Author(s): Harold J. Laski
Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd
Publisher Imprint: Peacock Books
Subject: English Literature
BISAC: political science

For democracy, with all its weaknesses, enables the widest body of demand to be taken into account in shaping the legal imperatives of a state.

An Introduction to Politics, published in 1931, is Harold J. Laski’s classic study of the ideas, institutions and principles that underpin the modern State and democratic government. Written for the general reader, this accessible yet intellectually rigorous work strips away technical minutiae to address the fundamental problems of politics. Laski invites us to question the necessity of government, the relationship between the State and society, the balance between individual rights and State power, the principles of liberty and equality, the nature of nationalism and the role of law as the basis of political authority. Engaging with the ideas of Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham and G. W. F. Hegel, he situates these debates within the historical development of the modern State and explores the evolving concepts of sovereignty, justice and democracy. Balancing the past with the present and the ideal with the real, Laski examines the nature and organisation of the State, its responsibility to those it serves and its gradual movement towards broader forms of international cooperation. A landmark in twentieth-century political thought, his reflections on the principles of political organisation remain strikingly relevant in an increasingly interconnected world.

Endorsements

He was a teacher of genius, and I cannot think of anyone better at inspiring students

Eric Hobsbawm