Nigel Jackson - Politics: The Basics

POLITICS

THE BASICS

Now in its fifth edition, Politics: The Basics explores the systems, movements and issues at the cutting edge of modern politics. A highly successful introduction to the world of politics, it offers clear and concise coverage of a range of issues and addresses fundamental questions such as:

Why does politics matter?

Why obey the state?

What are the key approaches to power?

How are political decisions made?

What are the current issues affecting governments worldwide?

Accessible in style and topical in content, the fifth edition has been fully restructured to reflect core issues, systems and movements that are at the centre of modern politics and international relations. Assuming no prior knowledge in politics, it is ideal reading for anyone approaching the study of politics for the first time.

Nigel A. Jackson has worked as a parliamentary agent for a UK political party, for an MP and as a parliamentary lobbyist. Teaching at the University of Plymouth, his research interests are in political communication and political marketing, especially online.

Stephen D. Tansey has taught Politics at the universities of Ife, Nigeria, Bournemouth, Exeter, and the Open University, UK, as well as for the WEA. He is the author of Business, Information Technology and Society (2002). He currently leads a Philosophy Workshop for University of the Third Age, Poole, UK.

THE BASICS

ACTING

BELLA MERLIN

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY

NANCY STANLICK

ANCIENT NEAR EAST

DANIEL C. SNELL

ANTHROPOLOGY

PETER METCALF

ARCHAEOLOGY (SECOND EDITION)

CLIVE GAMBLE

ART HISTORY

GRANT POOKE AND DIANA NEWALL

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

KEVIN WARWICK

THE BIBLE

JOHN BARTON

BIOETHICS

ALASTAIR V. CAMPBELL

BUDDHISM

CATHY CANTWELL

THE CITY

KEVIN ARCHER

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

SUMAN GUPTA

CRIMINAL LAW

JONATHAN HERRING

CRIMINOLOGY (SECOND EDITION)

SANDRA WALKLATE

DANCE STUDIES

JO BUTTERWORTH

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY

VICTORIA S. HARRISON

ECONOMICS (THIRD EDITION)

TONY CLEAVER

EDUCATION

KAY WOOD

ENERGY

MICHAEL SCHOBERT

EUROPEAN UNION (SECOND EDITION)

ALEX WARLEIGH-LACK

EVOLUTION

SHERRIE LYONS

FILM STUDIES (SECOND EDITION)

AMY VILLAREJO

FINANCE (SECOND EDITION)

ERIK BANKS

FREE WILL

MEGHAN GRIFFITH

GENDER

HILARY LIPS

GLOBAL MIGRATION

BERNADETTE HANLON AND THOMAS VICINIO

HUMAN GENETICS

RICKI LEWIS

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

ANDREW JONES

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

PETER SUTCH AND JUANITA ELIAS

ISLAM (SECOND EDITION)

COLIN TURNER

JOURNALISM STUDIES

MARTIN CONBOY

JUDAISM

JACOB NEUSNER

LANGUAGE (SECOND EDITION)

R.L. TRASK

LAW

GARY SLAPPER AND DAVID KELLY

LITERARY THEORY (THIRD EDITION)

HANS BERTENS

LOGIC

J.C. BEALL

MANAGEMENT

MORGEN WITZEL

MARKETING (SECOND EDITION)

KARL MOORE AND NIKETH PAREEK

MEDIA STUDIES

JULIAN MCDOUGALL

METAPHYSICS

MICHAEL REA

THE OLYMPICS

ANDY MIAH AND BEATRIZ GARCIA

PHILOSOPHY (FIFTH EDITION)

NIGEL WARBURTON

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

JOSEPH HOLDEN

POETRY (SECOND EDITION)

JEFFREY WAINWRIGHT

PUBLIC RELATIONS

RON SMITH

THE QURAN

MASSIMO CAMPANINI

RACE AND ETHNICITY

PETER KIVISTO AND PAUL R. CROLL

RELIGION (SECOND EDITION)

MALORY NYE

RELIGION AND SCIENCE

PHILIP CLAYTON

RESEARCH METHODS

NICHOLAS WALLIMAN

ROMAN CATHOLICISM

MICHAEL WALSH

SEMIOTICS (SECOND EDITION)

DANIEL CHANDLER

SHAKESPEARE (THIRD EDITION)

SEAN MCEVOY

SOCIAL WORK

MARK DOEL

SOCIOLOGY

KEN PLUMMER

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

JANICE WEARMOUTH

STANISLAVSKI

ROSE WHYMAN

SUBCULTURES

ROSS HAENFLER

TELEVISION STUDIES

TOBY MILLER

TERRORISM

JAMES LUTZ AND BRENDA LUTZ

THEATRE STUDIES (SECOND EDITION)

ROBERT LEACH

WOMENS STUDIES

BONNIE SMITH

WORLD HISTORY

PETER N. STEARNS

POLITICS

THE BASICS

TH EDITION

Nigel A. Jackson and Stephen D. Tansey

Fifth edition published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2015 Nigel A. Jackson and Stephen D. Tansey

The right of Nigel A. Jackson and Stephen D. Tansey to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published 1995
Fourth edition published 2008

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-415-84141-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-84142-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-75473-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo
by Taylor & Francis Books

To the next generation especially Eliot, Toby, Jon,Sam, Mike, Emma, Freya and Jake.

This book is designed as a basic introduction to twenty-first-century politics. We do not claim to be able to predict with certainty the political shape of the new century. However, it is already clear that many of the old perspectives of superpower rivalry and ideological warfare which dominated the Cold War seem to be of reduced relevance. Issues such as ecology, new technology, Islam, terrorism and the role of the what used to be described as the Third World (referred to as the South in this book) are likely to move to centre stage. An introduction to politics that takes a parochial single-country approach no longer seems sensible in an era of increased international interdependence.