Political Man

Political Man
Author Seymour Martin Lipset
Country United States
Language English
Subject Political science
Publisher Doubleday & Company
Publication date
1960
Media type Hardback/paperback
Pages 477
ISBN 0-8018-2522-9
OCLC 7275560
306/.2 19
LC Class JC423 .L58 1981

Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics is an award winning political science book by Seymour Martin Lipset.[1]

The book is an influential analysis of the bases of democracy across the world. One of the important sections is Chapter 2: "Economic Development and Democracy." Larry Diamond and Gary Marks argue that "Lipset's assertion of a direct relationship between economic development and democracy has been subjected to extensive empirical examination, both quantitative and qualitative, in the past 30 years. And the evidence shows, with striking clarity and consistency, a strong causal relationship between economic development and democracy."[2]

The book sold more than 400,000 copies and was translated into 20 languages, including: Vietnamese, Bengali, and Serbo-Croatian.[3]

Contents

Chapter synopsis

Definition implies a political formula or body of beliefs specifying which institutions are legitimate (accepted as proper by the citizenry): e.g. parties, press, etc. Winners and losers vie for political office. Why needed? Conditions needed because if a political system is not characterized by a value system allowing the peaceful play of power, democracy can become chaotic.

References

Notes

  1. Lipset, Seymour Martin. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1960.
  2. Diamond, Larry and Gary Marks. Extension, a Journal of the Carl Albert Center, "Seymour Martin Lipset and the Study of Democracy," 1992. Last accessed: December 27, 2007.
  3. Diamond, Larry. Hoover Institution, "In Memoriam: Seymour Martin Lipset, 1922–2006: A Giant among Teachers," 2007. Last accessed: December 27, 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.