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The Jewish State: A Century Later, Updated With a New Preface (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Can a state be both Jewish and democratic?..." (more)
Key Phrases: haredi society, communal split, ajewish state, West Bank, Eastern Jews, Israeli Arabs (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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"


Product Description

As the fiftieth anniversary of Israeli statehood approaches, along with the commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of the World Zionist Organization, the question of what is meant by a "Jewish" state is particularly timely. Alan Dowty takes on that question in a book that is admirable for its clarity and its comprehensive interpretation of the historical roots and contemporary functioning of Israel.

Israeli nationhood, democracy, and politics did not unfold in a social or political vacuum, but developed from power-sharing practices in pre-state Jewish communities in Palestine and in Eastern Europe. Dowty elucidates the broad cluster of cultural, historical, and ideological tenets which came to comprise Israel's contemporary political system. He demonstrates that such tenets were not arbitrary but in fact developed logically from Jewish political habits and the circumstances of time. Dowty illustrates how these traditions are balanced with those of ideology and modernization, and he provides an integrated, sophisticated analysis of the Israeli nation's formation and present state.

Dowty also proposes thoughtful answers to puzzles regarding the strengths and weaknesses of Israeli democracy in responding to the challenges of communal divisions, religious contention, the country's non-Jewish minority, and accommodation with the Palestinians. The Jewish State will be invaluable for anyone looking for that one book that gives an intelligent overview of both Israel today and of its origins.

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 371 pages
  • Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 30, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0520209419
  • ISBN-13: 978-0520209411
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,184,327 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Alan Dowty
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
Can a state be both Jewish and democratic? Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
haredi society, communal split, ajewish state, old yishuv, haredi community, overburdened polity, two major blocs, defense regulations, belligerent occupation, mutual veto, ethnic democracy, ethnic democracies, civic state, administrative detention, emergency regulations
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
West Bank, Eastern Jews, Israeli Arabs, Labor Zionism, Labor Zionists, Eastern Europe, European Jews, Labor Party, Jewish Agency, United States, Agudat Yisrael, Gush Emunim, Soviet Union, Land of Israel, Israeli Jews, Western Jews, Eretz Yisrael, Golan Heights, Menachem Begin, National Religious Party, Supreme Court, Jewish Arab, National Unity Government, World Zionist Organization, General Zionists
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4.0 out of 5 stars The Nuts and Bolts of a Democracy, June 25, 2009
By Eric Maroney (Brooktondale, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Jewish State: A Century Later, Updated With a New Preface (Paperback)
Dowty's The Jewish State: A Century Later, examines the state of Israeli democracy over the course of its development, but overwhelmingly in its more modern aspects, which in this case is the late 1990s. Dowty has some interesting things to say about the development of democratic institutions in Israel. For a people who mostly hailed from authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe, democratic options seemed unlikely for the early Zionists. But Dowty convincingly traces the development of democratic, consensus politics in European Jewish communities to the kind of representational, parliamentarian democracy that developed in Israel. The roots of Israel democracy existed in the religious context of the traditional Jewish enclave, and found free expression in Zionist institutions and settings. Dowty examines both the up and down sides of this system of consensus, and he tackles the thorny issues confronting Israeli democracy (rights for the Arab Israeli minority, the status of West Bank Arabs, the threat from theocratic, right wing religious Zionists) with honesty and complexity.

All in all, this work provides a comprehensive and readable account of a unique society and in institutions. For anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of Israeli democracy, this book is crucial.
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