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This book presents a narrative of Scottish politics since devolution in 1999.

"Beyond Patriotism" argues that some millions of Americans have become "post-national" people who put the good of humanity ahead of patriotism or national honor. It discusses the decisions that led them from the Vietnamese War to the attempt to put Pol Pot back into power to the sanctions against Iraq.

"Public Service on the Brink" describes the denigration, unsuccessful reorganization, and general undermining of the public service and the public service ethos over 30 or more years. It attempts to explain how this has become a given in modern political life in the UK.

In this volume a distinguished set of authors explore various economic, philosophical, and ethical ideas from historical, contemporary, and future-looking perspectives.

This work is about "the meaning of life" or "the spiritual quest." It offers a selective and critical evaluation of some central strands of Western religious and philosophical thought over 2,500 years.

The authors argue it is essential to examine the linguistic and communicative practices that are used in the production of introspective data, and thereby make an important contribution to debates about how scientists may study experience that are relevant to a wide range of disciplines. 200 pp.

Are you prepared, either as an atheist or a religious believer, to have your ideas of God, the self, other people, the body, the soul, spirituality, and faith challenged in an unexpected and original way? Here is a book that moves out from under and away from the received notions of those ponderous topics, whether or not you believe in the divine. The author is a confessed atheist but one who rejects the approach of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Michel Onfray and the rest when they depart from their justifiable criticisms of the historical record of the established creeds and endeavour to rubbish what faith could actually be. The book takes its origin from an exploration of the idea of an avatar; the writing of it was stimulated by seeing the Cameron film, though it subjects that film itself to an assessment of its hidden assumptions. The book finally arrives at specific recommendations for our time, ones to which the argument of the book has been directed throughout.

In this book, Bernhard Poerksen draws up a new rationale for constructivist thinking and charts out directions for the imaginative examination of personal certainties and the certainties of others, of ideologies great and small.

Democracy is killing the West. That is the stunning conclusion of this book that tears apart the consensus underpinning modern political assumptions. It argues that the secret of the West's success is not Democracy, but Liberalism.

In this short book the author argues that the Sarkozy phenomenon is best explained by principal reference to the notion of Bonapartism, which of course has a long history in French politics.

This volume reflects the up-and-coming academic interest in sortition. It is based on contributions to the first international conference dedicated to the subject held at the University of Political Science (Sciences-Po) in Paris in November 2008. The papers explore important theoretical questions such as how we should recognise and define differing lottery forms; the relationship between sortition and different aspects and forms of democracy; and its potential benefits to current political and commercial practice. Contributors Hubertus Buchstein, Gil Delannoi Oliver Dowlen, Gerhard G├╢hler Barbara Goodwin, Michael Hein Yves Sintomer, Peter Stone Antoine Vergne Gil Delannoi is Research Director at Sciences-Po Paris (Centre de recherches politiques). Oliver Dowlen is an independent scholar and a founder member of the Society for Democracy including Random Selection (SDRS).

Today, the belief that human beings are special is distinctly out of fashion. Almost every day we are presented with new revelations about how animals are so much more like us than we ever imagined. The argument is at its most powerful when it comes to our closest living relatives - the great apes. This book argues that whatever first impressions might tell us, apes are really not ''just like us''. Science has provided strong evidence that the boundaries between us and other species are vast. Unless we hold on to the belief in our exceptional abilities we will never be able to envision or build a better future - in which case, we might as well be monkeys.

In this book people speak about inner experiences in which they perceived themselves and the world so differently that they thought they were going mad. Experiences of existential voids, heights and depths, freezing wastes and silences, of pure energy, love and fear, oneness and chaos.

Columbanus ("The Dove of the Church"), not to be confused with his near-contemporary Columba of Iona, was a towering figure in the religious and political life of Europe in the Dark Ages. In this lively biography of the saint, Carol Richards evokes the violent and unstable age that laid the foundations for the achievements of the Middle Ages.

This second collection of essays for the Societas series by Tom Rubens continues the author's discussion of contemporary issues contained in "Progressive Secular Society" (Imprint Academic 2008).

The office of Prime Minister stands at the apex of the British political system. An understanding of this post is essential to all who are -- or aspire to be -- within government, or who observe it from outside. This book combines the methods of history and political science to produce theories of the development, nature and power of the premiership, and to explain the implications for present politicians and analysts. It is essential reading for for academics, students, journalists and all who are working in or interested in politics.

This book contains contributions to the convention on modern liberty organised by Open Democracy in London, 2009.

After nearly three and a half -- rather too exciting -- years as a young war-time sailor, Alan Peacock expected to return to a life of quiet contemplation. Instead he became an activist economist frequently engaged in controversies about the conduct of economic policy. This is his story.

The contributors discuss why character education is considered valuable, what character education is taken to mean, and identify and test hypotheses about various influences (schools, families, communities, employers) on the development of character through reporting on our research in UK schools, universities and businesses.

The author writes: In this project I set out to provide an answer to two fundamental questions of political philosophy. How can human beings live together, in conditions of co-operation over time, enjoying what Kant famously called 'perpetual peace'? And how much individual freedom can we expect?

The working hypothesis of this book is that the issue of leadership is neglected by mainstream democratic and liberal theories.

Siegfried J. Schmidt is closely associated in Germany with the cross-disciplinary research programme of Radical Constructivism. In Histories & Discourses he carries out a change of perspective from media and communication studies to studies of culture and the philosophy of language.

The selections in this volume illustrate Brown's original ideas about mental science, cause and effect, emotions and ethics. They are preceded by an introduction situating Brown's career and writings in their intellectual and historical context.

Before New Labour came to power and when even the prospect of reform of Britain's House of Lords was regarded with scepticism, the authors of this book developed the idea of selecting part of a new upper house by lot. This is a new edition of the original proposal.

Two essays, printed back to back in a single volume, offer complementary solutions to the democratic deficit in Britain and the USA.

Thomas Gataker was a disputatious Puritan divine. His The Nature and Uses of Lotteries (1627) was the first systematic exposition of a modern view of lotteries, not just as a form of gambling, but as a fair method of division.

This book marks the start of a daring new debate and re-introduces anti-democratic thought and practice to the academic discourse and into the syllabus. It wishes to offer a serious discussion of anti-democratic thought, rather than an apology of democracy.

A facsimile of 17th century polemical work, with a modern introduction.