Colin Farrelly has gathered together in one volume several of the key texts that have shaped recent developments in political theory. The structure of the book reflects that of many courses offering surveys of recent debates between liberals and their critics. It is an excellent teaching resource' -

Shane O'Neill, Queen's University, Belfast

An excellent selection of key pieces that have shaped the debates that dominate contemporary political philosophy. Each section is prefaced with a clear and insightful introduction which gives a valuable commentary on each...

This text provides an up to date account of how things currently stand in political philosophy, and will provide an excellent introduction for students from any background. It gives a lucid and careful account of the central controversies and sites of disagreement in political theory over the last thirty years and rather than sacrifice theoretical sophistication and nuance for the sake of clarity and accessibility, it admirably achieves both' -

Catriona McKinnon, University of York

This comprehensive textbook provides a complete and accessible introduction to the...

Farrelly argues against the principled paradigm of ideal theory and champions instead a virtue-oriented theory of justice entitled 'civic liberalism'. He critically assesses the main contemporary theories of justice and tackles a number of applied topics, ranging from constitutional design and free speech to welfare reform and economic incentives.

This book is the first authoritative text on virtue jurisprudence - the belief that the final end of law is not to maximize preference satisfaction or protect certain rights and privileges, but to promote human flourishing. Scholars of law, philosophy and politics illustrate here the value of the virtue ethics tradition to modern legal theory.