It presents the ideas, concepts, and doctrines of leading social scientists, philosophers, economists, and great personalities who influenced 20th century political thought and action.

Table of contents

In this distinguished work Arnold Brecht, who served under more than a dozen German Chancellors and whose work in defense of democracy received recognition by the Adenauer government in 1953, surveys the philosophical and scientific foundations of political theory in the twentieth century. His wide-ranging treatise sweeps over the entire scope of this century's contributions, including the philosophical, juridical, scientific, sociological, methodological, and historical. The book is a pioneering effort toward an integrated presentation, a first attempt to offer a comprehensive modern political theory. The aim is both a systematic presentation and a full description of the recent genesis of thought. The pertinent teachings of representative writers-some from the past (from Hume and Kant to Darwin, Mill, and Marx) and most of the present century (from Peirce, James, Simmel, and Weber to Husserl, Dewey, Lasswell, Northrop, and Fuller) are analyzed. Dr. Brecht incorporates, chapter by chapter, his own contributions. Social scientists, philosophers, lawyers, and students of religion will find it a challenging guide, written with penetrating clarity and rich in fruitful suggestions. Originally published in 1959. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

First Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Germany, as Europe's most powerful state, has a political significance which underlines the importance of twentieth-century German political thought. Yet this tradition has been poorly represented in academic literature. This book offers: * an account of German political thought emphasising its diversity and contested nature * an overview of the subject that allows access to relatively unknown figures as well as the 'names' of the tradition (Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, Habermas) * a demonstration of the political significance of figures better known in other disciplines including law and sociology The book is organised chronologically, with a series of recurrent themes providing analytic unity: (i) the nature of politics (including political vocation and leadership, and definitions of politics), (ii) collective identity, (iii) the rule of law, (iv) the role of the state, (v) the role of political parties and the nature of parliamentary democracy, (vi) state intervention in society and the economy, and (vii) the international order. Pedagogical features include a glossary of German terms and a substantial set of biographical notes identifying the major theorists referred to in the text.

This volume provides an outstanding survey of the major political philosophers of the twentieth century.

DIVThis book is the first major account of political thought in twentieth-century Europe, both West and East, to appear since the end of the Cold War. Skillfully blending intellectual, political, and cultural history, Jan-Werner Müller elucidates the ideas that shaped the period of ideological extremes before 1945 and the liberalization of West European politics after the Second World War. He also offers vivid portraits of famous as well as unjustly forgotten political thinkers and the movements and institutions they inspired. Müller pays particular attention to ideas advanced to justify fascism and how they relate to the special kind of liberal democracy that was created in postwar Western Europe. He also explains the impact of the 1960s and neoliberalism, ending with a critical assessment of today's self-consciously post-ideological age./div

Politics without Vision takes up the thought of seven influential thinkers, each of whom attempted to construct a political solution to this problem: Nietzsche, Weber, Freud, Lenin, Schmitt, Heidegger, and Arendt. None of these theorists were liberals nor, excepting possibly Arendt, were they democrats—and some might even be said to have served as handmaidens to totalitarianism. And all to a greater or lesser extent shared the common conviction that the institutions and practices of liberalism are inadequate to the demands and stresses of the present times. In examining their thought, Strong acknowledges the political evil that some of their ideas served to foster but argues that these were not necessarily the only paths their explorations could have taken. By uncovering the turning points in their thought—and the paths not taken—Strong strives to develop a political theory that can avoid, and perhaps help explain, the mistakes of the past while furthering the democratic impulse.

This volume contains many of the most important texts in western political and social thought from the sixteenth to the end of the nineteenth century. A number of key works, including Machiavelli’s The Prince, Locke’s Second Treatise, and Rousseau’s The Social Contract, are included in their entirety. Alongside these central readings are a diverse range of texts from authors such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Sojourner Truth, and Henry David Thoreau. The editors have made every effort to include translations that are both readable and reliable. Each selection has been painstakingly annotated, and each figure is given a substantial introduction highlighting his or her major contributions within the tradition. The result is a ground-breaking anthology with unparalleled pedagogical benefits.

Contemporary political theory has become alienated from politics. It often neither discusses concrete political events nor touches the world of political action. Stephen Eric Bronner wants to change that, and Ideas in Action takes a bold step in that direction. With elegance and power, Bronner surveys 20th century political traditions. In the process, he places theories and thinkers in their social, historical, and political contexts. His sweeping presentation is organized into four imaginatively articulated phases that signal the direction of political thinking in the twentieth century. Offering distinctive interpretations and criticisms, presenting a new internationalist perspective, Bronner imbues the text with original voices and primary sources from Adorno to Zetkin.