Table of Contents
7 BEST POLITICAL BOOKS OF ALL TIME FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF POLITICS:
Everyone who lives in this world is in some way related to politics, either directly or indirectly.
Most of the time, it’s hard for a common man to keep track of the world of politics and understand it and we never know who’s telling empty promises or who’s saying the truth.
To become a good citizen, it is necessary to know the basic fundamentals of politics. Here we are offering the 7 best political books based on different principles of political thoughts, and most of them are, the base of the influential political parties around the world.
As a comprehensive list, will be difficult to follow, hence we shorten it to 7 best books, which will be a great starting point for those who want to learn more about political theories, concepts, and history.
These 7 best political books represent some of the most influential books each had an impact on the way we understand politics and our governance. Below is the list of authors, who contributed to the 7 best political books.
- Karl Marx
- Aristotle.
- Thomas Paine.
- Plato Greek philosopher.
- Jean-Jacque Rosseau.
- Václav Havel.
- Eitan Hersh
This list is a shortlist of classic founding political theory books, which will help you to understand beyond what might be considered traditionally. Principles in these books play a major role in today’s political discourse.
Even if you just want to keep up updated with the current political affairs best option is to read some of the best political books that will help you to understand stay informed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k86yO5fLFNo
Here are 7 top recommendations: If you would like to buy from Amazon, please click on the respective title.
BOOK 1: The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx.
Author:
Karl Marx was born in Trier on May 5, 1818, in a middle-class Jewish family. He is an economist, philosopher, journalist, sociologist, and revolutionary communist. He got his Ph.D. in April 1841. Marx and Engels published the great political pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, which summarizing their theories about the nature of society and politics, in 1848. On March 14, 1883, at the age of 64, Marx died in London.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2TQ4FKF
The best political book, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, is one of the world’s most important political documents. This monumental text continues to remain widely read and is highly influential.
The Communist Manifesto, outlining all the theories of communism. Marx and Engels, through this political document, explain their theories and their ideas of how in due course socialism would replace the capitalist society. This political book is based on the material conception of history and presents its ideologies in a simple way.
The Communist Manifesto discusses the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians, The Communists and the proletarians, and other opposition parties.
The monumental political text, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels continues to remain influential and widely in the current time and it is considered as one of the most important political documents of the world.
Book 2: The Politics by Aristotle.
Author:
Aristotle was born in Stagira, Chalcidice, Northern Greece in 384 BC. He is an ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, metaphysician, psychologist, moralist, and pioneer of formal logic. At the age of seventeen, he moved to Athens. He spent almost twenty years in Plato’s Academy, as a pupil, teacher, and writer. Aristotle continues to be a notable intellectual all-time figure of Western history.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3t9Wqpo
One of the best political books, The Politics, by Aristotle is a ground-breaking work from the best intellectual minds, and in the history of political thought, this book remains a significant must-read book for all sorts of people.
In Aristotle, treatise “The politics”, he answers many of the following common questions, which come into the mind of citizens.
- Is it possible for a government to creates the utmost happiness for its citizens, I.e. an ideal state of governance?
- Is a democracy, is the best form of government?
- Finally, why have a government at all, to rule the country?
The best political book, The Politics begins with a discussion on the purpose of a city, then lays down the inner workings of the political system to the readers. This book offering an insightful and sympathetic study of faulty governance.
Finally, this book brilliantly comments on the fact that how far they are from the ideal government needed for a state.
Book 3: The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.
Author:
Thomas Paine was born on February 9, 1737. He was an English-born American philosopher, political theorist, and activist, and revolutionary of his time. He authored Common Sense and The American Crisis, which are considered the two most influential pamphlets of the American Revolution, and inspire the patriots to declare the independence of America from Great Britain.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wIOSf8
One of the best political books, Rights of Man, by Thomas Paine, including 31 articles, posits that, when the government does not safeguard the natural rights of its citizen, Political revolution is permissible.
This book first published in 1791, sparked a direct condemnation of the French uprising and reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).
- This book argues that revolution is legitimate if the government fails to protect its people and their essential rights.
An extremely influential political book develops a critique of authoritarian governments and this remains relevant today.
Book 4: The Republic, By Plato Greek philosopher.
Author:
Plato is a Greek philosopher, who is a pupil and friend of Socrates. Plato founded near the ancient world’s most influential school, Athens, the Academy, where he taught until death. He studies and taught cover mathematics, natural science, and technical philosophic problems.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xNT8dB
The best political book, The Republic by Plato is a philosophical dialogue about the order and character of the city-state and the just individual, and its nature of justice.
Through Plato’s intellectually and historically influential, political book of philosophy and political theory, he discusses the following.
- The theory of forms.
- The immortality of the soul.
- The roles of the philosopher and of poetry in society.
The dialogues in the book cover the dialog among Socrates and foreigners and various Athenians. They discuss the meaning of justice and examine whether the man is happier than the unjust man, by proposing a society ruled by philosopher-kings.
Book 5 : The Social Contract By Jean-Jacque Rosseau.
Author:
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was bone in 28 June 1712. He was a Genevan writer and a philosopher. His Discourse on Social Contract and Inequality are cornerstones in social thoughts and modern politics. During French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular philosopher among Jacobin Club members. In 1794 he was interred as a national hero of Panthéon in Paris.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3j8mz63
The best political book, The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau theorizes that the ability to coerce is not a legitimate power. In this desired social contract, everyone will be free as all forfeit the same number of duties and rights.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau states that it is absurd for a citizen to surrender his freedom, thus, everyone must have a right to choose the laws under which they live.
The Social Contract, inspire the political reforms or revolutions in France and many other parts of Europe.
The Social Contract,
- Argued against the idea that monarchs were empowered to legislate and he asserts that only the sovereign people have all-powerful rights.
- Argues that freedom can best flourish in small city-states in the form of a nation.
Book 6: The Power Of The Powerless: Citizens Against The State In Central Eastern Europe By Vaclav Havel.
Author:
Vaclav Havel bone on 5th October 1936. He was a writer, Czech statesman, and former dissident. He served as the last President of Czechoslovakia until the dissolution in 1992 and then in 1993, he becomes the first President of the Czech Republic. He is considered, one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cXSXEe
The political book, The power of the powerless by Vaclav Havel is of great political insight and always outlives the time of publishing.
This book is written shortly after the formation of Charter 77. The essays in this book are from the collection of the most original and compelling pieces of the political writing of the post-war period.
- Title for this book is provided from Vaclav Havel’s essays. The contributors to this book responded to the question Vaclav Havel raises, about the potential power of the powerless.
The book explains the limits of Soviet-type totalitarian systems and anti-democratic features.
This best political book discusses,
- Concepts as ideology, civil liberty, and democracy from a perspective that is radically different from liberal western democracies.
- The prospects for democratic change of Soviet-type totalitarian conditions.
The author, Vaclav Havel represents a broad spectrum of democratic opinion, including conservative, liberal, and socialist.
Book 7: Politics Is For Power By Eitan Hersh
Author:
Eitan Hersh received a Ph.D. in 2011 from Harvard University. Before becoming a tenured associate professor at Tufts University in political science, he served as assistant professor of political science at Yale University and a resident fellow of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies. His articles have been published in many major political science journals.
Content:
Buy from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ScpSOf
The best political book, The Politics is for power, opens the mind of ordinary citizens with good intentions having a question, Who to blame for broken politics?
- The book, Politics Is for Power, contains pioneering and brilliant analyst data that shows us a way to more effective political participation.
We vote and sometimes attend a rally or sign a petition, but we engage by consuming politics as if it’s a sport. We soak political gossip and we tweet and post and share political news, follow political statistics about who’s down and up, and spend our time on politics as a pastime.
- This best political book, Politics Is for Power, make us think, instead of seeing politics as a pastime, we should be spending the time in building political organizations, with a long-term vision for our town, and getting to know and make the relation for the support with our neighbors, who can solve hard problems.
We should accumulate power so that, when we have an opportunity to make a difference, we will be ready. But most of us focused inward, choosing roles and activities for our short-term pleasure. We are repelled by the slow-and-steady activities that serve the common good of the city.
By political theory, history, and remarkable stories of ordinary citizens, this best political book, Politics is for Power, shows us how to channel our effort and energy to empowering our values and make our life more effective.
CONCLUSION:
Even though we are aware a list of the 7 best political books will never cover all the great political books available globally, however, it will be a starting point.
This list of the 7 best political books, gives you a start, and hopefully, these must-read books help you to understand some of the political issues we face and fundamental concepts which we can follow.
- The communist manifesto by Karl Marx
- The politics by Aristotle.
- The rights of man by Thomas Paine.
- The republic, by Plato Greek philosopher.
- The social contract by Jean-Jacque Rosseau.
- The power of the powerless by Vaclav Havel.
- Politics is for power by Eitan Hersh
Interested in more?
Check out these more politically relevant more books on Amazon.
If you would like to read more best books on professional development- Click here
If you would like to list more books on this top list of best political books, comment on the name of the book in the comment box below.
Thanks & Regards
What is your reaction?
