Introducing Government

This textbook, specially designed for the first-year undergraduate Government course at the University of Manchester, brings together some of the key writings and writers in contemporary political science. The 40 articles and extracts in the book are arranged in four parts. The first covers theories of politics and the meanings of "government", "state" and "democracy"; Parts 2 and 3 explore the workings of two western polities, those of Britain and the United States; and Part 4 assesses the central political narrative of the 20th century - the creation, growth, stagnation and collapse of the Soviet Union. Contributors include: Barry Holden, R.A. Dahl, Geraint Parry, Richard Rose, Anthony King, H. Heclo, Lester Salamon, R.C. Tucker, Alec Nove, David Lane, Mikhail Gorbachev and Stephen White. The book is a designed as a source of analytical comment on the central concerns of political science.