Suchergebnisse

Cover -- Contents -- List of Tables/Boxes -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Introduction -- What is political theory? -- The recent history of political theory -- Some useful tools, methods and distinctions -- The structure of this book -- 2 Political Community -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 3 Pluralism -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 4 Representation -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 5 Democracy -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 6 Power -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 7 Freedom -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 8 Equality -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 9 Justice -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 10 Rights -- Introduction -- Rival perspectives -- Key debates -- Future challenges -- 11 Conclusion -- Introduction -- Liberal ontology and its critics -- Alternative ontologies and alternatives to ontology -- The purposes of political theory -- Bibliography -- Index.

Penn State's decision to eliminate political theory set off existential angst about the status of political theory in the discipline. The organized, defensive responses to that decision failed to answer the central question it posed: Is "political theory" social science, and if not, why does it belong? I argue that social scientific political theory is political science and its many strains—conceptual, normative, and explanatory—belong in the discipline on their own terms. Humanistic research, like dermatology or music theory, is not political science and as such it should find another home. By explaining why (and what kinds of) political theory is political science this article may wind up being offensive in both senses of the word. But it is meant to be in service to a more secure, stable, and productive interdisciplinary future for all kinds of political theory going forward.

Theorists interested in learning more about any given interpretive approach are often required to navigate a dizzying array of sources, with no clear sense of where to begin. The prose of many primary sources is often steeped in dense and technical argot that novices find intimidating or even impenetrable. Interpretation in Political Theory provide students of political theory a single introductory reference guide to major approaches to interpretation available in the field today. --

Political theorists cannot reasonably maintain an institutional attachment to the discipline of political science and claim a place in the curriculum of the field while professing intellectual autonomy. Political theory is the progeny of American political science, as well as a subfield of the discipline, and it is important to dispel mythologies of political theory as a separate world-historical endeavor. Political theorists, like all social scientists, must realistically come to grips with their cognitive and practical relationship to their subject matter and resist the forms of dislocated rhetoric that sustain their often anomalous condition.