Items related to Governing: An Introduction to Political Science (8th...

Governing: An Introduction to Political Science (8th Edition) - Hardcover

 
9780130180391: Governing: An Introduction to Political Science (8th Edition)
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
In a comprehensive introduction to political processes and concepts, Ranney introduces the methods and consequences of political and government systems as they apply to the readers' own life experiences. A popular classic in the field, the Eighth Edition, provides accurate, current information on all major government and political developments ranging from local concerns to the global economy. Defines and illustrates politics, policies and government procedures with a clear connection to individual citizen's lives. Explores political psychology, socialization and culture, and examines modern political ideologies. Examines the international political economy and the different efforts for global peace. For individuals with an interest in the political policies, concepts and methods of the United States and other countries, as well as, a reference for those who need to refresh their knowledge of political systems.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Publisher:
Ranney introduces political science by presenting the principal political concerns, methods and conclusions, then drawing clear connections to students' own life experiences. Remaining classic and comprehensive in scope, the Seventh Edition provides accurate, up-to-date information on all major governmental and political developments.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

PREFACE

This book is a lineal descendant of two earlier books. The older ancestor is The Governing of Men, which was first published in 1958 and revised in 1966, 1971, and 1975. The younger is Governing: A Brief Introduction to Political Science, which was first published in 1971 and revised in 1975 and 1982. Governing began as a shortened and rearranged version of The Governing of Men, consisting of thirteen of its twenty-four chapters. This book's content and its structure now differ considerably from those of both of its ancestors, and with good reason.

When The Governing of Men was first published, the last century of the old millennium was only three-fifths done. This eighth edition of Governing is being published in the second year of the first century of the new millennium. Forty-two years (1958-2001) is a short step in the long march of human history, and yet since 1958 political events have moved at a dizzying pace and many old truths have been replaced with new understandings, questions, and doubts.

In 1958, the most prominent feature of the world's political landscape was the struggle of the two great "superpowers" and their ideologies and allies–the United States and democratic capitalism versus the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and authoritarian communism. In 1958, their struggle was called the "Cold War" because it had not yet exploded into thermonuclear World Wax III, though no one could be confident it never would.

In 2001, the USSR no longer exists; it was dissolved and replaced by fifteen independent republics in 1991. When the USSR disappeared, so did the Cold War, and World War III is a far more remote possibility today than it seemed in 1958. Moreover, as we detail in this edition, communist ideology and institutions, which once dominated nearly half the world, now survive in only a few places, notably the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and North Vietnam. Most of the nations in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America have sought, with varying degrees of success, to replace their old systems of authoritarian rule by dictators and juntas with democratic systems based on free elections of accountable rulers. Not the least of these changes has come in South Africa, where in 1992 a multiracial convention drew up a new constitution that ended the longstanding system of apartheid with its repression of the black majority by the white minority, and a 1994 election open to all races elected Nelson Mandela, the great leader of the black population, president of the republic.

In the domestic politics of the United States, there have been nearly as many drastic political changes since 1958. In the 1960s in Vietnam the country fought, and ultimately lost, its most unpopular war in history. It also fought with much greater popular support and success against Iraq in the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991, and, with its NATO allies, fought against Yugoslavia in Kosovo in 1999. One president, John R Kennedy, was assassinated, and attempts were made on the lives of two others, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. There have been two serious efforts to impeach presidents and remove them from office: In 1974 Richard Nixon resigned rather than face an impeachment trial; and in 1998-1999 Clinton was impeached by the House, and tried and acquitted by the Senate.

In the 1994 elections, the Republican party, led by Newt Gingrich, won control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1954; they maintained their majorities in the elections of 1996 and 1998, though Gingrich resigned as Speaker of the House in 1999. Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 became the first Democratic president to be reelected since Franklin Roosevelt in 1944. In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and in 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the second. In 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first woman secretary of state. And in 1984, Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman ever to run for vice-president on a major party's national ticket.

In many ways, then, the world and the United States in 2001 are very different from what they were in 1958. Moreover, some of the ways in which political scientists interpret and explain them have changed as well. Consequently, I have made many changes in the discussion of the topics carried over from the earlier books, and I have added a number of new topics—notably a new chapter on international political economy. Those changes reflect not only the recent changes in political science but also the fact that studying how people are governed at the beginning of the new millennium takes place in an atmosphere very different from that of the period from 1958 to 2001.

Politics and government, to be sure, are among the oldest and most universal of human activities and institutions. Many of the greatest minds in history have pondered their nature and possibilities and have enriched us with their reflections. But today the study of governing has acquired a new and terrible urgency. By the calendar, it was not so long ago that most people, at least in the "developed" nations of the West and particularly in the United States, were confident that their political systems were the best yet devised. Perhaps they were not perfect, we felt, but they were perfectible, and, if used widely, they were fully capable of achieving humanity's highest goals of personal freedom, social justice, racial and sexual equality, and international peace. Moreover, we assumed that these political systems constituted proper models for new and backward nations, and when we spoke of "developing nations," we meant nations in the process of becoming more like ours.

Then, for a while, we were not so sure. Political conflict in the United States and in every other Western nation seemed to grow uglier every year. Some blacks said that our most cherished institutions—our courts, our leaders, indeed our whole political system—were nothing more than devices to perpetuate white racism. Some young people said that Middle America and its political institutions added up to an Establishment intent on forcing middle-aged, middle-class materialism and hypocrisy on a new generation seeking a better, more meaningful way of fife. Some persons of all ages and races insisted that the true result of our great material wealth is not a life of richness and satisfaction, but a world of foul air, stinking streams, dead lakes, urban blight, and noise. As if all this were not enough, over us all, black and white, men and women, young and middle-aged alike, hovered the shadow of The Bomb and thermonuclear World War III.

As we enter the new millennium, the big war still has not happened, although plenty of smaller wars are being fought in the Middle East, Indochina, Central America, the Balkans, and elsewhere. But one thing has not changed: Physical scientists and ecologists tell us that humanity now possesses the technical means either to destroy all life on earth or to build a new life of undreamed richness. How we can get people to make the right choices, they tell us, is a political problem. And so it is. For amid all the doubts and uncertainties about the fixture, one thing is clear: The most crucial choices humanity makes will emerge from political conflict and be implemented by government action.

Most U.S. colleges and universities, as well as an ever-growing number of schools in other nations, recognize the crucial role of politics for the human future by giving the study of politics and government a prominent place in their curricula. In most U.S. colleges and universities, the study of these matters is primarily, although not exclusively, the province of departments variously called "political science," or "government," or "politics:" Each such department perennially faces the pedagogical problem of introducing students to this vast, complex, and challenging subject. Two approaches are most commonly used. The first is the detailed study of U.S. government. The second, which may be called the "principles-of-political-science" approach, seeks to identify the properties universal to the governing processes in all human societies and to understand the nature and consequences of the major variations in those processes among different nations.

For a number of years I taught an introductory undergraduate course by using the second approach. My experiences alerted me to certain problems arising from its use, and this book, like its predecessors, represents my changing judgments about how best to deal with them.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, the main problem appeared to be one of giving some students some sense of the relevance of politics and government to their own personal lives, and for some students even now it remains a problem. Often students begin with the belief that politics is a dirty game played by other people and that government is something remote from the really important concerns of life. For them I have tried to take as my points of departure situations that all students have experienced, and I have tried to show, step by step, how these situations affect and are affected by what happens in such apparently remote places as Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Belgrade, and even in the students' own state capitols and city halls. I have drawn most of my illustrations from current and recent political conflicts in an effort to emphasize the concrete activities and interrelations of real human beings underlying such necessary but highly abstract terms as political culture, political socialization, separation of powers, political economy, and the like.

In the early 2000s, many beginning students of political science will have no doubt that the subject matter of the discipline is highly relevant to their lives. Some, indeed, will feel that what is irrelevant is the way political science treats its materials. "Drop all this scientific pseudo-objectivity," some will say, "and talk abou...

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherPearson College Div
  • Publication date2000
  • ISBN 10 0130180394
  • ISBN 13 9780130180391
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages510
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780133262162: Governing: An Introduction to Political Science

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780133262162
Publisher: Pearson College Div, 1995
Hardcover

9780133610499: Governing: Introduction to Political Science

Prenti..., 1992
Hardcover

9780030451065: Governing: An Introduction to Political Science

Holt R..., 1982
Hardcover

9780133606294: Governing: An introduction to political science

Prenti..., 1987
Hardcover

9780133947281: Governing: An Introduction to Political Science

Prenti..., 1995
Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Ranney, Austin
Published by Pearson College Div (2000)
ISBN 10: 0130180394 ISBN 13: 9780130180391
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grumpys Fine Books
(Tijeras, NM, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Prompt service guaranteed. Seller Inventory # Clean0130180394

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 60.46
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Ranney, Austin
Published by Pearson College Div (2000)
ISBN 10: 0130180394 ISBN 13: 9780130180391
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0130180394

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 61.19
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Ranney, Austin
Published by Pearson College Div (2000)
ISBN 10: 0130180394 ISBN 13: 9780130180391
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0130180394

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 64.25
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Ranney, Austin
Published by Pearson College Div (2000)
ISBN 10: 0130180394 ISBN 13: 9780130180391
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0130180394

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 66.38
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Ranney, Austin
Published by Pearson College Div (2000)
ISBN 10: 0130180394 ISBN 13: 9780130180391
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0130180394

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 67.02
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Ranney, Austin
Published by Pearson College Div (2000)
ISBN 10: 0130180394 ISBN 13: 9780130180391
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 2.06. Seller Inventory # Q-0130180394

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 97.64
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.65
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds