Concepts have a particular importance for students of politics and international relations. Political argument often boils down to a struggle over the legitimate meaning of terms and enemies may argue, fight and even go to war, each claiming to be 'defending freedom', 'upholding democracy' or 'supporting justice'. The problem is that words such as 'freedom', 'democracy' and 'justice' have different meanings to different people, so that the concepts themselves come to seem problematic.

This book provides an accessible and comprehensive guide to the major concepts encountered in political...

The fifth edition of this seminal textbook by best-selling author Andrew Heywood continues to lead the way in providing a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to politics. Renowned for its engaging and accessible style, this book helps students to understand the discipline's foundational concepts and theories and use these to make sense of its key subfields, from elections and voting to security and global governance. Systematically revised and updated throughout, it also uses a range of tried-and-tested pedagogical features to draw links between different standpoints and help make...