Power, luck and freedomis a collection of thirteen essays from a leading contemporary political scientist on power, luck, choice, freedom and rights together with a substantial introduction bringing together the themes. The topics covered include political and social power, freedom, choice, rights, responsibility, the author's unique account of luck and systematic luck and the nature of leadership and includes discussions of conceptual analysis, the structure-agency debate, luck egalitarianism, Sen's liberal paradox, problems in the measurement of freedom and choice and the differences between instrumental and intrinsic accounts of the value of freedom and related concepts.
The wide-ranging material will provide an excellent text for students at all levels. It is appropriate reading for a host of courses in the fields of political science, political sociology and political theory at both undergraduate and graduate level. Whilst addressing some philosophically difficult and advanced subjects, Dowding's accessible writing makes the subject-matter comprehensible for all levels of students. Introduction - Power, luck and freedom Part I: Power 1. Why should we care about the definition of power? 2. Agency and structure: interpreting power relationships 3. Rational choice and community power structures 4. Power, capability and ableness: the fallacy of the vehicle fallacy Part II: Luck 5. Resources, power and systematic luck: a response to Barry 6. Shaping future luck 7. Luck, equality and responsibility 8. Luck and leadership Part III: Freedom 9. Choice: its increase and its value 10. The value of choice in public policy 11. Republican freedom, rights and the coalition problem 12. The construction of rights 13. Social choice and the grammar of rights and freedoms Index
Keith Dowding is Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University, Canberra
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