Political science and theory

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) has long been recognized as a major political and social thinker as well as historian, but his writings also contain a wealth of little-known insights into economic life and its connection to the rest of society.

Democracy is not naturally plausible.

The analysis of how institutions are formed, how they operate and change, and how they influence behavior in society has become a major subject of inquiry in politics, sociology, and economics.

"e;Luck egalitarianism"e;--the idea that justice requires correcting disadvantages resulting from brute luck--has gained ground in recent years and is now the main rival to John Rawls's theory of distributive justice.

Timely and pathbreaking, Securing the Peace is the first book to explore the complete spectrum of civil war terminations, including negotiated settlements, military victories by governments and rebels, and stalemates and ceasefires.

Dry Bones Rattling offers the first in-depth treatment of how to rebuild the social capital of America's communities while promoting racially inclusive, democratic participation.

A political history of the most famous desegregation crisis in AmericaThe desegregation crisis in Little Rock is a landmark of American history: on September 4, 1957, after the Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in public schools, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called up the National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High School, preventing black students from going in.

Marriage is at the center of one of today's fiercest political debates.

When does democracy work well, and why?

Political theorists have long been frustrated by Nietzsche's work.

Has contemporary liberalism's devotion to individual liberty come at the expense of our society's obligations to children?

Is there a justification for European integration?

Conflicts involving religion have returned to the forefront of international relations.

How can we ensure high-quality public services such as health care and education?

What adventure novelist could have invented the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi?

Free Trade Reimagined begins with a sustained criticism of the heart of the emerging world economy, the theory and practice of free trade.

Since emerging in the late nineteenth century, political science has undergone a radical shift--from constructing grand narratives of national political development to producing empirical studies of individual political phenomena.

Public opinion in recent years has soured on multiculturalism, due in large part to fears of radical Islam.

Liberty and the News is Walter Lippman's classic account of how the press threatens democracy whenever it has an agenda other than the free flow of ideas.

What should we expect from democracy, and how likely is it that democracies will live up to those expectations?

How can religious liberty be guaranteed in societies where religion pervades everyday life?

Edgework brings together seven of Wendy Brown's most provocative recent essays in political and cultural theory.

Focusing on the new theories of human motivation that emerged during the transition from feudalism to the modern period, this is the first book of new essays on the relationship between politics and the passions from Machiavelli to Bentham.

This book is an exploration of Plato's Republic that bypasses arcane scholarly debates.

Jewish legal and political thought developed in conditions of exile, where Jews had neither a state of their own nor citizenship in any other.

This is a practical guide to the historical study of international politics.

Is liberal democracy a universal ideal?

Covenantal Rights is a groundbreaking work of political theory: a comprehensive, philosophically sophisticated attempt to bring insights from the Jewish political tradition into current political and legal debates about rights and to bring rights discourse more fully into Jewish thought.

This book represents the first systematic research by a social scientist on the radical right-wing movements in Italy since 1945.

Classical images of state-socialism developed in contemporary social sciences were founded on simple presuppositions.

This book is a profoundly moving and analytically incisive attempt to shift the terms of discussion in American politics.

Is statecraft soulcraft?

Liberalism, the founding philosophy of many constitutional democracies, has been criticized in recent years from both the left and the right for placing too much faith in individual rights and distributive justice.

In developing a new theory of political and moral community, J.

Historians of political thought have argued that the real Machiavelli is the republican thinker and theorist of civic virtu.

A classic.

Robert Axelrod is widely known for his groundbreaking work in game theory and complexity theory.

Assuming that "e;marginal"e; citizens cannot govern their own lives, proponents of the therapeutic state urge casework intervention to reshape the attitudes and behaviors of those who live outside the social mainstream.

The acceptance of human rights and minority rights, the increasing role of international financial institutions, and globalization have led many observers to question the continued viability of the sovereign state.

Does fair political representation for historically disadvantaged groups require their presence in legislative bodies?

Why have radical political theorists, whose thinking inspired mass movements for democracy, been so suspicious of political plurality?

What if you didn't have to read the 50 most important books on Politics to know the most important ideas?

A philosophical investigation into the connections between trust and violenceThe limiting of violence through state powers is one of the central projects of the modern age.

Covenants without Swords examines an enduring tension within liberal theory: that between many liberals' professed commitment to universal equality on the one hand, and their historic support for the politics of hierarchy and empire on the other.

How can religious liberty be guaranteed in societies where religion pervades everyday life?

A bracingly provocative challenge to one of our most cherished ideas and institutionsMost people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government.

Covenantal Rights is a groundbreaking work of political theory: a comprehensive, philosophically sophisticated attempt to bring insights from the Jewish political tradition into current political and legal debates about rights and to bring rights discourse more fully into Jewish thought.

Conflicts involving religion have returned to the forefront of international relations.

What a Confucian constitutional government might look like in China's political futureAs China continues to transform itself, many assume that the nation will eventually move beyond communism and adopt a Western-style democracy.