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In Defence of Politics

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In Defence of Politics

University of Chicago Press,

15 minutes de lecture
8 points à retenir
Audio et texte

Aperçu

Though Twitter tirades from the Oval Office are a new phenomenon, nationalism and propaganda have been around for decades.

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Editorial Rating

9

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Recommendation

This book by the late Bernard Crick, a British political scientist, is more than a half-century old, yet it feels ripped from today’s headlines. Crick addresses the roots of nationalism and warns of the dangers of politics based on racial exclusion and vengeance. All these issues existed long before the fall of the Berlin Wall or the rise of social media. Crick even expounds on the pitfalls of presidential pride, using Abraham Lincoln as a counterpoint. His academic prose can be daunting at times, but Crick’s important insights reward those who make the effort to continue reading through the more challenging sections of his book.

Summary

Politics has gotten a bad rap.

Politics has become a dirty word in many corners of the world. Politicians — often derided as messy, chaotic, and often deeply unsatisfying decision makers — have played into the discontent with the self-serving use of concepts such as liberty, democracy, and free government. In 1961, Cuba’s Fidel Castro denied he wanted any role in politics, declaring, “We made our revolution to get the politicians out.” A few years earlier, pro-Republic supporters of General Charles de Gaulle believed he was saving France from politicians. 

As 18th-century writer Isaac D’Israeli noted, politics has become “the art of governing mankind by deceiving them,” but, in truth, politics enables freedom. Politics exists only in the most highly functioning societies, and, despite the naysayers, it stands as a hallmark of liberty. Politics, as defined by Aristotle, steps beyond tribal or religious interests to present the notion of a pluralistic society — one in which competing priorities and rival groups must agree to give up some of what they want for the benefit of the broader populace. Politics...

About the Author

Sir Bernard Crick (1929-2008) was a British political theorist and democratic socialist. He also wrote George Orwell: A Life and Democracy: A Very Short Introduction.

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