Richard A. Posner is probably the leading scholar in the rapidly growing field of the economics of law; he is also an extremely lucid writer. In this book, he applies economic theory to four areas of
"Most of us are unaware of child neglect even when we are witnessing it. . . . Neglect is a matter of things undone, of inaction compounded by indifference. Since it goes on at home, it is a very priv
Offers a general theory of war and international conflict, looks at specific modern military confrontations, and dispels some common misconceptions about war
While great interest has been shown recently in the nature of utopian thought and its significance in western development, much of the discussion has been marked by imprecision and generality. This book opens with an attempt to give clarity, substance and precision to the definition of utopia by isolating its characteristics in contrast with those of other forms of ideal society. The value of these distinctions is shown in a detailed re-examination of the sixteenth-century European writers who developed the re-emergent form of utopia. As a whole, the book brings the discussion of utopian thought closer to the mainstream concerns of the history of political ideas, and provides a major study for all those working in the fields of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century political and social thought.
The business of politics - the vital process of conducting government through the dynamics of argument, conflict and decision-making - offers us one of the most revealing areas of insight into any society. Sir Moses Finley's exploration of politics in the city states of Greece and republican Rome yields insights into the arenas of political debate which have made a major impact on our understanding of the ancient world. The early political involvement of the free lower classes, the effect of war and conquest on political stability, and the ideological pressures which influenced the course of internal conflicts are salient themes in this stimulating investigation of the nature of government in Greece and Rome.
This book is an introduction to the history of the city planning profession in the United States, from its roots in the middle of the nineteenth century to the present day. The work examines important
Drawing upon released documents, memoirs and party-history works, the process and impact of the political campaigns in China between 1950 and 1965 is documented. Complete with extensive interviews wit
This 1983 book records a fascinating analysis of the Solidarity movement in Poland. Alain Touraine here proposes an understanding of the place of social movements in contemporary society, and a fresh means of analysing them through 'sociological intervention'. In 1981 he and a team of researchers applied these research methods to the Solidarity movements. Groups of Solidarity activists were involved in a discourse over the nature and aims of their political and economic struggle. What emerges is a record of exceptional value in understanding the movement which transformed Polish society, placed firmly in the terms of the Solidarity activists' own understanding of their role, but equally relating this role to a broad analysis of the social structures of eastern Europe. This reflection on forty years of Communist regimes in Europe will appeal to a wide readership interested in Solidarity and Poland.
At the request of the President of Harvard University, six Harvard scholars have joined forces to write a book that lays out the facts about nuclear weapons for all concerned citizens who want to thin
This book was first published in 1983. Since 1945, British politics has been dominated by a two-party system. Yet this has been challenged with the electoral performance of the two major parties declining since years ago when, between them, they secured over ninety-five per cent of the popular vote. The purpose of Multi-part Politics and the Constitution is twofold: first to examine the reasons for the growth of multi-party politics in Britain, secondly to consider its constitutional consequences. In the first part of the book, Vernon Bogdanor considers the challenges to the two-party system and analyses the role of the Liberal-SDP Alliance as part of that challenge. The second part evaluates the consequences for British politics of hung parliaments where no one party can claim an overall majority. Such situations are likely to occur with increasing frequency if multi-party politics persists. The role of the monarch and the working of coalition and minority governments are discussed an
This book is about helping troubled young people who are searching separately for security, identity, and purpose in their lives. Childhood and adolescence are pivotal stages in the quest to belong, t
The Rudolphs' analysis reveals that Gandhi's charisma was deeply rooted in the aspects of Indian tradition that he interpreted for his time. They key to his political influence was his ability to real
The controversial lawyer discusses his attempts to successfully defend even the most disreputable criminals and discusses such topics as F. Lee Bailey's handling of the Patty Hearst case
The chapters in this volume reconsider fundamental premises about state and society in advanced capitalist countries. That social scientists in different disciplines of varying methodological and political persuasions should have found it useful to collaborate in such an undertaking is testimony to the profound social, economic and political shocks experienced by all advanced capitalist nations since to late 1960s. The energy crisis, the end of rapid economic growth, inflation, high unemployment and rising social conflict challenge conventional conceptions about the functioning of industrial societies and their future course. Social science theories have been unable to illuminate these realities.
In past decades, democratic theory has been on the defensive, largely as a result of the disappointments of democratic practice. The essays in this volume reflect critically on the theory in the light of those failures and with the corresponding assumption of an indissoluble connection between theory and practice. If theory maintains a monastic impeccability, untouched by the world, it will be sterile and fit merely for arid disputes. Nor can practice stand alone: it varies and changes and is subject to different interpretations. Success will come to it partly through the impact of empirical and prescriptive analysis. The volume is organised in sections, dealing in turn with the changing meanings and evaluations of democracy with classical theories with the revisions and critiques of these theories deriving from existing circumstances and with attempts to extend and to consolidate more adequate and secure theories of democracy. Among the thinkers considered are Mill, de Tocqueville, Ma
The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This is the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing atti
This classic by an associate of Yugoslavia's Tito created a sensation when it was published in 1957 because it was the first time that a ranking Communist had publicly analyzed his disillusionment wit
