Cart
Free US shipping over $10
Proud to be B-Corp

A Novel Approach to Politics Douglas A. Van Belle

A Novel Approach to Politics By Douglas A. Van Belle

A Novel Approach to Politics by Douglas A. Van Belle


$4.58
Condition - Very Good
Only 1 left

Summary

With pop culture references ranging from 1984 to The Dark Knight this book is sure to make political science fun, engaging and memorable for students.

Faster Shipping

Get this product faster from our US warehouse

A Novel Approach to Politics Summary

A Novel Approach to Politics: Introducing Political Science through Books, Movies, and Popular Culture by Douglas A. Van Belle

Students often complain that textbooks are boring, especially the door-stoppers in use for most survey courses. But they've never had a textbook like this. Just ask adopters of the first edition who are thanking Novel Approach for some of their best student evaluations to date.

Van Belle and Mash deliver the core concepts and real-world political examples you expect from an introductory book, just in a way that your students will actually have fun reading and will retain after the exam. With enlightening, yet entertaining, references ranging from 1984 to The Dark Knight, students take away more from discussions of institutions, ideology, and economics because concepts are introduced using popular culture. Revisions to the second edition, in addition to a wealth of new and recent movies and books, include new features on major political theorists and expanded stand-alone institutional chapters on the legislature and the executive.

Never fear-the textbook stuff is here too-chapter summaries, bolded key terms, and discussion questions.

A Novel Approach to Politics Reviews

The slightly irreverent, humorous approach of the authors went over well with my students; I appreciated the sophisticated yet accessible treatment of the philosophical roots and theoretic structure of the study of politics. It worked very well with my approach to introducing political science; using the book with films and current events facilitated dynamic and far-ranging discussion

-- Sean P. Duffy

In all of my class lectures, I frequently mention films, books, and TV shows that illustrate a point of political interest. When Van Belle and Mash first released their delightful text, I found a book to use whose 'kindred spirit' matched my approach. It is fun, funny, informative, and most importantly, it serves up politics to a generation of students who have been socialized by the entertainment media

-- Jim Radford

As an instructor who struggles to animate students about the importance politics in their daily lives, this text accomplishes the almost impossible--it makes students smile and even laugh about politics. The framing of political theory in such a way that challenges students to think and to internalize ideas is a major accomplishment. As a supplementary reader it enriches and brings ideas to life while providing much needed substance to class discussions

-- Richard S. Gutierrez

A Novel Approach to Politics is a must-use textbook for any instructor who wishes to gain and maintain student interest in political science. Van Belle and Mash make politics come alive with their use of fictional stories and historical examples to illustrate political concepts. Students constantly comment that they find the A Novel Approach to Politics to be both engaging and enjoyable to read. Often getting students to read a textbook is like pulling teeth, with A Novel Approach to Politics, this is one dentist visit that students actually enjoy

-- Cyrus Hayat

About Douglas A. Van Belle

Douglas A. Van Belle is a senior lecturer in Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. His most recent research focuses on the role of the media in the adoption of disaster risk reduction policies, but his publications range from dynamic models of rational choice in revolutionary collective actions to the critical comparison of the concept of science as applied in political science and paleontology. Other areas of research include media freedom, foreign aid, popular culture and politics, and the social dynamics of science as applied to the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. Spurred on by the blatant discrimination inherent in the statement Trix are for Kids, at age 4 Ken Mash attempted to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the rabbit and other animals similarly situated. After three errors in one inning squashed his dreams of playing for the Mets, his overactive justice complex led him to pursue a career as a lawyer and politician. While earning his B.A. in political science he discovered what those jobs were really like. Thus, Ken's next degree was in mixology. Eighteen months later, his fiancee informed him that she was leaving town to do graduate work and that she would go either with him or without him. A couple of degrees later, he is currently a political science professor at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he is co-director of the honors program and the pre-law advisor. He has delivered numerous papers and talks on American politics, constitutional law, and civil liberties, and he is very active in the faculty association. He currently resides in Nanticoke, PA, with his wife and four children where he is now content in knowing that his parents were mistaken when, as a child, they told him that he was wasting his time watching T.V. and movies.

Table of Contents

Introducing the Ancient Debate: The Ideal versus the Real The Dollhouse Fiction as a Tool for Exploring Politics Utopias in Fiction and Politics Ideologies What Is Politics? What Is Political Science? Why Government? Security, Anarchy, and Some Basic Group Dynamics A Model for the Emergence of Cooperation: Bobsville Collective Action Security Power Anarchy The Context of Hierarchy Alliances Groups and Group Identities Governing Society: We Know Who You Are Leadership Benefits The Panopticon Collective Action, Revolution, and the Use of Force Legitimacy and Government Control Government's Role in the Economy: The Offer You Can't Refuse The Tragedy of the Commons Karl Marx--Student of Capitalism? Socialism The Yin and Yang of Capitalism and Socialism Structures and Institutions: Get off your #$*%&#g Ass and Build that #$*%&#g Bike Structures or Institutions? Human Nature and Political Institutions The Reality of Political Institutions Simgovernment El Grande Loco Casa Blanca-The Executive (in Bad Spanish) Oh Captain, My Captain The Scorpion King on Grandpa's Farm Kings and Presidents The Democratic Executive The Confederacy of Dunces- The Legislative (Not in Bad Spanish) A Dreary Discussion of Democratic Legislatures Intermission A Redundant Repetition of Our Theme A Tired Attempt to Make it Interesting A Dreary Bleakness in the Authoritarian Gloom Brazil our Bureaucracy-Do we even need to Bother with the Jokes? Bureaucracy, It Goes To Eleven So What Is A Bureaucracy? There Be Flaws in Yonder Bureaucracy, Obviously Courts and Law: Politics behind the Gavel Law and Politics The Functions of Courts Trial Courts and Appellate Courts Legal Systems Jurisprudence Types of Law Constitutional Courts Not Quite Right, but Still Good: The Democratic Ideal in Modern Politics Arrow's Theorem Democracy and the Liberal Ideal An Economic Theory of Democracy The Real versus the Ideal, Again Media, Politics and Government: Talking Heads are Better than None Reality and Beyond The Whole China Charade Your New Brain and the Creation of Reality News Media and Politics A Vast Conspiracy? Understanding the Distortions Is the Key International Politics: Apocalypse Now and Then Causes of War Back To Anarchy World War I Was Unpleasant Realism and War Challenging the Realist Paradigm Chapter 13 was Confiscated for Your Protection Political Culture: Sex & Agriculture, Getting Rucked Explains it All Political Culture Applying Political Culture The Lastest and Bestest Chapter

Additional information

CIN0872899993VG
9780872899995
0872899993
A Novel Approach to Politics: Introducing Political Science through Books, Movies, and Popular Culture by Douglas A. Van Belle
Used - Very Good
Paperback
SAGE Publications Inc
20091201
464
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - A Novel Approach to Politics