Book Review: Lawrence Hamilton, Freedom Is Power: Liberty Through Political Representation
| Author | Laurence Piper |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929916676925 |
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsPolitical Theory |
90 Political Studies Review 15 (1)
how the modern state’s power to exclude is the
product of historical processes laden with racism
and imperialism. Ignoring this history invites
historical injustice to be smuggled into contem-
porary political thought. It is a keen example of
the dangers of neglecting history in favour of
abstraction and a warning to ideal theorists.
Chandran Kukathas also provides a pro-
vocative argument that the distinction between
refugees and other migrants is not as firm as
many would like to think (illustrated by the
claim that the vital interests of some economic
migrants are in greater danger than some refu-
gees) and that the interests of powerful states,
rather than the vulnerable, have shaped the
refugee system. However, more could have
been said on the matter of illegal migration.
Many of the authors claim that there should be
a more liberal migration regime. If this is not
forthcoming, then is illegal migration justi-
fied? And is there a duty to assist them? That
being said, this volume is a laudable addition to
a topic of growing importance.
Gwilym David Blunt
(University of Cambridge)
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929916677891
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Political Leadership: Themes, Contexts and
Critiques by Michael Foley. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2013. 398pp., £60.00 (h/b), ISBN
9780199685936
This is a big book on a big topic. Michael Foley
is driven by the concern that although leadership
is an incredibly salient issue in politics, academ-
ics have not tended to give it the scholarly atten-
tion it deserves. In fact, as Foley perceptively
observes, surprisingly few comprehensive stud-
ies of leadership have been written because
‘political leadership is a notoriously elusive and
variable construct’ and one which is conse-
quently ‘susceptible to an intricate diversity of
different interpretations and categories of asso-
ciational life’ (p. 265). The guiding objective of
his book is to remedy this lacuna by focusing on
‘political leadership as an authentic field of
inquiry in its own right’ (p. 25).
Foley proceeds to do this in four stages.
Part I examines some key factors in leadership
– how leaders arise, how they maintain their
positions and how their time as leaders comes
to an end. Part II focuses on what Foley refers
to as modes of leadership appeal and various
aspects of political communication. In so
doing, he addresses a number of the unique
challenges facing leaders in the contemporary
world. Part III addresses leadership in interna-
tional politics. Part IV contains two chapters:
chapter 11 examines the changing nature
of contemporary leadership while chapter 12
reviews the material from the earlier analysis.
As an overview of the multiple ways in
which leadership can and has been studied, this
book is a notable success. Foley discusses an
admirably wide array of ways of studying lead-
ership and always does so in a judicious and
informative manner. In consequence, those
new to the subject will find Political Leadership
– Themes, Contexts and Critiques a very help-
ful resource.
The book is littered with overviews of key
works and competing viewpoints, and also
contains useful ‘boxes’ throughout, which will
bring the material to life for students in an
accessible and illuminating way. While I sus-
pect that more experienced scholars may find
that this gets in the way of a more detailed
critical evaluation of particular perspectives
and may find some parts of the book a little
repetitive at certain points, Foley should be
commended for writing a book which will
surely serve as a valuable resource for many
years to come.
Edward Hall
(University of Sheffield)
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929916677892
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Freedom Is Power: Liberty Through Political
Representation by Lawrence Hamilton.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
244pp., £19.99 (p/b), ISBN 9781107660342
Lawrence Hamilton is an irregular republican
who holds that the complex interdependence of
modern society means that freedom requires
the exercise of power across individual, group
and national domains. Inspired by critical
engagement with republican, Marxist and
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