political science question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn. Is democracy preferable to other political systems? Why? Provide examples 1. Length – at least 3 pa

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POLITICSTHE BASICS4TH EDITIONThis highly successful introduction to the world of politics has been fullyrevised and updated in collaboration with a new co-author, Nigel Jackson ofthe University of Plymouth. The new edition builds on the reputation forclarity and comprehensive coverage of the previous editions. It explores thevarieties of political systems, the main political movements and key issues atthe beginning of the twenty-first century.New to the fourth edition:?comparison of quantitative and qualitative methods?more international examples?greater discussion of non-Western concepts of politics?the problem of voter apathy and lack of trust in politicians?more discussion of the ?war on terrorism?extended analysis of the role of the Internet in politics including blogs,search engine censorship and e-democracy?analysis of further key concepts such as genocide and policy networks?more links to web pages including case studies, further questions toexplore and additional learning activities.Accessible in style and topical in content, this book assumes no prior know-ledge of politics. These features make it ideal reading for general readers aswell as for those who are just beginning to study politics at undergraduatelevel.SStteepphheenn DD.. TTaannsseeyyhas taught Politics at the universities of Ife (Nigeria),Exeter and Bournemouth, for the Open University and the WEA. He is theauthor of Business, Information Technology and Society(also published byRoutledge).NNiiggeell JJaacckkssoonnhas worked as a parliamentary agent for a UK political party,for an MP and as a parliamentary lobbyist. Teaching at the University ofPlymouth, his research interests are in political communication and politicalmarketing, especially online.
Also available from RoutledgeTHE ROUTLEDGE DICTIONARY OF POLITICSDAVID ROBERTSONFIFTY MAJOR POLITICAL THINKERS(SECOND EDITION)IAN ADAMS AND R.W. DYSONFIFTY KEY FIGURES IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITISH POLITICSKEITH LAYBOURNFIFTY KEY THINKERS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSMARTIN GRIFFITHSINTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THE KEY CONCEPTSMARTIN GRIFFITHS AND TERRY OCALLAGHANTHE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO FASCISM AND THE FAR RIGHTPETER DAVIES AND DEREK LYNCHINTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: THE BASICSPETER SUTCH AND JUANITA ELIAS
POLITICSTHE BASICS4TH EDITIONstephen d. tansey and nigel jackson
First edition published 1995Second edition published 2000Third edition published 2004Fourth edition, 2008by Routledge2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RNSimultaneously published in the USA and Canadaby Routledge270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa? 1995, 2000, 2004 Stephen D. Tansey; 2008 Stephen D. Tansey and NigelJacksonWe, Stephen Douglas Tansey and Nigel Jackson, hereby assert and give noticeto our right under section 77 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988, tobe identified as the authors of this work.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced orutilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, nowknown or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in anyinformation storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing fromthe publishers.British Library Cataloguing in Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryLibrary of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataTansey, Stephen D., 1942?Politics : the basics / Stephen D. Tansey and Nigel Jackson. ? 4th ed.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.1. Political science. I. Jackson, Nigel A. II. Title.JA66.T35 2008320?dc22 2007038803ISBN 10: 0?415?42243?4 (hbk)ISBN 10: 0?415?42244?2 (pbk)ISBN 10: 0?203?92919?5 (ebk)ISBN 13: 978?0?415?42243?7 (hbk)ISBN 13: 978?0?415?42244?4 (pbk)ISBN 13: 978?0?203?92919?3 (ebk)This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library,2008.To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledgescollection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.?ISBN 0-203-92919-5 Mastere-bookISBN
TO THE NEXT GENERATION ? ESPECIALLY ELIOT, TOBY, FREYA AND JAKE

CONTENTS List of illustrationsxiPrefacexiiiAcknowledgementsxix1Politics1This chapter …1Politics in everyday life1What is politics?3Approaches to the study of politics7Traditional scholarship9Social science and politics12Schools of political science15Theories, models, paradigms18Radical and postmodernist criticism19Conclusion23Recommended reading23Websites242Systems26This chapter …26States and societies26Politics without the state: tribal societies27Feudalism31States without nations: kingdoms33States without nations: empires36Nations and states38The nation state and sovereignty39
Politics between states40Politics beyond the state: international institutions41Multinational enterprises and ?globalisation42Politics as a universal activity47Recommended reading48Websites483Concepts50This chapter …50Human nature and politics50Is the state necessary?52Why should i obey the state?54The nature of authority56What is justice?57Individualism versus collectivism60Rights: natural, human, legal61Equality62Positive and negative freedom64Analysing political concepts65Recommended reading67Websites684Ideologies69This chapter …69Ideology69?Right versus ?left71The old right: monarchism72The radical right: Nazism and fascism74Marxism76Leninism and Stalinism77Other Marxisms79Radicalism81Radical theism ? Catholic, Protestant and Islamic81Ecology as political radicalism84Feminism as political radicalism86Liberalism89Conservatism92Thatcherism and neo-conservatism94Christian democracy95Socialism and social democracy97Communitarianism and the ?third way99Recommended reading101Websites102viiiCONTENTS
5Processes103This chapter …103Political identity103Political socialisation and political culture104Localism, nationalism, religion and ethnicity107Racial and ethnic conflict110Dominance, assimilation and social pluralism112Elites, classes and political pluralism114Political change117Coups détatand revolutions120Terror and terrorism121Class conflict in the twenty-first century123Post-industrial politics: the information polity?125?North versus ?South?129Conclusion133Recommended reading134Websites1346States136This chapter …136Types of state136Democracy, the welfare state and the market139Forms of representative democracy142Military autocracy146Civil autocracy148Totalitarian governments150Nazi government151Soviet government152Islamic government ? breaking the mould?153Multi-level government155European political institutions159Local government164Conclusion168Recommended reading168Websites1697Democracy170This chapter …170How can government be ?democratic?170Participation and direct democracy171Choosing rulers173Electoral systems173The executive175CONTENTSix
The legislature177The judiciary179Constitutions and constitutionalism181Rights and constitutions182Pluralist policy making185Corporatism186Centralisation187Political communication189Political parties191?Spin and political marketing193The permanent campaign194Interest groups195The mass media197The Internet202Democracy and communication204Recommended reading204Websites2068Policies209This chapter …209Public policy problems and solutions209The choice of social decision-making mechanisms210The case for the market212Problems of market decision making213Voluntary organisation215Rational policy making: bureaucracy217Problems with ?rational policy making220Incremental decision making222The policy process224Implementing public policy225Managing local public policy228Multi-level governance229Evaluating public policy231Monitoring performance in public policy232Evaluating policy outcomes: the distribution of wealth and income234The political policy-making process236A crisis in democratic politics?237Taking political action238Recommended reading239Websites240Appendix: sources on politics241References249Index267xCONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONSFIGURES4.1Classifying ideologies738.1Levels of inter-organisational bargaining2278.2Managing local public service provision229BOXES1.1Definitions of ?politics and ?power41.2Assessing the use of methodology in politics232.1Definition of ?state272.2Definitions of globalisation462.3Globalisation ? challenges to the nation state463.1Definitions of anarchism523.2Justice593.3Concepts of equality: summary633.4Definitions of freedom644.1Ideology as a political concept715.1Definitions of political socialisation1055.2Political culture1055.3Propositions from pluralist, elite and Marxist models of power1165.4North v South: a major fault line in international relations?1325.5Major political divisions1336.1Republican, autocratic and totalitarian states1376.2Capitalism1406.3The welfare state1416.4Forms of representative democracy142
6.5The principle of subsidiarity1576.6Relations between levels of government1587.1Political parties1917.2Pressure or interest groups1958.1Choice of social decision-making mechanism2118.2Webers characteristics of bureaucracy2188.3A rational?comprehensive model of decision making2198.4Why organisations are not always rational2208.5Hogwood and Gunns model of the policy process2248.6Ten principles for reinventing government2308.7The 3 ?Es: efficiency; economy; effectiveness232TABLES1.1Major contemporary approaches to politics102.1Multinationals and countries compared434.1Attitudes to gender differences885.1(a)Typical socialisation research findings: attitudes to president1065.1(b)Typical socialisation research findings: most popularly used sources of information about foreign people1065.2Typical research findings: political culture1075.3Summary: critics of pluralism1175.4From public administration to information polity1296.1The trend to democracy, 1974?20001396.2Parliamentary versus presidential systems1437.1Political marketing and New Labour1948.1Marketable wealth in Britain2348.2World population below international poverty line (2001)235xiiILLUSTRATIONS
PREFACEWHO THE BOOK IS FOR ? AND WHAT IT IS ABOUTThis book is designed as a basic introduction to twenty-first centurypolitics. We do not claim to be able to predict with certainty thepolitical shape of the new century. However, it is already clear thatmany of the old perspectives of superpower rivalry and class andideological warfare which dominated the era of the Cold War seem tobe of reduced relevance. Issues such as ecology, new technology,Islam, terrorism, feminism and the role of what used to be describedas the Third World (referred to as ?the South in this book) are likelyto move to centre stage. An introduction to politics that takes aparochial single-country approach no longer seems sensible in an eraof increased international interdependence.The readers we have in mind are without a systematic knowledgeof, or rigid attitudes towards, politics. This book is intended both toenable such readers to make up their minds about politics and tounderstand more about the academic discipline of politics (or, as it ismore grandly described in the United States, ?political science). Inparticular, pre-university students, whether or not they have studiedpolitics at school, have found this book a useful indication of theground covered by university courses. The book has also been founduseful for undergraduates beginning courses in politics. It has alsoformed the basis of short subsidiary courses in politics at under-graduate, postgraduate and extra-mural level. However, we hope thatopen-minded and intelligent older and younger readers alike will also
find much of interest in this approach. Nor would we have anyobjection to the occasional practising politician quarrying somethinguseful from the work!We have not taken the view that a ?social scientific approachrequires the assumption of an attitude of detachment from thepolitics of the day. But neither have we tried to sell a short-termpolitical programme. The approach here is to search for long-termprinciples that can help guide political actions. ?Politics has beentaken to mean the essential human activity of deciding how to livetogether in communities. This activity has been put in a long-termand wide geographical context. Frequent reference has been made toboth Europe as a whole and the United States as well as to the UnitedKingdom. The focus is on the relatively prosperous industrialisedcountries of the ?West, but this cannot be detached from those of therest of the world. In considering such an ambitious agenda we havedrawn extensively on the work of many academics, whose ideas havein many cases already been borrowed (often in caricatured form) bypoliticians.In a book designed to help readers make up their own minds aboutpolitics, no attempt has been made to hide the authors liberal andsocially progressive point of view. This has inevitably been reflectedin such matters as the choice of topics for discussion. But it is hoped togive a fair representation of all other major points of view and to givean indication of where the reader can find accessible versions ofalternative perspectives.HOW THE BOOK IS ORGANISEDThe book begins with a discussion of the nature of politics and thevariety of academic approaches to its understanding. Chapter 2illustrates the variety of contexts in which political activity takesplace. Chapters 3 and 4 then survey competing ideas about the aimsof that political activity.The final four chapters of the book consider in more detail whatand how political decisions are reached. Chapter 5 covers what kindsof decisions are made and how political systems change. Chapter 6reviews the variety of different states. Chapter 7 focuses on howmodern democracies make their decisions. Finally, considering morespecifically some particular areas of public policy making, thexivPREFACE
limitations of public policy-making processes and the role of indivi-duals in politics are discussed in Chapter 8.The book is not divided up in the same way that many politicscourses are into sub-disciplinary areas. But, in these terms, Chapter 1is about methodology, chapters 3 and 4 are mainly political theory, 2and 5 mainly political sociology, chapters 6 and 7 are mainly politicalinstitutions/comparative government and Chapter 8 public policyand administration.To assist users of the previous editions of the book, it may behelpful to point out the major innovations in the fourth edition.These are:?explicit treatment of the need for political theories and comparisonof quantitative and qualitative methods in Chapter 1;?decline in the partisan interpretation of politics is stressed inChapter 1;?some more specific definitions of globalisation in Chapter 2;?continued emphasis on the implicit message that Western demo-cratic politics should not be assumed to be the norm in Chapter 2;?a discussion of genocide in Chapter 3;?revision of the discussions of ideology and the Third Way inChapter 4;?more discussion of the ?war on terrorism, in Chapter 5;?linking of the discussion of representative democracy to the ideasof Burke;?updated discussion of the role of the Internet to refer to blogs ande-democracy;?analysis of the permanent campaign with more on spin and inter-national politics;?two new sections in Chapter 8 on changes in the political policyprocess and the crisis of modern democracy. This has been put inthe context of the US/UK axis on the market economy as opposedto the French/German more statist approach;?Each chapter now ends with a list of useful websites, as well asrecommended reading.This new edition, in addition to obvious changes following suchdevelopments as the departure as prime minister of Tony Blair inBritain and developments in the ?war on terror, has also been furtherPREFACExv
amended to strengthen its international references both for the bene-fit of its many international readers (including readers of editions inPolish and Chinese) and to counter the parochialism of many intro-ductory courses and books in Britain.At all times the intention is to assist readers to make up theirminds about issues, rather than to argue for some predeterminedconclusion.HOW TO USE THIS BOOKThere are many ways to attempt to introduce students to a discipline,and in this book we have chosen to concentrate on introducing someof the major arguments within politics and the concepts associatedwith them. Logically we have begun with the methodology andboundaries of a discipline. Complete novices to the subject may findthis introductory chapter of limited interest at first and can be for-given for skipping through the second half of the chapter on initialreading.Students already started on a politics course should find that thisbroader perspective on their studies stimulates more thought thanmany more detailed and limited textbooks. It should prove usefulespecially at the beginning of such courses and by way of revision atthe end. It is also intended to help those contemplating such coursesto decide if politics is the appropriate subject for them. By encour-aging an evaluation of the readers own political position andevaluating many basic political concepts as part of a sustainedargument, we hope to encourage a critical and individual approachwhich is more valuable than a more ?factual approach both in theexamination room and in practice.The Appendix on ?Sources on politics will be found useful inlocating additional material in an academic or public library, includ-ing the use of newer electronic information sources. Many years ofexperience teaching at this level have shown that most studentsgreatly underestimate the library resources they have available.References are organised on the Harvard system so that a date incurved brackets after an authors name indicates a full entry in theReferences section at the end of the book. Such dates normallyindicate the edition used by the author for references but the latestedition for items recommended for further reading. Readers new toxviPREFACE
the Harvard system should note that the date of the edition used isnot necessarily an indication of the date of composition ? especially inthe case of older and translated works. In addition to the References,each chapter is followed by some recommendations for suitablefurther reading. Pairs of dates in square brackets after a personsname indicate dates of birth and death ? approximate in the case ofearly figures.A feature of the book which readers should find particularly usefulis the definition of key concepts found in boxes at intervals in the textand indexed in initials at the end. Students will quickly find that anywork they submit which does not clearly define its terms will obtainan unfriendly reception, and, conversely, such definitions contributegreatly to clear analysis and communication.PREFACExvii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSFinally a word of thanks to students on various politics and publicsector management and public relations courses at Plymouth, Exeterand Bournemouth universities, and with the Workers EducationalAssociation (WEA), for their comments and suggestions on thismaterial.In addition to the help from colleagues and friends acknowledgedin earlier editions, this latest edition has also benefited from usefulcomments and suggestions from a number of readers, and the work ofour editor at Routledge, Craig Fowlie and production editor AbigailHumphries has been much appreciated. The blame for infelicities anderrors remains, of course, with us.

POLITICSTHIS CHAPTER …discusses what politics is and the ways in which scholars haveattempted to understand it. The first serious professional studentsand teachers (Greeks such as Plato [427?347 BC]and Aristotle[384?322 BC]) made politics the centre of the curriculum. In thetwenty-first century academics are still seeking to explain politics?scientifically. This chapter discusses the meaning, importance andproblems of such an enterprise.POLITICS IN EVERYDAY LIFEIs the study of politics a sensible activity? Any watcher of tele-vision news can see that democracies vary in apparent effectiveness,equality and longevity, from peaceful and egalitarian regimes as inSwitzerland and Sweden, through the controversial case of theUnited States of America, to apparently fragile new democracies inEastern Europe and Latin America. Dictatorships seem to thrive atone time like the former Soviet Union, sending the first satellite intospace and dominating half the world, only to crumble away as theresult of forces which few seemed able to predict. There are timeswhen it is difficult not to sympathise with the view that such matters1
are both out of the control and beyond the understanding of ordinarypeople. Yet we have seen ordinary people bravely dismantling regimeswhich seemed immovable, and dying for abstract ideas about politics:thousands of Bosnians and Albanians ?ethnically cleansed in thename of Serbian national identity in the former Yugoslavia; tens ofthousands of ordinary citizens protesting in the Ukraine which led tothe Orange Revolution. It seems wrong in the face of such evidence ofthe capacity of ordinary people to effect, and be affected by, politicalchange not to consider both the nature of political institutions andwhat action we should take in relation to them.Leaving aside the dramatic examples of political action and changein faraway places, it is worth examining our own lives and the impactof politics upon them. Suppose you are an 18-year-old living in the United Kingdom,working at a McDonalds, and hoping for a university place in theautumn. Waking up you may realise that the government (strictlyParliament) has legislated to convert what was a local time of 6:33 orso (depending on the latitude) to 7:30. Turning on the local radiostation (whose franchise was granted by a QUANGO (quasi autono-mous national (or non-) governmental organisation) you may heartheweather forecast from the government-financed MeteorologicalOffice. After hearing several CD tracks (payment of royalties to theauthors and performers must be made by law by the radio station),you drag yourself out of bed (legally mattress materials must be non-flammable), down to your cornflakes (ingredients listed on packet indue form by another law). If you unwisely reach for a cigarette, thegovernment (/European Union) has both insisted on a healthwarning on the packet and taken a large rake-off in the form of tax. Without going through every minute of your day, it is clear thatgovernment is likely to be affecting almost every one of them insimilar ways (air quality, trafficregulations, employment law ? fillout the story yourself).The bigger issues are, of course, affected in the same way. Can youafford to go to university? What bursaries and loans are available, orfees payable, as a result of government policy? How many places hasthe government financed in universities? How many other studentshave been educated by the state educational system to universityentry level? If, on the other hand, you are unable to make it to2POLITICS
university, then your prospects for permanent employment willdepend upon the governments management of the economy. Pros-pects for continued employment with McDonalds are dependent on,among other things, government policy towards foreign companiesand the extent and effectiveness of health education campaigns!Sofar we have only considered you and the government. Supposeon reaching the kitchen your father snaps at you: ?Cant you clear upthe beer glasses and pizza cartons you and your friends littered theplace with last night? Arguably this is a political situation too.Within the family, fathers are sometimes thought to have ?authority?some sort of legitimate power over children. As an 18-year-old, youmight react to the speech as an assertion of authority and react backnegatively on the grounds that you are no longer a child to be givenorders. Conversely, your father may merely feel that in a communityall should play their part and clear up their own mess. But in any caseif he wants you to clear up and you do not, this can be seen as a clashof wills in which only one can prevail.Similarly when you arrive at McDonalds it may well be you havediscovered that the assistant manager (who is in charge in the absenceof the manager on holiday) is busy establishing in the eyes of the areamanager that he can do a better job than his boss. Here we have astruggle for power in which people within the organisation may takesides (form factions as political scientists might say) ? in short,organisational politics is being practised.It soon becomes clear that ?politics is used in at least two senses,both of which are immediately relevant to everyones everydayexperience. In the narrowest conventional (dictionary) usage ? whatgovernments do ? politics is affecting us intimately, day by day, andhour by hour. In the wider sense ? people exercising power overothers ? it is part of all sorts of social relationships, be they kinship,occupational, religious or cultural.WHAT IS POLITICS? If we try to define ?politics more formally and precisely, we run intothe sort of problems which will be found to recur again and again inthis book. It is actually quite tricky to define concepts in scientificdisciplines like physics and chemistry, but if you do so, you are not solikely to be accused immediately of failing to understand the problem,POLITICS3
of lacking scientific objectivity or of making unwarranted assump-tions, as is a writer on politics. One of the problems is associated withwhether we are talking about politics as a human activity or politics asan academic activity ? or, in American terminology, politics orpolitical science. The search for truth about how human beingsexercise power might be thought to be completely separate fromactually seeking to exercise that power. But in practice, as we shallsee, political ideas are some of the most important weapons in thepoliticians armoury. Attempts to ignore this are either naive or,quite frequently, a deliberate attempt to present a controversial poli-tical ideology as an indisputable political fact. Inthis light it is worth considering rather critically the impli-cations of some of the standard academic definitions of politics and ofpower (Box 1.1).BOX 1.1DEFINITIONS OF ?POLITICS AND ?POWER4POLITICSPoliticsThe science and art of government; the science dealing with the form,organisation and administration of a state or a part of one, and withthe regulation of its relations with other states.(Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)… a way of ruling divided societies by a process of free discussion andwithout undue violence.(Bernard Crick, 2000)…who gets what, when, how.(H. Lasswell, 1936)… man moving man.(Bertrand de Jouvenal, 1963) … the authoritative allocation of value.(David Easton, 1979)
The definitions in Box 1.1 show very considerable differences,reflecting the viewpoint of the author. Most political scientistsdefinitions of politics are much broader in scope than the first,dictionary, definition which focuses on the state (although admittedly?part of a state could be interpreted widely). In effect they largelyendorse the view suggested above: that politics is about the socialexercise of power, rather than just the state. However, this mayreflect the natural ?imperialism of academics on behalf of their owndiscipline. Sociologists might argue that ?man moving man would bemore appropriate as a definition of their concerns.Consider also, though, the unit of analysis, in terms of which thesedefinitions are couched. Weber, Lasswell and de Jouvenal appear tobe thinking primarily in terms of individuals exercising power, Crickand Parsons focus upon whole societies, the Shorter Oxford EnglishDictionarytalks about governments, whilst Poulantzas views classesas the primary political ?actor. This reflects a split between indivi-dualistic and collectivist theories which will be discussed in greaterdetail in Chapter 3.POLITICS5Power… the production of intended effects.(Bertrand Russell, 1938)… the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be inaposition to carry out his own will despite resistance regardless of thebasis on which the probability arises.(Max Weber, in Gerth and Mills, 1948)… the capacity to mobilize the resources of society for the attainmentof goals for which a general public commitment … may be made.(Talcott Parsons, 1957)… the capacity of a social class to realise its specific objectiveinterests.(Nicos Poulantzas, 1973)
Another contrast in these definitions is that between what hasbeen described as ?zero-sum and ?non-zero-sum theories of politics.This terminology is derived from the mathematical theory of games.Azero-sum game is the usual sort of game, such as chess, in which awin by one player is, by definition, a loss on the part of the opposingplayer or players. There is a fixed amount of ?winnings which meansthat the gains of one side are, by definition, losses to the other.Obviously many politicians, and political scientists, see politics thisway. Thus Weber and (implicitly) Lasswell both seem to suggest thatthe political success of one individual may well be at the expense ofothers who oppose them. It is also a feature of Marxist theories, likethat of Poulantzas, that the interests of classes are opposed and aregained at the expense of each other.However, not all games are of this sort ? for instance in collectivemake-believe childrens games, new themes introduced by one playercan enrich the enjoyment of the game for everyone ? in a game ofCowboys versus Indians, the introduction of Aliens may lead toeveryone having a better time. There is not a fixed amount of?winnings, but by co-operation both sides can achieve more. In asimilar way, Parsons explicitly argues that, by co-operation, differentgroups in society can each obtain greater benefits than would be thecase if they work in competition. This view seems to fit well withcontemporary emphasis in many parts of the Western world on thepractice of mainstream politicians seeking to build coalitions, whichinvolves compromise. Thus different theories place radically differentemphasis on consensus (agreement) and conflict in their theories ofpolitics. There is a growing sense that politics in the established Westerndemocracies is struggling. This unease has been referred to as ademocratic deficit, political alienation or civic disillusionment. Thepossible explanations for such changes are examined by Gerry Stoker(2006), but the argument is that citizens have been increasingly?turned off by traditional political behaviour, such as voting in elec-tions. This has manifested itself in a decline in partisanship, or alessening sense of identifying with key political actors and structures.It has been suggested that increasingly politically active citizens haveignored the coalitions and compromises offered by the existingpolitical elite, and have instead turned to single-issue pressure groupactivity. But does this apparent decline in traditional partisan 6POLITICS
electoral politics in some countries necessarily indicate a decline inthe importance of politics?The authors sympathies lie with Maurice Duverger (1972: 19)who argues, ?The two-faced god, Janus, is the true image of power. Inother words, both conflict and consensus are essential elements to thecreation of a political situation. The imposition of one persons orgroups interests on another by force and without any element ofconsent seems far from what most people understand by ?politics, as Crick (2000) argues. On the other hand, a situation (perhapsunlikely) in which a group in total agreement (as to goals andmethods), proceeds to achieve more and more of its objectives doesnot sounds like a political process either. Thus ?politics encompasses a broad range of situations in whichpeoples objectives vary, but in which they work together to achievethose aims they have in common

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