Konstitution: stat och regering

“One of the most profound and illuminating studies of this century to have been published in recent decades.”—John Gray, New York Times Book Review  “A powerful, and in many [ways] insightful, explanation as to why grandiose programs of social reform, not to mention revolution, so often end in tragedy. . . . An important critique of visionary state planning.”—Robert Heilbroner, Lingua Franca  Hailed as “a magisterial critique of top-down social planning” by the New York Times, this essential work analyzes disasters from Russia to Tanzania to uncover why states so often fail—sometimes catastrophically—in grand efforts to engineer their society or their environment, and uncovers the conditions common to all such planning disasters.  “Beautifully written, this book calls into sharp relief the nature of the world we now inhabit.”—New Yorker  “A tour de force.”—Charles Tilly, Columbia University  The Institution for Social and Policy Studies

Niccolò Machiavelli's brutally uncompromising manual of statecraft, The Prince is translated and edited with an introduction by Tim Parks in Penguin Classics.As a diplomat in turbulent fifteenth-century Florence, Niccolò Machiavelli knew how quickly political fortunes could rise and fall. The Prince, his tough-minded, pragmatic handbook on how power really works, made his name notorious and has remained controversial ever since. How can a leader be strong and decisive, yet still inspire loyalty in his followers? When is it necessary to break the rules? Is it better to be feared than loved? Examining regimes and their rulers the world over and throughout history, from Roman Emperors to renaissance Popes, from Hannibal to Cesare di Borgia, Machievalli answers all these questions in a work of realpolitik that still has shrewd political lessons for today. Tim Parks's acclaimed contemporary translation renders Machiavelli's no-nonsense original as alarming and enlightening as when it was first written. His introduction discusses Machiavelli's life and reputation, and explores the historical background to the work.Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence, and served the Florentine republic as a secretary and second chancellor, as ambassador and foreign policy-maker. When the Medici family returned to power in 1512 he was suspected of conspiracy, imprisoned and tortured and forced to retire from public life. His most famous work, The Prince, was written in an attempt to gain favour with the Medicis and return to politics.If you enjoyed The Prince, you might like Plato's Republic, also available in Penguin Classics.'A gripping work, and a gripping translation'Nicholas Lezard, Guardian'Tim Parks's swift and supple new translation brings out all its chilling modernity' Boyd Tonkin, Independent

'A gripping work, and a gripping translation' Nicholas Lezard, GuardianNiccolò Machiavelli's brutally uncompromising manual of statecraft, The Prince is translated and edited with an introduction by Tim Parks in Penguin Classics As a diplomat in turbulent fifteenth-century Florence, Niccolò Machiavelli knew how quickly political fortunes could rise and fall. The Prince, his tough-minded, pragmatic handbook on how power really works, made his name notorious and has remained controversial ever since. How can a leader be strong and decisive, yet still inspire loyalty in his followers? When is it necessary to break the rules? Is it better to be feared than loved? Examining regimes and their rulers the world over and throughout history, from Roman Emperors to renaissance Popes, from Hannibal to Cesare di Borgia, Machievalli answers all these questions in a work of realpolitik that still has shrewd political lessons for today. Tim Parks's acclaimed contemporary translation renders Machiavelli's no-nonsense original as alarming and enlightening as when it was first written. His introduction discusses Machiavelli's life and reputation, and explores the historical background to the work.'Tim Parks's swift and supple new translation brings out all its chilling modernity' Boyd Tonkin, Independent

Richly informed and written in an engaging style, Against Empire exposes the ruthless agenda and hidden costs of the U.S. empire today. Documenting the pretexts and lies used to justify violent intervention and maldevelopment abroad, Parenti shows how the conversion to a global economy is a victory of finance capital over democracy. As much of the world suffers unspeakable misery and the Third-Worldization of the United States accelerates, civil society is impoverished by policies that benefit rich and powerful transnational corporations and the national security state. Hard-won gains made by ordinary people are swept away. The history of imperialism is also, however, a history of resistance, struggle, and achievement; Against Empire offers compelling alternatives for progressive change. Michael Parenti is considered one of the nation's leading progressive thinkers. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 1962, and has taught at a number of colleges and universities. His writings have been featured in scholarly journals, popular periodicals, and newspapers. Dr.Parenti lectures around the country on college campuses and before religious, labor, community, peace, and public interest groups. Praise for Michael Parenti's books: "A valuable rebuttal to the drumbeat...from the right."--New York Times Book Review "Entertainingly written."--Publishers Weekly "Parenti writes clear, smooth, often provocative prose, has a way of cutting to the heart of complex issues and knows how to tell a story."--Allan Johnson, Author of Human Arrangements

India—a cradle of civilization with five millennia of history, a country of immense consequence and contradiction—often defies ready understanding. What holds its people together—across its many cultures, races, languages, and creeds—and how has India evolved into the liberal democracy it is today?From the Harappan era to Muslim invasions, the Great Mughals, British rule, independence, and present-day hopes, John Zubrzycki distills India’s colossal history into a gripping true story filled with legendary lives: Alexander the Great, Akbar, Robert Clive, Tipu Sultan, Lakshmi Bai, Lord Curzon, Jinnah, and Gandhi. India’s gifts to the world include Buddhism, yoga, the concept of zero, the largest global diaspora—and its influence is only growing. Already the world’s largest democracy, in 2023, India became the most populous nation.Can India overcome its political, social, and religious tensions to be the next global superpower? As the world watches—and wonders—this Shortest History is an essential, clarifying read.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

In this pathbreaking work, now available in paperback, Charles Tilly challenges all previous formulations of state development in Europe. Specifically, Tilly charges that most available explanations fail because they do not account for the great variety of kinds of states which were viable at different stages of European history, and because they assume a unilinear path of state development resolving in today's national state.

A fascinating manifesto, proposing that the world should be split into smaller regions to distribute power more evenly.Written by one of the most original political thinkers of the 20th century, in The Breakdown of Nations, Leopold Kohr shows that throughout history people living in small states are happier, more peaceful, more creative and more prosperous. He argues that virtually all our political and social problems would be greatly diminished if the world’s major countries were to dissolve back into the small states from which they sprang. Rather than making even larger political unions, in the mistaken belief that this will bring peace and security, we should minimise the aggregation of power by returning to a patchwork of small, relatively powerless states where leaders are accessible to and responsive to the people.Originally published in 1957, this new edition features forewords by Neal Ascherson and Richard Body. The material has been noted for its striking relevance to the current political situation, with globalisation, war, nuclear weapons and the rise of electronic gadgets leading to concern over whether we should re-examine the implications of the size of political groupings, whether they be states, nations or federations.In these turbulent times, recognise the beauty and potential in small political nations with this inspiring read.

HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics. Whoever is the occasion of another’s advancement is the cause of his own diminution. Considered one of the first works of modern philosophy, The Prince is a study on the nature of power and how to wield it. Originally written as a manual for the Duke of Urbino, Lorenzo de' Medici, Machiavelli details the flattery, intimidation and force a leader might use to reach supremacy – and stay there – using any means at their disposal.The origin of the term ‘Machiavellian’, in all its amoral and underhand realpolitik, this unscrupulous treatise remains a source of inspiration, and caution, for leaders today.

A prophetic warning against the foolishness of crusades, John Gray's Black Mass challenges our belief in human progress.Our conventional view of history is wrong. It is founded on a pernicious myth of an achievable utopia that in the last century alone caused the murder of tens of millions. In Black Mass John Gray tears down the religious, political and secular beliefs that we insist are fundamental to the human project, examines the interaction of terrorism, declining world resources, environmental change, human myths of redemption and a flawed belief in Western democracy, and shows us how a misplaced faith in our ability to improve the world has actually made it far worse. 'Brilliant, frightening, devastating'John Banville, Guardian'A brilliant polemic ... Gray's most powerful argument yet'J.G. Ballard, Guardian, Books of the Year'Causes vertigo when it does not cause outrage'Sunday Times'Exhilarating, invigorating'Literary Review'Savage. Gray raises profound and valid doubts about the conventional "plot" of modern history'Financial Times'A load of bollocks ... could hardly be more bonkers if it was crawling with lizards'Sunday TelegraphJohn Gray has been Professor of Politics at Oxford University, Visiting Professor at Harvard and Yale and Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics. His books include False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism, Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals and The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death. His selected writings, Gray's Anatomy, was published in 2009.

Enshrining the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens in law, and curbing the power of those who rule them, the US constitution is one of the most significant documents in the history of democracy. New to Penguin's Little Black Classics series.

Donald Trump, Silvio Berlusconi, Marine Le Pen, Hugo ChÁvez-populists are on the rise across the globe. But what exactly is populism? Should everyone who criticizes Wall Street or Washington be called a populist? What precisely is the difference between right-wing and left-wing populism? Does populism bring government closer to the people or is it a threat to democracy? Who are "the people" anyway and who can speak in their name? These questions have never been more pressing.In this groundbreaking volume, Jan-Werner MÜller argues that at populism's core is a rejection of pluralism. Populists will always claim that they and they alone represent the people and their true interests. MÜller also shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, populists can govern on the basis of their claim to exclusive moral representation of the people: if populists have enough power, they will end up creating an authoritarian state that excludes all those not considered part of the proper "people." The book proposes a number of concrete strategies for how liberal democrats should best deal with populists and, in particular, how to counter their claims to speak exclusively for "the silent majority" or "the real people."Analytical, accessible, and provocative, What Is Populism? is grounded in history and draws on examples from Latin America, Europe, and the United States to define the characteristics of populism and the deeper causes of its electoral successes in our time.

Since the election of Scott Walker, Wisconsin has been seen as ground zero for debates about the appropriate role of government in the wake of the Great Recession. In a time of rising inequality, Walker not only survived a bitterly contested recall that brought thousands of protesters to Capitol Square, he was subsequently reelected. How could this happen? How is it that the very people who stand to benefit from strong government services not only vote against the candidates who support those services but are vehemently against the very idea of big government?            With The Politics of Resentment, Katherine J. Cramer uncovers an oft-overlooked piece of the puzzle: rural political consciousness and the resentment of the “liberal elite.” Rural voters are distrustful that politicians will respect the distinct values of their communities and allocate a fair share of resources. What can look like disagreements about basic political principles are therefore actually rooted in something even more fundamental: who we are as people and how closely a candidate’s social identity matches our own. Using Scott Walker and Wisconsin’s prominent and protracted debate about the appropriate role of government, Cramer illuminates the contours of rural consciousness, showing how place-based identities profoundly influence how people understand politics, regardless of whether urban politicians and their supporters really do shortchange or look down on those living in the country.The Politics of Resentment shows that rural resentment—no less than partisanship, race, or class—plays a major role in dividing America against itself.

'A nation without a national government is an awful spectacle.'In the winter of 1787-8 a series of eighty-five essays appeared in the New York press; the purpose of the essays was to persuade the citizens of New York State to ratify the Constitution of the United States. The three authors - Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay - were respectively the first Secretary of the Treasury, the fourth President, and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in American history. Each had played a crucial role in the events of the American Revolution; together they were convinced of the need to weld thirteen disparate and newly-independent states into a union. Their essays make the case for a new and united nation, governed under a written Constitution that endures to this day.The Federalist Papers are an indispensable guide to the intentions of the founding fathers who created the United States, and a canonical text in the development of western political thought. This new edition pays full attention to the classical learning of their authors and the historical examples they deploy. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Translated into 100 languages, winner of the National Book Award, and named one of the 100 Most Influential Books since World War II by the Times Literary Supplement , Anarchy, State and Utopia remains one of the most theoretically trenchant and philosophically rich defences of economic liberalism to date, as well as a foundational text in classical libertarian thought. With a new introduction by the philosopher Thomas Nagel, this revised edition will introduce Nozick and his work to a new generation of readers.

For the first time in nearly two centuries, one ethnic group now constitutes an absolute majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina's population: the Bosniaks. It is an unlikely development given that, scarcely thirty years ago, they were targeted for extermination and expulsion by Serbia's Slobodan Milošević. Even as the Bosniak community fought to survive these atrocities, it simultaneously came under attack from militants led by Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, who attempted to partition Bosnia and Herzegovina between Zagreb and Belgrade.Improbably, the Bosniaks and the Bosnian state survived these campaigns. But the country's fractious sectarian post-war order has produced the world's most convoluted constitutional regime, always teetering on the brink of collapse.Jasmin Mujanović illuminates the sources of contemporary Bosniak political identity, tracing the evolution of a religious community into a secular nation, and shedding light on the future of a nation at a crossroads. He explores the idea of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a 'national homeland', considers how narratives of genocide influence self-identity, and probes how demographic changes are putting pressure on the country's political framework.The fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina's peace and democracy rests on the Bosniaks' shoulders--and with it, the stability of all Southeastern Europe.

Although their leaders and staff are not elected, bureaucratic agencies have the power to make policy decisions that carry the full force of the law. In this groundbreaking book, Sean Gailmard and John W. Patty explore an issue central to political science and public administration: How do Congress and the president ensure that bureaucratic agencies implement their preferred policies? The assumption has long been that bureaucrats bring to their positions expertise, which must then be marshaled to serve the interests of a particular policy. In "Learning While Governing", Gailmard and Patty overturn this conventional wisdom, showing instead that much of what bureaucrats need to know to perform effectively is learned on the job. Bureaucratic expertise, they argue, is a function of administrative institutions and interactions with political authorities that collectively create an incentive for bureaucrats to develop expertise. The challenge for elected officials is therefore to provide agencies with the autonomy to do so while making sure they do not stray significantly from the administration's course.To support this claim, the authors analyze several types of information-management processes. "Learning While Governing" speaks to an issue with direct bearing on power relations between Congress, the president, and the executive agencies, and it will be a welcome addition to the literature on bureaucratic development.

The ongoing struggle between Israel and Palestine is one of the most bitter conflicts in history, with profound global consequences. In this book, Middle East expert Michael Scott-Baumann succinctly describes its origins and charts its evolution from civil war to the present day. Each chapter offers a lucid explanation of the politics and ends with personal testimony from Palestinians and Israelis whose lives have been impacted by the dispute.While presenting competing interpretations, Scott-Baumann examines the key flash points, including the early role of the British, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Six-Day War of 1967, and the Trump administration’s peace plan, pitched as “the deal of the century,” in 2020. He delineates both the nature of Israeli control over the Palestinian territories and Palestinian resistance—going to the heart of the clashes in recent decades. The result is an indispensable history, including a time line, glossary, and analysis of why efforts to restore peace have continually failed and what it will take to succeed.The Shortest History books deliver thousands of years of history in one riveting, fast-paced read.

Although Plato's celebrated work of philosophy describes a society which to some seems the ideal human community and to others like a totalitarian nightmare, it also raises enduring questions about politics, art, education and the general conduct of life.

Sätter de kungliga äktenskapen i ett politiskt och socialt sammanhang, som jag aldrig har läst förut. Man förstår varför monarkin är viktig, vare sig man står på ena eller andra sidan.

Magnus Utvik, SVT Gomorron Sverige

Givande och medryckande både för de initierade och för den historiskt allmänintresserade. Ett gediget och välskrivet verk, med andra ord.

Axel Andersson, historiker, Populär Historia

Vasaprinsessan Sofia påtvingades en make som behandlade henne så illa att hennes hetlevrade bröder slutligen jagade honom ur landet. Den fanatiskt sörjande Maria Eleonora, änka efter Gustav II Adolf, kämpade med riksrådet om kontrollen över sin makes lik. Gustav III kände en sådan aversion mot sin drottning att hans ovilja att ha samlag med henne höll på att urarta i en konstitutionell kris.

Att kungliga äktenskap i alla tider har varit grundade på politik är välkänt. Men som den här boken visar har också passion, i en eller annan form, alltid spelat en viktig roll.

I sju nedslag i den svenska monarkins historia får vi här följa hur dynamiken mellan politik och passion yttrat sig. Tillsammans utgör nedslagen en gripande berättelse om hur kön och sexualitet, klass och etnicitet, lycka och olycka, furste och undersåte ständigt har omtolkats i historien.

Henric Bagerius och Louise Berglund, antologins redaktörer, är universitetslektorer i historia vid Örebro universitet.

Övriga medverkande författare:Mattias FrihammarFabian PerssonAvigail RotbainKarin Tegenborg FalkdalenKristina Widestedt

Uttråkad som jag blir av tillrättalagda kärleksförklaringar är det de olyckliga paren i Politik och passion som intresserar mest. Inte för att vara missunnsam, men relationsproblemen gör kungligheterna mer mänskliga än deras tihi-klipp. Forskarna radar här upp sex hundra år av dåliga matchningar i den högättade dejtingdjungeln. Deppigt är att läsa om alla vidriga barnäktenskap: norska prinsessan Ingeborg var till exempel ett år gammal när hon lovades bort till svenske hertig Erik Magnusson. Hon hade fyllt 11 när hon skred upp för altargången 1312, han 30. Förutom tvångsäktenskap, kusingemål och komplicerade äktenskapsförhandlingar på latin, förutsattes dessutom att man skulle ha virilt sex med en vitt främmande människa från nån Habsburgdynasti. Som tur var förekom skilsmässor ... Politik och passion påminner dock om att varje kungligt bröllop ska fylla en större funktion - ena nationen kring ceremoniellt krimskrams. För kärlekens skull ska vi acceptera samhällets ojämlikheter. Att Carl Philip säger ja till yogainstruktören Sofia i dag är vackert, men inte opolitiskt.

Natalia Kazmierska, Aftonbladet

Till skillnad från ett antal bleka och pliktskyldiga historiska antologier på sistone utmärker sig Politik och passion både för sin relevans och välskrivna prosa ... Författarna lyckas komma med något som är givande och medryckande både för de initierade och för den historiskt allmänintresserade. Ett gediget och välskrivet verk, med andra ord.

Axel Andersson, historiker, Populär Historia

Allra intressantast blir dock antologin när den fokuserar på kungliga äktenskap som misslyckades, när passion och politik inte gick att kombinera. Gustav III, som enligt egna ungdomsanteckningar var emot hela idén med resonemangspartier med utländska prinsessor, var fängslad i ett olyckligt äktenskap med den danska prinsessan Sofia Magdalena. Ännu värre gick det för äktenskapet mellan den svenske prinsen Wilhelm och den ryska storfurstinnan Maria Pavlovna, kusin till tsar Nikolaj II, som skildes efter några olyckliga år i början av 1900-talet. Kristina Widestedt skildrar hur varken Wilhelm eller Maria trivdes i det påtvingade politiska äktenskapet, hur deras personligheter gjorde uppror mot det förväntade. Istället för att föra Ryssland och Sverige närmare varandra ledde bröllopet till att den svenska rysskräcken ökade vid en tid då Europa gled allt närmare första världskriget ... Variationen är stor inom antologins ram, men vissa röda trådar är lätt urskiljbara. Den viktigaste är de kungliga äktenskapens samhälleliga funktion. När en kunglighet gifter sig är det inte bara en familjeangelägenhet utan något hela nationen förväntas ha en åsikt om, något som i värsta fall kan resultera i dramatiska kriser. Kontinuiteten mellan historia och nutid är alltså större än vi lätt föreställer oss. Samtidigt gör författarna en tydlig poäng av förändringarna.

Dick Harrison, Svenska Dagbladet

Politik och passion gifter samman en analytisk skärpa med ett märgfullt material som mer sällan ges en seriös genomlysning. I synnerhet det informella maktutövandets konst lyfts upp på dagordningen, vilket inte är helt fel i ett land där monarkin över huvud taget inte är ett diskussionsämne.

Cecilia Nelson, Göteborgs-Posten

'The transformation of the US into an autocracy has advanced...Nobody has outlined this danger more compellingly than Robert Kagan.' - Martin Wolf, Financial TimesA chilling and clear-eyed warning about the threats to our democracy posed by the increasing radicalization of the Republican Party, from a leading historian and intellectualThe 2024 election could be the last free election held in a unified America. So warns Robert Kagan in this brilliant and terrifying analysis of the perilous state of democracy in the United States today. If Donald Trump loses the upcoming election, as he did in 2020, but refuses to accept the result, as he also did in the last election, he is likely to call on his millions of followers to repudiate the election results. It will be a short step from there to Republican-dominated states rejecting the legitimacy of the federal government and effectively seceding. The United States at that point will cease to be united, with grave consequences for both Americans and the world.In Rebellion, Kagan dives deeper than the op-eds and think pieces to explore the historical forces that have brought us to this moment—in particular the long history of opposition to liberalism, and to government, that has shaped America’s character from the time of the Revolution to today. Trump’s unique capacity to tap into that tradition of dissent and circumvent the American system has brought us to the edge of dissolution—not for the first time in our history but possibly the last. This is an elegant and deeply informed synthesis of history, contemporary politics, and ideas that sheds light on this crucial moment.

The ubiquitous nature and political attraction of the concept of order has to be understood in conjunction with the idea of police. Since its first publication, this book has been one of the most powerful and wide-ranging critiques of the police power. Neocleous argues for an expanded concept of police, able to account for the range of institutions through which policing takes place. These institutions are concerned not just with the maintenance and reproduction of order, but with its very fabrication, especially the fabrication of a social order founded on wage labour. By situating the police power in relation to both capital and the state and at the heart of the politics of security, the book opens up into an understanding of the ways in which the state administers civil society and fabricates order through law and the ideology of crime. The discretionary violence of the police on the street is thereby connected to the wider administrative powers of the state, and the thud of the truncheon to the dull compulsion of economic relations.

This book reveals how, for well over a millennium and across three continents - Asia, Africa, and Europe - non-Muslims who were vanquished by jihad wars became forced tributaries (called dhimmi in Arabic) in lieu of being slain. Under the dhimmi religious caste system, non-Muslims were subjected to legal and financial oppression, as well as social isolation. Extensive primary and secondary source materials, many translated here for the first time into English, are presented, making clear that jihad conquests were brutal, imperialist advances, which spurred waves of Muslims to expropriate a vast expanse of lands and subdue millions of indigenous peoples. Finally, the book examines how jihad war, as a permanent and uniquely Islamic institution, ultimately regulates the relations of Muslims with non-Muslims to this day. Scholars, educators, and interested lay readers will find this collection an invaluable resource.

USA:s konstitution är en av världens äldsta och fortfarande gällande grundlagar. Den skapades i ett läge när de nyligen bildade Förenta Staterna i Nordamerika började förlora sammanhållningen efter frigörelsen från den brittiska kungamakten 1776. Den bygger på universella principer om folkstyre, maktdelning och individens frihet. Men också på tidens anda – med obefintliga rättigheter för kvinnor och slavar. Detta är den första översättningen till svenska av världens mest berömda författning. I en introduktion berättar Karin Henriksson hur den kom till och utvecklades med förändringarna i tidsandan. Karin Henriksson är Svenska Dagbladets korrespondent i USA sedan många år tillbaka. Hon är också författare, och har bland annat givit ut boken Ronald Reagan/En kontroversiell ikon.

Chantal Mouffe is one of the most influential political theorists at work today. Her work has influenced political parties across Europe and continues to inform the direction of left politics. In this work, Mouffe argues that liberal democracy misunderstands the problems of ethnic, religious and nationalist conflicts because of its inadequate conception of politics.