Politics against Domination

by Ian Shapiro

Overview

Ian Shapiro makes a compelling case that the overriding purpose of politics should be to combat domination. Moreover, he shows how to put resistance to domination into practice at home and abroad. This is a major work of applied political theory, a profound challenge to utopian visions, and a guide to fundamental problems of justice and distribution.

“Shapiro’s insights are trenchant, especially with regards to the Citizens United decision, and his counsel on how the ‘status-quo bias’ in national political institutions favors the privileged. After more than a decade of imperial overreach, his restrained account of foreign policy should likewise find support.”
—Scott A. Lucas, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Shapiro has a brief and compelling section on the importance of hope in his first chapter. This book enacts and encourages hope, with its analytical clarity, deep engagement of complicated political issues that resist easy theorizing, and emphasis on the politically possible.”
—Kathleen Tipler, Political Science Quarterly

“Offers important insights for thinking about democracy’s prospects.”
—Christopher Hobson, Perspectives on Politics

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674986756
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	09/17/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ian Shapiro is Sterling Professor of Political Science at Yale University. His recent books include Politics against Domination and, with Frances Rosenbluth, Responsible Parties: Saving Democracy from Itself.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Adapting against Domination 1

2 Power and Majority Rule 31

3 The Stakes of Political Conflict 46

4 Democracy against Republicanism 62

5 Against World Government 103

6 Resisting Domination across Borders 131

7 Politics against Domination 172

Notes 187

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

Shapiro’s insights are trenchant, especially with regards to the Citizens United decision, and his counsel on how the ‘status-quo bias’ in national political institutions favors the privileged. After more than a decade of imperial overreach, his restrained account of foreign policy should likewise find support.

Los Angeles Review of Books - Scott A. Lucas

Ian Shapiro has written an exceptional book that brings together political philosophy, empirical political science, political economy, history, occasional natural science, and much else.

Jeffrey Green

Ian Shapiro combines erudite, rigorous political theorizing with a public intellectual’s ability to canvass and illuminate contemporary domestic and global problems. It’s a rare blend, one that makes Politics against Domination a book both for academic syllabi and presidential reading lists. It is a book that has actually changed my mind on how to think about international intervention.

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Shapiro has a brief and compelling section on the importance of hope in his first chapter. This book enacts and encourages hope, with its analytical clarity, deep engagement of complicated political issues that resist easy theorizing, and emphasis on the politically possible.

Kathleen Tipler

This is a profound and unmatched study of the order and justice of non-domination. Ian Shapiro makes the case that politics—whether domestic or international—should be about saving citizens from hell, not leading them to heaven.

Michael Doyle

As Ian Shapiro says, a polity cannot pursue liberty, equality, or justice until it overcomes domination—and this book provides the best way to think about that crucial step that I know of. It is a fine example of his ability to ‘anchor philosophical reflection in real politics,’ thereby showing all of us how to mingle ‘ought’ with ‘can’ in the service of human liberation and dignity.

Jennifer Hochschild

Offers important insights for thinking about democracy’s prospects.

Christopher Hobson

Ian Shapiro has the richest knowledge of contemporary politics across the world and the keenest sense of political reality of any American political theorist. Politics against Domination is his trenchant summary of what he has learnt from more than three decades of strenuous inquiry and hard thought.

John Dunn

Offers important insights for thinking about democracy's prospects.--Christopher Hobson "Perspectives on Politics"

Shapiro has a brief and compelling section on the importance of hope in his first chapter. This book enacts and encourages hope, with its analytical clarity, deep engagement of complicated political issues that resist easy theorizing, and emphasis on the politically possible.--Kathleen Tipler "Political Science Quarterly"

Shapiro's insights are trenchant, especially with regards to the Citizens United decision, and his counsel on how the 'status-quo bias' in national political institutions favors the privileged. After more than a decade of imperial overreach, his restrained account of foreign policy should likewise find support.--Scott A. Lucas "Los Angeles Review of Books"

As Ian Shapiro says, a polity cannot pursue liberty, equality, or justice until it overcomes domination--and this book provides the best way to think about that crucial step that I know of. It is a fine example of his ability to 'anchor philosophical reflection in real politics, ' thereby showing all of us how to mingle 'ought' with 'can' in the service of human liberation and dignity.--Jennifer Hochschild, Harvard University

Ian Shapiro combines erudite, rigorous political theorizing with a public intellectual's ability to canvass and illuminate contemporary domestic and global problems. It's a rare blend, one that makes Politics against Domination a book both for academic syllabi and presidential reading lists. It is a book that has actually changed my mind on how to think about international intervention.--Anne-Marie Slaughter

Ian Shapiro has the richest knowledge of contemporary politics across the world and the keenest sense of political reality of any American political theorist. Politics against Domination is his trenchant summary of what he has learnt from more than three decades of strenuous inquiry and hard thought.--John Dunn, University of Cambridge

Ian Shapiro has written an exceptional book that brings together political philosophy, empirical political science, political economy, history, occasional natural science, and much else.--Jeffrey Green, University of Pennsylvania

This is a profound and unmatched study of the order and justice of non-domination. Ian Shapiro makes the case that politics--whether domestic or international--should be about saving citizens from hell, not leading them to heaven.--Michael Doyle, Columbia University

From the Publisher

Politics against Domination presents the definitive case for a minimalist version of majoritarian democracy to scholars, policymakers, and general readers.

Elisabeth Ellis