Introduction to Political Science

Author: Jeffrey
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: There are countless introductory books on political science in Western countries, but few, like the "Introduction to Political Science" by renowned American scholars Jeffrey Ponto and Peter Gil, use several typical countries as case studies to explain political science content. In this sense, the book has a distinctive style. In Part , the author discusses the meaning and scope of political science, its methods and levels, and major political concepts (such as rights, authority, legitimacy, ideology, interests, and choice). It also explores the main models in political science research (pluralism, corporatism, neoliberalism or the new right, Marxism, elitism). In the second part, the author examines political background factors related to political stability, such as history, tradition, and mythology, as well as the economic and social environments. The third part covers the operation of national politics, where the author discusses party politics, group politics, the executive branch, legislatures, the relationship between the executive and legislative branches, bureaucracy, law, courts and judges, police, and the military. The fourth part is on supranational and subnational politics. The author first analyzes political realism and its critiques from the perspective of global politics (including feminist critiques, liberal pluralism, and structuralist critiques of liberal pluralism). In the second part of the global section, the author dynamically examines integration, state dissolution, nationalism, federalism, decentralization, local politics (organization, function, finance), and compares the realities of three countries. The fifth part explores the connection between government and the people, where the author discusses various factors related to political legitimacy: challenges and subcultures, political socialization (media), representation and choice, electoral systems, voting, and other forms of participation (including referendums and direct political action).