The Evolution of Political Knowledge

The Evolution of Political Knowledge

Author: American Political Science Association. Annual Meeting

Publisher: Ohio State University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0814209343

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Over the course of the last century, political scientists have been moved by two principal purposes. First, they have sought to understand and explain political phenomena in a way that is both theoretically and empirically grounded. Second, they have analyzed matters of enduring public interest, whether in terms of public policy and political action, fidelity between principle and practice in the organization and conduct of government, or the conditions of freedom, whether of citizens or of states. Many of the central advances made in the field have been prompted by a desire to improve both the quality and our understanding of political life. Nowhere is this tendency more apparent than in research on comparative politics and international relations, fields in which concerns for the public interest have stimulated various important insights. This volume systematically analyzes the major developments within the fields of comparative politics and international relations over the past three decades. Each chapter is composed of a core paper that addresses the major puzzles, conversations, and debates that have attended major areas of concern and inquiry within the discipline. These papers examine and evaluate the intellectual evolution and natural history of major areas of political inquiry and chart particularly promising trajectories, puzzles, and concerns for future work. Each core paper is accompanied by a set of shorter commentaries that engage the issues it takes up, thus contributing to an ongoing and lively dialogue among key figures in the field.


The Origins of Political Order

The Origins of Political Order

Author: Francis Fukuyama

Publisher: Profile Books

Published: 2011-05-12

Total Pages: 529

ISBN-13: 1847652816

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Nations are not trapped by their pasts, but events that happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago continue to exert huge influence on present-day politics. If we are to understand the politics that we now take for granted, we need to understand its origins. Francis Fukuyama examines the paths that different societies have taken to reach their current forms of political order. This book starts with the very beginning of mankind and comes right up to the eve of the French and American revolutions, spanning such diverse disciplines as economics, anthropology and geography. The Origins of Political Order is a magisterial study on the emergence of mankind as a political animal, by one of the most eminent political thinkers writing today.


The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions

The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions

Author: R. A. W. Rhodes

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2008-06-12

Total Pages: 836

ISBN-13: 019103696X

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The study of political institutions is among the founding pillars of political science. With the rise of the 'new institutionalism', the study of institutions has returned to its place in the sun. This volume provides a comprehensive survey of where we are in the study of political institutions, covering both the traditional concerns of political science with constitutions, federalism and bureaucracy and more recent interest in theory and the constructed nature of institutions. The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions draws together a galaxy of distinguished contributors drawn from leading universities across the world. Authoritative reviews of the literature and assessments of future research directions will help to set the research agenda for the next decade.


The Evolution of Modern States

The Evolution of Modern States

Author: Sven Steinmo

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-07-19

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1139490370

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The Evolution of Modern States, first published in 2010, is a significant contribution to the literatures on political economy, globalization, historical institutionalism, and social science methodology. The book begins with a simple question: why do rich capitalist democracies respond so differently to the common pressures they face in the early twenty-first century? Drawing on insights from evolutionary theory, Sven Steinmo challenges the common equilibrium view of politics and economics and argues that modern political economies are best understood as complex adaptive systems. The book examines the political, social, and economic history of three different nations - Sweden, Japan, and the United States - and explains how and why these countries have evolved along such different trajectories over the past century. Bringing together social and economic history, institutionalism, and evolutionary theory, Steinmo thus provides a comprehensive explanation for differing responses to globalization as well as a new way of analyzing institutional and social change.


The Evolution of Government

The Evolution of Government

Author: Larry Gillespie

Publisher:

Published: 2018-08-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781422240182

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How did large, complex states develop from small clans and nomadic tribes? How have rulers throughout history justified their right to govern? What ideas and events shaped the development of modern forms of government? The Evolution of Government answers these and other important questions, providing an overview of the many different types of governments that human societies have created, as well as advantages and disadvantages to each of these political systems. Each title in this series includes color photos throughout, and back matter including: an index and further reading lists for books and internet resources. Key Icons appear throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons in this series are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are set in boldfaced type in that chapter, so that readers are able to reference back to the definitions--building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension. Sidebars are highlighted graphics with content rich material within that allows readers to build knowledge and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos are offered in chapters through the use of a QR code, that, when scanned, takes the student to an online video showing a moment in sports' history, a speech, or an instructional video. This gives the readers additional content to supplement the text. Text-Dependent Questions are placed at the end of each chapter. They challenge the reader's comprehension of the chapter they have just read, while sending the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Research Projects are provided at the end of each chapter as well and provide readers with suggestions for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. And a Series Glossary of Key Terms is included in the back matter containing terminology used throughout the series. Words found here broaden the reader's knowledge and understanding of terms used in this field.


How Society Makes Itself

How Society Makes Itself

Author: Howard J. Sherman

Publisher: M.E. Sharpe

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9780765616517

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This radical account of the evolution of political, social, and economic institutions weaves together strands of anthropology, sociology, political science, history, and economics. In a highly readable text, Howard Sherman explains the interconnections of ideas and economic forces, and traces the evolution of social and economic institutions from primitive times to the present. Sherman focuses on the myth of "inevitable progress" in technology, and argues that it progresses only when social and economic institutions and dominant ideas encourage it to improve. He shows that throughout history technology, as a part of the economic forces, ebbs and flows to create or undermine existing economic institutions.


Political Order and Political Decay

Political Order and Political Decay

Author: Francis Fukuyama

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2014-09-30

Total Pages: 673

ISBN-13: 1429944323

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The second volume of the bestselling landmark work on the history of the modern state Writing in The Wall Street Journal, David Gress called Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order "magisterial in its learning and admirably immodest in its ambition." In The New York Times Book Review, Michael Lind described the book as "a major achievement by one of the leading public intellectuals of our time." And in The Washington Post, Gerard DeGrott exclaimed "this is a book that will be remembered. Bring on volume two." Volume two is finally here, completing the most important work of political thought in at least a generation. Taking up the essential question of how societies develop strong, impersonal, and accountable political institutions, Fukuyama follows the story from the French Revolution to the so-called Arab Spring and the deep dysfunctions of contemporary American politics. He examines the effects of corruption on governance, and why some societies have been successful at rooting it out. He explores the different legacies of colonialism in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and offers a clear-eyed account of why some regions have thrived and developed more quickly than others. And he boldly reckons with the future of democracy in the face of a rising global middle class and entrenched political paralysis in the West. A sweeping, masterful account of the struggle to create a well-functioning modern state, Political Order and Political Decay is destined to be a classic.


The Evolution of Japan's Party System

The Evolution of Japan's Party System

Author: Leonard J. Schoppa

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2011-11-05

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1442695439

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In August 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a crushing victory over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), thus bringing to an end over fifty years of one-party dominance. Around the world, the victory of the DPJ was seen as a radical break with Japan's past. However, this dramatic political shift was not as sudden as it appeared, but rather the culmination of a series of changes first set in motion in the early 1990s. The Evolution of Japan's Party System analyses the transition by examining both party politics and public policy. Arguing that these political changes were evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the essays in this volume discuss how older parties such as the LDP and the Japan Socialist Party failed to adapt to the new policy environment of the 1990s. Taken as a whole, The Evolution of Japan's Party System provides a unique look at party politics in Japan, bringing them into a comparative conversation that usually focuses on Europe and North America.


A History of the U.S. Political System [3 volumes]

A History of the U.S. Political System [3 volumes]

Author: Richard A. Harris

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2009-12-23

Total Pages: 1467

ISBN-13: 185109718X

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This reference resource combines unique historical analysis, scholarly essays, and primary source documents to explore the evolution of ideas and institutions that have shaped American government and Americans' political behavior. One of the most active and revealing approaches to research into the American political system is one that focuses on political development, an approach that combines the tools of the political scientist and the historian. A History of the U.S. Political System: Ideas, Interests, and Institutions is the first comprehensive resource that uses this approach to explore the evolution of the American political system from the adoption of the Constitution to the present. A History of the U.S. Political System is a three-volume collection of original essays and primary documents that examines the ideas, institutions, and policies that have shaped American government and politics throughout its history. The first volume is issues-oriented, covering governmental and nongovernmental institutions as well as key policy areas. The second volume examines America's political development historically, surveying its dynamic government era by era. Volume three is a collection of documentary materials that supplement and enhance the reader's experience with the other volumes.