Classical Political Theory

Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws.

Utopia is the name given by Sir Thomas More to an imaginary island in this political work written in 1516. Book I of Utopia, a dialogue, presents a perceptive analysis of contemporary social, economic, and moral ills in England. Book II is a narrative describing a country run according to the ideals of the English humanists, where poverty, crime, injustice, and other ills do not exist.

Discourses on Livy, written in 1531, is as essential to understanding Machiavelli as his famous treatise, The Prince. Equally controversial, it reveals his fundamental preference for a republican state. Comparing the practice of the ancient Romans with that of his contemporaries provided Machiavelli with a consistent point of view in all his works. Machiavelli's close analysis of Livy's history of Rome led him to advance his most original and outspoken view of politics--the belief that a healthy political body was characterized by social friction and conflict rather than by rigid stability.

The English philosopher and physician John Locke (1632 - 1704) is widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. His work had a significant effect on the development of epistemology and political philosophy. The Second Treatise on Civil Government places sovereignty in the hands of the people, as Locke's fundamental argument is that people are equal and invested with natural rights in a state of nature in which they live free from outside rule.

Justice, Power, and Society: Exploring the Foundations of Moral and Political Theory is a clear and engaging guide to the ideas that have shaped human thought for centuries. From Plato’s vision of the just republic to Aristotle’s ethics of civic virtue, from social contract theory to Enlightenment ideals of liberty and rights, from utilitarianism to Marxist critiques of inequality, this book explores how great thinkers have answered the timeless questions: What is justice? Why should we obey laws? How can power be made legitimate? Moving beyond the classics, this book also examines the ...

The Annals, Part 2 picks up in the year A.D. 32 with the increasingly menacing and tyrannical behavior of Tiberius. With hundreds murdered or driven to suicide and many more in exile, Tiberius descends steadily into growing lust and debauchery on his private estate on the isle of Capri. Overseas, Rome is victorious in her struggle with Parthia, and as Tiberius is being smothered to death in A.D. 37 by Macro, peace at last comes to the eastern frontier.

Brought to you by Penguin. 'Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has stirred vigorous debate ever since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau...

The Federalist Papers were first published in 1787 in the New York press under the signature of "Publius", a psuedonym used by the three authors: John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. The essays appeared in book form in 1788 and are generally considered to be one of the most important contributions to political thought made in America. The papers were meant to be influential in the campaign for the adoption of the Constitution by New York state. The authors discussed many general problems of politics in addition to the issues of the Constitution.

Featuring texts by Saul Alinsky, Edmund Burke, Rachel Carson, Carl von Clausewitz, Francis Fukuyama, Mahatma Gandhi, Friedrich Hayek, Thomas Hobbes, Martin Luther King, Niccolo Machiavelli, Karl Marx, J. S. Mill, George Orwell, Thomas Paine, Plato, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alexis De Tocqueville, Mary Wollstonecraft, and many more.

In 1927, classical liberalism, based on a belief in individualism, reason, capitalism, and free trade, was dying, when one of the 20th century's greatest social thinkers wrote this combative and convincing restatement. Nowhere are the key principles of Mises' philosophy better represented than in this timeless work. Mises was a careful and logical theoretician who believed that ideas rule the world, and this especially comes to light in Liberalism.

In all of Roman history there was never a more turbulent year than A.D. 69, the ill-omened "Year of the Three Emperors". By some miracle, the greatest historian of the age, Tacitus, was able to chronicle those momentous events in a work he called The History. In its pages are some of the most memorable events of Roman history described in some of the most intensely passionate prose ever devised.

This political science classic still has the power to shock, just as it did when first published almost 500 years ago. Fritz Weaver reads in an appropriately detached manner, for it is this air of objectivity regarding the ruthless pursuit of political power that has made Machiavelli's name synonymous with evil. This quality recording begins and ends with ceremonial music, which sets the right tone for a treatise directed to royalty.

"These are the times that try men's souls." With these words, Thomas Paine began a series of 13 extraordinary pamphlets reporting on the American Revolution. Part newsfeed, part op-ed, these pieces were widely circulated in the States and in Britain during the war. They reported on the progress of the war, argued for the reasons for the war, made recommendations on the conduct of the war, and taught citizens of a new country just what their obligations and duties were in support of their new country. A sobering series of lessons on beginning American civics 101.

Power, Communication, and Democracy: Understanding the Lasting Influence of Harold Lasswell explores the groundbreaking ideas of one of the twentieth century’s most influential thinkers. Harold Lasswell reshaped political science, pioneered the study of propaganda, developed the famous communication model—“Who says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect?”—and laid the foundation for the policy sciences. His interdisciplinary vision linked psychology, politics, communication, and governance, offering insights that remain urgently relevant in today’s digital age. This ...

Over two millennia after its compilation, the Politics still offers much to consider with regards to political science. Aristotle's succinct and thoughtful analysis is based on his study of over 150 city constitutions and covers the gamut of political issues in order to establish which types of constitution are best, ideally as well as for particular circumstances, and how they may be maintained.

It's one of the most revered movies of Hollywood's golden era. Starring screen legend Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in her first significant film role, High Noon was shot on a lean budget over just 32 days but achieved instant box-office and critical success. It won four Academy Awards in 1953, including a best actor win for Cooper. And it became a cultural touchstone, often cited by politicians as a favourite film, celebrating moral fortitude.

How to Win an Election is an ancient Roman guide for campaigning that is as up-to-date as tomorrow's headlines. In 64 BC when idealist Marcus Cicero, Rome's greatest orator, ran for consul (the highest office in the Republic), his practical brother Quintus decided he needed some no-nonsense advice on running a successful campaign.

In this audiobook, William L. Riordan, one of the "muckracker" journalists, records Plunkitt's take on politics in Plunkitt's own words - as delivered from the bootblack stand at the New York County Courthouse, Plunkitt's only office. His take on life, politics, and morality is as delightfully frank as it is astonishingly cynical. Enjoy!

William Stanley Jevons was an English economist and logician. In Brief Account of a General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy, which is essentially a condensed version of his most important piece of work, The Theory of Political Economy, first published in 1850, Javons discusses the marginal utility theory of value, pushing economic thought into the modern era. This piece is a must for both budding young mathematicians and aspiring economists with an interest in the recent history of their fields.

The exemplary life of a noble soldier/statesman, a description of ancient Germany, and a discussion of oratory are the subjects of three short masterpieces by the brilliant Roman historian, Tacitus.