David Runciman
Biographic Data
| ID | 1212209 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Runciman |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Runciman |
| SIGNATURE | RUNCIMAN D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cambridge |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 107 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Political Hypocrisy
Political Hypocrisy
What kind of hypocrite should voters choose as their next leader? The question seems utterly cynical. But, as David Runciman suggests, it is actually much more cynical to pretend that politics can ever be completely sincere. Political Hypocrisy is a timely, and timeless, book on the problems of sincerity and truth in politics, and how we can deal with them without slipping into hypocrisy ourselves. Runciman draws on the work of some of the great …
Political Hypocrisy
The Confidence Trap
Why democracies believe they can survive any crisis—and why that belief is so dangerous Why do democracies keep lurching from success to failure? The current financial crisis is just the latest example of how things continue to go wrong, just when it looked like they were going right. In this wide-ranging, original, and compelling book, David Runciman tells the story of modern democracy through the history of moments of crisis, from the First Wor…
Why is Democracy so Surprising
Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter (d. 1184) and the Heresy of Astrology
In the late twelfth century, Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter (1161–84), identified astrology as the most serious heresy facing the English Church. The evidence of Bartholomew's writing suggests that astrology became more widely accepted among the English clergy during his episcopal tenure. It also supports the view that popular heretical movements enjoyed little success in England during this period, in contrast to some regions in mainland Europe. …
Political Hypocrisy
Electoral Reform and the Constitution
Political Theory and Real Politics in the Age of the Internet
Rescuing Democracy in the Age of the Internet
Throughout almost the entire history of democracy—from pre-Socratic Greece up to the second half of the twentieth century—its champions faced little difficulty in identifying its enemies. Critics of democracy consistently lined up to attack it on ideological and philosophical grounds. The litany of complaints was familiar: Democracy is an ignorant, unreliable, unstable form of rule; putting power in the hands of the people entrusts decision-makin…
What Is Realistic Political Philosophy?
In the study of politics, C ambridge is sometimes associated with a school of political philosophical “realism.” This article discusses what realism in political philosophy might mean, by examining first what might count as “unrealistic” political philosophy (looking at S idgwick and R awls), and then some recent attempts to identify a more realistic philosophical approach to politics. It argues that realistic political philosophy tends to emerge…
A theoretical overview
What stands between families and states? The conventional answer of modern political theory is civil society: the sphere of voluntary associations and relationships that provides individuals with a means of escape from both the confines of family life and the rigours of state politics. This can be either a descriptive or a normative claim. One of the distinguishing features of modern societies is the sheer scale and variety of civil associations …
Can Democracy Cope
The success story of democracy over the twentieth century has given way to doubts in the twenty‐first, as democracies struggle to cope with difficult wars, mounting debts, climate change and the rise of China. This essay uses intellectual history to explain the link between long‐term democratic success and short‐term democratic failure. It distinguishes three distinct views of what can go wrong with democracy, and identifies the third (which I ca…
Political Representation
Political representation lies at the core of modern politics. Democracies, with their vast numbers of citizens, could not operate without representative institutions. Yet relations between the democratic ideal and the everyday practice of political representation have never been well defined and remain the subject of vigorous debate among historians, political theorists, lawyers, and citizens. In this volume, an eminent group of scholars move for…
The Politics of Good Intentions
Political Hypocrisy
What kind of hypocrite should voters choose as their next leader? The question seems utterly cynical. But, as David Runciman suggests, it is actually much more cynical to pretend that politics can ever be completely sincere. The most dangerous form of political hypocrisy is to claim to have a politics without hypocrisy. Political Hypocrisy is a timely, and timeless, book on the problems of sincerity and truth in politics, and how we can deal with…
The Paradox of Political Representation
Sovereign Debt and Private Creditors
The Practice of Liberal Pluralism
The Practice of Liberal Pluralism. By William A. Galston. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 216p. $65.00 cloth, $26.99 paper. This book seeks to defend the idea of value pluralism set out in William Galston's earlier Liberal Pluralism (2002) against the various criticisms to which it has been subjected, and to explain the ways that this kind of pluralism can be given practical political application. The first of these tasks is efficient…
Legitimating Identities. The Self-presentations of Rulers and Subjects
History of Political Thought
What Kind of Person is Hobbes’s State? A Reply to Skinner
Is the State a Corporation
THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO ESTABLISH THE RELEVANCE OF the question that forms its title for contemporary political theory. It is not an obvious question, both because it is not obvious what the answer is, but also because it is not obvious what it means in contemporary terms. In order to establish its significance, it is necessary first of all to establish what the question does mean, and what the term ‘corporation’ means within it. It is,…
Personality and Public Law Doctrine
Pluralism and the Personality of the State
Set against the broad context of philosophical arguments about group and state personality, Pluralism and the Personality of the State tells, for the first time, the history of political pluralism. The pluralists believed that the state was simply one group among many, and could not therefore be sovereign. They also believed that groups, like individuals, might have personalities of their own. The book examines the philosophical background to pol…
The Paradox of Political Representation
What Kind of Person is Hobbes’s State? A Reply to Skinner
History of Political Thought
Political Theory and Real Politics in the Age of the Internet
Is the State a Corporation
THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO ESTABLISH THE RELEVANCE OF the question that forms its title for contemporary political theory. It is not an obvious question, both because it is not obvious what the answer is, but also because it is not obvious what it means in contemporary terms. In order to establish its significance, it is necessary first of all to establish what the question does mean, and what the term ‘corporation’ means within it. It is,…
Legitimating Identities. The Self-presentations of Rulers and Subjects
Why is Democracy so Surprising
Can Democracy Cope
The success story of democracy over the twentieth century has given way to doubts in the twenty‐first, as democracies struggle to cope with difficult wars, mounting debts, climate change and the rise of China. This essay uses intellectual history to explain the link between long‐term democratic success and short‐term democratic failure. It distinguishes three distinct views of what can go wrong with democracy, and identifies the third (which I ca…
Pluralism and the Personality of the State
Set against the broad context of philosophical arguments about group and state personality, Pluralism and the Personality of the State tells, for the first time, the history of political pluralism. The pluralists believed that the state was simply one group among many, and could not therefore be sovereign. They also believed that groups, like individuals, might have personalities of their own. The book examines the philosophical background to pol…
Personality and Public Law Doctrine
What Kind of Person is Hobbes’s State? A Reply to Skinner
Is the State a Corporation
THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO ESTABLISH THE RELEVANCE OF the question that forms its title for contemporary political theory. It is not an obvious question, both because it is not obvious what the answer is, but also because it is not obvious what it means in contemporary terms. In order to establish its significance, it is necessary first of all to establish what the question does mean, and what the term ‘corporation’ means within it. It is,…
History of Political Thought
Legitimating Identities. The Self-presentations of Rulers and Subjects
Sovereign Debt and Private Creditors
The Practice of Liberal Pluralism
The Practice of Liberal Pluralism. By William A. Galston. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. 216p. $65.00 cloth, $26.99 paper. This book seeks to defend the idea of value pluralism set out in William Galston's earlier Liberal Pluralism (2002) against the various criticisms to which it has been subjected, and to explain the ways that this kind of pluralism can be given practical political application. The first of these tasks is efficient…
The Paradox of Political Representation
The Politics of Good Intentions
Political Hypocrisy
What kind of hypocrite should voters choose as their next leader? The question seems utterly cynical. But, as David Runciman suggests, it is actually much more cynical to pretend that politics can ever be completely sincere. The most dangerous form of political hypocrisy is to claim to have a politics without hypocrisy. Political Hypocrisy is a timely, and timeless, book on the problems of sincerity and truth in politics, and how we can deal with…
Political Representation
Political representation lies at the core of modern politics. Democracies, with their vast numbers of citizens, could not operate without representative institutions. Yet relations between the democratic ideal and the everyday practice of political representation have never been well defined and remain the subject of vigorous debate among historians, political theorists, lawyers, and citizens. In this volume, an eminent group of scholars move for…
A theoretical overview
What stands between families and states? The conventional answer of modern political theory is civil society: the sphere of voluntary associations and relationships that provides individuals with a means of escape from both the confines of family life and the rigours of state politics. This can be either a descriptive or a normative claim. One of the distinguishing features of modern societies is the sheer scale and variety of civil associations …
Can Democracy Cope
The success story of democracy over the twentieth century has given way to doubts in the twenty‐first, as democracies struggle to cope with difficult wars, mounting debts, climate change and the rise of China. This essay uses intellectual history to explain the link between long‐term democratic success and short‐term democratic failure. It distinguishes three distinct views of what can go wrong with democracy, and identifies the third (which I ca…
What Is Realistic Political Philosophy?
In the study of politics, C ambridge is sometimes associated with a school of political philosophical “realism.” This article discusses what realism in political philosophy might mean, by examining first what might count as “unrealistic” political philosophy (looking at S idgwick and R awls), and then some recent attempts to identify a more realistic philosophical approach to politics. It argues that realistic political philosophy tends to emerge…
Rescuing Democracy in the Age of the Internet
Throughout almost the entire history of democracy—from pre-Socratic Greece up to the second half of the twentieth century—its champions faced little difficulty in identifying its enemies. Critics of democracy consistently lined up to attack it on ideological and philosophical grounds. The litany of complaints was familiar: Democracy is an ignorant, unreliable, unstable form of rule; putting power in the hands of the people entrusts decision-makin…
Political Theory and Real Politics in the Age of the Internet
Electoral Reform and the Constitution
Political Hypocrisy
Political Hypocrisy
What kind of hypocrite should voters choose as their next leader? The question seems utterly cynical. But, as David Runciman suggests, it is actually much more cynical to pretend that politics can ever be completely sincere. Political Hypocrisy is a timely, and timeless, book on the problems of sincerity and truth in politics, and how we can deal with them without slipping into hypocrisy ourselves. Runciman draws on the work of some of the great …
Political Hypocrisy
The Confidence Trap
Why democracies believe they can survive any crisis—and why that belief is so dangerous Why do democracies keep lurching from success to failure? The current financial crisis is just the latest example of how things continue to go wrong, just when it looked like they were going right. In this wide-ranging, original, and compelling book, David Runciman tells the story of modern democracy through the history of moments of crisis, from the First Wor…
Why is Democracy so Surprising
Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter (d. 1184) and the Heresy of Astrology
In the late twelfth century, Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter (1161–84), identified astrology as the most serious heresy facing the English Church. The evidence of Bartholomew's writing suggests that astrology became more widely accepted among the English clergy during his episcopal tenure. It also supports the view that popular heretical movements enjoyed little success in England during this period, in contrast to some regions in mainland Europe. …
Political Hypocrisy
Political science (21 works) · Law (20 works) · Politics (18 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (11 works) · Computer Science (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Philosophy (6 works)