| Description |
xxi, 334 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
Machine generated contents note: pt. I The Bases of Politics -- ch. 1 Politics and Political Science -- What Is Political Science? -- Classic thought: "Never Get Angry at a Fact" -- The Master Science -- Political Power -- Classic works: Concepts and Percepts -- Legitimacy, Sovereignty, and Authority -- Methods: Learning a Chapter -- Is Politics a Science? -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 2 Theories -- Classic Theories -- Classic works: Not Just Europeans -- The Contractualists -- Marxist Theories -- Behavioralism -- Methods: Theses -- Systems Theory -- Theories: Models: Simplifying Reality -- Modernization Theory -- Rational-Choice Theory -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 3 Political Ideologies -- What Is Ideology? -- Theories: The Origins of Ideologies -- Liberalism -- Conservatism -- Socialism -- Nationalism -- Methods: Supporting a Thesis -- Ideology in Our Day -- Case Studies: Islamism: A New Ideology with Old Roots -- |
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Contents note continued: Democracy: Authoritarian Capitalism -- Is Ideology Finished? -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 4 States -- Institutionalized Power -- Classic works: Aristotle's Six Types of Government -- Effective, Weak, and Failed States -- Unitary or Federal Systems -- Methods: Sources -- Case Studies: The Shaky Lives of Confederations -- Electoral Systems -- Case Studies: French and German Variations -- States and the Economy -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 5 Constitutions and Rights -- Constitutions -- The Highest Law of the Land -- Case Studies: The Dangers of Changing Constitutions -- Case Studies: Canada's New Constitution -- Can Constitutions Ensure Rights? -- The Adaptability of the U.S. Constitution -- Case Studies: What Is a Right? -- Freedom of Expression in the United States -- Methods: References -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 6 Regimes -- Representative Democracy -- |
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Contents note continued: Democracy in Practice: Elitism or Pluralism? -- Democracy: Dahl's "Influence Terms" -- Totalitarianism -- Methods: Tight Writing -- Democracy: Why Democracies Fail -- Authoritarianism -- Case Studies: Democracy in Iraq? -- The Democratization of Authoritarian Regimes -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- pt. II Political Attitudes -- ch. 7 Political Culture -- What Is Political Culture? -- Classic Works: The Civic Culture -- Democracy: Civil Society -- Methods: Quotations -- The Decay of Political Culture -- Case Studies: America the Religious -- Elite and Mass Subcultures -- Theories: Culture and Development -- Minority Subcultures -- Case Studies: Quebec: "Maitres Chez Nous" -- Political Socialization -- Classic Works: The Authoritarian Personality -- Case Studies: China Builds Unity -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 8 Public Opinion -- What Public Opinion Is and Isn't -- |
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Contents note continued: Democracy: A Short History of Polling -- The Shape of Public Opinion -- Classic Works: Almond's Three Publics -- Democracy: Opinion Curves -- Public Opinion Polls -- Methods: Variables -- American Opinion -- Is Polling Fair? -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- pt. III Political Interactions -- ch. 9 Political Communication -- The Mass Media and Politics -- Classic Works: The Two-Step Flow of Mass Communications -- Democracy: The Tendency to Media Monopoly -- The New Social Media -- Case Studies: The Media and War -- The Giant: Television -- Methods: Defining Variables -- Theories: The Framing of News -- Are We Poorly Served? -- Case studies: The Media and Watergate -- The Adversaries: Media and Government -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 10 Interest Groups -- The Ubiquity of Interest Groups -- Theories: Countervailing Power -- Interest Groups and Government -- Case Studies: French Antipluralism -- |
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Contents note continued: Effective Interest Groups -- Case Studies: How Powerful Are U.S. Unions? -- Methods: Tables -- Interest Group Strategies -- Classic works: Olson's Theory of Interest Groups -- Interest Groups: An Evaluation -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 11 Parties -- Methods: Cross-Tabulations -- Functions of Parties -- Democracy: Parties that Ignore Voters -- Parties in Democracies -- Theories: What Is a "Relevant" Party? -- Classic Works: Duverger's Three Types of Parties -- Classifying Political Parties -- Classic Works: Kirchheimer's "Catchall" Party -- Party Systems -- Case Studies: Multiparty Systems Are More Fun -- Theories: Sartori's Party Competition -- The Party System and the Electoral System -- Are Parties Fading? -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 12 Elections -- Why Do People Vote? -- Theories: Downs's Theory of Voting -- Who Votes? -- Methods: Tendency Statements -- Who Votes How? -- |
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Contents note continued: Case Studies: Is the U.S. Electoral System Defective? -- Electoral Realignment -- Democracy: Partisan Polarization -- What Wins Elections? -- Democracy: Changing Positions -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- pt. IV Political Institutions -- ch. 13 Legislatures -- The Origins of Parliaments -- Presidential and Parliamentary Systems -- Classic works: Where Did the U.S. System Originate? -- Bicameral or Unicameral? -- What Legislatures Do -- Methods: Longitudinal Studies -- The Decline of Legislatures -- Democracy: Pork-Barrel Politics -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 14 Executives and Bureaucracies -- Presidents and Prime Ministers -- Case Studies: Israel's Directly Elected Prime Ministers -- Case Studies: Authoritarianism Returns to Russia -- Classic Works: Lasswell's Psychology of Power -- Democracy: An Imperial Presidency? -- Executive Leadership -- Methods: Graphs -- Cabinets -- |
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Contents note continued: Classic Works: American Paranoia -- Bureaucracies -- Classic Works: Weber's Definition of Bureaucracies -- Bureaucracies in Comparison -- Theories: Bureaucratic Politics -- The Trouble with Bureaucracy -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 15 Judiciaries -- Types of Law -- Classic Works: The Roots of Law -- The Courts, the Bench, and the Bar -- Case Studies: Common Law Versus Code Law -- Comparing Courts -- Classic works: Marbury v. Madison -- The Role of the Courts -- Methods: Scattergrams -- The Supreme Court's Political Role -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- pt. V What Political Systems Do -- ch. 16 Political Economy -- What Is Political Economy? -- Case Studies: How High Are U.S. Taxes? -- Government and the Economy -- Methods: Maps -- What Is Poverty? -- Democracy: Poverty and Ideology -- Case Studies: Welfare Spending Versus Tax Expenditures -- The Costs of Welfare -- How Big Should Government Be? -- |
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Contents note continued: Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 17 Violence and Revolution -- System Breakdown -- Types of Violence -- Methods: Thinkpieces -- Theories: Rising Expectations -- Terrorism -- Case studies: Revolutionary Political Warfare in Vietnam -- Revolutions -- Case Studies: The Iranian Revolutionary Cycle -- After the Revolution -- Case studies: Violent Versus Velvet Revolutions -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference -- ch. 18 International Relations -- What Is International Relations? -- Power and National Interest -- Methods: Avoid "They" -- Theories: Types of National Interest -- The Importance of Economics -- Why War? -- Classic Works: Kennan's Dinosaur Analogy -- Keeping Peace -- Beyond Sovereignty? -- Democracy: The Democratic Peace -- U.S. Foreign Policy: Involved or Isolated? -- Theories: Klingberg's Alternation Theory -- Classic Works: Thucydides on War -- Review Questions -- Key Terms -- Further Reference |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Subject |
Political science.
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| Author |
Roskin, Michael G., 1939-
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| LC no. |
2013029562 |
| ISBN |
9780205978007 (alkaline paper) |
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