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This book provides a better understanding of some of the central puzzles of empirical political science: how does "government" express will and purpose? How do political institutions come to have effective causal powers in the administration of policy and regulation? What accounts for both plasticity and perseverance of political institutions and practices? And how are we to formulate a better understanding of the persistence of dysfunctions in government and public administration - failures to achieve public goods, the persistence of self-dealing behavior by the actors of the state, and the apparent ubiquity of corruption even within otherwise high-functioning governments?
List of contents
1. Ontology and Government.- 2. Scientific Realism and the study of Government.- 3. The Ontology of Composition.- 4. Intellectual Tools for Understanding Government.- 5. Institutions, Norms, and Networks.- 6. Sources of Organization Failure.- 7. Electoral Democracy.- 8. What Does Government Do?.- 9. Governments as Regulators.- 10. Concluding Observations.
About the author
Daniel Little is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, USA, and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. His research focuses on the philosophy of social science. Recent books include
New Directions in the Philosophy of Social Science (2016) and
New Contributions to the Philosophy of History (2010).
