Social Ties and the Quality of Public Life in Spain - Book Report/Review Example

No doubt such types of analyses have been given in the past but they all focused more on political aspects while framing their views, for e.g., some focused on just how effective the functioning of public institutions was, while other focused upon the factor of mutual benefiting. This book also focuses upon those aspects keeping in mind their importance and roles. However, it takes an ancient setting and theme which re creates the concepts and vital past traditions of politics. The underlying question however, is not if the society in question has come across any solutions to government and public issues, rather the question is whether the opportunity to get involved and take part in decision making is given to the common public.

The book goes on to guarantee that the events of free elections of the democratic kind are loop holes that are used by the political candidates to construct the illusion of an involved public sphere. However, the fact that the public actually exercises that loop hole to benefit them selves is of no guarantee. The book is an over all eye-opening read into the realities that hide behind the picture perfect political scene of many developing countries, and if looked at in greater depth holds the truth for many developed and apparently politically sound countries.

It makes the use of various national and international examples to show how disjointed the general public are from the political part of their own countries. The clever use of Spain and its governmental ups and downs really adds weight to the arguments and theories put forth in this book keeping in mind Spain's historical battle with 'dictatorship and democracy' at various time. Spain is based on the Democratic way of life however its democracy is just for show and tell purposes. Chapters and parts of this book are dedicated to giving a proper insight to the ties and relationship that exists between the government and the public.

The top covering taken off its plain to see just how separate the two are, the only relationship that occurs there is a formality based sign on the nicely tailored "democracy bill". The label used may be democracy but when it comes to decision making, contemplating, discussions and the choosing between competing views, proposals and alternatives the public has little rather, no say what so ever. The political scene for many is a source of continuous boredom and noise. The aspects that lead even remotely to the political aspects are of little interest to the elders let alone the youth of the country.

The fact that the public firstly has illiteracy and then lack of awareness as major draw backs, and that political leaders use those aspects to their benefit only desiring power and nothing else, makes the gap between government and public even greater. The book attains its goals of showing just how the dent between government and public can cause the quality of democracy to go down and ultimately get demolished. And its use of examples and analogies is also satisfactory which would force even the most politically rigid of reader to take a look in the other direction.

However it leaves a few fine details unattended.LACKING QUALITIES: The book follows a very cleverly set out theme and has fair distribution. It covers one aspect as it