In this important volume Norberto Bobbio examines some of thecentral themes of political theory and presents a systematicexposition of his views. With great astuteness and profoundscholarship, Bobbio unfolds the elements for a general theory ofpolitics.Bobbio's wide-ranging argument is focused on four themes: thedistinction between the public and the private; the concept ofcivil society; differing conceptions of the state and differingways of understanding the legitimacy of state power; and therelation between democracy and dictatorship. Bobbio's discussiondraws on a wealth of theoretical and historical material, fromPlato, Aristotle, Hobbes and Locke to Marx, Weber, Habermas andFoucault. By analysing the development of different languages ofpolitics in relation to changing social and historical contexts,Bobbio deepens our understanding of the concepts we use to describeand evaluate modern political systems.