Politics / Heywood Andrew

Very good general introduction to politics in its widest sense. Makes extensive use of inset boxes and concept summaries throughout the text. The book is arranged in five parts starting with Part 1 political theory which discusses what politics is, systems of government, ideologies, democracy, and the state; Part 2 addresses the concepts of the nation, nationalism, subnational level and global level politics; Part 3 political interaction covers economics and society, political cultures, politics and mass media, electoral systems, political parties, interest groups and movements; Part 4 the machinery of government deals with constitutions, law and judiciary, political assemblies and parliaments, executive functions, bureaucracies, the armed forces and police; finally Part 5 covers the policy process and the performance of the system i.e. not what government does but what it should do. Glossary, bibliography, index.