It may seem surprising that the economic choices we make in society are often determined by ideas rather than scientific evidence or financial resources. The consequences of such choices are often stark – such as the austerity policies which eroded our ability to withstand crises like the Covid 19 pandemic. This book explores the ideas that rule how our economy works, how government operates and how workers organise. A small number of historical economic ideas remain stubbornly prevalent and powerful today. However, they are largely based on questionable assumptions about human behaviour and unproven theoretical ideas about economics. They were founded within the realms of philosophy and politics rather than hard science. This book illustrates how politicians have selectively borrowed convenient economic concepts in order to promote and defend policies which entrench and escalate inequalities and other structural problems. This accessible book invites readers to question the ideas that rule us and explore the challenges facing society. It invites progressive thought about how we need to urgently organise action for the future.

“For much of my life, […] I was unaware that my words echoed a script I was conditioned to follow, that the lights illuminated only that which I expected to see, and that the orchestra was merely a recording that had been playing since long before my birth.” - Nathan J. Murphy In The Ideas That Rule Us, political theory researcher, author, and technology entrepreneur Nathan J. Murphy takes an eye-opening, multi-disciplinary deep dive into how others’ ideology, perceived societal norms, and pop culture influences shape our lives, through our decision-making, political affiliations, and consumer spending. Murphy deftly weaves over 4 years of political, cognitive, and sociological research into a very relatable and practical discussion about the fascinating origins of the many influential ideas and ideologies that rule our lives. He also examines the undeniable bond between the abstract and the emotional —a relationship that plays a dominant role in the human condition… and the quality of our lived experience. In The Ideas That Rule Us, you will learn: ● The three major ideological fights that are playing out now - and will affect societies world-wide in coming decades, including globalization, the housing crisis and drug legalization and acceptance ● How ideology has been used to change history and influence societal norms, including a three-point plan historically used by wicked elites to change the ideologies of the poor in many different countries ● Where ideologies go to die, and why major overriding ideas take 50-60 years to evolve, such as the gradual reduction in the influence of Christianity in the UK. ● The fascinating field of cognitive neuroscience and how different cultural environments can profoundly impact our brain function and the sort of people we eventually become Whether you want to understand how your social environment has impacted who you, or you’re a political activist who wants to learn how to leverage that which underlies political expression, The Ideas That Rule Us is your key to unlocking a new understanding of a very complex and influential topic. "A well-researched, thought-provoking reconsideration of society’s sacred cows." - KIRKUS Reviews - Our Verdict: GET IT Praise for the book: "Human experience is fundamentally composed of two things: the incoming stimulations that hit our sensory apparatus, and the ideas that we carry around about the world and which influence how we construe our perceptions. While the first is mainly governed by biological constraints, the latter is subject also to social and cultural negotiation. In his insightful book The Ideas That Rules Us, Nathan, J. Murphy walks us through an impressive amount of research and literature to investigate how systems of ideas, for instance in the form of religion, ideology and policy, come to shape our thoughts and behaviors, often in ways we are not fully aware of." Professor Kristian Tylén Cognitive Science and Semiotics Aarhus University "A broad and insightful dismantling of the constructs that influence much of our social and political environment” Professor Andrew Barron, School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University "A bold new explanation for why politics and ideology work the way they do." Russell Max Simon Political Reporter, Albuquerque Journal Deputy Press Secretary for U.S. Senate Campaign "Nathan uses simple language to shine a light on the fallacies of the philosophies underlying societal thought." Dr Imad Ahmed Postdoctoral Research Fellow University College London "An impressive connective study that brings together and makes sense of a wide array of scientific disciplines" Dr. Sam Nightingale Associate Professor University of Cape Town "Aspects of this book have changed how I think about politics." Simon Gentry, Strategic Communications Counsel Atticus Partners

A comprehensive account of ideology and its role in the foreign policy of the United States of America, this book investigates the way United States foreign policy has been understood, debated and explained in the period since the US emerged as a global force, on its way to becoming the world power. Starting from the premise that ideologies facilitate understanding by providing explanatory patterns or frameworks from which meaning can be derived, the authors study the relationship between ideology and foreign policy, demonstrating the important role ideas have played in US foreign policy. Drawing on a range of US administrations, they consider key speeches and doctrines, as well as private conversations, and compare rhetoric to actions in order to demonstrate how particular sets of ideas – that is, ideologies – from anti-colonialism and anti-communism to neo-conservatism mattered during specific presidencies and how US foreign policy was projected, explained and sustained from one administration to another. Bringing a neglected dimension into the study of US foreign policy, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of US foreign policy, ideology and politics.

This Handbook provides a state-of-the-art survey of the study of the rule of law across law, the humanities, and social sciences, as well as insights into the practice of building the rule of law within and among states. Its 28 chapters are by many of the world’s leading scholars of the rule of law, as well as distinguished junior scholars, from a dozen countries and representing a number of academic disciplines. The chapters are ordered to progress, first, from theory to the practice of the rule of law and, second, from the rule of law within, to beyond, the state. They divide into three parts. The first part examines the concept, history, and value of the rule of law. This section considers the importance of political and intellectual history in shaping the concept over the centuries and takes novel philosophical approaches to the connection between the rule of law and other important ideals such as justice, equality, and civil disobedience. The second part transitions from theoretical studies to accounts of practical exercises in building the rule of law. The chapters consider the challenges of rule of law reform, including the use of local intermediaries facilitating interactions between international legal aid organizations and state governments, the challenges of legal translation across vastly different societies, the pathways of knowledge among the powerless about the protective potential of the rule of law, as well as the possible future for artificial intelligence systems in helping to reinforce rule-of-law principles. The third part examines the rule of law from a number of perspectives within particular supranational and national states, such as the European Union, China, Singapore, and South Africa, among others, and concludes by considering the prospects of the rule of law beyond the state, both within and among international institutions such as the United Nations, as well as non-territorial spaces like the world’s oceans. This Handbook is aimed at rule of law scholars across law, the humanities, and the social sciences, law and development practitioners, policymakers, and advanced students and researchers who seek a state-of-the-art overview of the history, theory, and practice of the rule of law.

This text is a state of the art overview of US foreign policy. The book provides a comprehensive account of the latest theoretical perspectives, the key actors and issues, and new policy directions.

This volume sets out explicitly and systematically to bring together the two strands of political science– the study of the EU’s international activities, and IR theory – and thus to make a significant original contribution to a developing literature. It provides both a conceptual and empirical argument, the volume provides an innovative perspective on the analysis of the European Union as an international actor, and on the ways in which EU actions are formed and have impact. The volume deals with a number of topical issues in such areas as human rights, global governance and the roles of international organizations. It offers a research agenda based on rigorous development of the framework for role analysis, and demonstrates the ways in which this agenda might be furthered.

"earlier. While the term "feminist" was not used in the United States until the 1910s, the foundations of feminist legal theory were first conceptualized as early as 1848 and developed over the next one hundred and fifty years. This chapter traces that development. It begins with the establishment of the core theoretical precepts of gender and equality grounded in the surprisingly comprehensive philosophy of the nineteenth-century's first women's rights movement ignited at Seneca Falls. It then shows how feminist legal theory was popularized and advanced by the political activism of the women's suffrage movement, even as suffragists limited the feminist consensus to one based on women's maternalism. Progressive feminism then expanded the theoretical framework of feminist theory in the early twentieth century, encapsulating ideas of global peace, market work, and sex rights of birth control. In the modern era, legal feminists gravitated back to pragmatic and concrete ideas of formal equality, and the associated legalisms of equal rights and equal protection. Yet through each of these periods, the two common imperatives were to place women at the center of analysis and to recognize law as a fundamental agent of change"--

This book examines the controlling influences that drive macroeconomic policies in the United States. It addresses the history of the interests, ideas, and practices of monetary and fiscal policies in the United States.