Good and Bad Power: The Ideals and Betrayals of Government

by Geoff Mulgan

Book Overview

How can we make the governments on which we depend for our welfare and survival behave like servants rather than masters? This is the oldest question in politics. It has been grappled with, but never satisfactorily answered, for thousands of years. In much of the world states remain oppressive, secretive and violent. It is no surprise that so much recent political theory has been concerned with how to protect people from dangerous states. Yet the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141023007
• ISBN13: 9780141023007
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

excellent & informative

this book simply explains how power works in the real world, its temptations, its dilemmas etc. I appreciate the effort taken into such a work, as it is a subject that needs volumes, to bring closer to the reader, whether intellectual or ordinary, an understanding of the dynamics of governments when in power. I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in politics, though there are two minor mistakes regarding examples which the writer substantiates his words but it does not affect the purpose or overall meaning.

What is the collective noun for 'heads of government'? ..

'A lack of principals' was the answer given by British Prime Minister Harold McMillan, according to Geoff Mulgan. This is a well-written book and is as accessible to general readers interested in public sector management, power and politics as it is to those undertaking more formal academic study. How can we make the governments on which we depend for our welfare and survival behave like servants rather than masters? Something has gone badly wrong in our relationship with power. This book sets out to explain how and why we have arrived at this point and what can be done to try to change this. Geoff Mulgan argues that morality is not guaranteed by well-crafted constitutions or the personal values of leaders. Instead morality is dependent on the moral quality of all participants in public policy: the media, activists, commentators and the public as a whole. Lao Tzu wrote that 'the good leader is the one that people adore; the wicked leader is the one that the people despise; the great leader is the one the people say 'We did it ourselves'. Such can be the power of democracy. Highly recommended to those interested in public power. Jennifer Cameron-Smith