Description
Book SynopsisElucidates the broad cluster of cultural, historical, and ideological tenets which came to comprise Israel's contemporary political system. This book demonstrates that such tenets were not arbitrary but in fact developed logically from Jewish political habits and the circumstances of time.
Trade Review"Not only has Dowty skillfully attached a tremendous amount of data to a sophisticated conceptual framework, but he has also produced a most readable volume. The Jewish State will surely become a core work in the field of Israeli domestic politics." - David Rodman, Israel Affairs "A careful, balanced and often highly insightful analysis of the making and workings of Israeli democracy. The strength of The Jewish State lies in its ability to elucidate the Israeli political system by examining the interaction between traditional Jewish politics, the pressures of security and immigration, ideological and religious conflicts and, not least, the struggle between Jews and Arabs. Dowty has an intimate knowledge of Israeli society and yet maintains the necessary detachment from the kind of political commitment that mars so many works by Israeli scholars." - Times Literary Supplement"
Table of ContentsLIST OF MAPS AND TABLES
PREFACE TO PAPERBACK EDITION
PREFACE
PART I · THE SHAPING OF ISRAELI DEMOCRACY
1. Democracy in Israel
2. Jewish Politics
3. The Zionist Revolution
4. Building a Civic State
5. The Filter of Security
6. The Erosion of Ideology
PART II · CHALLENGES TO ISRAELI DEMOCRACY
7. The Communal Split
8. Religion and Politics
9. Arabs in Israel
10. The Impact of the West Bank and Gaza
EPILOGUE
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
