No one has hitherto had the breadth of imagination and intellectual boldness to describe and analyse government throughout recorded history and throughout the world. This unique study of government is the culmination of the work of the late S. E. Finer, one of the leading political scientists of the twentieth century. Ranging over 5,000 years, from the Sumerian city state to the modern European nation state, five themes emerge: state-building, military formats, belief systems, social stratification, and timespan. The three volumes examine both representative and exceptional polities, and...

A political scientist and a comparative lawyer have joined forces to produce a revised and expanded version of the late F. E. Finer's classic Five Constitutions. Their book gives the present texts of four important constitutions, the American, German, French, and Russian. It adds the basic political structure of the European Union, and provides a full account of the British constitution in the terms revealed by examination of the other texts. A general chapter on comparing constitutions is complemented by careful analytical and alphabetical indexes. This work is a useful reference work for...

The role of the military in a society raises a number of issues: How much separation should there be between a civil government and its army? Should the military be totally subordinate to the polity? Or should the armed forces be allowed autonomy in order to provide national security? Recently, the dangers of military dictatorships-as have existed in countries like Panama, Chile, and Argentina-have become evident. However, developing countries often lack the administrative ability and societal unity to keep the state functioning in an orderly and economically feasible manner without military...

This study of government is the culmination of the work of the late S.E. Finer, one of the leading political scientists of the 20th century. This volume opens with Finers Conceptual Prologue, setting out the entire scope and structure of the history. He goes on to consider early examples of the predominantly palace type of polity, notably in respect of the Kingdoms of Egypt and the Empires of Assyria, Persia, Han China, and Rome; interspersed with consideration of the exceptional Jewish Kingdoms and the Greek and Roman Republics.

This study of government is the culmination of the work of the late S.E. Finer, one of the leading political scientists of the 20th century. Ranging over 5,000 years, from the Sumerian city state to the modern European nation state, five themes emerge: state-building, military formats, belief systems, social stratification, and timespan.