Politics: An Introduction

The eagerly awaited third edition of this highly respected and user-friendly text for introductory courses has been thoroughly updated to reflect the world today. Politics: An Introduction provides stimulating coverage of topics essential to the understanding of contemporary politics. It offers students necessary guidance on ways of studying and understanding politics, and illustration of the many different sites at which politics is construed and conducted. Ideal for students taking combined degrees at introductory level in politics and the social sciences, it emphasises the individual and social dimension of politics and covers theories and concepts in an accessible way. Fundamentally, it helps students see the political, and its relevance, in their lives.

Key features include:

• a revised introduction considering ‘what is politics’ and how we understand and approach its study
• clear and well-organised coverage of political theory, political behaviour, institutions and the policy process
• carefully crafted in-text chapter features such as ‘consider this’ thought-provoking scenarios, ‘think points’, keyword definitions, chapter summaries, and exercises designed to enliven and extend the learning experience
• stimulating, up-to-date examples and case studies from across the globe, such as ‘fake news’, online activism, the rise of populism, culture wars, ‘fertility tourism’ in India, hydropower in Cambodia, free speech in France, and personality politics in Turkmenistan
• detailed consideration of democratisation, authoritarian regimes, direct democracy, gender critical perspectives, minority rights, global capitalism, social movements, radical political change, post-secularism, and challenges and changes brought by social media.

Politics: An Introduction is a broad-ranging, accessible, and essential guide for all students studying, or beginning to study, politics.

Barrie Axford is a Professor of Politics at Oxford Brookes University, UK.

Victoria Browne is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Oxford Brookes University, UK.

Richard Huggins is a Principal Lecturer in Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University, UK.

Rico Isaacs is a Reader in Politics at Oxford Brookes University, UK.