Reading List for the Graduate Program

The following is a selected list of some of the main books in the various sub-disciplines of political science. This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor are MA students expected to be familiar with all of the books mentioned here. This list does provide a general guide for some of the more notable scholarly contributions to political science, as well as the major debates and theories in the discipline. MA students should be able to identify these major debates and theories, as well as the works that typify them.

 

Political Theory

• Arendt. The Human Condition, Between Past and Future
• Aristotle. The Ethics, The Politics.
• St. Augustine. City of God.
• Barber, Strong Democracy.
• Barker, Ernest. Principles of Social and Political Theory. Clarendon Press. 1951.
• Bell. The End of Ideology.
• Bent ham, Jeremy. The Principles of Morals and Legislation, Anarchical Fallacies.
• Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France.
• Condren, Conal. The Status and Appraisal of Classic Texts: An Essay on Political Theory, Its Inheritance, and the History of Ideas. 1985.
• Constant Benjamin. Political Writings.
• Durkheim, Emile. Division of Labor in Society.
• Easton. A Systems Analysis of Political Life.
• Elliot, Edward. Theory of the State. 1917.
• Foucault. Discipline and Punishment, History of Sexuality Vol. 1
• Freud. Civilization and Its Discontents.
• Gaventa, John. Power and Powerlessness. 1980.
• Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity.
• Gunnell John. Political Theory: Tradition and Interpretation
• Habermas. Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, The Theory of Communicative Action
• Hegel. The Philosophy of History.
• Hirshman, Nancy, and Di Stefano, Christine (eds.) Revisioning the Political: Feminists Reconstructions of Traditional Concepts in Western Political theory.
• Hobbes. Leviathan.
• Hoffman M. International Political Theory.
• Hume, David, Essays, Moral, Political and Literary.
• Ivison, Duncan. Political Theory and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Lenin, Vladimir. Imperialism, the State and Revolution.
• Locke. Two Treatises of Government.
• Lowe, Toby Joeseph. The Concept of Community in Political Theory.
• Lukes, Steven. Power
• Kant. Perpetual Peace and Other Essays.
• Machiavelli.. The Prince.
• Machiavelli. The Discourses.
• Mannheim. Ideology and Utopia.
• MacKennon. Feminism Unmodified.
• Marx, Karl. The Marx-Engels Reader. (separate works contained within include: On the Jewish Question, The German Ideology, The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, the Communist Manifesto)
• Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty, Considerations on Representative Government
• Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws
• Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals, Beyond Good and Evil.
• Paine, Thomas. Common Sense, Rights of Man
• Pateman, Carole. Participation and Democratic Theory
• Plato. The Cave.
• Pufendorf, Samuel, On the Duty of Man and Citizen
• Rawls. A Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism.
• Rousseau. The Discourses and Other Writings, On the Social Contract
• Schumpeter. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.
• Skinner, Quentin, Meaning and Context.
• Smith, Adam, Wealth of Nations.
• Strauss, An Introduction to Political Philosphy.
• Thycidedes, History of the Peloponesian War.
• De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America.
• Weber, Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
• Wolin, Sheldon. Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought.
• Wollstonecraft. A Vindication of the Rights of Women.

Comparative Politics.

• Alexander, KC and Kumeran KP. Culture and Development. 1992.
• Almond, Gabriel and Sidney Verba. The Civic Culture. 1963.
• Almond, Gabriel and G. Bingham Powell. Comparative Politics: System, Process and Policy. (most recent edition)
• Alsina-Naudi, Anna. Mini-Nationalisms as Rational Political Movements: A Comparative Analysis. 1995.
• Arnold, Guy. The End of the Third World. 1993.
• Atul, Kohli, ed. The State and Development in the Third World.1987.
• Bhalla, A.S. Uneven Development in the Third World. 1992.
• Dahl, Robert A. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. 1972.
• Diamond, Larry and Marc F. Plattner. Electoral Systems and Democracy. 2006.
• Diamond, Larry and Marc F. Plattner, eds. Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict and Democracy. 1994.
• Diamond, Larry, Juan Linz, and Seymour Lipset. Politics in Developing Countries: Comparing Experiences With Democracy. 1990.
• Diamond, Larry, ed.. Political Culture and Democracy in Developing Countries. 1994.
• Di Palma, Guiseppe. To Craft Democracies: An Essay on Democratic Transitions. 1990.
• Dogan, Mattei and Dominique Pelassey. How to Compare Nations. 1990.
• Downs, Anthony. An Economic Theory of Democracy. 1957.
• Duverger, Maurice. Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State. 1954.
• Ekiert, Grzegorz and Stephen E. Hanson. Capitalism and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe . 2003.
• Evans, Peter. Embedded Autonomy. 1995.
• Geertz, Clifford. Old Societies and New States: The Quest for Modernity in Asia and Africa.  1965.
• Goldstone, Jack A. Revolutions (third edition)
• Grofman , Bernard and Arend Lijphart,eds. Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences and Choosing an Electoral System. 1986.
• Haggard and Kaufman. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. 1995.
• Huntington, Samuel. Political Order in Changing Societies. 1968.
• Huntington, Samuel. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century. 1991.
• Inglehart, Ronald. The Silent Revolution. 1977.
• Inglehart, Ronald. Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Societies. 1990.
• Kamrava, Mehran. Understanding Comparative Politics. 1996.
• King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. Designing Social Inquiry. 1994.
• Lawson, Kay and Peter H. Merkl. When Parties Fail. 1988.
• Lichbach, Mark Irving and Alan S. Zuckerman, eds. Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture and Structure. 1997.
• Lijphart, Arend. Democracies in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration. 1977.
• Lijphart, Arend. Patterns of Democracies: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. 1999.
• Lindbloom, Charles Edward. Politics and Markets. 1980.
• Linz, Juan and Alfred Stepan. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. 1996.
• Lipset, Seymour Martin. Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics. 1963.
• Lipset, Seymour Martin and Stein Rokkan, Party Systems and Voter Alignments. 1967.
• Mair, Peter, ed. West European Party Systems. 1990.
• Moore, Barrington. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. 1993.
• O'Donnell, Guillermo.  Dissonances: Democratic Critique of Democracy.  2007.
• O'Donnell, Guillermo, Philippe Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Latin America. 1986.
• O'Donnell, Guillermo, J. Mainwaring, and J.S. Valenzuela, eds. Issues in Democratic Consolidation: The New South American Democracies.1992.
• Peters, Guy. Comparative Politics: Theory and Method. 1998.
• Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work. 1994.
• Skocpol, Theda. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China. 1979.
• So, Alvin. Social Change and Development: Modernization, Dependency and World-System Theories. 1990.
• Somjee, A.H. Political Society in Developing Countries. 1984.
• Tarrow, Sidney, Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. 1998.
• Verba,Sidney. Participation and Political Equality. 1987.
• Ware, Alan. Political Parties and Party Systems. 1995.

International Relations

• Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow. 1999. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis Baldwin ed. 1993. Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate
• Ian Brownlie. 1998. Principles of Public International Law.
• Hedley Bull. 1977. The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics.
• Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and David Lalman. 1992. War and Reason.
• E. H. Carr. 1964. The Twenty Years Crisis.
• Barry E. Carter and Phillip R. Trimble. 1991. International Law.
• James E. Dougherty and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr. 2001. Contending Theories of International Relations
• Michael W. Doyle. 1997. Ways of War and Peace.
• Michael W. Doyle and G. John Ikenberry, eds. 1997. New Thinking in International Relations Theory.
• Francis Fukuyama. 1992. The End of History and the Last Man.
• Robert Gilpin. 1987. The Political Economy of International Relations.
• Robert Gilpin. 1981. War and Change in World Politics.
• Peter A. Gourevitch. 1986. Politics in Hard Times: Comparative Responses to International Economic Crises
• Hugo Grotius. 1901. The Rights of War and Peace.
• Ernst B. Haas. 1964. Beyond the Nation State: Functionalism and International Organization.
• Louis Henkin. 1979. How Nations Behave: Law and Foreign Policy,
• Thomas Hobbes. 1962. Leviathan.
• E. J. Hobsbawm. 1990. Nations and Nationalism since 1780.
• Immanuel Kant. 1957. Perpetual Peace..
• Ole Holsti. 1970. Crisis, Escalation and War.
• Samuel P. Huntington. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order.
• Robert Jervis. 1976. Perception and Misperception in International Politics.
• Peter J. Katzenstein, Robert O. Keohane, and Stephen D. Krasner, eds. 1999. Exploration and Contestation in the Study of World Politics
• Peter B. Kenan. 1995. Economic and Monetary Union in Europe: Moving Beyond Maastricht
• George F. Kennan. 1984. Diplomacy in the Modern World.
• Paul F. Kennedy. 1987. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000.
• Robert O. Keohane , ed. 1986. Neo Realism and its Critics.
• Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye. 2001. Power and Interdependence,
• Robert O. Keohane. 1984. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy.
• Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye, Jr., eds. 1972. Transnational Relations and World Politics.
• John Maynard Keynes. 1920. The Economic Consequences of the Peace
• Henry A. Kissinger. 1957. A World Restored: Castlereagh, Metternich, and the Restoration of Peace, 1812-1822.
• John Mearsheimer. 2001. The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
• Hans J. Morgenthau. 1985. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace
• Joseph S. Nye, Jr. 1997. Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History.
• Elinor Ostrom. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action.
• John G. Ruggie. 1998. Constructing the World Polity: Essays on International Institutionalization(The New International Relations).
• Thomas Risse, Stephen Ropp, and Kathryn Sikkink, eds. 1999. The Power of Human Rights: International Norms and Domestic Change.
• Oscar Schachter. 1991. International Law in Theory and Practice.
• John Spanier. 1993. Games Nations Play,
• Susan Strange. 1988. States and Markets.
• Paul R. Viotti and Mark V. Kauppi (1999). International Relations Theory: Realism, Pluralism, Globalism, and Beyond,
• Immanuel Wallerstein. 1976. The Modern World-System.
• Kenneth Waltz. 1979. Theory of International Politics.
• Kenneth Waltz. 2000. Man, the State, and War,
• Martin Wight. 1995. Power Politics.
• Quincy Wright. 1955. The Study of International Relations

American Politics

• Alexander, Herbert Financing Politics
• Arnold, The Logic of Congressional Action
• Barber, Presidential Character
• Bensel, Yankee Leviathan
• Berry, Jeffrey. The New Liberalism: The Rising Power of Citizen Groups
• Ceaser, Presidential Selection
• Cox and McCubbins, Legislative Leviathan
• Dahl, Preface to Democratic Theory
• Davis, Mike, City of Quartz
• DeLeon, Richard, Left Coast
• De Tocqueville, Democracy in America
• W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk
• Ginsberg and Shefter, Politics By Other Means
• Greider, William. Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country
• Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison and John Jay. The Federalist Papers
• Harrington, Michael. The Other America
• Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America
• Hofstadter, The Idea of a Party System
• Huntington, American Politics: Promise of Disharmony
• Jacobson, The Politics of Congressional Elections
• Kernell, Going Public
• King, Letters From A Birmingham Jail
• Krehbiel, Information and Legislative Organization
• Lincoln, Perpetuation of our Political Institutions
• Lippman, Walter. Essays in Public Philosophy
• Lowi, The Personal President
• Lowi, The End of Liberalism
• Mayhew, Congress: The Electoral Connection
• Mayhew, David, Divided We Govern
• Milkis, The President and the Parties
• Miller, Stokes, etc., The Changing American Voter
• Neustadt, Richard. Presidential Power and Modern Presidents
• Reedy, George, The Twilight of the Presidency
• Rosenstone and Hansen, Mobilization, Participation and Democracy in America
• Skowronek, The Politics That Presidents Make
• Skowronek, Building a New American State
• Schattschneider, E.E., Semisovereign People
• Shepsle, “The Changing Textbook Congress”
• Sinclair, Unorthodox Lawmaking
• Savage, David: Turning Right: The Making of the Renquist Supreme Court
• Skocpol, Theda and Morris Fiorina, eds. Civic Engagement in American Democracy
• Smith, Hendrick. The Power Game
• Sonenshein, Politics in Black and White
• Sorauf and Beck, Party Politics in America
• Sowell, Thomas, Civil Rights: Rhetorica or Reality?
• Stone, Clarence, Regime Politics in Atlanta
• Teixeira, Rui, The Disappearing American Voter
• Tulis, The Rhetorical Presidency
• Verba, Sidney, and Norman Nie, Participation in America
• Verba, Schlozman, Brady, Voice and Equality
• White, Theodore. The Making of the President