Rational Choice and British Politics : An Analysis of Rhetoric and Manipulation from Peel to Blair - Softcover

McLean, Iain

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198295294 ISBN 13: 9780198295297

Publisher: Oxford University Press UK, 2001

Synopsis

This engaging and original study, by one of Britain's leading scholars of rational choice theory, explores the course of British parliamentary politics over the last 150 years. McLean marries an appealing combination of social science and analytical narrative history to the great turning points in British politics. - ;This engaging and original study, by one of Britain's leading scholars of rational choice theory, explores the course of British parliamentary politics over the last 150 years. McLean marries an appealing combination of social science and analytical narrative history to the great turning points in British politics - the Repeal of the Corn Law; the Victorian crisis of the Liberal and Conservative Parties; the Irish Question and Lloyd George's solution to it; the New Liberal origins of the welfare state; the politics of race and empire under Chamberlain and Powell; and the politics of 'there is no alternative' under Margaret Thatcher. - ;McLean's research is excellent, his writing is polished and witty, and his cases are well selected to cover some of the truly fascinating moments of British politics ... From a scholarly perspective, there are some novel and interesting parts to McLean's work. - American Political Science Review;This is a genuinely - possibly even eccentrically - original book ... He [McLean] states his rationale explicitly, consciously attempting to demonstrate the value of combining political science and history. His conceptual approach is intellectually original and in itself makes this a most valuable study ... as a conceptually original study it demands serious attention from both of its intended audiences. - English Historical Review;Intelligent undergraduates will find a stimulating read ... clear and stylish ... engaging and concisely written ... offers a thought-provoking text which should commend it not only to historians but more widely to all those interested in public affairs in this country. - Ian Budge, University of Essex, Government and Opposition;An original study ... marries the techniques of political science and game theory with those of narrative history ... the result is both readable and suggestive. - Peter Riddell, The Times

About this title

About the Author

Iain McLean, Professor of Politics, Nuffield College, Oxford University

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press UK
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198295294
• ISBN 13: 9780198295297
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272