David Runciman Bücher

Alles hat ein Ende: Was für das menschliche Leben gilt, trifft auch auf politische Systeme zu. Zwar haben die westlichen Demokratien heute ihren Zenit überschritten, aber sie sind noch nicht an ihr Ende gelangt. Sie stecken in der Midlife-Crisis, sind erschöpft und schwerfällig. Donald Trump wird die Demokratie nicht zugrunde richten, so ist David Runciman überzeugt. Viel gefährlicher wird ihr Mark Zuckerberg, der ein System geschaffen hat, das sich von den demokratischen Institutionen nicht mehr kontrollieren lässt. Die Demokratie könnte also eines Tages Opfer des technologischen Fortschritts werden, durch Gewalt oder eine ökologische Katastrophe zu Fall gebracht werden. Dabei stimmt David Runciman nicht in den üblichen Abgesang ein. Ruhig, besonnen und ungewöhnlich elegant beschreibt er die Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft der Demokratie. Sein Buch handelt von ihren Stärken und Schwächen und entwirft verschiedene Szenarien, wie es nach ihrem Ende weitergehen könnte.

Focusing on the evolution of English political thought between 1900 and 1933, this book explores the concept of pluralism and its influence on the state's identity. It examines how various political ideas and movements shaped the understanding of governance and individual rights during this transformative period, highlighting key thinkers and their contributions to the discourse surrounding state personality and pluralistic governance.

A primer on political theory from bestselling author and host of Talking Politics David Runciman.

A critical assessement of the problems of sincerity and truth in politics argues that we should accept hypocrisy as a fact of politics without resigning ourselves to it or embracing it, drawing on the lessons of such thinkers as Hobbes, Mandeville, Jefferson, Bentham, Sigwick, and Orwell.

"Why do democracies keep lurching from success to failure? The current financial crisis is just the latest example of how things continue to go wrong, just when it looked like they were going right. In this wide-ranging, original, and compelling book, David Runciman tells the story of modern democracy through the history of moments of crisis, from the First World War to the economic crash of 2008. A global history with a special focus on the United States, The Confidence Trap examines how democracy survived threats ranging from the Great Depression to the Cuban missile crisis, and from Watergate to the collapse of Lehman Brothers. It also looks at the confusion and uncertainty created by unexpected victories, from the defeat of German autocracy in 1918 to the defeat of communism in 1989. Throughout, the book pays close attention to the politicians and thinkers who grappled with these crises: from Woodrow Wilson, Nehru, and Adenauer to Fukuyama and Obama. The Confidence Trap shows that democracies are good at recovering from emergencies but bad at avoiding them. The lesson democracies tend to learn from their mistakes is that they can survive them--and that no crisis is as bad as it seems. Breeding complacency rather than wisdom, crises lead to the dangerous belief that democracies can muddle through anything--a confidence trap that may lead to a crisis that is just too big to escape, if it hasn't already."--

This book explores Tony Blair's desire for historical judgment on early 21st-century political controversies, particularly his alliance with George W. Bush. It contextualizes recent events like the war on terror and Iraq within modern history, critiquing how politicians manipulate history to shape a new world order while emphasizing the importance of understanding contemporary politics in historical terms.

In the first title of an exciting new series one of the world's leading political scientists asks the big questions about politics: what is it, why we do we need it and where, in these turbulent times, is it heading? From the gap between rich and poor to the impact of social media, via Machiavelli, Hobbes and Weber, Runciman's comprehensive short introduction is invaluable to those studying politics or those who want to know how life in Denmark became more comfortable than in Syria.Fusing animation and images from the award winning animators behind RSA Animates, beautifully adapted to both print and digital formats, the Ideas in Profile series boldly reinvents what introductions can and should be in the twenty-first century. Concise, clear, relevant, entertaining, original and global in scope, Politics makes essential reading - and viewing for students and general readers.

Lyndon Baines Johnson, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, and Donald each had different motivations, methods, and paths, but they all sought the highest office. And yet when they reached their goal, they often found that the power they had imagined was illusory. Their sweeping visions of reform faltered. They faced bureaucratic obstructions, but often the biggest obstruction was their own character. However, their personalities could help them as much as hurt them. Arguably the most successful of them, LBJ showed little indication that he supported what he is best known for - the Civil Rights Act - but his grit, resolve, and brute political skill saw him bend Congress to his will. David Runciman tackles the limitations of high office and how the personal histories of those who achieved the very pinnacles of power helped to define their successes and failures in office. These portraits show what characters are most effective in these offices. Could this be a blueprint for good and effective leadership in an age lacking good leaders?

Exploring the concept of the Singularity, this book reveals how the rise of autonomous machines is not a new phenomenon. It delves into historical precedents where technology has outpaced human control, prompting a reflection on the implications of such advancements. Through this lens, the narrative challenges the notion that we are on the brink of a unique technological crisis, suggesting that humanity has faced similar challenges before.

Does it matter if we are ceding power to AI? Especially if we have been there before.