In Defence of Politics

by Crick, Sir Bernard

• ISBN13: 9780826487513
• ISBN10: 0826487513
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-07
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Crick asserts that politics, with its compromises and power struggles, remains the only tested alternative to government by coercion, making both freedom and order possible in heterogeneous societies. For Crick, politics is necessarily imperfect, messy and complex, yet his book defends it against those who would identify it with (and reduce it to) ideology, nationalism, technology or populist democracy. In this fifth edition, Crick warns us that present-day politicians are in danger of threatening both citizenship and common humanity. He discusses the popular distrust for politicians in both the UK and USA, arguing that they have lowered the level of public debate for short-term gain; and he discusses how such short-termism is preventing timely attempts to tackle despoliation of the global environment.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fifth EditionAcknowledgements1. The Bature of Political Rule2. A Defence of Politics Against Ideology3. A Defence of Politics Against Democracy4. A Defecne of Politics against Nationalism5. A Defence of Politics Agianst Technology6. A Defence o fPolitics Against False Friends The non-politica conservative The a-political liberal The anti-political socialist7. In Praise of PoliticsThree Footnotes A Footbote to Rally the Academic Professors of politics (1964) A Footnote to Rally Fellow Socialists (1982) A Final Footnote to Rally Those Who Grudge the Price (1992)Epilogue (2000)