Abstract
Politics is a subject that arouses conflicting emotions. Some are intensely interested in political issues and follow politics keenly. For others politics involves distant institutions, remote politicians and obscure complex issues with little direct relevance for immediate everyday life. Others again show a strong distaste towards political parties and politicians who are ‘all the same’ or ‘on the make’, and ‘only interested in what they can get out of it’. Unsurprisingly such critics argue it would be much better if education, or health, or agriculture could be somehow ‘taken out of politics’.
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Further reading
There are few good accessible general introductions to the study of politics that can be recommended. Crick (1993) is thought-provoking, if a little idiosyncratic. The French political scientist, Maurice Duverger’s The Study of Politics (1972) is still worth reading.
Anthony Arblaster provides a readable short introduction to Democracy (1987). C. B. Macpherson’s almost as brief The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy (1977) might also be consulted. Fuller and more ambitious is David Held’s Models of Democracy (1987).
The rest of this book explores some of the themes discussed briefly in this chapter, and reading on each topic is recommended at the end of each chapter. However, anyone wishing to explore further some of the issues associated with the British state and the future of British politics might try looking at chapter 10, ‘The post-imperial isles’ of The Isles: A History, by Norman Davies (2000). This provides a thought-provoking non-Anglocentric perspective on the history and politics of the British Isles.
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© 2003 Bill Coxall, Lynton Robins and Robert Leach
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Coxall, B., Robins, L., Leach, R. (2003). Politics, Democracy and Power. In: Contemporary British Politics. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14821-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-14821-9_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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