Tag: Book reviews
Book Review: The Politics of Dissent: A Biography of E D Morel by Donald Mitchell
Reformer, rebel, political activist; amongst his many achievements E D Morel directed the first great humanitarian campaign of the 20th Century which brought King Leopold II of Belgium’s brutal and genocidal regime in the Congo to an end. Elaine Kellman recommends this biography to those interested in history, politics and international relations, as well as more specifically […]
Book Review: Agenda Setting, Policies, and Political Systems: A Comparative Approach, edited by Christoffer Green-Pedersen and Stefaan Walgrave
Before making significant policy decisions, political actors and parties must first craft an agenda designed to place certain issues at the center of political attention. This agenda-setting approach comes under the spotlight in this new collection, with case studies from across Europe and the rest of the world. Sophie Lecheler finds that readers are offered a number of […]
Book Review: Government and Politics in Britain, 4th Edition, by John Kingdom with Paul Fairclough
The fourth edition of this popular textbook aims to offer a comprehensive introduction to government and politics in Britain today. Set against the turbulent background of a world in economic, ideological and religious flux, the book analyses key developments in twenty–first–century British politics – from the collapse of the longest–serving Labour government to the challenges […]
Book Review: Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence by James Foley and Pete Ramand
Scottish voters will decide on 18 September 2014 whether to remain in the United Kingdom or to become an independent country. James Foley and Pete Ramand argue in Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence that Scotland must go its own way, but that this should only be the first step in a more radical transformation of Scotland. Democratic Audit’s Richard Berry applauds […]
Book Review: Civic Participation in America by Quentin Kidd
Participation in democratic processes has fallen significantly in recent years, a decline associated by Quentin Kidd with changes in citizenship, the political economy and the public sphere. Nick Hayward finds a book focused on the United States that has great relevance for Britain and the rest of Europe, although questions the author’s reluctance to address the importance of social […]
Book Review: At Power’s Elbow: Aides to the Prime Minister from Robert Walpole to David Cameron
Special Advisers and prime-ministerial aides have come to prominence increasingly over the last decade, with operatives like Alastair Campbell and Andy Coulson frequently making front-page news. But little is generally known about the role itself, what it entails, and how it has developed down the years. Catherine Haddon, in reviewing this new offering from Andrew Blick and George Jones, finds […]
Book Review: The Confidence Trap: A History of Democracy from World War I to the Present by David Runciman
In David Runciman’s new book on the nature of democratic crisis, the author looks at a history of such events from the early 20th Century to today. In doing so, he makes the argument that democracy is good at ‘muddling through’ crises, but less good at the long-term planning which averts them. Sean Kippin argues that it is a useful […]
Book Review: Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal: Political Change in Britain, Australia and New Zealand
Ian Marsh and Raymond Miller link the decreasing quality of democracy to the failings of political parties in Democratic Decline and Democratic Renewal. This detailed study of the politics of the UK, Australia and New Zealand is an ambitious attempt both to document decline and to reverse the trend, finds Jack Simson Caird, who is impressed by the […]
Book Review: Policy Agendas in British Politics
How do Governments arrive at policy decisions in the United Kingdom? There has been a great deal of commentary on the apparent disconnect between Westminster and voters, with priorities not necessarily shared between the two. This book by Peter John, Anthony Bertelli, Will Jennings and Shaun Bevan, will help illuminate the reader on how these policy agendas […]
Book Review: The Democratic Foundations of Policy Diffusion: How Health, Family and Employment Laws Spread Across Countries
This book claims that laws spread across countries in very public and politicized ways. Katerina Linos argues that politicians choose to follow certain international models to win domestic elections, and to persuade sceptical voters that their ideas are not radical, ill-thought-out experiments, but mainstream, tried-and-true solutions. Whilst it is not new to discover that countries borrow and emulate policies, the […]
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