17 books on philosophy, political science and sociology

Political science
Grigory Golosov. Comparative Political Science


The textbook by Professor EUSP has already become a desk reading for Russian political scientists interested in liberal democracy and modern empirical research in this area. The book is a review of institutional designs, electoral systems, theories of electoral choice and other issues of political science, analyzed on historical examples.

“The question is which is better - democracy or“ strong power ”, and if democracy, then which one - not for the comparativist, but for the philosopher. On the other hand, to describe a political phenomenon is to evaluate it. If assessments cannot be dispensed with, it is better to do them consciously and, most importantly, according to the generally accepted methodology, which could to a certain extent neutralize the individual preferences of the scientist. ”

Vladimir Gelman. “From the fire to the fire: Russian politics after the USSR”
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L3cSZbV0c9MDlZtzFMRucbdfjepbAAZM/view

Another EUSP professor, Vladimir Gelman, analyzed the contradictory post-Soviet development of Russia in terms of the evolution of its elite and the balance of power within it. A compulsory reading for those who want to systematize their knowledge of the recent history of their own country and think about how far we have gone from the communist past, where they have come and what are Russia's chances to embark on the path of liberal democracy.

“Worldly wisdom says that sometimes a terrible end is better than horror without end. However, with regard to the collapse of political regimes, the logic is far from obvious ... The problem is usually due to the fact that others are not ready for the collapse of the regime, like sudden death, and in the face of acute shortage of time and high uncertainty, political actors take erroneous steps, and society sometimes "conducted" on unjustified promises and expectations. "
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15yIrO5IL0RuHNTFU16CrLxTrD_XM47sn/view
Egor Gaidar. “The death of an empire: lessons for modern Russia”


Gaidar is an ideologist of Russian economic reforms following the collapse of the USSR. In the book, he writes about the alternatives facing the country during a time that seemed to have no alternative - the time of the crisis of the planned economy and the fall in oil prices. This is not only a fascinating political and economic history of the country (meaningful and theoretically), but also a political and economic autobiography. Gaidar's book will be especially interesting to those who reflect on the fate of authoritarian states sitting on the fuel needle in the 21st century.

"Trying to make Russia an empire again means to question its existence."
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bprUVJ0MyGygL3AcbNQvBG1TqOzTvQPZ/view
Robert Putnam. “For democracy to work. Civic traditions in modern Italy "


Thinking about democracy and its social conditions. Why are liberal democracy and a market economy developing in some countries and stagnating in others? What non-economic factors influence the formation of democracy? Will good political institutions begin to work automatically, having been transferred to a new soil, or do they require prior agreement in society - “social capital” - for their success? And if the second is true, then where does this social capital come from? The American author casts a glance at European history, building on administrative reforms in Italy in the 1970s.

“Perfect design does not guarantee good performance. <...> Building social capital is not an easy task, but it is the key to making democracy work. ”

Artemy Magun. "Democracy, or Demon and Hegemon"


In the literal sense, a pocket book: a concentrated history of the paradoxical concept of "democracy" - both replicated and ambiguous, ancient and modern, approving and abusive.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p26IBos_bNgaVbeXVzeM-1OYaQrmXf8w/view

“International democracy is not yet being established for the reason that if it had been established, it would not have lasted even a week.”

Philosophy
Plato. "State"


Usually from this book they remember that philosophers must be kings, and the world we know is a theater of shadows on the wall of a cave. However, in reality it is the most systematic treatise of Plato, which contains both the first philosophical truths and examples of their empirical applications - primarily to politics and psychology. According to Plato, speculative philosophy arises from concern for the prosperity and justice of the city, and the sensual world and the intellectual world of things themselves do not exist separately, but are connected - through the mediation of rage.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iAu_qfxBtU5ccAUTAReY9iaEcSuAafHu/view


     “- Every day such a man lives, catering to his first desire, which rises upon him: either he gets drunk to the sounds of flutes, then he drinks only water and exhausts himself, then he is fond of bodily exercises; but it happens that laziness attacks him, and then he has no desire for anything. Sometimes he spends time in conversations that seem philosophical. Often he is occupied with his public affairs: suddenly he jumps up, and what he has to say at this time, he does. He will be carried away by military people - and carries him there, and if by businessmen, then in this direction. There is no order in his life, there is no need for it: he calls this life pleasant, free and blissful, and so he uses it all the time.