Book reviews
Book Review: What Works: Gender Equality By Design by Iris Bohnet
How might we tackle institutionalised gender inequalities? In What Works: Gender Equality by Design, Iris Bohnet advocates systemic interventions focused on de-biasing environments rather than individuals. Employing a behavioural design approach, the book serves both as a clear indication of where we currently stand and a guide as to how, institution by institution, we can nudge ourselves […]
Book Review: Uninformed: Why People Know So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It by Arthur Lupia
Are citizens fundamentally uninformed – or even misinformed – when it comes to questions of politics and government? In Uninformed: Why People Knows So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It, Arthur Lupia tackles the issue of political ignorance by arguing that rather than simply seeking to provide greater information to the […]
Book Review: Publics and Their Health Systems: Rethinking Participation by Ellen Stewart
Drawing on a detailed case study of Scotland’s National Health Service, Publics and Their Health Systems: Rethinking Participation is a novel contribution to the growing academic engagement with the institutionalisation of public participation as a routine feature of governance. Author Ellen Stewart offers a ‘citizen’s-eye view’ of the Scottish health system, challenging dominant policy narratives by […]
Book Review: Social Policy in a Cold Climate: Policies and their Consequences Since the Crisis edited by Ruth Lupton et al
Launched at LSE by CASE, in Social Policy in a Cold Climate: Policies and their Consequences Since the Crisis editors Ruth Lupton et al analyse the impact of recent Labour and Coalition government policies on inequality and the provision of key services, including health, education, housing and employment, since 2007. This volume particularly highlights the different iterations and […]
Book Review: Undoing Ties: Political Philosophy at the Waning of the State by Mariano Croce and Andrea Salvatore
If the state is in decline, what are the consequences of loosening the linkages between traditional political institutions and citizens? Undoing Ties: Political Philosophy at the Waning of the State offers an overview of the paradigms through which transformations to the role of the state have been understood, with Mariano Croce and Andrea Salvatore particularly focusing on […]
Book Review: The Rise of the Right to Know: Politics and the Culture of Transparency, 1945-1975 by Michael Schudson
How has governmental and corporate transparency become a fundamental element of political culture? In The Rise of the Right to Know: Politics and the Culture of Transparency, 1945-1975, Michael Schudson provides a historical account of how information disclosure by governments and corporations has emerged as an integral part of public life in the second half of […]
Book Review: The Presidentialization of Political Parties: Organizations, Institutions and Leaders edited by Gianluca Passarelli
Edited by Gianluca Passarelli, new collection The Presidentialization of Political Parties: Organizations, Institutions and Leaders, explores why the level of party presidentialisation varies between countries, arguing that this is linked to both constitutional design and the genetic features of political parties. Although he finds that some of the country case studies provide stronger evidence for […]
Book Review: Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia by Mohamed Zayani
How has ‘the networked public’ contributed to the development of new social movements, strategies of resistance and an evolving relationship between the state and society in the realm of the everyday? In Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia, Mohamed Zayani takes Tunisia as a case study, drawing upon fieldwork, […]
Book Review: Realpolitik: A History by John Bew
While ‘realpolitik’ has often been understood negatively, associated primarily with Henry Kissinger and used to denote cynical approaches to foreign policy, this new book by John Bew, Realpolitik: A History, offers a more nuanced history of the term by tracing its development from its initial conception in mid-nineteenth-century Germany to the present day. Robert Ledger applauds […]
Book Review: Angry White People: Coming Face-to-Face with the British Far Right by Hsiao-Hung Pai
In Angry White People: Coming Face-to-Face with the British Far Right, the investigative journalist Hsiao-Hung Pai documents conversations and encounters with members of the English Defence League (EDL) and other key figures within the British far right, supplementing this with the responses of Luton residents, anti-racist activists and Muslim communities affected by the EDL’s rise. […]
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