This series brings together a carefully edited selection of the most influential and enduring articles on central topics in social and political theory. Each volume contains ten to twelve articles and an introductory essay by the editor.

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Long before the -shock and awe- campaign against Iraq in March 2003, debates swarmed around the justifications of the U.S.-led war to depose Saddam Hussein. While George W. Bush's administration declared a just war of necessity, opponents charged that it was a war of choice, and even opportunism. Behind the rhetoric lie vital questions: when is war just, and what means are acceptable even in the course of a just war?

Originally published in 1991, in the wake of the first war against Iraq, Just War Theory explores this essential dilemma. With a new...

What is power? Is it, as Betrand Russell suggested, -the production of intended effects-, or is it the capacity to produce them? And which effects count? Or is Max Weber's definition of power as -the probability that an actor in a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance- more accurate. What are the outcomes of power and who holds it? These are some of the fundamental questions answered in this colection of classic views of power.

Steven Luke's lucid and accessible introduction on the nature of power leads to pieces by Bertrand...

Authority is one of the key issues in political studies, for the question of by what right one person or several persons govern others is at the very root of political activity. In selecting key readings for this volume Joseph Raz concerns himself primarily with the moral aspect of political authority, choosing pieces that examine its justification, determine who is subject to it and who is entitled to hold it, and whether there are any general moral limits to it.

The readings--by such modern political thinkeres as Robert Paul Wolff, H. L. A. Hart, G. E. M. Anscombe, and Ronald...