Policy Press

Democracy, power and governance

In these politically turbulent times, questions about democracy, power and society are frequently raised. How does power work in society? Can we ever achieve equal rights when the power dynamics in society are so skewed?

With the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions in focus, our publishing in this area addresses questions like these from multiple angles, from extensive research into democratic governance and the concept of political power, to the role of power between different nations in foreign policy negotiations.

Bristol University Press and Policy Press are signed up to the UN SDG Publishers Compact. In Democracy, power and governance, we aim to address the following goal:

SDG Publishers compact logoSDG 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Showing 61-72 of 558 items.

Reluctance in World Politics

Why States Fail to Act Decisively

This book develops a concept and a theory of reluctance in world politics. Applying it to regional crisis management by leading powers, it finds that reluctance emerges when governments fail to devise clear foreign policy preferences and face competing international pressures.

Bristol Uni Press

War, Technology and the State

This book explores the relationship between the state and war within the context of seismic technological change. Through its analysis, the book questions what will happen to war and the state and whether we will reach a point where war leads to the unmaking of the state itself.

Bristol Uni Press

Disciplining Democracies

Human Insecurity in Japan-Myanmar Relations

This book examines Japan’s relationship with Myanmar from the passage of its constitution in May 2008 to the February 2021 coup d’état that finished its transition to a ‘disciplined democracy.’ It develops a unique Area Studies approach that critiques how Japan’s foreign policy elites perceive Japan’s role in the liberal international order.

Bristol Uni Press

The Unheard Stories of the Rohingyas

Ethnicity, Diversity and Media

The 2017 persecution of the Rohingyas resulted in around a million Rohingyas fleeing to Bangladesh, India and Malaysia. This book investigates the complex challenges of managing the large-scale refugee exodus in Bangladesh and how best to resolve these challenges in the future.

Bristol Uni Press

Shaping Peacebuilding in Colombia

International Frames and Spatial Transformation

This book explores the involvement of the international community in peacebuilding efforts in Colombia since 2016. In particular, it examines how interventions were framed in order to promote and sustain their involvement, and questions whether these frames reflected reality within Colombia.

Bristol Uni Press

Policy Analysis in Argentina

By analysing the conceptual frameworks and methodologies used from a meta-theoretical perspective, this book provides a panoramic picture of the perspectives and challenges of policy analysis in Argentina.

Policy Press

Health in a Post-COVID World

Lessons from the Crisis of Western Liberalism

At a time of global ‘permacrisis’, Sebastian Taylor applies his extensive frontline experience working with health systems and healthcare in the Global North and South to assess the concrete impact of contemporary liberal values on our welfare, development and environmental survival.

Policy Press

Critical and Comparative Rhetoric

Unmasking Privilege and Power in Law and Legal Advocacy to Achieve Truth, Justice, and Equity

Through the lenses of comparative and critical rhetoric, this book theorizes how alternative approaches to communication can transform legal meanings and legal outcomes, infusing them with more inclusive participation, equity and justice.

Bristol Uni Press

Knowledge Alchemy

Models and Agency in Global Knowledge Governance

Introducing the concept of ‘knowledge alchemy’ as the formulation of global standards through the use of indicators and algorithms, this book explores how knowledge alchemy increasingly informs national and institutional policies and practices on economic performance, higher education, research and innovation.

Bristol Uni Press

The Battle for Britain

Crises, Conflicts and the Conjuncture

This book addresses the UK's social, political and economic turbulence, exploring proliferating crises and conflicts, from social dissent through rentier capitalism to the looming climate catastrophe and how they have produced a deepening ‘crisis of authority’ that forms the terrain of the Battle for Britain.

Bristol Uni Press

Policy-Making as Designing

The Added Value of Design Thinking for Public Administration and Public Policy

First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this book presents original critical reflections on the value of design approaches and how they relate to the classical idea of public administration as a design science.

Policy Press

Policy Analysis in Thailand

This book represents the first systematic overview of policy analysis in Thailand. By providing an overview of the history, styles and methods of policy analysis in Thailand, it will be a valuable resource for policy analysis researchers and practitioners.

Policy Press


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