Political Theories of Modern Government : Its Role and Reform

ISBN-13: 9780415570794 / Angielski / Twarda / 2009 / 242 str.

Peter Self

Opis

This work, first published in 1985, is a broad survey of theories and beliefs about the growth, behaviour, performance and reform of the governments of modern Western democracies. The author examines four different schools of political thought which seek to explain the behaviour and performance of governments.

First published in 1984, this book carefully dissects and convincingly demonstrates that conservative economics is incoherent in theory and disastrous in practice. The three main schools of thought supporting "free-market" policies – supply side economics, monetarism and rational expectations- are examined in turn and each is found defective. Three case studies of conservative policy in action follow: Reagan’s U.S., Thatcher’s U.K. and Pinochet’s Chile and their courses are charted in economic conservatism’s ideology and social policy, and the book concludes with an assessment of the political reasons for the theoretical incoherence and practical failure.

This is a careful and comprehensive look at this subject which tackles both the theory and the practice head-on. It will make useful and stimulating reading for students of economics and political economy on courses of economic policy and macro-economics and in addition will be of keen interest to all those involved in the debate about one of the major policy issues of our time.

Spis treści

1. Modern Political Thought  2. Environmental Change and Governmental Response  3. The Individualist  4. The Pluralist State  5. The Corporatist State  6. The Behaviour of Bureaucracy  7. The Future Role of Government  8. Approaches to Political Reform

O autorze

Peter Self