In defence of politics / Bernard Crick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crick, Bernard, 1929-2008.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Political science.

Physical Description:

272 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

Fourth edition.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Summary:

In this illuminating celebration of the political world, Bernard Crick asserts that politics, with its compromises and power struggles, remains the only tested alternative to government by coercion, making both freedom and order possible in heterogeneous societies. For Crick, politics is messy and complex, and his book defends it against those who would identify it with (and reduce it to) ideology, democracy, nationalism, or technology. This Fourth edition has been updated to include an assessment of the revolutions in 1989 in Eastern Europe. It also examines current situations in Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine, and South Africa.

Contents:

Preface to the Fourth American Edition

Acknowledgments

1. The Nature of Political Rule

2. A Defence of Politics Against Ideology

3. A Defence of Politics Against Democracy

4. A Defence of Politics Against Nationalism

5. A Defence of Politics Against Technology

6. A Defence of Politics Against False Friends

The non-political conservative

The a-political liberal

The anti-political socialist

7. In Praise of Politics

Three Footnotes:

A Footnote to Rally the Academic Professors of Politics

A Footnote to Rally Fellow Socialists

A Final Footnote to Rally Those Who Grudge the Price.

Notes:

"University of Chicago Press edition"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0226120678

9780226120676

OCLC:

27897057

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description