Reviews for Comparative union democracy

The average rating for Comparative union democracy based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-01-27 00:00:00 John Sawyer Back when I originally wrote this review (just about a year ago now) I had seen the following blog post () which concerns fascism in America. Now, preparing for the inauguration of our new President, I thought that it might be useful to post it again. Be assured, I'm not calling names here. As is argued in the blog, the term "fascist" might be too diffuse to apply very well to any sort of politician. That's for any reader of this book to decide I guess. A bit more about this later. ”Fascism” is the Italian name for the twentieth-century manifestation of certain trends in political philosophy that are probably as old as politics itself. The distinguishing features of recent fascism have not been the profundity of its thought or the novelty of its elements, but the flair and efficiency with which these elements have been united, and the extreme lengths to which its doctrines have been carried. I read major parts of this book a year or two after getting my BS, when I took a course in which it was used. So that was almost fifty years ago, but nothing has changed in the readings that Carl Cohen selected to bring out the “theoretical foundations” of these political “forms”. Carl Cohen (1931- ) Residential College of the University of Michigan. Professor of Philosophy, who has written extensively in the areas of moral philosophy, and twentieth century political philosophy. In his Introduction, Cohen writesIn this century, these philosophical commitments [concerning the nature of the person and the state] have crystallized chiefly into three well-developed theories of community organization … the political philosophies of communism, fascism, democracy … the world has been largely divided among them, and so significant are the consequences of this division that the study of these political forms is among the most important we could undertake. The book (which was reprinted in a new edition in 1997 by McGraw Hill – now OOP I believe, but readily available used) is a collection of basic writings which Cohen assembled to allow the reader to study the philosophical underpinnings of these three forms as exemplified in the modern state. One of the forms, Communism (as opposed to State Socialism), has become somewhat passé nowadays. Of course Democracy is alive (maybe) and (at least ostensibly) well (well, in some places perhaps). It is the third, Fascism, that we hear much of today – usually as a dirty word (as it should be) thrown at political opponents. The blog piece above, by Doug Muder, argues that Fascism is something that few people are able to define. He references in the article a couple who have tried, but seems to accept the prevailing opinion that fascism is so diffuse a concept that it cannot be studied as a political system. And, Muder argues, the very people in America who throw the epithet at their opponents most frequently, are in fact the same people who are dipping into and fanning the fascist coals that are glowing in the U.S. Cohen says similar things about the difficulty of defining fascism in his book, but nevertheless has assembled a fascinating lineup of source material that allows a reader to study the subject for him- or herself. (Note that Sections IV and V below pull in the “definition by example” which Muder refers to.) So having said this by way of introduction, I’ll just show (most of) the detailed table of contents for the Fascism sections of the book. Each of the numbered section, and the various readings within them, have some introductory material by Cohen, then the original material for study. Part II Fascism Section I Absolutism 32. from Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince 33. from Jean Bodin, Six Books of the Commonwealth 34. from Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan Section II Organicism 35. from Georg W.F. Hegel, The Philosophy of Law 36. from Johann G. Fichte, Addresses to the German Nation 37. from Heinrich von Treitschke, Politics Section III Irrationalism 38. from Georges Sorel: Letter to Daniel Halevy 39. from Houston S. Chamberlain, Foundations of the Nineteenth Century Section IV Fascist Philosophy in Italy 40. from Alfredo Rocco, The Political Doctrine of Fascism 41. from Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism 42. from Giovanni Gentile, The Philosophical Basis of Fascism 43. from Mario Palmieri, The Philosophy of Fascism 44. from The National Fascist Party and the Charter of Labor 45. from The Fascist Decalogue Section V Fascist Philosophy in Germany 46. from Hermann Goering, Germany Reborn 47. from Alfred Rosenberg, The Myth of the Twentieth Century 48. from Ernst R. Huber, Constitutional Law of the Greater German Reich 49 from Adolf Hitler: Selected SpeechesEach of the numbered items contains one or more selected readings. Here's the list of readings for one of the items having the most. 43. Mario Palmieri, The Philosophy of Fascism - Fascism and the Meaning of Life - Fascism and the Conduct of Life - Fascism and Liberty - The Fascist State - The Corporative Idea - The Legacy of Rome - The Hero as Leader Anyone interested in contemporary Fascism would be well-served by taking a look at these readings. They occupy about 120 pages in Cohen’s book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Previous review: Six Armies in Normandy Next review: The Pebble Chance wonderful book Older review: The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson Previous library review: To the Finland Station A Study in the Writing and Acting of History Next library review: Organic Marxism An alternative to capitalism and ecological catastrophe

Review # 2 was written on 2013-10-12 00:00:00 Francis Brenner I read this at university during one particular course on political science (excellent professor). The relevance of this book remains: many people--especially politicians--bandy about the terms fascism, communism, and democracy without an understanding of these political ideologies. When the terms are used carelessly they confuse and deceive. One might honestly question of the purpose of the speaker or writer.