Political Science for Dummies

By: Marcus A. Stadelmann

Narrated by: Jim Seybert

The global political climate is dynamic, at times even volatile. To understand this evolving landscape, it's important to learn more about how countries are governed. Political Science for Dummies explores the questions that political scientists examine, such as how our leaders make decisions, who shapes political policy, and why countries go to war. The book is the perfect course supplement for students taking college-level introductory political-science courses.

• Get a better understanding of political ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and behavior
• Explore topics such as class, government, diplomacy, law, strategy, and war
• Learn the specialized vocabulary within the field of political science
• Help prepare for a range of careers, from policy analyst to legislative assistant

Political science crosses into many other areas of study, such as sociology, economics, history, anthropology, international relations, law, statistics, and public policy. Those who want to understand the implications of changing political economies or how governing bodies work can look to Political Science for Dummies.

©2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (P)2020 Tantor

Definitely Worth a Read

This book took me by surprise in a beautiful way. I've generally had a condescending attitude towards the "DUMMIES" series - the name just didn't do it for me.

However the profile of this book is just AWESOME!

The subject matter is clearly explained and a beautiful deep and broad perspective of is set out.

The book is however VERY European & American focused and is seriously lacking in African, Indian, and Oriental thinking and theory.

Excellent starting point for a deeper dive into Political Science

If you seek to understand what constitutes the major aspects of Political Science as a discipline, start with this book.

The author presents a balanced overview. He cites important historical and current resources related to the various sub-disciplines, and provides recommended readings for individuals who want to pursue specific topics through further independent study.

Personally, I recommend purchasing both the audio and print (or Kindle) versions.

it gives you a good basics in political science

I enjoyed it a lot it gave me a lot of insight and a road map the political science great job

Very informative, easy to understand.

I loved the speaker, he never lost my attention, but by me being new to politics it was like I heard his every pleasant word, But I still want to listen again until I get all the nook and crannies out. After all, considering all the information covered in this book, I strongly recommend this book!

Comprehensive coverage of topic

Enjoyed the book for comprehensive coverage of the topic. However, some sections are very US-centric and has a biased view, nonetheless enjoyed the book.

I was looking forward to learning something until chapter 2.

The narrator is acceptable. The topics covered by the chapter listing seemed to be in order. However, I was completely lost of interest when he classified America as a democracy. How can I respect a person who is so fundamentally in error? America is a constitutional republic.

Meh, it’s ok

One problem is that the author is just incorrect on some economics concepts. He says that free trade only works to a nation’s benefit if other nations also adopt it multilaterally. But economic utility calculations mathematically prove that free trade benefits is even if we’re the only ones doing it unilaterally. In other words, it still benefits us to drop outr tariffs even if no other nation does. Adopting free trade by dropping tariffs isn’t utopian as he says, it’s quite practically beneficial.

Also, he says tariffs for some industries used in military supplies, like steel, are good for national security. This is false for about ten reasons. He just doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Also, he just assumes the typical leftist narrative about bad monopolies being created by capitalism. This narrative has been easily debunked by real actual economists. Most so-called monopolies weren’t actually monopolies. And, for any monopolies which actually existed and which are harmful to society, none were created by capitalism, they were all created by government either directly or indirectly.

He showed his left leaning bias at the end of the book. He listed his top ten favorite political science books. One was Rawls’ A Theory of Justice, the modern left’s primary theory. But, this is not a political science book, it’s a political philosophy book. So, the author is misleading the reader and stepping out of his political science job to get you to read a leftist political philosophy book.

Lastly, he didn’t list enough interesting empirical research results on topics that would interest most people.