30-Second Politics: The 50 most thought-provoking ideas in politics, each explained in half a minute
£3.00
You may be OK with standard stuff like Conservatism and Democracy, but do you really know what Patrimonialism is? And what about Oligarchy? Anarcho-syndicalism?
Politics is, we are willing to bet, the most passionately argued-over subject matter, and yet how many of us flounder around in confrontational debates because we have no grip on political theory, just a vague notion that they are all out to get us?
30-Second Politics will help dispel this fog mistrust and paranoia. It challenges political theorists of all colors to come up with no-frill, no-spin, tell-it-like-it-is explanations of the 50 most important political -isms, -archies, and -ocracies that have pertained since the time of Periclean Athens. At no public expense, the book explains each political theory in nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and some propaganda-style imagery, for we all know that a picture opportunity is worth a thousand words of dull interview.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Icon Books (5 July 2012) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 160 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1848314035 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1848314030 |
| Dimensions | 18.6 x 1.6 x 23.8 cm |
by Mark Knight
Most informative and a good reference document. I would recommend it to the general reader who is interested in politics and philosophies.
by ACB(swansea)
Whether we like it or not (and I declare I fall into the latter), politics matters. It is not just about politicians spouting their opinions or manifestos, arguing disguised as debate, generally giving us the impression of mistrust in their motives, politics studies the interactions of people and affects our lives including issues that fall under the general heading of politics: war and peace, criminal justice, taxation, safety regulations, civil rights and liberties, trade, marriage, rules governing scientific enquiry to name but a few.
This compact and concise book sets out in easy to understand words the fundamentals of politics. It is also unbiased. How it manages to cover so much ground is typical of other ’30-Second’ books in the series. Set into convenient sections with useful short sound bites, biographies and texts, related theories, short profiles of major figures (including Aristotle, Mussolini, Karl Marx, John Locke), it provides the reader with an easy to follow glossary and understanding of types of government and rule.
The headings are:
1) Who governs? including monarchy, democracy, oligarchy, and authoritarianism.
2) Rules by the Few, including Executive Power, Judicial Power, Federalism.
3) Communism including Marxism, Leninism, Maoism.
4) Political Economy including capitalism, socialism, globalisation, mercantilism.
5) International relations including Realism, Imperialism, Nationalism, Environmentalism, Neoconservatism.
Each chapter is expanded by useful understandable data with wry illustrations and appropriate quotes that often tell more than just plain words.
Written by Professors of Politics, with quoted sources and a useful index. This is not a book for anyone studying politics. It is aimed at people who want to know more of the subject and unravel the terminology and philosophy of everyday governmental and constitutional issues and in that I feel it succeeds admirably. I found it informative, even entertaining, and can be used as a pick up and ‘dip into’ book.
by R. JONES
As a student learning English, I found this book rather comprehensive. The basic terminology of politics is presented in this book.
by Oscar03
It’s great for a brush up, DK politics book goes into further detail but this series is great.
by Oscar03
Interesting book but bad quality, my copy had scuff marks down the front and back pages and down the spine
by Carmen
Gives a clear and brief introduction to concepts as if you have no grasp of politics and then drives interest in your own research to learn further.
Nothing here is in-depth (as you’d expect) but that is why its useful as an introduction to politicz
by E
This certainly gives you a good 30-second burst of knowledge about all branches of communist, from dictators and despots, to communists and conservatives. I didn’t learn anything new, but it cemented some things in my head. I read it one go, as one would read a novel, but it’s much better suited as a reference book to dip in and out of as you please.
Of course, the inevitable happens with such short snippets of knowledge – it feels slightly unsatisfactory. However, it does suggest some further reading for each idea if you are particularly captivated by any in particular.
by Yangzhao
A very useful quick reference source but probably not much better than google or wiki if you know the questions to ask.