Author: George G. Brenkert
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2006-09-27
Total Pages: 289
ISBN-13: 1134967160
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book examines the underlying theoretical issues concerning the nature of political freedom. Arguing that most previous discussions of such freedom have been too narrowly focused, it explores both conservativism from Edmund Burke to its present resurgence, the radical tradition of Karl Marx, as well as the orthodox liberal model of freedom of John Locke, John Stuart Mill and Isaiah Berlin. Political Freedom argues that these three accounts of political freedom - conservative, liberal and radical - all have internal weaknesses which render them unsatisfactory. In the second part of the book George Brenkert develops an alternative theory of political freedom. Using the guiding concept of empowerment, his model explores individual rights, democratic participation in government and workplace, and the need to provide the material and educational resources to allow individuals to effectively exercise their rights to self-determination. It is a clear and bold attack on the view that there is no link between freedom and power.
Author: Arthur Ripstein
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2010-02-15
Total Pages: 416
ISBN-13: 0674054512
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In this masterful work, both an illumination of Kant’s thought and an important contribution to contemporary legal and political theory, Arthur Ripstein gives a comprehensive yet accessible account of Kant’s political philosophy. Ripstein shows that Kant’s thought is organized around two central claims: first, that legal institutions are not simply responses to human limitations or circumstances; indeed the requirements of justice can be articulated without recourse to views about human inclinations and vulnerabilities. Second, Kant argues for a distinctive moral principle, which restricts the legitimate use of force to the creation of a system of equal freedom. Ripstein’s description of the unity and philosophical plausibility of this dimension of Kant’s thought will be a revelation to political and legal scholars. In addition to providing a clear and coherent statement of the most misunderstood of Kant’s ideas, Ripstein also shows that Kant’s views remain conceptually powerful and morally appealing today. Ripstein defends the idea of equal freedom by examining several substantive areas of law—private rights, constitutional law, police powers, and punishment—and by demonstrating the compelling advantages of the Kantian framework over competing approaches.
Author: Thomas L. Dumm
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 198
ISBN-13: 0742521397
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This edition of a 1995 book (Sage Publications) contains a new introduction by the series editor and a new preface. Readers familiar with Foucault's work will appreciate the difficulty in critically studying its arresting paradoxical nature. Dumm (political science, Amherst College) negotiates the problem by creating a thematic framework--the idea of being "free" in a modern Western capitalist democracy--and examining it through a Foucaultian lens. He focuses on the politics of freedom, negative freedom, the disciplinary society, ethics, seduction, governments, and provides an enlightening companion to Foucault's postmodern philosophy. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Author: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2015-07-22
Total Pages: 361
ISBN-13: 022624850X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Religious freedom has achieved broad consensus as a condition for peace. Faced with reports of a rise in religious violence and a host of other social ills, public, and private actors have responded with laws and policies designed to promote freedom of religion. But what precisely is being promoted? What are the assumptions underlying this response? The contributions to this volume unsettle the assumption that religious freedom is a singular achievement and that the problem lies in its incomplete accomplishment. Delineating the different conceptions of religious freedom predominant in the world today, as well as their histories and political contexts, the contributions make clear that the reasons for violence and discrimination are more complex than is widely acknowledged. The promotion of a single legal and cultural tool meant to address conflict across a wide variety of cultures can have the perverse effect of exacerbating the problems that plague the communities often cited as falling short. -- from back cover.
Author: Ben Worthy
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2017-02-10
Total Pages: 357
ISBN-13: 1526108526
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Why do governments pass freedom of information laws? The symbolic power and force surrounding FOI makes it appealing as an electoral promise but hard to disengage from once in power. However, behind closed doors compromises and manoeuvres ensure that bold policies are seriously weakened before they reach the statute book. The politics of freedom of information examines how Tony Blair's government proposed a radical FOI law only to back down in fear of what it would do. But FOI survived, in part due to the government's reluctance to be seen to reject a law that spoke of 'freedom', 'information' and 'rights'. After comparing the British experience with the difficult development of FOI in Australia, India and the United States – and the rather different cases of Ireland and New Zealand – the book concludes by looking at how the disruptive, dynamic and democratic effects of FOI laws continue to cause controversy once in operation.
Author: Andrew E. Busch
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2001-08-28
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13: 1461642167
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →In Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom, Andrew E. Busch goes beyond economic and foreign policies to examine Reagan's understanding of statesmanship. Busch analyzes Reagan's conscious attempt to strengthen the separation of powers, federalism, and traditional rhetoric, and his efforts to revive the notion of limited government in a Constitutional Republic. In this important new study, Busch concludes that Ronald Reagan's politics of freedom—found in his discourse, policy, and coalition-building—achieved significant successes in the 1980s and beyond.
Author: Philip Pettit
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2013-05-31
Total Pages: 265
ISBN-13: 0745668151
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This innovative approach to freedom starts from an account of what we mean by describing someone, in a psychological vein, as a free subject. Pettit develops an argument as to what it is that makes someone free in that basic sense; and then goes on to derive the implications of the approach for issues of freedom in political theory. Freedom in the subject is equated with the person's being fit to be held responsible and to be authorized as a partner in interaction. This book is unique among contemporary approaches - although it is true to the spirit of classical writers like Hobbes and Kant - in seeking a theory that applies to psychological issues of free agency and free will as well as to political issues in the theory of the free state and the free constitution. The driving thesis is that it is only by connecting up the different issues of freedom, psychological and political, that we can fully appreciate the nature of the questions involved, and the requirements for their resolution. The book does not not seek a comprehensive reach just for its own sake, but rather for the sake of the illumination it provides. A Theory of Freedom is a ground-breaking volume which will be of wide interest to scholars and students in political philosophy and political science.
Author: Lawrence Hamilton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2014-07-31
Total Pages: 244
ISBN-13: 1107062969
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A novel, sophisticated and realistic account of freedom as power through political representation.
Author: James Lane Buckley
Publisher: Encounter Books
Published: 2010
Total Pages: 314
ISBN-13: 1594034788
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Contains essays, many from the 1970s, in which James Buckley, a former senator, under secretary of state, and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, shares his opinions on the adverse effects of the growth of the federal government.