Book Review: Comparative Politics: Political Leaders and Democratic Elections
| Author | Diego Garzia |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_56 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
C O M P A RA T I VE P O L I T I C S
The People vs the State: Reflections on UN
Comparative Politics
Authority, US Power and the Responsibility to
Protect by Ramesh Thakur. New York: United
Political Leaders and Democratic Elections by
Nations University, 2011. 242pp., £12.75, ISBN 978
Kees Aarts, André Blais and Hermann Schmitt
92 808 1207 7
(eds). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. 241pp.,
£50.00, ISBN 9780199259007
The People vs the State is a collection of articles by
Ramesh Thakur previously published in various news-
Platform or Personality? The Role of Party
papers worldwide, spanning 1999–2011. It details the
Leaders in Elections by Amanda Bittner. Oxford:
evolution of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) prin-
Oxford University Press, 2011. 208pp., £47.00, ISBN
ciple from the nebulous and selective ‘humanitarian
9780199595365
intervention’ logic of the 1990s to a more concrete and
A pervasive phenomenon in contemporary democra-
specific rules-based norm of international law accepted
cies, the personalisation of politics has been an object of
by the United Nations today. It discusses the specific
analysis from a multitude of perspectives within politi-
cases of Kosovo, Burma, East Timor, Darfur and Libya
cal science. Rather surprisingly, however, this topic has
and their implications for R2P. Thakur explains how
been substantially neglected by twenty-first-century
Kosovo set a precedent for intervention without UN
electoral research. Such an unjustified gap has recently
authorisation which was used in part to justify the
been addressed by two volumes published by Oxford
invasion of Iraq. The book also addresses problems that
University Press.The first is Kees Aarts, André Blais and
plague the United Nations, such as the need for Secu-
Hermann Schmitt’s long-awaited comparative collec-
...
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