In Defence of Politics

by Bernard Crick

In this illuminating celebration of the political world, Bernard Crick asserts that politics, with
its compromises and power struggles, remains the only tested alternative to government by
coercion, making both freedom and order possible in heterogeneous societies. For Crick,
politics is messy and complex, and his book defends it against those who would identify it with (and reduce it to) ideology, democracy, nationalism, or technology.

This Fourth edition has been updated to include an assessment of the revolutions in 1989 in
Eastern Europe. It also examines current situations in Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine,
and South Africa.

“A short book written with verve and brilliance. . . . He has written an exceedingly clever and
disturbing book on important issues, all that he writes is alive and much of what he says, even when it seems perversely provocative, turns out to be penetrating and serious.”
—Isaiah Berlin, 20th Century

“One of the most thoughtful products of the political dialogues of the London School of
Economics since the great days of Tawney, Dalton, Wallas and Hobhouse. Its sobriety,
liberal spirit and toughness of mind are rare qualities in any political work.”
—Edward Shils, Guardian

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Political Science, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Sir Bernard Rowland Crick was a British political theorist and democratic socialist whose views were often summarised as "politics is ethics done in public". He sought to arrive at a "politics of action", as opposed to a "politics of thought" or of ideology.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crick's famous work on why politics are important. Not a bad read, but I probably wouldn't have read it if it wasn't assigned for a political science class in college.

[Henri Tournyol du Clos · Rating 1 out of 5]

This inept book is yet another testimony to the ability of so many people in the social sciences to teach for their whole professional career a subject they utterly fail to understand. Apes have been doing small group politics for tens of millions of years in stagnating economic conditions, and that is what shapes our brains, but that simple fact is obviously beyond Crick's grasp. Since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, which unleashed demographic growth, our main problem has been the scaling-up of human groups, but again that simple fact is beyond Crick's grasp. Until the 17th century, humans lived short lives in a world with negligible economic growth, a world where war and theft were the main ways of improving one's lot, and that has shaped our moral and political perception and our states, but Crick fails to understand that. Apart for stumbling on a couple of quotable sentences (*), reading this was an utter waste of time.

(*) Notably "Boredom with established truths is a great enemy of free men."

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and return to it often. Starting with some clear distinctions about what is politics and what is a sordid struggle for power, it makes a complex argument for doing politics as the foundation for free life. Crick examines the claims of some of the rivals to politics and also expands his argument in a series of afterwords showing e relevance of politics for assorted causes. The book itself ends with an illuminating, unsentimental review of Lincoln's political actions and motives as he prosecuted the Civil War and dealt with slavery. I don't know if Steven Spielberg has read this book, but I wouldn't be surprised if Doris Kearns Goodwin has and you can see Crick's analysis embodied in the recent movie.

[Bernard English · Rating 4 out of 5]

The starting point of Crick's defense is Aristotle's observation that politics is the "master science" which deals with an aggregate of disparate members. The Greek polis, pushed towards too much unity will no longer be a polis. And as Crick emphasizes, politics is a process whereby these differences are managed and prioritized. It's a simple enough idea but in the drive to find unanimity and inclusiveness the painful concomitants of politics, recognition and tolerance of others is often forgotten. He goes on to defend politics against particular threats to the never-ending political process, e.g. against ideology, democracy, and nationalism.
He also has some brief comments on South Africa, Israel, and Northern Ireland and how best to deal with the seemingly irreconcilable differences these conflicts represent. There is a lot of sound advice on how to approach such negotiations, much based on the principle that the "highest price of peace is to give up hopes of total victory." First published in 1962, I can't see that much of his advice will ever become dated.

[Tom.Godfrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

It seemed to me to be terribly verbose and filled with academic syntax and rhetoric. Ironically Bernard prefaces that he will do away with just this.

After one chapter I could not proceed further. I was drowned by the poor writing style. I cannot speak to the content but to say from the first chapter I didn’t notice anything insightful…nothing you couldn’t pick up in some undergraduate ‘introduction to political economy’ class.

[Donald Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patchy. Some great bits. Could be even shorter.

[Haris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Defends Politics as integral to human civilisation. Crick is a sort of British Sheldon Wohlin, the American political theorist who worked in the same Aristotelian tradition.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

it didn’t make any sense until i got some insight on why he wrote it. it’s not a classic, limited to its time. wouldn’t say it goes beyond that. had some nice points tho.

[Hannah Basmajian · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely informative essay upon all sides and definitions of politics

[Danu Poyner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear and accessible attempt to discuss what politics is, and isn't. Though it dances around some issues (eg nationalism) that later writers have dealt with more convincingly, it is worth reading for the chapter 'A Defence of Politics against False Friends' alone. In its discussion of pragmatic conservatives who imagine themselves above politics, squeamish apolitical liberals and 'student politics', it reads as aptly and urgently now as it no doubt did half a century ago when it was written.

Ultimately, Crick's conception of politics as the rough-mannered but nonetheless delicate art of conciliation between conflicting viewpoints, gives weight to what good old Gough Whitlam would say later about it - 'only the impotent are pure'.

[AES · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid explanation of the virtues of political endeavours, as Crick sees them. Chapters 1 through 5 were an interesting read, introducing a variety of modes of anti-political thinking and explaining their shortcomings per the author’s opinion. The rest of the book was a rather tough read - points from before reiterated, unnecessary new arguments introduced (especially in chapter 6, where the importance of the introduced content with regards to the core idea of the book seemed vague for the amount of space it occupied). All in all, a worthy read - however, in my opinion, skipping the last two chapters plus the final notes is unlikely to significantly detriment the reader.

[Gonzalo Escribano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting book. Debatable premise, very interesting points. Crick seeks to define politics in opposition to other categories (democracy, ideology, technology, etc). Politics is a long process in which conflict of interests among groups are adjudicated through compromise by discussion, persuasion and debate.

[Sachin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very provocative defence of man's oldest and vilest occupation. Very very interesting. A must read.