Suchergebnisse

What is biopolitics? The authors are well-published scholars in this field, and their answer to this question supplied in this book should give hope to those who are disappointed with the direction and progress of political science. Many of the questions about politics that biopolitics addresses were first asked by ancient political philosophers, such as Aristotle. The field of biopolitics, however, is only 30 or 40 years old. Over that time the field has strengthened its institutional base. Of equal importance, it has produced a growing body of scholarship in such fields as political theory, comparative politics and international relations, methodology, political behavior and decision making, and public administration and public policy. Unfortunately, largely because the field is interdisciplinary, only a small portion of this scholarship has been published in the major political science journals, so that most political scientists and other social scientists are largely unaware of what this field is and what it has to offer.

In the winter semester of 1993, I offered on my campus a four-credit course on "Biopolitics." The course included both advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and was conducted as a graduate level seminar. It was a first both for me and for students in political science at Wayne State University. It appears to have been successful.

THE AUTHORS POSIT A THEORY OF CIVIC DEVELOPMENT THAT FOCUSES ON THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN LEVELS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION. BECAUSE OF THESE CHANGES, PARTICIPATION AMONG OLDER PERSONS IS HIGHER THAN WOULD OTHERWISE BE EXPECTED. ALTHOUGH THEY BELIEVE THIS WOULD APPLY TO MOST CONVENTIONAL MODES OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, THEY FOCUS ON VOTING PARTICIPATION AND TEST THE THEORY THROUGH A SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF SURVEY DATA FROM NINE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SURVEYS OF THE U.S. NATIONAL ELECTION STUDIES (NES).