num_pages: 231
description: Broad in scope yet sharply focused, Government and Politics in the Twentieth Century provides a study in depth of democracy and totalitarianism. A new approach to the comparative analysis of governments, it draws on the experiences of both the older and the developing nations to offer a realistic assessment of the future of democracy.The first edition in 1961 was applauded by The Economist as "intelligent and useful ... not the least for its insistence that democracy can be of many kinds."Now revised and largely rewritten, the book has been selected by the Open University as an essential text for Understanding Society, their course in the Social Sciences. It thus plays a valuable part in the most important development since the war in higher education–which will now be opened to the many thousands of people who do not have the opportunity for a traditional university degree.The authors, eminent political scientists and co-authors of the widely used text Major Foreign Powers, clearly define and differentiate between the structures of democratic and totalitarian institutions. They examine the of ideologies, the impact of hte Cold War, the problems of political leadership, and the interrelation of national and international politics. Their examination of government in contemporary society carefully appraises the appeal - and the limitations - of the traditional forms of democracy and totalitarianism, recognizing that in the recent years many of the younger nations have drawn upon the ideas and practices of both in order to create a working form of government suitable to their individual needs. Keenly aware of the inability of democracy to furnish ready-made answers to all the problems of the emergent nations, Professors Carter and Herz have nonetheless written an eloquent affirmation of the resilience, adaptability, and durability of democratic government.
language: English
title: Government and Politics in the Twentieth Century
publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd