ assemblies with children

• 14 Citizens’ assemblies and direct democracy

• 15 Citizens’ assemblies at supranational level: Addressing the EU and global democratic deficit

• 16 Between hopes and systemic unsustainability: An analysis of citizens assemblies’ potential on climate change

• 17 Authoritarian participationism and local citizens’ assemblies in Latin America: A cross look at three national cases

PART 3: ASSESSMENT

• 18 Evaluating citizens’ assemblies: Criteria, methods and tools

• 19 Internal dynamics at work

• 20 Citizens’ assemblies and their effects on the population

• 21 The impact of citizens’ assemblies on policymaking: Approaches and methods

• 22 Citizens’ assemblies in authoritarian regimes: China, Cuba, and Libya

PART 4: DIFFERENT PERCEPTIONS OF CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLIES

• 23 Citizens’ support for citizens’ assemblies

• 24 How do elected officials perceive deliberative citizens’ assemblies?

• 25 The deliberative public servants: The roles of public servants in citizens’ assemblies

• 26 Populists and citizens’ assemblies: Caught between strategy and principles?

• 27 Citizens’ assemblies and communication studies

• 28 Social movements and citizens’ assemblies

PART 5: CONCLUSION

• 29 Citizens’ assemblies: Beyond utopian and dystopian approaches

Index

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For developing countries, decentralising power from central government to local authorities holds the promise of deepening democracy, empowering citizens, improving public services and boosting economic growth. But the evidence on when and how decentralisation can bring these benefits has been mixed. Under the wrong conditions, decentralised power can be captured by unrepresentative elites or undermined by corruption and the clientelistic distribution of public resources. The picture is complex, and we still do not understand enough about what factors can contribute to creating better local government, and to what effect.

Decentralised Governance brings together a new generation of political economy studies that explore these questions analytically, blending theoretical insights with empirical innovation. Individual chapters provide fresh evidence from around the world, including broad cross-country data as well as detailed studies of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya and Colombia. They investigate the pros and cons of decentralisation in both democratic and autocratic regimes, and the effects of critical factors such as advances in technology, citizen-based data systems, political entrepreneurship in ethnically diverse societies, and reforms aimed at improving transparency and monitoring.

This wide-ranging volume examines the conditions under which devolving power can intensify democratic competition, boost transparency, and improve local governance, providing examples of good and bad practice in both. It is essential reading for researchers investigating decentralised governance, development and democratisation, and for policymakers and practitioners drawing lessons for future reforms.

Contents page:

1. Decentralised governance: crafting effective democracies around the world

2. Understanding decentralisation: theory, evidence, and practice

3. Decentralised targeting of transfer programmes: a reassessment

4. Realising the promise of partial decentralisation

5. Devolution under autocracy: evidence from Pakistan

6. Social fragmentation, public goods, and local elections: evidence from China

7. How does fiscal decentralisation affect local polities? Evidence from local communities in Indonesia

8. Can parliamentary sanctions strengthen local political accountability? Evidence from Kenya

9. Centralised versus decentralised monitoring in developing countries: a survey of recent research

10. Subnational governance in Ghana: a comparative assessment of data and performance

11. Birth registration, child rights, and local governance in Bangladesh

12. Administrative decentralisation and its impacts on educational expenditure and student outcomes: evidence from Colombia

Reviews:

"Decentralisation has often been hailed as a panacea for development. However, if not implemented effectively, it can fail to deliver on its promise. This book edited by Faguet and Pal provides —using a wealth of cases covering many parts of the emerging world— the necessary guidance to harness the potential of decentralisation while sidestepping its drawbacks. A must read."

- Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Princesa de Asturias Chair, London School of Economics

"Decentralization as a way of improving quality of governance and delivery of public services is widely recognised. Yet the experience in its actual performance has been mixed particularly in developing countries. ... This book provides a major step in our understanding the nuances and complexities of the subject, utilises both political and mechanism design insights, and guides us to valuable tools in reforming our beleaguered systems of political accountability."

- Pranab Bardhan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of California, Berkeley 

"An essential and long-awaited book on the effects of decentralisation in developing countries from a comparative perspective. Its reading will help to understand the complexity of decentralised governance and the importance of the role of political, social and cultural variables. It is a must-read for researchers, practitioners and anyone interested in the complexity of policy-making around the world."

- José M. Ruano, Director of the Complutense School of Government, Complutense University of Madrid and Editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Decentralisation in Europe

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This book explores the challenges that disinformation, fake news, and post-truth politics pose to democracy from a multidisciplinary perspective. The authors analyse and interpret how the use of technology and social media as well as the emergence of new political narratives has been progressively changing the information landscape, undermining some of the pillars of democracy.

The volume sheds light on some topical questions connected to fake news, thereby contributing to a fuller understanding of its impact on democracy. In the Introduction, the editors offer some orientating definitions of post-truth politics, building a theoretical framework where various different aspects of fake news can be understood. The book is then divided into three parts: Part I helps to contextualise the phenomena investigated, offering definitions and discussing key concepts as well as aspects linked to the manipulation of information systems, especially considering its reverberation on democracy. Part II considers the phenomena of disinformation, fake news, and post-truth politics in the context of Russia, which emerges as a laboratory where the phases of creation and diffusion of fake news can be broken down and analysed; consequently, Part II also reflects on the ways to counteract disinformation and fake news. Part III moves from case studies in Western and Central Europe to reflect on the methodological difficulty of investigating disinformation, as well as tackling the very delicate question of detection, combat, and prevention of fake news.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of political science, law, political philosophy, journalism, media studies, and computer science, since it provides a multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of post-truth politics. 

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While the literature on "new institutionalism" explains the stability of institutional arrangements within countries and the divergence of paths of institutional development between countries, Federico Ferrara takes a "historical institutionalist" approach to theorize dynamic processes of institutional reproduction, institutional decay, and institutional change in explaining the development of political institutions. Ferrara synthesizes "power-based" or "power-distributional" explanations and "ideas-based" "legitimation explanations." He specifies the psychological "microfoundations" of processes of institutional development, drawing heavily from the findings of experimental psychology to ensure that the explanation is grounded in clear and realistic assumptions regarding human motivation, cognition, and behavior. 

Aside from being of interest to scholars and graduate students in political science and other social-scientific disciplines whose research concentrates on the genesis of political institutions, their evolution over time, and their impact on the stability of political order and the quality of governance, the book will be required reading in graduate courses and seminars in comparative politics where the study of institutions and their development ranks among the subfield's most important subjects.

Contents (brief):

• Contents

• Preface

• Chapter One. Institutional Development

• Chapter Two. Institutional Reproduction

• Chapter Three. Institutional Decay

• Chapter Four. Institutional Change

• Chapter Five. Institutional Engineering

• References

• Index

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In order to truly understand the emergence, endurance, and legacy of autocracy, this volume of engaging essays explores how autocratic power is acquired, exercised, and transferred or abruptly ended through the careers and politics of influential figures in more than 20 countries and six regions.

The book looks at both traditional "hard" dictators, such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, and more modern "soft" or populist autocrats, who are in the process of transforming once fully democratic countries into autocratic states, including Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. The authors touch on a wide range of autocratic and dictatorial figures in the past and present, including present-day autocrats, such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, military leaders, and democratic leaders with authoritarian aspirations. They analyze the transition of selected autocrats from democratic or benign semi-democratic systems to harsher forms of autocracy, with either quite disastrous or more successful outcomes.

An ideal reader for students and scholars, as well as the general public, interested in international affairs, leadership studies, contemporary history and politics, global studies, security studies, economics, psychology, and behavioral studies.

Contents:

List of contributors

Introduction: dictators and autocrats: a global phenomenon

PART I The notorious three

1 - Joseph Stalin: autocrat par excellence (1878–1953)

2 - Adolf Hitler: from democracy to dictatorship (1889–1945)

3 - Mao Zedong: communist Party dictatorship (1893–1976)

PART II Pathbreaking autocrats of the twentieth century

4 - Fidel Castro: from grassroots dictatorship to Communist autocracy (1926–2016)

5 - Augusto Pinochet: the emergence of one-man rule in Chile (1915–2006)

6 - Robert Mugabe: ruthless authoritarian who preferred democratic clothing (1924–2019)

7 - Joseph Kabila: the “Raïs” of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (born 1971)

8 - Hugo Chavez: was he an autocrat? (1954–2013)

9 - Lee Kuan Yew: autocracy, elections, and capitalism (1923–2015)

PART III Twenty-first-century autocrats: the major powers

10 - Vladimir Putin: Russia’s neo-patrimonial façade democracy (born 1952)

11 - Xi Jinping: the rise of an authoritarian leader (born 1953)

12 - Narendra Modi: elected authoritarian (born 1950)

13 - Donald J. Trump: the authoritarian style in American politics (born 1946)

PART IV Twenty-first-century autocrats: other influential autocrats

14 - Ali Hosseini Khamenei: routinizing revolution in Iran (born 1939)

15 - The Assad Dynasty: quo vadis Damascus? (Hafiz: 1930–2000; Bashar: born 1965)

16 - Kim Jong Un: rise to power and leadership style (born 1984)

17 - Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: the one and only Egyptian dictator (born 1954)

18 - Prayuth Chan-o-Cha: from the barracks to the ballot box (born 1954)

19 - Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (a.k.a. “MBS”): king in all but name (born 1985)

20 - Viktor Orbán and János Kádár: a post-Communist and a Communist autocrat in Hungary. 

                                                            A comparative analysis (Kádár: 1912–1989; Orbán: born 1963)

21 - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: from “illiberal democracy” to electoral authoritarianism (born 1953)

22 - Rodrigo Duterte: macho populism and authoritarian practice (born 1945)

23 - Jair Bolsonaro: beyond the pale, above the fray (born 1955)

Index

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Combines an overview of the key theoretical models of democracy and human rights with a state-of-the-art survey which reports on trade-offs between achievements, set-backs and challenges in some of the world's 'hotspots'. The 20th century has been described as the bloodiest in human history, but it was also the century in which people around the world embraced ideas of democracy and human rights as never before, constructing social, political and legal institutions seeking to contain human behaviour. Todd Landman offers an optimistic, yet cautionary tale of these developments, drawing on the literature, from politics, international relations and international law. He celebrates the global turn from tyranny and violence towards democracy and rights but also warns of the precariousness of these achievements in the face of democratic setbacks and the undermining of rights commitments by many countries during the so-called ‘War on Terror'.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

• Abundance and Freedom

• Democracy and Human Rights

• Waves and Setbacks

• Evidence and Explanations

• Agents and Advocates

• Truth and Justice

• Threats and Pitfalls

• Benefits and Outcomes

• Hopes and Challenges

Bibliography

Index

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This first university textbook of human security, intended as an introductory text from senior undergraduate level up, and includes chapters by 24 authors that encompass the full spectrum of disciplines contributing to the human security field. It is based on the four-pillar model of socio-political security, economic security, environmental security and health security. The chapters include learning outcomes, extension activities, and suggested readings; a comprehensive glossary lists key terms used throughout the book. This textbook can be used in courses on international studies and relations, political studies, history, human geography, anthropology and human ecology, futures studies, applied social studies, public health, and more. 

Contents:

[...]

Preface

Acknowledgements

I. Main Body

1. Introduction

2. Human Security Foundation Documents and Related Resources

3. Why Human Security Needs Our Attention

4. Conflicting Perspectives

• Summary

• 4.1 Introduction

• 4.2 On Globalisation

• 4.3 Human Rights and Human Security

• 4.4 Notes from an Ethnography

• 4.5 A Hierarchy of Needs?

• 4.6 The West and the Rest?

• 4.7 Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Religion

• 4.8 Conclusion – Paradoxes of Universality

• Resources and References

5. Threats to Human Security

• Summary

• 5.1 Introduction

• 5.2 Assessing Human Security

• 5.3 Violent Conflict as a Threat to Human Security

• 5.4 Other Threats to Human Security

• 5.5 Conclusions

• Resources and References

6. Human Security in the Context of International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law

• Summary

• 6.1 Introduction

• 6.2 Situations in Which the Protective Measures Will Apply

• 6.3 Who and What Are Protected?

• 6.4 Means and Methods of Warfare

• 6.5 Different Responsibility Regimes, Core International Crimes and Enforcement Options

• 6.6 Conclusion: The Future of the Responsibility Regimes

• Resources and References

7. Individuals and Groups Outside of the State System

• Summary

• 7.1 Introduction

• 7.2 Individuals and Groups Outside of the State

• 7.3 Alienated Citizenship and Sub-state Terrorism

• 7.4 Counter Terrorism, Human Rights and Human Security

• 7.5 Conclusion

• Resources and References

8. Political Hybridity and Human Security in Post-colonial and Post-conflict State Building / Rebuilding

• Summary

• 8.1 Introduction

• 8.2 Enhancing State Resilience and Promoting Human Security

• 8.3 The Quest for Human Security in Insecure and Fragile States

• 8.4 Diagnosing Vulnerability and Preventing State Failure

• 8.5 Promoting Human Security in Weak States

• 8.6 Hybrid Political Orders

• 8.7 Community Sources of Legitimacy

• 8.8 Centrality of Context

• 8.9 Conclusions

• Resources and References

• Long Descriptions

9. Climate Change and Human Security

• Summary

• 9.1 Introduction

• 9.2 Current and Future Risks to Human Security

• 9.3 Major Culprits and Victims of Climate Change

• 9.4 Barriers to Counteracting Climate Change

• 9.5 Achieving Climate Justice as the Way Forward

• Resources and References

• Long Descriptions

10. Human Security and Resource Scarcity

• Summary

• 10.1 Introduction

• 10.2 Resource Scarcity Through the Ages

• 10.3 Understanding Resource Scarcity

• 10.4 Tragedy of the Commons

• 10.5 Social Traps

• 10.6 Understanding Complex Systems

• 10.7 Resource Scarcity and Conflict

• 10.8 Human Security in the Face of Resource Scarcity

• 10.9 Case Studies in Water Scarcity

• Resources and References

11. Our War Against Nature: Ontology, Cognition and a Constricting Paradigm

• Summary

• 11.1 Introduction: Defining Terms, Posing Questions

• 11.2 Reality, Science and Revolutions in Our Thinking

• 11.3 Seeing the Complexity of Nature

• 11.4. Seeing Ourselves in Life’s Larger Context

• 11.5 The ‘War Against Nature’

• 11.6 Understanding How and Why We Continue to Wage ‘Our War Against Nature’ and Reversing Course

• 11.7 Becoming Reflexive: Rethinking ‘Who’ We Are, Breaking Free of a Constricting Paradigm, Ending the ‘War’

• Resources and References

12. Our War Against Nature: Letters from the Front

• Summary

• PART I: The Assault on Organisms and Ecosystems

• 12.1 Introduction: Welcome to the Anthropocene!

• 12.2 Animal Armageddon

• 12.3 The Fraying of Food Webs

• 12.4 Assault on the Oceans: Chemical and Physical Changes

• PART II: The Human Footprint

• 12.5 The Human Footprint: Population

• 12.6 The Human Footprint: Consumption

• 12.7 Money Games: Chasing the Symbol

• 12.8 Who Are We?

• Resources and References

13. Transnational Crime

• Summary

• 13.1 International Crime or Transnational Crime? Some Definitions

• 13.2 Globalization and Transnational Crime

• 13.3 The Economic Scale of Transnational Crime

• 13.4 The Threat of Transnational Crime

• 13.5 Transnational Crime as a Human Security Threat

• 13.6 Trafficking in Persons

• 13.7 International Efforts to Address Transnational Crime

• 13.8 Regional Efforts to Address Transnational Crime

• 13.9 Sovereignty, Security or Sentiment? Solving Transnational Crime

• Resources and References

14. Recalling the Significance of Local Governance to Human Security in Illiberal Sub-Saharan African Contexts

• Summary

• 14.1 Introduction

• 14.2 Post-Cold War Realities in Sub-Saharan Africa Versus Africanist Scholarship

• 14.3 Assessing Value

• 14.4 Making Historical Comparisons

• 14.5 Conclusion: Recalling the Significance of Local Government Institutions

• Resources and References

15. Issues with Human Rights Violations

16. Developing Good Governance

• Summary

• 16.1 Introduction

• 16.2 Sustainable Development and Human Security

• 16.3 The Principle of Sustainability

• 16.4 Governance for Sustainability

• 16.5 The Role of Civil Society

• 16.6 The Earth Charter: A Framework for Global Governance

• 16.7 Conclusion

• Resources and References

• Long Descriptions

17. Health Security in the Context of Social-ecological Change

18. Empowering International Human Security Regimes

19. Conflict Transformation and Peace Processes: Peace Without Justice Is Just a Ceasefire

• Summary

• 19.1 Introduction: What Do We Mean by ‘Transforming’ Conflict?

• 19.2 From Peace Treaties to Peace Processes: Conflict and Peace in Historical Perspective

• 19.3 Four Peace Processes

• 19.4 Post-conflict Conditions Today

• 19.5 Assessing Conflict Transformation in Four Peace Processes

• Resources and References

20. Human Security and Global Environmental Governance

21. Conclusions, Prospects, Futures

• Summary

• 21.1 Human Security in World Affairs: Challenges

• 21.2 Human Security in World Affairs: Opportunities

• 21.3 Besides Environmental Sustainability, What Other Aspects of Human Security Need Improvement?

Resources and References

Glossary of Terms and Definitions

Authors’ Biographical Information

Versioning History

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Designed to meet the scope and sequence of your course, OpenStax Introduction to Political Science provides a strong foundation in global political systems, exploring how and why political realities unfold. Rich with examples of individual and national social action, this text emphasizes students’ role in the political sphere and equips them to be active and informed participants in civil society.    

Summary of Contents page:

Preface

Unit 1  Introduction to Political Science

Chapter 1  What Is Politics and What Is Political Science?

Unit 2  Individuals

Chapter 2  Political Behavior Is Human Behavior

Chapter 3  Political Ideology

Chapter 4  Civil Liberties

Chapter 5  Political Participation and Public Opinion

Unit 3  Groups

Chapter 6  The Fundamentals of Group Political Activity

Chapter 7  Civil Rights

Chapter 8  Interest Groups, Political Parties, and Elections

Unit 4  Institutions

Chapter 9  Legislatures

Chapter 10  Executives, Cabinets, and Bureaucracies

Chapter 11  Courts and Law

Chapter 12  The Media

Unit 5  States and International Relations

Chapter 13  Governing Regimes

Chapter 14  International Relations

Chapter 15  International Law and International Organizations

Chapter 16  International Political Economy

References

Index

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This open access book aims to show which factors have been decisive in the rise of successful countries. Never before have so many people been so well off. However, prosperity is not a law of nature; it has to be worked for. A liberal economy stands at the forefront of this success – not as a political system, but as a set of economic rules promoting competition, which in turn leads to innovation, research and enormous productivity. 

Sustainable prosperity is built on a foundation of freedom, equal opportunity and a functioning government. This requires a stable democracy that cannot be defeated by an autocrat. Autocrats claim that “illiberalism” is more efficient, an assertion that justifies their own power. Although autocrats can efficiently guide the first steps out of poverty, once a certain level of prosperity has been achieved, people begin to demand a sense of well-being – freedom and codetermination. Only when this is possible will they feel comfortable, and progress will continue. Respect for human rights is crucial.

The rules of the free market do not lean to either the right or left politically. Liberalism and the welfare state are not mutually exclusive. The “conflict” concerns the amount of government intervention. Should there be more or less?

As a lawyer, entrepreneur, and board member with over 40 years of experience in this field of conflict, the author clearly describes the conditions necessary for a country to maintain its position at the top.

Contents (brief):

Front Matter

• European Values

• Liberalism

• Change and Its Consequences

• The Market, Market Failures, and Market Interventions

• All People Are Winners

• Undesirable Developments and Possibilities for Improvement

• Behavior Towards Autocracies

• Xenophobia

• Education and Culture Made the Difference

• Strategic Development of the European Union

• Good Governance

• Theses and Conclusion

Back Matter

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Liberalism and Transformation is the first scholarly work that explores the historical, philosophical, and intellectual development of global liberalism since the nineteenth century in the context of the deployment of violence, force, and intervention. Using an approach that includes interpretive and contextual analysis of texts from writers, philosophers, and policy-makers across nearly two centuries, as well as historiographical and historical analysis of archival documents (some of which have been recently declassified) and other media, Liberalism and Transformation narrates the messy history of emancipatory liberalism and its engagement with issues of war and peace. 

The book contributes to both a rethinking of liberal democracy and its relationship to world politics, as well as the effects of liberal internationalism on global processes. Furthermore, Liberalism and Transformation invites readers to reflect on global ethics and transformation in world politics. In the first place, it shows how ethical imaginings of the world have direct effects on actions of transformative importance. In the second place, it suggests that discourses are fluid, changing, and complex.

Contents (brief):

Acknowledgements

• Ch. 1: Introduction: Liberalism and Violence

• Ch. 2: The How of Emancipatory Liberalism

• Ch. 3: Transformation and Civilization: Liberalism, Empire, Intervention

• Ch. 4: Transformation and Self-Determination: Internationalists at War

• Ch. 5: Transformation and Totalitarianism: Intervention and Cold War Liberalism

• Ch. 6: Transformation and Terror: State Failure, Development, and Human Rights

• Ch. 7: Conclusion: Toward a Minimalist Liberalism

Notes

Bibliography

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This book takes a “pluralist” approach and, in addition to being the first open textbook on its subject, also pushes back against the Eurocentric tendencies of standard textbooks by including chapters on Indigenous worldviews and Confucianism. Providing the latest scholarship on “classical ideologies” (liberalism, conservatism, socialism, anarchism, etc.), the textbook also includes innovative chapters on populism, feminism, and multiculturalism, as well as looking at the future of ideologies in a globalized world. Joining together scholars from Canada and beyond, the text also contains discussion questions to help students and readers to think further.

This edited open textbook will be a great asset for introductory courses at the college and university levels on political ideologies and political thought and philosophy, but could also be used in other disciplines, as each chapter assesses the state of the ideology in today’s world. The general reader looking for a better understanding of the competing ideological currents of our time – currents which flow into our daily political debates and real-life government decisions – will also greatly benefit from this book.    

[Book Author: Valérie Vézina]

Table of Contents:

• I. Introduction: Approaching political ideologies

• II. Dis(placement) and Indigenous Worldview : What I learned from Coyote

• III. Liberalism: From the "free men" to the "free market"

• IV. Conservatism: Slow change please!

• V. Socialism. Two Centuries of Social Progress.

• VI. Anarchism: No gods, no masters

• VII. Nationalism: A Modern Ideology Summoning an Eternal Past

• VIII. Multiculturalism: Public Philosophy and Public Policy

• IX. Populism: 'The Will of the People'?

• X. Islamism and its Relation to Islam and the West: Common Themes and Varieties

• XI. Confucianism: A Living Ideology

• XII. The Environment: Theory and Human Security

• XIII. A Late Modern Typology of Democratizing Feminisms

• XIV. Concluding remarks: Ideology in the Globalized Future

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[From the Foreword:] The entrenchment of good governance in any system is dependent on the partnership between opposition parties and the ruling party. Opposition parties within the system whose actions influence some of the decisions of the ruling party must promote a culture of good governance. The African National Congress (ANC) ruling party is answerable to the Parliament and the citizens for their actions and activities in power. Moreover, the opposition political parties have helped keep an eye on the ruling party by criticising every policy thus fostering proper political accountability. The chapters of this book spell out numerous challenges between legislature leadership and opposition parties which has affected how a cordial relationship that promotes healthy cooperation could be maintained and promoted. These challenges include procedural and inadequate resources, and internal party politics struggles influenced by a Westminster model that focuses on opposition politics thus making it difficult to build consensus. The chapters of this book present that these challenges have prevented South Africa’s Parliament from keeping the Executive accountable and responsive; an issue that has eroded public trust. 

[...] The book presents that there is a need to strengthen the impartiality of the Parliament, increase resources, enhance the oversight capacity of committees, and promote transparency and public  participation in the oversight process. The book makes a call for all in the policy-making and academic environment to pay close attention to ensuring that there is no delay in transforming, reforming and strengthening democratic institutions and redesigning policies that promote good democratic governance. This would bridge the existing gap between legislatures and citizens and ensure that citizens can actively participate in the legislative and oversight processes of their elected representatives.

Contents page:

Contents

Foreword  

Contextual Background  

Author’s Bios  

List Of Abbreviations And Acronyms  

List Of Figures  

• Ch. 1: Parliament as a Legislative Authority in South Africa: The Constitutional Framework for Governance and Oversight  

Marlie Holtzhausen

• Ch. 2: Devolved Parliament and Public Participation: Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in Parliamentary Portfolio Committees at the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures  

Gilbert T. Zvaita

• Ch. 3: Parliament Oversight of the Executive: Key Issues, Challenges, And Insights  

Nyasha Mpani

• Ch. 4: The Role Of Opposition Parties In Promoting Political Accountability: Challenges And Lessons Learnt   

Esther Adebimpe

• Ch. 5: Bridging the Gender Gap: Promoting Gender Equality in the National Assembly and Provincial Legislatures  

Nneka Akwu

• Ch. 6: Examining the Dynamics of the Relationship between South Africa’s National Assembly and the Pan-African Parliament: Prospects, Challenges and Lessons Learnt  

Muneinazvo Kujeke

• Ch. 7: E-Parliament, Citizen Engagement and Democratic Representation in South Africa: Challenges and Prospects  

Stanley Ehiane and Keratilwe Bodilenyane

Concluding Remarks  

Maria Goyayi

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Human history is in reality a history of corrupt governments". In this book, Vladimir Gel’man considers bad governance as a distinctive politico-economic order that is based on a set of formal and informal rules, norms, and practices quite different from those of good governance. Some countries are governed badly intentionally because the political leaders of these countries establish and maintain rules, norms, and practices that serve their own self-interests. Gel’man considers bad governance as a primarily agency-driven rather than structure-induced phenomenon.

He addresses the issue of causes and mechanisms of bad governance in Russia and beyond from a different scholarly optics, which is based on a more general rationale of state-building, political regime dynamics, and policy-making. He argues that although these days, bad governance is almost universally perceived as an anomaly, at least in developed countries, in fact human history is largely a history of ineffective and corrupt governments, while the rule of law and decent state regulatory quality are relatively recent matters of modern history, when they emerged as side effects of state-building. Indeed, the picture is quite the opposite: bad governance is the norm, while good governance is an exception. The problem is that most rulers, especially if their time horizons are short and the external constraints on their behavior are not especially binding, tend to govern their domains in a predatory way because of the prevalence of short-term over long-term incentives. Contemporary Russia may be considered as a prime example of this phenomenon. Using an analysis of case studies of political and policy changes in Russia after the Soviet collapse, Gel’man discusses the logic of building and maintaining the politico-economic order of bad governance in Russia and paths of its possible transformation in a theoretical and comparative perspective.

Contents page:

• Preface and Acknowledgments 

• The Politics of Bad Governance: A Framework for Analysis  

• Post-Soviet Bad Governance: A Vicious Circle?  

• Authoritarian Modernization: Illusions and Temptations  

• Opportunities and Constraints: Policy Reforms in the 2000s  

• The Technocratic Traps of Policy Reforms  

• Success Stories amid Bad Governance  

• The Politics of Bad Governance: Russia in Comparative Perspective

• Notes  

Reviews:

“This powerful new book persuasively explains why contemporary Russia, like many other countries in the world, suffers from bad governance. For Gel’man, bad governance is neither an inevitable consequence of problematic institutional legacies nor a regrettable failure of elite attempts to govern well. Instead, bad governance represents a purposeful, self-serving, and perverse success story for Russia’s authoritarian elites.” 

—Juliet Johnson, McGill University

“In this engaging work, Gel'man challenges long-standing ideas about good governance, why Russia has bad governance, and the assumption that governance in Russia may improve. In doing so, he presents us with an enormously valuable and timely perspective about how we should think about Russian politics today.” 

—Sarah Wilson Sokhey, University of Colorado Boulder

“An original contribution to the study of Russian governance, rent-seeking, state building, and regime change. This is a serious piece of scholarship assessing the development of Russia’s political system in the post-Communist era, offering valuable insights into how and why Russia, despite its high level of economic development, exhibits so many features of bad governance, such as weak rule of law, near-universal rent-seeking, corruption, poor regulation, and government ineffectiveness.”

—Hilary Appel, Claremont McKenna College

“Gel’man has long been one of the most original voices on Russian politics and his lively prose and vivid analogies are on full display in The Politics of Bad Governance in Contemporary Russia. By reframing the study of governance, Gel’man helps us understand why the Russian state usually, but not always, underperforms. An important work that will be required reading for anyone interested in governance or Russian politics.”

—Timothy M. Frye, Columbia University

“Vladimir Gel’man’s new book provides a brilliant analysis of the evolution of Russian political institutions in the last thirty years as well as a rigorous discussion of the scenarios for escaping the authoritarian trap. While the book is based on recent research in political science, it is written for a general audience who wants to understand the past, the present, and the future of Russian politics.”

—Sergei Guriev, Sciences Po, Paris

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This textbook is intended to orient students to the study of politics and the discipline of political science. By the end of this course, students will gain comprehensive understanding of political behavior, political institutions, and normative ideas of political theory. This textbook is composed of two parts with five chapters in each of these parts. In Part I, we will analyze, conceptualize, and describe what politics is by defining key political terms such as justice, freedom, equality, and democracy. As we shall see, each of these concepts has different and sometimes competing conceptions that often inform one’s foundational political beliefs. For example, when we talk about equality it is important to make distinctions between comprehensive equality (such as the principle that are humans are created equal), equality of outcomes (that individuals ought to be afforded an equal distribution of material goods), and equal opportunity (that government ought to ensure equal protection under the law and basic fairness in a free economic marketplace). One’s level of commitment to these different conceptions of equality goes a long way toward shaping political belief.

In Part II, we will survey the discipline of political science and its major subfields. Why is political science a part of the social sciences? What do political scientists do? How can we think like social scientists? What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative data? These are some important questions we will consider in Part II. Key to this second part of the textbook is orienting students into a political science major or minor degree, giving comprehensive understanding to the state of the discipline and its value to the world outside academia.

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Populist movements, parties and leaders have gained influence in many countries, disrupting long-established patterns of party competition, impugning the legitimacy of representative institutions and sometimes actively weakening or coarsening government capabilities. By positing an acute contrast between the will of the people and established elites, and advocating simplistic policy solutions careless of minority rights, populists have challenged the development and even the maintenance of liberal democracy on many fronts.

Social scientists’ attention to populism has grown rapidly, although it remains somewhat fragmented across disciplines. Many questions remain. Are populism’s causes economic or cultural? National or local? Is populism a threat to liberal democracy? If so, what kind of threat? And what can be done about it? Employing a range of conceptual toolkits and methods, this interdisciplinary book addresses in a critical and evidence-based way the most common diagnoses of populism’s causes, consequences and policy antidotes.

Note: 

This is Book 1 in the LSE Public Policy Review Series

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Power is the essence of politics. Whoever seeks to comprehend and master it, must understand its logic. Drawing on two decades of international experience in political consulting, Dominik Meier and Christian Blum give profound and honest insights into how power functions. Introducing their Power-Leadership Approach, the authors provide both a conceptual and a theoretical analysis of power and present the tools to successfully exercise power in the political domain. "The Logic of Power" is an enlightening guidebook for decision-makers in politics, business and civil society, for consultants and policy-advisers, students and scholars and for anyone looking to understand how power is constructed. 

Contents page:

Acknowledgements

0. Introduction

0.1 Preface

0.2 Structure and Substance

0.3 Methods

1. The Nature of Power

   1.1 Definitional Approach

   1.2 Basic Principles of Power

   1.3 Humankind, Power and History –Follow-Up Questions

2. The Concretions of Power

   2.1 Forms of Power

   2.2 Power and Symbolism

   2.3 Power Fields

         2.3.1 Religion

         2.3.2 The Economic Power Field

        2.3.3 The Political Power Field

   2.4 The Common Good

   2.5 The Vectors of Political Power

         2.5.1 Power Competence and Training

         2.5.2 Power Knowledge and Strategy

         2.5.3 Instruments of Power and Organization

         2.5.4 Mastering the Power Vectors:

                 Homo Consultandus and Homo Consultans

3. The Practice of Power

   3.1 The Power Chess Model

   3.2 Empower Model

         3.2.1 Political Logic

         3.2.2 Poltical Language

         3.2.3 Poltical Ethos

         3.2.4 Tools and Techniques of Empowering

   3.3 Condensing

         3.3.1 The Four-Phase Model

         3.3.2 Tools and Techniques of Condensing

   3.4 Influencing

   3.5 Global Governmental Relations

   3.6 Concluding Remarks

4. Literature

   4.1 Specialist Literature

   4.2 Additional Sources

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South Africa’s democratic government has worked hard at improving the lives of the black majority, yet close to half the population lives in poverty, jobs are scarce, and the country is more unequal than ever. For millions, the colour of people’s skin still decides their destiny. In its wide-ranging, incisive and provocative analysis, South Africa Pushed to the Limit shows that although the legacies of apartheid and colonialism weigh heavy, many of the strategic choices made since the early 1990s have compounded those handicaps. The big winners of the transition, Marais demonstrates, have been the country’s conglomerates, especially those active in the finance sector. The basic structure of Africa’s biggest economy, however, remains largely intact and continues to serve a gilded minority, which now accommodates sections of the new political elite. The government, meanwhile, has squandered crucial leverage in a series of errors and miscalculations – at huge detriment to efforts to reduce poverty and inequality. The book explains why those choices were made, where they went awry, and why South Africa’s vaunted formations of the left – old and new – have failed to prevent or alter them.

Building on his acclaimed book Limits to Change, Marais examines South Africa’s most pressing issues – from the real reasons behind President Jacob Zuma’s rise and the purging of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, and how the African National Congress replenishes its power, to piercing analyses of the country’s continuing AIDS crisis, its economic path, the changes wrought in the world of work, and the unfolding struggles over belonging and identity. South Africa Pushed to the Limit presents a riveting, benchmark analysis of the incomplete journey beyond apartheid.

Summary of Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements; 

Introduction; 

• 1 The making of a polarised society; 

• 2 Saving the system; 

• 3 Contours of the transition; 

• 4 Sticking to the rules: the evolution of post-apartheid economic policy; 

• 5 All dressed up: the economy in the twenty-first century; 

• 6 The world of work; 

• 7 Poverty and inequality in the post-apartheid years; 

• 8 The social protection system; 

• 9 AIDS and TB: like 'waiting for a tidal wave to hit'; 

• 10 False starts: the health and education systems; 

• 11 A South African developmental state?; 

• 12 Last man standing: the Mbeki-Zuma battle; 

• 13 Power, consent and the ANC

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This collection of essays brings together a set of new perspectives on the many liberation struggles in southern Africa, struggles that have continuing significance today. What links were there between different forms of struggle in the region? What was the wider context, including international solidarity work? What roles did different actors play in these struggles? Among the topics analysed are African National Congress operations in Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho; the fate of the Pan-Africanist Congress; Muslim involvement in the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique; what happened in the camps of the South West Africa People’s Organisation in Angola; and violent and non-violent struggles in the Eastern Cape in the 1980s. A number of chapters focus on anti-apartheid activities in Britain. Anyone interested in the complex nature of these struggles, and their local and global legacies, will find this collection, based on innovative research, essential reading.

Probing beyond the heroic portrayals of armed struggles and nationalist resistance, this collection of essays illustrates the intertwined histories of Southern African liberation struggles and those of regional and international solidarity movements, beginning in the 1960s through the establishment of a non-racial democracy in South Africa in 1994. As this collection seeks to present more nuanced accounts of the solidarity movements that flourished alongside the liberation and exile movements -- such as the British-based Anti-Apartheid Movement -- it draws together internal and external struggles in exile. Unique and detailed, it offers new insights into the relationships that exiles and guerrillas developed with host societies and solidarity organisations, both within the southern African region and in the United Kingdom

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It is only in the last 250 years that ordinary people (in some parts of the world) have become citizens rather than subjects. This change happened in a very short period, between 1780 and 1820, a result of the foundations of democracy laid in the age of revolutions. A century later local governments embraced this shift due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and population growth. During the twentieth century, all democratic governments began to perform a range of tasks, functions, and services that had no historical precedent. In the thirty years following the Second World War, Western democracies created welfare states that, for the first time in history, significantly reduced the gap between the wealthy and everyone else. Many of the reforms of that postwar period have been since rolled back because of the belief that government should be more like a business. Jos C.N. Raadschelders provides the information that all citizens should have about their connections to government, why there is a government, what it does, how it does it, and why we can no longer do without it. The Three Ages of Government rises above stereotypical thinking to show the centrality of government in human life.

Table of contents:

Acknowledgments

Introduction: What Is Government?

One. Understanding Government in Society

Two. Government in Society

Three. Instinct and Intent

Four. Tribal Community

Five. Citizen and Government in a Global Society

Six. Governing as Process

Seven. Democracy

Notes

References

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In liberal democracies there is a belief that citizens ought to take an active interest in what is happening in the political world. Political debate in modern Western democracies is a complex and often rowdy affair. There are three fundamental political issues: 'politics', 'power' and 'justice', which feature in almost all political discussions and conflicts. This book assesses the degree to which the state and state sovereignty are disappearing in the modern world of 'globalised' politics, economics and culture and new international institutions.

The main features of the nation and the problems of defining it are outlined: population, culture, history, language, religion, and race. Different types of democracy and their most important features are discussed. 

Contents page:

Introduction 1

1 The state and sovereignty 16

2 The nation 37

3 Democracy 58

4 Freedom 83

5 Equality 103

6 Rights, obligations and citizenship 121

7 The role of ideology in politics and society 135

8 Nationalism 154

9 Conservatism 174

10 Liberalism 195

11 Socialism 214

12 Marxism and anarchism 237

13 Fascism 256

14 Environmentalism and ecologism 274

15 Feminism 295

Concluding remarks 309

Glossary of major figures 323

Suggested further reading 340

Index

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South Africa’s foreign policy makers are facing a substantial challenge. From the advent of the democratic era in 1994 through to the early 2000s, South Africa was a highly respected actor in international affairs with a number of impressive accomplishments in the areas of global governance, peacekeeping and international norm entrepreneurship. However, since that time, the country’s international standing has declined. The value based and innovative foreign policy that earned the early post-apartheid South African government such great international respect has been replaced by a more transactional and tactically driven approach to international affairs. The country’s position as Africa’s leading economy and voice in international affairs is increasingly being challenged by other African states.

This book explores how South Africa can develop a foreign policy strategy that is appropriate to the uncertain times in which we live and that both helps the country address its overwhelming domestic challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment and regain its former high international reputation. The contributors to this book offer analyses and proposals for developing such a strategy within the context of the country’s constitutional order and institutional constraints and that addresses the diverse and complex global and regional aspects of the country’s international relations.

Reviews:

“In this valuable book – which should be on every diplomat’s bookshelf - some of SA’s foremost experts offer the government frank and compelling advice on how to conduct a much better foreign policy over the next decade. … The authors challenge Pretoria to muster all the country’s assets and skills – and not just those of the ruling party – to pursue only the most important foreign policy goals. And to be guided always by the lodestar of the Constitution.”

Peter Fabricius, Foreign Policy Analyst, former Foreign Affairs Editor at Independent Newspapers.

“This book offers compelling insights on South Africa’s foreign policy ... These varied pieces provide textured and critical perspectives that may help open up an avenue to re-imagine South Africa’s foreign policy afresh in the post-Zuma years. It is a compendium that should appeal to scholars of international relations, practitioners of foreign policy, and the broader policy community.”

Professor Mzukiso Qobo, Head, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand

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