What is Politics?

The definitive guide to politics in our polarized times

Politics is everywhere. It touches almost every aspect of our lives. And it is present wherever individuals face collective choices. It is hardly surprising, then, that politics so often divides us, above all in an age in which the collective choices we face seem more daunting and more consequential than they have perhaps ever been.

Exploring what it means to �think politically� in these polarized times, this cutting-edge textbook reveals the many dimensions of politics. It does so by opening a series of analytic lenses through which we can make sense of politics and its impact upon societies and individuals. Each chapter, written by a leading scholar in the field, encourages us to view politics in a particular way, making a succinct and focused case for the insight this brings to our understanding of political practice, political behaviour, and political outcomes. Among the perspectives considered are politics as power, politics as moral choice, politics as identification, politics as ritual, politics as rhetoric, and politics as crisis management.

Written with the new student in mind, this probing introduction will be essential reading for all those who strive to make sense of politics in today�s world. Preface
About the Contributors

1. What is Politics?
Colin Hay

2. Politics as the exercise of power
Liam Stanley

3. Politics as moral choice
Jonathan Parry and Johanna Thoma

4. Politics as collective action
Albert Weale

5. Politics as behaviour
Will Jennings and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

6. Politics as identification
Vivienne Jabri

7. Politics as gendered
Johanna Kantola

8. Politics as institutionalised performance
Shirin Rai

9. Politics as cognition
Alyt Damstra and Paul ‘t Hart

10. Politics as ritual, practice and performance
Florence Faucher

11. Politics as rhetoric
Alan Finlayson

12. Politics as the history of the present
Andrew Hindmoor

13. Politics as crisis management
Matthew Paterson

Notes
Bibliography
Index �If you would like the chance to think about politics differently, this is the book for you. It offers a sparkling collection of essays that illuminate the practice of politics through multiple and often unconventional perspectives that should expand your thirst to understand and research politics in new ways.�
Gerry Stoker, University of Southampton

�Political scientists often struggle to explain what politics is, above and beyond what politicians do. Colin Hay�s edited book, which gathers contributions from highly distinguished scholars of considerable intellectual diversity, makes it much easier for them to answer this genuinely difficult question.�
Cecile Fabre, University of Oxford Colin Hay is Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po, Paris, and founding Director of the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at the University of Sheffield.