First published in 1922, “Public Opinion” is the fascinating study of the role of citizens in a democracy by Walter Lippmann, an American writer, reporter and political commentator. Lippmann’s notable career spanned decades and produced some of the most important journalism in American history. He was the first to introduce the concept of the Cold War, received many awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, and wrote thousands of articles and colum ...
This treatise on political theory, originally published anonymously in 1748, has become one of the most influential works of political science ever written. French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu wrote this piece under the inspiration of such political theorists as Rene Descartes, Nicholas de Malebranche, and Niccolo Machiavelli. The ideas laid forth by Montesquieu in this work, especially that of balancing power among branches of government, ...
Published in 1960 under the name of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, “The Conscience of a Conservative” is a widely influential and important book on the American conservative political movement. While the book was published under Goldwater’s name, it was ghostwritten by L. Brent Bozell Jr., the brother-in-law of William F. Buckley and Goldwater’s speech writer in the 1950s. The book was instantly popular and catapulted Goldwater, a Senator from ...
This work contains two of Cicero’s most important political writings, “The Republic” and “The Laws”. In “The Republic”, or “On the Commonwealth”, Cicero crafts a Socratic dialogue in six books on the subject of Roman politics. Cicero discusses the history of Roman politics and its constitution, the role of justice in government, the types of constitutions, the role of education, and the ideal citizen in a republic. In “The Laws” we find another ...
Originally published in two parts in 1791 and 1792, “The Rights of Man” is Thomas Paine’s defense of the French Revolution in response to Edmund Burke’s criticism in “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” A classic work of The Age of Enlightenment, “The Rights of Man” contends that reason should be the foundation of authority and government. Paine argues that any government that fails to protect the natural rights of its citizens should be o ...
Thomas Paine, a seminal figure in American History, was an Englishman by birth who immigrated to America in 1774, where he quickly took up the cause of the independence of the American colonies from England. His famous work “Common Sense”, published in 1776, helped to gain public support for the American Revolution and established him as a central figure among the founding fathers. Later, while living in France during the French Revolution, Pain ...
Originally published in 1762, “The Social Contract” is Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s treatise on how to best organize politics in the face of commercial society. Rousseau writes, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.” This statement exemplifies the main dilemma of government, that despite mankind having an inherent natural right to freedom, modern, especially autocratic, governments had gone too far in restricting it. The question which R ...
Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, lived in the 4th century B.C. and is thought of as one of the most important figures from classical antiquity. Aristotle was probably the most famous member of Plato’s Academy in Athens, whose writings would ultimately form the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. His writings were not constrained to simply one field of inquiry but covered such various subjects as physics, biology, metaphy ...
