"The New British Politics" is one of the most comprehensive and successful introductions to British politics ever published. Now available in a fully revised and updated fourth edition, this clear, lively and authoritative text has an emphasis on law and order and the historical context of British politics. Written by internationally-known specialists, the book combines incisive and original analysis with direct presentation.

In the face of increasing political disenchantment, many Western governments have experimented, with innovations which aim to enhance the working and quality of democracy as well as increasing citizens' political awareness and understanding of political matters.

This text is the most comprehensive account of these various democratic innovations. Written by an outstanding team of international experts it examines the theories behind these democratic innovations, how they have worked in practice and evaluates their success or failure. It explains experiments with new forms of democratic engagement such as:

• Direct Democracy
• Deliberative Democracy
• Co-Governance
• E-Democracy

Drawing on a wide variety of theoretical perspectives and with a broad range of case studies, this is essential reading for all students of democratic theory and all those with an interest in how we might revitalise democracy and increase citizen involvement in the political process.

In the face of increasing political disenchantment, many Western governments have experimented, with innovations which aim to enhance the working and quality of democracy as well as increasing citizens political awareness and understanding of political matters.

This text is the most comprehensive account of these various democratic innovations. Written by an outstanding team of international experts it examines the theories behind these democratic innovations, how they have worked in practice and evaluates their success or failure. It explains experiments with new forms of democratic engagement such as:

• Direct Democracy
• Deliberative Democracy
• Co-Governance
• E-Democracy

Drawing on a wide variety of theoretical perspectives and with a broad range of case studies, this is essential reading for all students of democratic theory and all those with an interest in how we might revitalise democracy and increase citizen involvement in the political process.

The authors of this work examine the dominant view that voluntary activity promotes social capital and hence good government, but also explore alternative models for the creation of social capital. Theoretical discussion is combined with detailed case studies to provide a new explanation of :
* the origins and nature of social capital
* its effects on political participation and policy-making
* the role of the voluntary sector
Contributors go on to examine the possibility that current changes in the voluntary sector may in fact undermine social capital and consider the consequences.
This book is an important step forward in this rapidly growing field of research and adds a unique European perspective to a debate which has been largely US-focussed.

The New British Politics is one of the most comprehensive and successful introductions to British politics ever published. Now available in a fully revised and updated fourth edition, this clear, lively and authoritative text has an emphasis on law and order and the historical context of British politics. Written by internationally-known specialists, the book combines incisive and original analysis with direct presentation.

A pioneering textbook which explains the dynamics of politics across Europe in the post-Cold war era. Comparing democratisation, transition to a market economy and increasing economic and political integration in the countries of central and eastern Europe with experiences in Scandinavia, and southern and western Europe, the book provides a wealth of information and analysis on the state of Europe at the end of a momentous century of European and World history.

What role do the media play in influencing political life and shaping public opinion and behavior? Do they support-or undermine-our democratic beliefs and institutions? Claims about the media's powerful influence are frequently made, but where is the evidence? The author scrutinizes these complex questions. Recognizing that differing forms of political communication have differing effects on differing people around the world, the author goes further to ask why this occurs, and how. The answers that the author presents in Surprising News offer a deeply researched, enlightening challenge to conventional wisdom in this age of fake news, post-truth, and claims about how the new digital media have transformed politics.

The Wit & Humor of Political Science is the serendipitous product of two seniorpolitical science scholars working across the world from one another and who independently collected funny and satirical articles on political science over the years with the intent of someday publishing them for a wider audience.From the editors: This volume collects what in our opinions are the wittiest and funniest pieces about political science and political scientists. We are confident that even a small investment of the reader's time will be sufficient to disprove Baker's slur on our discipline. Like all good humor, much of the work we have chosen for inclusion has a serious point. It helps scholars keep an open and skeptical mind, it picks out our weak points in theory and methods, points out how research may be going wrong, and it pricks the balloon of bombast, pretentiousness, and jargon. And, not only that, it's fun... Its contents make essential reading for all political scientists, even the most senior, but it may be enjoyed by younger scholars, especially those without tenure (or worse yet, without a job), by other social scientists, and even-gasp-by readers unaffiliated with any academic discipline.

Independence Day, 1871. The Civil War is finished, but in "Bleeding Kansas," old wounds heal slowly. The shooting started in Kansas long before Ft. Sumter, and if some men have their way, it will continue, even six years after Appomattox Court House. Crill Falkner, a volunteer Union infantryman from New York, has come west to forget the war, and to try to leave behind the anguish he found at home after the fighting was done. With the help of Bonnie Little, an English widow whose travels, like his, have halted in Kansas, he has made the small town of Marietta his home. And he has reluctantly accepted the lawman's badge the town fathers pressed upon him. Alexander Chastain, a former Confederate guerilla and veteran of the border wars, is known to the residents of Marietta as Bernard Smith. He has come to town to settle a score. Chastain continued the fight against the hated free-soilers after the peace was signed. Due largely to the efforts of Crill Falkner, Chastain came to grief at Marietta in 1866, losing several men in the process, and more to the point, a large measure of his pride. He has kept his head down for a while, but now it's time to have another go at the Redlegs and their Yankee lawman. Falkner may have come out on top the first time they butted heads, but things are about to change.

Independence Day, 1871. The Civil War is finished, but in "Bleeding Kansas," old wounds heal slowly. The shooting started in Kansas long before Ft. Sumter, and if some men have their way, it will continue, even six years after Appomattox Court House. Crill Falkner, a volunteer Union infantryman from New York, has come west to forget the war, and to try to leave behind the anguish he found at home after the fighting was done. With the help of Bonnie Little, an English widow whose travels, like his, have halted in Kansas, he has made the small town of Marietta his home. And he has reluctantly accepted the lawman's badge the town fathers pressed upon him. Alexander Chastain, a former Confederate guerilla and veteran of the border wars, is known to the residents of Marietta as Bernard Smith. He has come to town to settle a score. Chastain continued the fight against the hated free-soilers after the peace was signed. Due largely to the efforts of Crill Falkner, Chastain came to grief at Marietta in 1866, losing several men in the process, and more to the point, a large measure of his pride. He has kept his head down for a while, but now it's time to have another go at the Redlegs and their Yankee lawman. Falkner may have come out on top the first time they butted heads, but things are about to change.

The Wit & Humour of Political Science is the serendipitous product of two senior scholars working across the world from one another and who independently collected funny and satirical articles on political science over the years with the intent of someday publishing them for a wider audience. The lead editors- Kenneth Newton (Professor Emeritus, University of Southampton, Visiting Professor, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, and Hertie School of Governance, Berlin) and the late Lee Sigelman (Columbian School of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Political Science, George Washington University) - learned by chance of each other's projects. Newton and Sigelman joined forces with Kenneth Meier (Charles H. Gregory Chair in Liberal Arts and Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University) and Bernard Grofman (Jack W. Peltason (Bren Foundation) Endowed Chair in the Department of Political Science, University of California, Irvine) to publish this collection under the joint imprint of APSA and ECPR. The collection includes previously published essays as well as original pieces never formally published. From the editors: This volume collects what in our opinions are the wittiest and funniest pieces about political science and political scientists. Like all good humour, much of the work we have chosen for inclusion has a serious point. It helps scholars keep an open and skeptical mind, it picks out our weak points in theory and methods, points out how research may be going wrong, and it pricks the balloon of bombast, pretentiousness, and jargon. And, not only that, it's fun...Its contents make essential reading for all political scientists, even the most senior, but it may be enjoyed by younger scholars, especially those without tenure (or worse yet, without a job), by other social scientists, and even-gasp-by readers unaffiliated with any academic discipline.

What role do the media play in influencing political life and shaping public opinion and behavior? Do they support-or undermine-our democratic beliefs and institutions? Claims about the media's powerful influence are frequently made, but where is the evidence? The author scrutinizes these complex questions. Recognizing that differing forms of political communication have differing effects on differing people around the world, the author goes further to ask why this occurs, and how. The answers that the author presents in Surprising News offer a deeply researched, enlightening challenge to conventional wisdom in this age of fake news, post-truth, and claims about how the new digital media have transformed politics.

The study of urban political economy needs no justification, for cities are the heart (and arguably the soul) of our civilization, and their political and economic conditions are the linchpins of its existence. But how should we study urban political economy? Urban Political Economy deals with different nations - Belgium, Denmark, France, Norway, the UK. and the USA - and with different problems - expenditure patterns, service provision, economic development, fiscal strain, budgetary cuts, and borrowing systems - but they all agree on two fundamental points about the study of their subject matter: first, that the urban economy cannot be understood outside its political context, just as urban politics cannot be understood without its economic background; and second, that the local and the national are knitted together so closely and so tightly that it is necessary to think of them as forming a single system. Urban Political Economy explores the idea of the fusion of factors by demonstrating the extent to which local and national conditions react upon one another to analyze the urban political economy.

This fully revised and updated edition of an established reference book, provides in one volume the most comprehensive and detailed statistical guide available to the government and politics of the twenty-four countries in the OECD. There is no lack of statistical data about the OECD countries (the nineteen countries of Western Europe together with Cabada, the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Sealand); but much of the material is hard to track down and little is available in comparative form. The editors of the present volume have sifted through many hundreds of sources to select the essential facts and figures on population, social structure, employment, the economy, public finance, government structures, and political parties from 1950 to the present day. In addition they provide social and economic background for each of the countries covered to enable the data to be put in context. A short final section lists sources of further information. The resulting combination is both invaluable and fascinating, whether it is used casually to check up a fact or two, or systematically to make detailed comparisons between the most advanced political systems of the Western world.

This volume is a broad and sweeping comparative study of political attitudes in Western Europe which draws together the main findings of the Beliefs in Government research project and sets them in the broad context of modern politics in Western Europe. It considers the main post-war writing on democratic crisis, change, and transformation in the West, and compares this literature with that large and extensive collection of West European survey evidence which is discussed in detail in the other series volumes. It touches upon the general themes of citizen attitudes towards the modern state, towards the scope of government and its services, towards the growing power of agencies of international government, especially the European Union, and tracks the nature and impact of fundamental values on political attitudes and behaviour. The conclusions challenge widely held views and theories about modern democratic government and politics, including the literature on political participation, mass political opinion, postmaterialism and postmodernism, the welfare state, and democratic change and stability.