Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal

by Terence Ball, Richard Dagger

The aggressively revised new edition of this best-seller provides a clear, concise, and comprehensive introduction to the ideas and ideals that shake and shape our political world. Written with the firm belief that ideology is the driving force of nation-states, history, and politics, this innovative text covers the range of contemporary political ideologies, from the standard categories of liberalism, conservatism, and socialism to newly emerging ideological alternatives. Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal provides an accessible overview of the origin and development of these ideologies, and illustrates how each interprets democracy and freedom.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Political Science, School, History, Reference

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Nate Cooley]

The author of this book was one of my political science professors at Arizona State University.

This book is a great introduction to the differing ideologies that have dominated and continue to dominate in the world today.

[Oliver Bjørshol Eliassen]

Amerikanere som forklarer oss demokrati og ideologier, det sier nok en del. Mye interresante detaljer, fun facts, men også en god model på hvordan man kan prøve å sette ideologier i en bås, noe som viser seg å være vanskelig. Ideologier som de nevner er ikke statiske, derfor kan man spørre seg selv, er det i det hele tatt noe poeng å prøve å knytte politisk ledere og partier til én spesifikk ideologi?

[Colin]

This book gets an a-okay for two reasons.

First, it explains the major political ideologies in a succint and articulate way. I had to buy this book for an undergrad course. And you know what - I still occasionally read it to this day. That makes this book one of a few that I haven't cursed and thrown away. The edition I have is about 10 years outdated. Nevertheless, most of the information and analysis is spot on.

The second reason is that the authors of this book are named "Ball" and "Dagger". I couldn't make this stuff up. Okay, maybe I could. But I didn't; this happened independent of any sophomoric jokester.

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[Samuel J]

I had to read this book for school as and thought it was incredible. Textbooks do have a pattern of being dry, but this was not. I unfortunately did have to skim through some parts due to school work, but I would like to give this a second read just to get a full picture of political ideologies.

[Isabella]

Read for school

[El H Pea]

Very insightful, I've learnt many things which I've partly known before. Also very up-to-date, a must-read for Political Science students and those interest in the subject...

[Kyra Gray]

Read this book for my undergraduate Political Ideologies class at ASU. Loved it! Very informative. This was one of the best textbooks I've ever read by far.

[am]

(11th edition)

[Pelita Murumba]

Interesting and informative for those seeking a better understanding of the current political word across the first world countries. Quick read.

[Heather Browning]

As someone with very little knowledge in the area of politics and ideologies, I thought it was time I learned. This book proved perfect - it was easy to read, even though I had no background in the field, and provided exactly the information I needed to understand the major political ideologies now, throughout history, and on into the future. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to increase their knowledge in these areas.

[Maha]

one really well-researched, very readable book... chock-full of political, philosophical and historical notions; it has it all... it also makes sense of many political terms we always come across in magazine/newspaper racks and on TV, making clear the nuance between ideologies in the past and nowadays... reading this book would help you understand better what moves the street since the Golden Age of Athens to the Mcworld we are living today!... I highly recommend it to those keen on politics.