Book Description
Since their classic volume The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes was published in 1978, Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan have increasingly focused on the questions of how, in the modern world, nondemocratic regimes can be eroded and democratic regimes crafted. In Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, they break new ground in numerous areas. They reconceptualize the major types of modern nondemocratic regimes and point out for each type the available paths to democratic transition and the tasks of democratic consolidation. They argue that, although "nation-state" and "democracy" often have conflicting logics, multiple and complementary political identities are feasible under a common roof of state-guaranteed rights. They also illustrate how, without an effective state, there can be neither effective citizenship nor successful privatization. Further, they provide criteria and evidence for politicians and scholars alike to distinguish between democratic consolidation and pseudo-democratization, and they present conceptually driven survey data for the fourteen countries studied.
Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation contains the first systematic comparative analysis of the process of democratic consolidation in southern Europe and the southern cone of South America, and it is the first book to ground post-Communist Europe within the literature of comparative politics and democratic theory.
"This is an important volume by two major scholars on a central topic--one of broad interest to people in comparative politics, to those interested in democracy, and to regional specialists on Southern Latin America and on Central and Eastern Europe. The book will unquestionably be a major contribution to the literature on constructing democratic governance."--Abraham F. Lowenthal, University of Southern California
Customer Reviews:
What leads to democray and consolidation.......2007-08-04
As the title suggests, Linz and Stepan examine democratic transition and consolidation. Linz and Stepan argue that a democratic transition is completed when the relevant actors agree on the "the rules of the game." These rules include those regarding elected government: when and how the government is formed through free and fair elections, when and how the government has de facto authority to create new policies, and when the branches of government no longer have to share power with other bodies. When the government abides by the rules developed, Linz and Stepan would argue that it has become a democracy. Consolidation is achieved when the democratic system is viewed as "the only game in town," and the majority of the public subscribes to those institutions. Additionally, Linz and Stepan see a consolidated democracy as not simply a regime, but rather a system of interaction parts. These parts include civil society, political society, rule of law, bureaucracy, and an institutionalization of economic society.
The authors use a number of explanatory variables when examining democratic transition and consolidation. These variables are divided into three categories. The first, macrovariables, include stateness, and prior regime type. The second, actor variables, includes the leadership base of the prior regime type, and who initiates and controls oppositions. Lastly, context variables include international influences, the political economy of legitimacy, and the constitution-making environment.
Linz and Stepan argue that "democracy requires statehood." Without a state' ability to use coercive force, tax, and implement a judicial system, the five arenas of a consolidated democracy will not be achieved. However, it must be noted that state and nation are two different concepts. If there is conflict between the state and nations under its control, achieving democracy will be difficult. This leads to problems of legitimacy for the state. In order to address this, the concept of citizenship is imperative. The author's write, "there can be no complex modern democracy without voting, no voting without citizenship, and no official membership in the community of citizens without a state to certify membership" (28).
The authors also suggest that the role played by prior regime type shape the paths available for transition, and what tasks remain to achieve consolidation. The authors move beyond the classic three regime typology and examine authoritarian, totalitarian, post-totalitarian, and sultanistic regimes. L & S argue that the ways in which the previous regimes structured pluralism, ideology, leadership, and mobilization affect the paths available to democratic transition. Linz and Stepan see five paths with can be taken towards democratic transition: the formation of pacts, defeat in war, interim government created after regime termination but not brought forth by the old regime, a military led coup, and some regime specific transition paths. Depending on the previous regime type, some paths are more likely than others.
Additionally L & S suggest that the character of the state elite affects democratic transition and consolidation. They examine four types of elites: hierarchal military, nonhierarchal military, civilian elite, and sultanistic elites. A hierarchal military (authoritarian) may be usurped by the military-as-institution who views extrication from the military government as in their best interests - a return to civilian rule. However, during the consolidation phase, the old regime elite may enforce "reserve domains" of control which will not allow the new regime to consolidate. A nonhierarchal military elite is better for both transition and consolidation. They are likely to fall to a democratic transition when they come into problems running the country. Also, they are likely to be seen as operating outside the military sphere which means they are likely to be punished by the state/military hierarchy. In the case of civilian leadership (post-totalitarian), they are in possession of the symbolic and institutional capacities to initiate and manage ad democratic transition. In the consolidation phase, they are likely to see the benefit of working within the new system as opposed to fighting it. In sultanistic leadership, the regime is so personalized, that the overthrow of the sultan quickly destroys the regime. However, unless democratic elections are held quickly, and democratic institutions developed, the chances of consolidation are weak.
Under the actor variable category, L & S examine the impact of who initiates and controls the transition on democratic transition and consolidation. Transitions initiated by civil society, armed revolution, or a nonhierarchal military led coup tend to see the ruling institutions taken over by an interim government. This interim government can either have a democratic or nondemocractic agenda. If elections are held quickly, democracy can arise. If the interim government simply makes decreases based on an assumed mandate, democracy is unlikely. Because interim governments often don't appear from a hierarchal military, or through regime led changes, democracy is unlikely to appear.
Linz and Stepan also examine the context within which the transition occurs. Of particular interest are various international influences. One international factor which can influence transition and consolidation is the use of force. A nondemocractic country can militarily overthrow a weaker democratic state, or a regional hegemon can crush democratic uprisings in its periphery. The hegemon (democratic or nondemocractic) can also use incentives or sanctions to shape the political path nations in the periphery undertake. Outside of force, the "spirit of the times," i.e. democracy / communism, or diffusion can shape political transitions.
The political economic context can also shape transition and consolidation. For example, extended periods of economic prosperity can weaken nondemocractic regimes. Prosperity may make the coercive system unnecessary. Also, economic prosperity expands the middle class which leads to increased political demands. Although economic prosperity doesn't weaken the democratic regimes, economic downturns affect both. Still, because the democratic regime has a greater level of legitimacy then the nondemocractic regimes, it is more insulated from down turns.
Lastly, Linz and Stepan see the constitution-making environment leads to the success or failure of democratic transition and consolidation.
On conditions for democracy.......2001-08-11
Having read this book, I understand why Linz has gained international reputation. (As an example, he was made honorary doctor at The Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Oslo, Norway, 2000.) This book is written in an engaging way, with lots of interesting information. Its clear structure and quite simple language also makes it easy to read. Those believing that political science is "heavy, dry and dull" will probably change their minds if they read "Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation". Personally, I found the chapters on South America very enlightening. The book gives information about how citizens view "democracy" in the respective countries, and the challenges each country faces in terms of democratic transition and consolidation. I agree with the first reviewer that this book is a must-have for all interested in the countries in question or political science in general. (Having just finished my dissertation in political science, I've read my share of less interesting and poorly written works!)
A clear and concise presentation.......2001-02-06
This is the book for everyone looking for the ultimate answer to the questions regarding democratic transitions in the east as well as in the west. Although somewhat fuzzy and unclear in the theoretical outline it does offer some serious answers as well as questions on the democratization waves in former communist countries and dictatorships all over the planet. This is a must for all political scientists as well as those with inclination towards contemporary political subjects. This will be a standard opus on this subject.
Book Description
This anthology presents, for the first time, full texts of the twenty most important works of American legal thought since 1890. Drawing on a course the editors teach at Harvard Law School, the book traces the rise and evolution of a distinctly American form of legal reasoning. These are the articles that have made these authors--from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., to Ronald Coase, from Ronald Dworkin to Catherine MacKinnon--among the most recognized names in American legal history.
These authors proposed answers to the classic question: "What does it mean to think like a lawyer--an American lawyer?" Their answers differed, but taken together they form a powerful brief for the existence of a distinct and powerful style of reasoning--and of rulership. The legal mind is as often critical as constructive, however, and these texts form a canon of critical thinking, a toolbox for resisting and unravelling the arguments of the best legal minds. Each article is preceded by a short introduction highlighting the article's main ideas and situating it in the context of its author's broader intellectual projects, the scholarly debates of his or her time, and the reception the article received.
Law students and their teachers will benefit from seeing these classic writings, in full, in the context of their original development. For lawyers, the collection will take them back to their best days in law school. All readers will be struck by the richness, the subtlety, and the sophistication with which so many of what have become the clichés of everyday legal argument were originally formulated.
Customer Reviews:
anti-edited.......2006-12-04
Nice to have all the texts together in one place, but errors have been injected throughout. A footnote to Ihering, "Geist des roemischen Rechts," becomes "romsichen Recht"; a quote from Ronald Dworkin, with the note from Robert Cover "emphasis in original," has the emphasis left out (it was the word "meaning"). In other words, the editors have taken texts almost entirely available on Westlaw and had them retyped with many errors. Wait for the second edition, or at least don't touch the hardcover.
Book Description
Although it is currently the most important political ideal, there is much confusion about what the 'rule of law' means and how it works. Brian Tamanaha outlines the concerns of Western conservatives about the decline of the rule of law and suggests reasons why the radical Left have promoted this decline. Two basic theoretical streams of the rule of law are then presented, with an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of each. The book's examination of the rule of law on a global level concludes by deciding whether the rule of law is a universal human good.
Customer Reviews:
Very Informative.......2007-08-05
I found this book very informative. Tamanaha goes clearly though the different definitions for 'rule-of-law' and how they differ. The parts that I knew a little bit about seemed quite accurate. The book is short but strikingly comprehensive.
Brief, clear, and erudite.......2005-05-28
We're hearing quite a bit these days about 'judicial activism', so it would be nice if we could be clear just what we mean by the 'rule of law'.
Unfortunately, when we get down to specifics, the term means different things to different people. Probably no one anywhere seriously contends as a matter of principle that e.g. judges should render strictly subjective opinions. But in practice, one person's law is another person's bias. (And contrary to the rhetoric of the loudest voices in such debates, it's usually because there are two competing principles genuinely at issue, not because one side doesn't care about principles at all.)
So it's a good idea to take a step back and ask, a bit more abstractly, exactly what we mean by the 'rule of law'. And that's where this slim but information-dense volume comes in.
Brian Tamanaha takes just about the only course it's possible to take in defining such a nebulous concept: the historical approach. By way of putting salt on the tail of the ideal of the rule of law, he traces the development of the concept from ancient Greece to the present day.
If you think that sounds like a big job for just 141 pages of text (plus notes and bibliography), you're right. In fact, one of the most impressive things about this deceptively small book is the amount of erudition Tamanaha manages to pack economically into its pages. There's quite a lot buried between the lines here, and sweating this baby down to such a manageable length (while keeping it readable) must have taken some real editing.
For it _is_ eminently readable, and it does provide a thorough, if brief, tour of the development of the rule-of-law ideal in Western civilization.
The tour begins, naturally enough, in ancient Greece and Rome, since the ideal at least has its roots in, most notably, the writings of Plato and Aristotle. However, as Tamanaha points out, these writings didn't directly embody the ideal and in any event were largely lost to the West until medieval times; their importance for the rule of law was largely in their influence on later thinkers.
It's in the Middle Ages that things really get rolling, what with all the power struggles between the papacy and the various thrones, the development of German customary law, and the Magna Carta. Even here, as Tamanaha shows, the ideal hasn't come to full fruition; what happens at this stage is that we're bequeathed a difficult question about how the government -- the state, the monarch, the legislature, the sovereign -- can be bound by the law when it is itself apparently the source of that law.
Tamanaha traces the ramifications of this question, and its developing answers, through the rise of the middle class, the Enlightenment, the growth of capitalism, and the modern era -- significantly and properly locating the rule-of-law ideal in the rise of political liberalism (in its broadest sense). Along the way we get short and incisive summaries of e.g. the works of Locke, Montesquieu, and Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, and a fine (and scrupulously fair) overview of the recent history and current state of the debate.
In the end we wind up with a broad tripartite account of the meaning of the rule of law. The three essential themes, Tamanaha contends, are the limitation of government itself by law, the 'formal' requirement that law be both impersonal and predictable, and the contrast between the 'rule of law' and the 'rule of man'. Having distinguished these themes, Tamanaha spends a chapter considering their application to international law, and then closes with a short rumination on whether the rule of law is really a 'universal human good'.
Ultimately Tamanaha finds grounds for optimism in the fact that pretty much everyone, no matter what their other disagreements, gives at least lip service to the rule-of-law ideal. This fact, though disconcertingly negative as to the prospects for agreement about precisely what the rule of law means in detail, is also evidence that societal attitudes broadly favoring the rule of law are deeply embedded and not likely to be dislodged by those narrower disputes.
It would be hard to find a more timely subject than Tamanaha's, and it would be hard to find a fairer or more readable discussion than his. If you're interested in current debates about the independence of the judiciary and the role of judges, don't miss this opportunity to stand back from those debates and look at the big picture. Public discourse is better served by a little history than by a lot of rhetoric.
Book Description
This book focuses on gender and civic membership in American constitutional politics from the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment through Second Wave Feminism. It examines how American civic membership is gendered, and how the terms of civic membership available to men and women shape their political identities, aspirations, and behavior. The book also explores the dynamics of American constitutional development through a focus on civic membership—a legal and political construct at the heart of the constitutional order.
This is a book about gender politics and constitutional development, and about what each of these can tell us about the other. It considers the options and choices faced by women’s rights activists in the United States as they voiced their claims for civic inclusion from Reconstruction through Second Wave Feminism, and it makes evident the limits of liberal citizenship for women.
Book Description
Albert Einstein’s celebrated remark that ‘God does not play dice’ was his response to a set of new scientific ideas now known as quantum physics. These theories threatened the ordered determinism of the Newtonian universe, presenting the radical challenge of an unstable world disturbed by our very attempts to measure or observe it. One of the prime fascinations of quantum physics is precisely the great conceptual leap it requires us to make from our conventional ways of thinking about the physical world. It introduces instead the alarming possibilities that the observer’s mind is the only reality, or that there may be parallel universes. Alternatively, its very contradictions may suggest that despite its manifest successes, quantum physics still leaves us in need of a further revolution in thought and the final complete theory of the physical universe. Alastair Rae’s introductory exploration has been hailed as ‘a masterpiece of clarity’, and offers an engaging guide to the theories on offer.
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Albert Einstein's celebrated remark that "God does not play dice" was his response to a set of new scientific ideas now known as quantum physics. These theories threatened the ordered determinism of the Newtonian universe, presenting the radical challenge of an unstable world disturbed by our very attempts to measure or observe it. Quantum physics introduces the alarming possibilities that the observer's mind is the only reality, or that there may be parallel universes. Alternatively, its contradictions may suggest that despite its manifest successes, quantum physics still leaves us in need of a further revolution in thought and the final complete theory of the physical universe. Alastair Rae's introductory exploration has been hailed as "a masterpiece of clarity," and offers an engaging guide to the theories offered.
Customer Reviews:
For those with a little background a great book.......2007-01-16
Be warned, this book assumes you know a little about quantum physics to begin with. It's not going to walk you through all the basics of the field. But for those who've had an introduction to the concepts of quantum physics, it's a great examination of the conceptual problems of quantum physics. Don't be fooled by its short length -- this is a book to be read slowly, re-read, an digested. The discussion of the EPR paradox and Bell's Theory is especially good, because it's more technical and mathematical than those in other intro books, and while therefore more difficult, it's also more rewarding.
Don't tell God what to do.......2004-05-31
A. Rae struggles with the conceptual and philosophical implications of quantum physics (qf).
His book contains excellent explanations of the destruction of determinism, because uncertainty and indeteterminism are built into qf's very foundations. He also rejects the 'hidden variables' solution to solve qf's apparent contradictions. He shows also the fundamental opposition between Einstein and Bohr.
Unfortunately, this book contains a comment on the out-of-date Popper-Eccles discussion on the body/mind problem and their statement that the mind is not subject to the laws of physics. This problem has been resolved (see V. Ramachandran's linguistic solution in 'Phantoms in the brain', or G. Edelman's 'A universe of consciousness').
But I found certain flaws in the author's reasoning due mainly to the choice of bad examples.
Firstly, let me state one fundamental specification: reality is a process, not a fact (L. Smolin).
That is the reason why his ultimate question 'If reality is only what is observed ...' is not a good one.
A qf measurement does not create the 'only' reality. Protons, electrons, dead or alive cats, DNA mutations exist, even if they are not observed. A qf measurement is part of the universal process. In qf we only measure complementarities (properties) as Bohr stated.
Secondly, A. Rae states that macroscopic processes are irreversible (the second law of thermodynamics) and microscopic ones reversible.
For reversibility he chooses as example the collision of two molecules. I doubt firmly that in our universe after the collision the molecules can (without an exterior intervention) go back to their initial states. Those interactions are 'theoretically' reversible.
On the other hand, the life or death of a cat is a macroscopic event. The cat example is a good 'figure' to explain the qf theory, but it is a bad one to build a conceptual or philosophical theory on it. Nobody will calculate the outcome of a certain event based on a dead/alive scenario if a simple look at the cat's condition can eliminate 50% of the possibilities. The same goes for the DNA mutations.
The theory of I. Prigogyne (his books are difficult) is certainly a step in the good direction. As reality is a process, indeterminism should also be the fundamental cornerstone for classical physics, but naturally not in our daily Euclidian life.
In the case of the 'many worlds' question, I prefer Rudolf Peierls's solution where he proposes to speak of many world 'possibilities' (see P. Davies' 'The ghost in the atom').
This is a thought-provoking book. Not to be missed.
Long review for a good short book.......2002-03-31
Since the formulation of quantum theory in the 1920s the Copenhagen Interpretation of reality has been the mainstream view among physicists. But this interpretation has been uncomfortable for many, because it raises a number of paradoxes. The lack of cause and effect, (indeterminism), the so called "observer effect (quantum measurement problem), and non-locality, are among them.
Waisting no time in this 118 page book, Alastair Rae grabs the reader in the very first sentence of the book by quoting Albert Einstein's famous pronouncement: "Does God play dice [with the universe]?"
Using impeccable logic and only a bit of mathematical jargon, which can be circumvented by the reader, Rae sets out to solve many of these paradoxes. Citing experiments with polarized photons of light, he asks: What exactly constitutes a measurement? Does a measurement occur when a record is made? Or does it take consciousness to collapse the wave into a definitive particle? Is there a resolution to the Schrodinger's Cat paradox? How can we explain nonlocality?
Rae systematically entertains and rebuts in a convincing and objective way many different philosophies put forward to make sense of quantum reality. Some have claimed, most notably Niels Bohr, that it's the interaction of the partilce with a macor-measuring device that instigates the collapse. Others believe that it takes a consciousness to create reality. Still others, looking for a way to save determinism, and circumvent the measurement problem latch on to Hugh Everett's many-world interpetation.
Ironically as Rae points out most scientists claim to be "positivists", believing that it is meaningless to speculate on unobservable quantities. yet, they apparently have no problem believing in a myriad of unobservable and unmeasureable universes, completely and irreversibly cut off from our own.
In the final two chapters Rae objectively entertains what he believes is the most likely resolution of the quantum measurement problem. His idea was first proposed by Ilya Prigonine who won the Nobel Prize for his work in the field of irreversible chemical thermodynamics. The classical idea put forward by Prigonine states that there is an irreversible arrow of time and the second law of thermodynamics is never violated. Citing Prigonine's work, Rae explains: If no measurement is made of a quantum system no impression has been made on the universe, and the information which could have been obtained can be reversed and destroyed. If, however, a measurement is made, a change of some sort has occurred, either in the measuring device or our brain. The measurement has impacted the universe in some manner, and as a result the macro system must now follow the second law of thermodynamics, which has and arrow of time and hence is irreversible.
Rae states that "if we follow Prigogine's approach, indeterminism becomes an implicit part of classical physics.
Has Alastair Rae accomplished what he set out to do in this Book? Not quite. At the beginning of the book he states that he will tackle the problem of indeterminism, yet he spends most of his time attempting to explain the quantum measurement problem which is something quite different. And when he does address determinsim it falls short on several points.
First, a Prigogine macro system is indeed unpredictable, but it is not indeterminate as Rae seems to imply. Rather, it is a determinate and irreversible system having and arrow of time and an initial cause, no matter how subtle.
Secondly, he fails to address the process of nuclear decay, and the jump of the electron from one orbit to another--both of which are "real" and indeterminate.
Finally, in regard to the quantum measurement problem. Rae does not take into account recent experiments done with photons as cited in Scientific American (November 1991). In this particular experimental set-up at the Universtity of Rochester, researchers demonstrated that "The mere possibility that the paths can be distinguished is enough to wipe out the interference pattern." There is no measurement made, no record made, and no interaction with a macro system. Yet, the collapse of the wave happens without interacting with a macro sytem. Therefore, it seems that Ray's explanation of a resolution to the problem by creating a record in a classical Prigogine system is invalid.
This is still a very well written, concise, and provacative book and I would recommend it for those who want to understand the basic principles and paradoxes of quantum reality. This review written by: Quantum Reality1, author of "Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective."
Thank you, Alastair Rae.......2001-04-13
It has only been once in a great while that a thin little tome has taught me so much, and been so much fun. Before Quantum Physics by Alastair Rae, the last one I remember was Richard Feynmann's QED. I now feel like I have at least a near understanding of Bell's Theorem, EPR, SQUIDS, and an assortment of things and concepts that were tantalizing but vague until now. Thank you, Alastair, you're a good teacher. And, the little surprise at the end, Prigogine's possible answer. I'd always found him intriguing. Now I know why.
Quantum Physics.......2000-05-21
I'm not a math physics person, but I enjoy learning what I can about them, which is why I purchased this book. I almost put it aside as I felt some of the first few pages were over my head, but I decided to look upon it as stretching exercises for the mind, and managed to reach a tolerable comprehension of the material. Thereafter the book was both understandable and thoroughly readible. I found intriguing the philosophical implications of quantum physics. Particularly interesting was the author's discussion of Popper and Eccles's concepts of the 3 worlds of reality: the world of objects, of the human mind and of the products of the human mind. The implication of human consciousness in cetain physical interactions and the possiblity that consciousness actually creates reality itself was the topic of several pages. The author also briefly touches upon artificial intelligence, multiple-world hypothesis, the effect of size on expected theoretical outcomes, and time and its direction. It was a thoroughly enjoyable book.
Book Description
The H Block protest is one of the strangest and most controversial issues in the tragic history of Northern Ireland. Republican prisoners, convicted of grave crimes through special courts and ruthless interrogation procedures, campaigned for political status by refusing to wear prison clothes and daubing their cell with excrement.Were they properly convicted criminals, or martyrs to political injustice? In a masterpiece of investigative journalism, Coogan provides us with the only first-hand account of the protest. His investigation led deep into the social, cultural, and economic maze of Northern Ireland's history to give readers an unmatched analysis of a troubled place and its sorrowful history.
Customer Reviews:
STANDING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELEVE IN.......2002-12-26
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT THE DIRTY PROTEST BY THE IRA PRISONERS IN H BLOCK OF THE MAZE PRISON ONE OF THE PRISONERS WAS BOBBY SANDS. WHETEHER YOU AGREE WITH THE IRA OR NOT IT IS A TRAGIC INCIDENT AND SHOWS THE WILL AND DRIVE OF THESE 10 MEN AND ALL THERE SUPPORTERS AND THERE STANDING FOR THE THINGS THEY TRULY BELIEVE IN ESPECIAALY IN SUCH DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS. SOME BOOKS ABOUT THE TROUBLES ARE A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO GET THROUGH BUT THIS WAS A PRETTY GOOD BOOK
Unflinching Journal of the IRA's "Dirty Protest".......2002-11-19
Published just prior to the hunger strikes of 1981 which claimed the life of ten IRA prisoners, "On The Blanket" details the so-called "dirty protest" that led up to the horrors of that year. With several first-hand accounts from prisoners and actors in the struggle, Coogan presents an unflinching account of the events in Long Kesh (the Maze) and Armagh prisons. The descriptions of the conditions in both prisons will move even the most cold-hearted reader. Coogan puts forth an important work that will stand as testiment to this troubled period in Irish history.
Book Description
Wael B. Hallaq is already established as one of the most eminent scholars in the field of Islamic law. In his latest book, he traces the history of Islamic legal theory from its beginnings until the modern period. The book is the first of its kind in organization, approach to the subject, and critical apparatus, and as such will be an essential tool for the understanding of Islamic legal theory in particular and Islamic law in general. Its accessibility of language and style guarantees it a readership among students and scholars, as well as anyone interested in Islam and its evolution.
Customer Reviews:
Extremely Well Written.......2003-01-09
In addition to the existing comments:
This book is extremely well written. Although it reads like a textbook, this merely reflects the high level of scholarship the author brings to his subject. The analysis is precise, thorough, and clearly explained. He touches a point once, addresses it completely, and then moves on. An essential read.
A good introduction.......2001-03-18
This book is more than a History, it basically defines the Usul al-fiqh terms and their development and historically how the concept were being developed, changed and added on. For being about only Sunni Usul al-fikh the scope is limited to a certain sect. Author takes you through early years when he claims no methodology were existed than to Imam Shafii whom he does not put as a founding father in the field of fikh, continues with some quranic concepts like clear/ambigious ayats, foundations of hadits, abbrogation and than into tools of the law, concensus, ijma, qiyas, istihsan, istishab,ijtihad etc. The best part of the book is that author provides examples of each concept for illustration, explains opinions of known mujtehits on the subjects. The book closes with modernist efforts by F.Rahman and especially the author have high regards for Shahrur. The book shows although not in broad acceptance by everybody, the change in methodology from using Quran and Sunna of the Prophet(pbh) to Quran only and socio/politic conditions of the current times and elimination of Ijma or ancient ijtihads.
A Wonderful (and the only) English Work on the Subject.......2000-10-24
Hallaq's book is excellent in that it manages to capture the essence of each epoch which he covers. Particularly interesting in this book is Hallaq's treatment the birth of usual al-fiqh and its modern interpretations. Reading about the pre-modern zenith of Islamic jurisprudence, which Hallaq completely identifies with the work of al-Shatiby, one becomes totally skeptical to the applicability of Islamic law beyond the realm of religious ritual. However, Hallaq captures well continuity and ingenuity represented in recent reforms achieved by two groups which he will label in the last chapter of his work as the utilitarians and the liberals.
The weakness of Hallaq's work is that its contents are unbalanced. I wish more time was spent on the formation of fiqh and the justification of its existence. Nonetheless, his treatment of these topics is solid. This work can be a little tedious @ times, but usul al-fiqh is itself tedious. In the whole spectrum of the book, one realizes that this itself is part and parcel to the reform occuring today. Excellent work but by no means a decisive study to answer all questions-too short.
Introduction to the Islamic legal theory.......2000-06-01
It is a great book which summarizes the Islamic jurispedence, not in a whiggish style looking back to the medieval ages, but locating the theological essence of fikh, which is not only a meaningless study on Quran but a compilation of hundreds of years which has its ortodoxy established in 10th century.
Book Description
Global governance is here--but not where most people think. This book presents the far-reaching argument that not only should we have a new world order but that we already do. Anne-Marie Slaughter asks us to completely rethink how we view the political world. It's not a collection of nation states that communicate through presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and the United Nations. Nor is it a clique of NGOs. It is governance through a complex global web of "government networks."
Slaughter provides the most compelling and authoritative description to date of a world in which government officials--police investigators, financial regulators, even judges and legislators--exchange information and coordinate activity across national borders to tackle crime, terrorism, and the routine daily grind of international interactions. National and international judges and regulators can also work closely together to enforce international agreements more effectively than ever before. These networks, which can range from a group of constitutional judges exchanging opinions across borders to more established organizations such as the G8 or the International Association of Insurance Supervisors, make things happen--and they frequently make good things happen. But they are underappreciated and, worse, underused to address the challenges facing the world today.
The modern political world, then, consists of states whose component parts are fast becoming as important as their central leadership. Slaughter not only describes these networks but also sets forth a blueprint for how they can better the world. Despite questions of democratic accountability, this new world order is not one in which some "world government" enforces global dictates. The governments we already have at home are our best hope for tackling the problems we face abroad, in a networked world order.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptional Read.......2005-02-10
This book is a must-read for any student of International Affairs. By providing historical and present-day examples of international and transnational relations among states, Dean Slaughter brilliantly lays the framework and provides justification for a new disaggregated, effective, and just world order. Both synoptic in organization and substantive throughout, this book will prove valuable to all readers regardless of political affiliation or school of thought.
Highly Recommended!.......2004-10-25
This excellent, thought-provoking analysis covers a widespread but little studied shift in the way the world works. The advance of international communications, technology, economics and finance networks has had an unmistakable effect on business and industry. The ways states function has also changed - shifting the operation of the world order. Author Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, is on expert ground. She asserts that networks of financiers, regulators, judges and even legislators can solve problems that would be intractable if left only to traditional states and familiar international organizations. She provides many examples of such networks, notes the criticism against them and suggests norms to govern their conduct. Her book is not light reading. Readers need some familiarity with international organizations and institutions (sometimes cited by unexplained acronyms), but we highly recommend this book to sophisticated observers of international policy.
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Republican Legal Theory: The History, Constitution and Purposes of Law in a Free State
M.N.S. Sellers
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 140391575X |
Book Description
Republican Legal Theory discusses the history, constitution and purposes of law in a free state. This is the most comprehensive study since James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and The Federalist of republican legal ideas. Sellers explains the importance of popular sovereignty, the rule of law, the separation of powers, and other essential republican checks and balances in protecting liberty and against tyranny and corruption.
Book Description
This book shows how political argument in terms of rights and natural rights began in medieval Europe, and how the theory of natural rights was developed in the seventeenth century after a period of neglect in the Renaissance. Dr Tuck provides a new understanding of the importance of Jean Gerson in the formation of the theories, and of Hugo Grotius in their development; he also restores the Englishman John Selden’s ideas to the prominence they once enjoyed, and shows how Thomas Hobbes’s political theory can best be understood against this background. In general, the book enables us to understand more fully the characteristics of the natural rights theories available to the men of the Enlightenment, and thereby to appreciate the complexity and equivocal nature of modern right theories.
Customer Reviews:
Natural Rights Theories for Grown-Ups.......2006-05-13
This book is a scholarly masterpiece. It surveys the history of European political philosophy from the High Middle Ages down through the seventeenth century, with particular emphasis on how "natural rights" emerged from the more general theory of Natural Law. It is a fascinating process, particularly as to the definition of "right" in this context: how can an individual have rights that are not granted by the State and can be asserted against the State?
This is certainly not an easy book to read, particularly because it presupposes some familiarity with a wide range of authors -- mainly political philosophers such as Francisco Suarez and Hugo Grotius -- that are no longer widely read. On the other hand, Tuck's exposition is meticulously clear, so readers who have the required familiarity will be rewarded with a series of wonderful insights into the development of modern human rights.
Before I read this book, it was regularly recommended to me, by scholars whom I regard as authoritative, as among the best ever written on early modern political philosophy. I am happy to recommend it in return.
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