The text gives undergraduate students a very thorough introduction to political theory, political ideologies, political behaviour, the policy process and political institutions although it obviously also has some coverage of British politics, the EU and international relations.The new edition is revised and updated throughout since the last edition (2002) and has the following new features:Case studies on the global financial crisis, global environmental policy, innovations in President Obama's election campaign, and security /counter terrorismA more thorough analysis of the centrality of power to our understanding of the political and its impact on politicsExpanded coverage of political institutions illustrated by case studies highlighting their role in the operations of civil society and the state.A wider discussion of governance, including territorial, multi-level and global governanceAn engagement with the emergence of global civil society and the new forms of political participation and activity made possibly by innovations in information and communication technologiesA highlighting of issues of identity and citizenship in a social, national and transnational contextAn emphasis on the international and global dimensions of theory and the increased influence of political IslamA critical account of the challenges to sovereignty posed by the shift from the territorial nation-state and the renewed challenges of globalization