علوم سیاسی و تغییرات سیاسی

Politics Is About Conflict, Struggle, Decision-making, Power And Influence. But Not Every Conflict And Not Every Situation In Which Power Is Exercised Is Widely Regarded As Politics. A Football Coach Who Decides To Leave A Player On The Bench Because He Has Given Him A Bit Of Lip, Is Exerting Power, And There Is Conflict Here, Too. However, Few People Would Consider This A Political Issue. The Same Applies To A Mother Who Quarrels With Her Adolescent Daughter About Going To A House Party, A Schoolteacher Who Gives A Student Detention, And So On. But If We Were To Limit Our Understanding Of Politics To Official Decisions That Are Taken By Governments, In Parliaments Or On Municipal Councils, We Would Fail To Recognise The Political Meaning Of Trade Unions, Lobbyists, Protest Groups, Corporations And Other More-or-less Organised Groups That Influence Collective Decision-making. -- Basic Themes In Political Science. Politics And Power / Wouter Van Der Brug And Eilke Heemskerk ; Social And Political Inequality / Marcel Maussen And Armen Hakhverdian ; Nations, Nationalism And The Nation State / Luuc Brans, Theresa Kuhn And Tom Van Der Meer ; The Welfare State Under Pressure / Franca Van Hooren ; Consensus Democracy In The Netherlands : Background And Future / Philip Van Praag -- Political Actors. Citizens And Politics : Political Participation And Political Trust / Tom Van Der Meer -- Elections, Cleavages And Voting Behaviour : From Stability To Volatility / Wouter Van Der Brug, Philip Van Praag And Cees Van Der Eijk ; The Transformation Of Political Parties / Gijs Schumacher ; Interest Groups And Social Movements / Joost Berkhout And Marcel Hanegraaff ; Politics And Media / Philip Van Praag. Edited By Philip Van Praag. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This introduction to political science provides a good basis for understanding the major changes in contemporary politics. New political currents, movements and ideas are playing an increasingly important role while traditional centres of political power are crumbling and new powers are on the rise. We can understand some of the changes with the insights and theories we have, but now and again we need to modify our theories in the light of the latest developments. An important feature of Political Science and Changing Politics is that it looks at these political developments from a strongly comparative, and also a historical, perspective. The first part deals with a number of important current issues; it addresses topics such as political inequality, the growing importance of collective identity and nationalist sentiment, the future of the welfare state, and the Dutch consensus democracy. The second part deals with the role that citizens, groups and organisations play in contemporary politics. It looks at, among other things, the political views and behavior of citizens and at their changing party preferences, but also at the ways in which political parties cope with this. It considers the growing importance of interest groups, as well as the power of the media in politics today Table of Contents Foreword Part 1. Basic Themes in Political Science 1. Politics and Power 2. Social and Political Inequality 3. Nations, Nationalism and the Nation State 4. The Welfare State under Pressure 5. Consensus Democracy in the Netherlands Part 2. Political Actors 6. Citizens and Politics 7. Elections, Cleavages and Voting Behaviour 8. The Transformation of Political Parties 9. Interest Groups and Social Movements 10. Politics and Media About the Authors Index This book is an introduction to political science. What is it that political scientists are actually studying? Or, to put it another way: What do we mean when we talk about politics?