Reddit mentions of The Basic Political Writings (English and French Edition)

Well...I agree History is key...but...

You really need to read Political Theory first for a foundation. Every modern day political ideology is based off of these books in one way or another.

• John Locke - Two Treatises of Government
  
• Kant - Political Writings
  
  -Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The Basic Political Writings
  
  Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - Introduction to the Philosophy of History
  
  And....
  
  Bentham and Mill - The Classical Utilitarians: Bentham and Mill
  
  Karl Marx, Freidrich Engels -The Marx-Engels Reader -Second Edition Don't worry, it still contains the Communist Manifesto.
  
  Machiavelli couldn't hurt to know either.
  
  For some basis on International Organizations - whether it be trade theory, regimes, etc.... this book is top of its class.
  
  Friedrich Kratochwil, Edward D Mansfield - International Organization and Global Governance: A Reader
  
  You also should really read into and understand the Treaty of Westphalia
  
  Then from there
  
  You can look into History, Economic Theory, and/or whatever specific part of the political spectrum you have interest in.
  
  If you are a student try to take advantage of JSTOR...if you aren't a student...you can always purchase access if you are genuinely interested in this stuff.
  
  AFTER you atleast have a foundation under your belt.
  
  You can then use Think Tanks most of what I will link are Internationally known and used and are unbiased, non partisaned.
  
  

• Atlantic Community (This is a german think tank *In english)
  
  
• DIW Berlin - A Economic Think Tank
  
  *Think tank for Action on Social Change - Based out of Ireland
  
  
• Ecologic Foundation - NZ Based, it focuses on Environmental Policy, used world wide.
  
  All of these are widely used, widely respected. Whether you agree with their stances or not. Each of them have had their fair share of Criticism.
  
  I firmly believe that Think Tanks provide the best source of political information, and that they allow one to mold their own political views on grounds of academia and not propaganda and misinformation. (I'm looking at you MSN and Fox news)
  
  Conservative
  
  Acton Institute
  
  American Civil Rights Union
  
  American Enterprise Institute
  
  Bradley Foundation
  
  Center for Security Policy
  
  Claremont Institute
  
  Employment Policies Institute (Fiscal)
  
  Goldwater Institute
  
  The Heritage Foundation
  
  Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
  
  National Center for Policy Analysis
  
  Libertarian
  
  Ludwig von Mises Institute
  
  Cascade Policy Institute
  
  Cato Institute
  
  Competitive Enterprise Institute
  
  Foundation for Economic Education
  
  The Heartland Institute
  
  The Independent Institute
  
  Reason Foundation
  
  Progressive
  
  Center for American Progress
  
  Center for Economic and Policy Research
  
  The Century Foundation
  
  Drum Major Institute
  
  Institute for Policy Studies
  
  New Democrat Network
  
  Third Way (Independent - Dem leaning)
  
  World Policy Institute
  
  
  Liberal
  
  Economic Policy Institute
  
  Economic
  
  American Institute for Economic Research
  
  Analysis Group
  
  Committee for Economic Development
  
  Global Financial Integrity
  
  James Madison Institute (Free Market)
  
  Milken Institute
  
  National Bureau of Economic Research
  
  Peterson Institute for International Economics
  
  Political and Economic Research Council
  
  Tax Foundation
  
  National
  
  Center for a New American Security
  
  Center for Defense Information
  
  Discovery Institute This one has a religious agenda. It's a good use...but beware they are attacking Religion
  
  
  International
  
  American Foreign Policy Council
  
  Aspen Institute
  
  Atlantic Council
  
  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  
  Center for Global Development
  
  Council on Foreign Relations
  
  EastWest Institute
  
  Foreign Policy Research Institute
  
  Inter-American Dialogue
  
  Migration Policy Institute
  
  RAND Corporation VERY good Think-Tank
  
  Washington Institute for Near East Policy
  
  Non-Partison Public Policy
  
  Brookings Institution
  
  Center for Ethical Solutions
  
  Center for Governmental Studies
  
  Center for Immigration Studies
  
  Center for International Policy
  
  Center for Media and Democracy
  
  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  
  Foundation for Excellence in Education
  
  Global Development and Environment Institute
  
  Hoover Institution
  
  Hudson Institute
  
  Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
  
  James Baker Institute
  
  New America Foundation
  
  Pew Research Center (I love Pew)
  
  Urban Institute
  
  
  
  Bi-Partison
  
  Center for Strategic and International Studies
  
  Constitution Project
  
  
  Most Universities around the World have think tanks also
  
  The only one I care about and rely on is the Think Tank at the University of Virginia.
  
  The University of Virginia's Miller Center
  
  Think Tank Directory
  
  Elections, Candidates
  
  Vote Smart
  
  On The Issues
  
  
  Sorry in advance if the Format is shit

1. On the Social Contract and The Discourses - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
   
2. 9/10
   
3. Philosophy
   
4. Questions some of the fundamental beliefs of our society and reaches interesting conclusions. Helps immensely in understanding the history of the 18th century but is still relevant in today's society. Fairly challenging but definitely worth it if you are interested in philosophy. It's good to take a break from fiction once in a while.
   
5. Amazon.com