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An Introduction to Politics, State and Society
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An Introduction to Politics, State and Society

First Edition


May 2003 | 240 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
This major new textbook will equip students with a complete understanding of contemporary politics, state and society in the United Kingdom today.

Key underlying themes include:

- the differences between traditional and alternative `sites of power' and what we mean by `political'

- the relationships between politics, society and how individuals become and remain engaged with politics

- the rapid transformations in contemporary social structures and their impact on social and political life

- the role of human agency and its significance to social and political action and movements

- contemporary cultural and social dislocations and their impact on some of the major contested areas of political life today.

Key features include:

- key concepts and issues

- key theorists and writers

- discussion questions

Comprehensive and accessible, An Introduction to Politics, State & Society is an essential text for all undergraduate students of politics, the contemporary state, power and political sociology.

James W McAuley is Professor of Political Sociology and Irish Studies in the School of Human and Health Sciences at the University of Huddersfield

 
Introduction
Politics, State and Society

 
 
PART ONE: POLITICS, POWER, POLITICAL LEGITIMACY AND THE STATE
 
Founding Arguments
Theorizing Politics, Power and the State

 
 
Legitimacy and Power in the United Kingdom
 
PART TWO: SOCIETY AND THE STATE
 
(Re)defining Politics
Neoliberalism and the State

 
 
The Politics of the Welfare and the Welfare State
 
Northern Ireland, Political Violence and the Politics of Terrorism
 
PART THREE: THE FUTURE OF POLITICS AND THE STATE
 
Social Class, Postmodernism and the End of Politics?
 
Politics in the New Millennium
Globalization and the End of Social Democracy?

 

A good introduction to the way politics works. Chapters are easy to follow, and text is easily understandable to people who are new to the subject.

Mrs Rachael Wilson
Education , Tyne Metropolitan College
September 1, 2016

using this book for social policy with 16-19 year olds and will recommend this to students to buy and read up on.

Mrs Mel Aubrey
Health , Newcastle-under-Lyme College
February 10, 2016

Deatiled and informative and covers an effective range of ideas and debate.

Mr David Ness
Social Science, Moray College UHI
October 23, 2013

good introduction

Mr Ivor Jones
Education , Doncaster University Centre
April 30, 2013

I found this a very interesting book and it does offer the reader an interesting introduction into politics, state and society. However I will not be adopting this because the book is focused primarily on the UK and this does not currently fit in with the modules I will be traching.

Mr John Grima
Schl of Intern. Studies & Social Scie., Coventry University
March 21, 2013

Mr Mc Auley has written a very insightful text which is well structure and essential I feel for any undergraduate student beginning their studies in way politics interacts within the constructs of society. The simplistic manner in which the author brings us on the journey through key theorists and indeed the ever changing political landscape of the 21st century should be commended. Again a must have for any student of political theory

Mr Mark Timoney
Humanities , Sligo Institute of Technology
March 6, 2012

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Paperback
ISBN: 9780803979321
£51.00

Hardcover
ISBN: 9780803979314
£144.00

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