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This volume examines the roots of pragmatist imagination and traces the influence of American pragmatism in diverse areas of politics, law, sociology, political science, and transitional studies.

The concept of society and its cognates have long been widely invoked in order to understand International Relations. Theories of international society distinguish between a society of states and a mere system of states, and theories of world society assume that the world constitutes a single social space. In order to come to terms with the social character of International Relations, constructivists of different stripes have invoked a societal context within which the construction of identities and norms takes place. As I shall argue in this article, these usages draw on conceptions of society that emerged during the early phases of modern sociology, and have then been projected onto alien historical and cultural contexts. In order to avoid the anachronism and Eurocentrism that invariably have resulted from these uncritical usages, I argue that academic International Relations should seek to accommodate those forms of human association that cannot be subsumed under a recognisably modern concept of society by incorporating insights from postcolonial sociology into its theoretical core.

Building on the growing body of literature bridging international relations and historical sociology, this article argues that "consolidologists" have something to learn from this field. The discussion's point of departure is contemporary writings on sovereignty, security, and state formation in the African context. In an effort to synthesize insights from international relations and historical sociology with neo-institutional theory, a heuristic mode that suggests an alternative conceptualization of different forms of states, governance, and regimes is developed. The author argues that this model can be used to better understand the relationship between forms of states, variations in the institutions of governance, and transitions between regimes. Taking the model to be fruitful, the article finally suggests some hypotheses regarding the prospects for consolidation of democracy that can be tested in future empirical research.

According to the canonical model situated at the heart of the " economic " - or, as the political scientists prefer to call it, rational-choice - theory of (democratic) politics, whenever the matter to be decided raises, or consists of, at least two distinct issues, it is generally impossible to reach a determinate decision by using the majority rule. This problem, referred to as that of disequilibrium, equilibrium instability, or even"chaos", was first underplayed and then deemed ominous to the point of seriously undermining the development prospects of the whole theory. However, more recently, the concern it was the source o f until the 1980s has given way to a state of renewed confidence. What has allowed this to happen is only the construction of solution-yielding models, without the problem as formulated initially being really solved. This article purports to display the main lines of this theoretical reversal and to present a methodological interpretation of it in the light of recent developments in the philosophy of science - in particular the legitimacy now conceded to a research objective that consists in identifying the main mechanisms at work rather than in discovering universal empirical laws. ; D'après le modèle canonique qui est au coeur de la théorie économique (ou des choix rationnels, comme préfèrent dire les politologues) appliquée à la politique (démocratique), il est, en général, impossible de parvenir à une décision déterminée en recourant à la règle de majorité dès que le sujet en cause comporte au moins deux aspects distincts. Ce problème, dit du déséquilibre ou de l'instabilité de l'équilibre ou, encore du chaos, d'abord minimisé, a ensuite paru gravement menaçant quant aux chances de développement de l'ensemble de la théorie. Mais à l'inquiétude qu'il suscitait jusqu'aux années quatre-vingt a succédé récemment une sérénité retrouvée grâce à la construction de modèles admettant un équilibre sans pourtant que le problème, dans sa formulation initiale, ait été vraiment résolu. Cet article ...

There might appear to be little that binds the study of order and the study of violence and conflict. Bloodshed in its multiple forms is often seen as something separate from and unrelated to the domains of 'normal' politics that constitute what we think of as order. But violence is used to create order, to maintain it, and to uphold it in the face of challenges. This volume demonstrates the myriad ways in which order and violence are inextricably intertwined. The chapters embrace such varied disciplines as political science, economics, history, sociology, philosophy, and law; employ different methodologies, from game theory to statistical modeling to in-depth historical narrative to anthropological ethnography; and focus on different units of analysis and levels of aggregation, from the state to the individual to the world system. All are essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand current trends in global conflict

Negative partisanship describes the intense disdain for a rival political party. A growing number of political scientists in the US and beyond examine the impact of negative partisanship on citizens' political behavior, asserting the notion that negative partisanship exerts a strong influence, either on its own or in combination with positive partisanship. Yet we know little about the psychological origins of negative and positive partisanship: Which personality traits are associated with high levels of negative partisanship, and do they differ from the ones that have been linked to positive partisanship? In this article, I address these questions. Utilizing a sample of US adults and a sample of Swedish adults, I examine the influence of prominent personality traits—including Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, the Need for Closure, and the Big Five—on strong negative and positive partisanship. I demonstrate that the personality origins of positive and negative partisanship differ not just across the two samples but also across partisans on the left and on the right. I conclude the article with implications for research on polarization and a plea for more comparative work on (positive and negative) partisanship.

In today's social environments, many activities implying the construction of cultural and social meaning are intrinsically tied to media. It is not only the interpersonal level of communication that has been shaped by technological innovations like e-mail, instant messaging or chat (Thimm, 2008); but so have complex societal processes. Whether in politics, economy or business, media traverse the whole society. They are part of the transformation of the public sphere and interwoven within the differentiation of new communication structures and segments. Consequently, media development and societal changes have to be seen as closely connected processes. The concept of mediatization offers an approach to explain the reciprocal impact of media on groups and persons, but it also sheds light on structures and processes within public, political, secular, institutional and private spheres and in daily life (see the contributions in Lundby, 2009). As Krotz (2001; 2007) points out, mediatization is one of the pivotal 'metaprocesses' by which social and cultural changes can be described and explained: 'Today, globalization, individualization, mediatization and the growing importance of the economy, which we here call commercialization, can be seen as the relevant metaprocesses that influence democracy and society, culture, politics and other conditions of life over the longer term' (Krotz, 2007, p. 257).

The article discusses the consequences for the European political system, and more specifically for its elites, of the great recession of the years after 2008. After having defined the concept of European Elites System (EES) and specified its main components, the article analyses the differential impact of the crisis upon the different elite components. Special attention is paid to the difference between those European elite groups (domestic elites and members of the European Council and of the Council of the European Union), which are directly or indirectly accountable to national electorates and the other elite groups (such as the components of the Commission and of the ECB) who are much more protected against popular protest and dissatisfaction. This has produced a different degree of vulnerability and instability across these groups, but also important differences in the responses they have given to the problems arising from the crisis. These consequences are then analysed from the point of view of the democratic quality of the Union.

More than 50 years after its founding, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is still going strong. It has become the dominant party within a democratic setting. How did the LDP manage to cling to its dominant position for such a long time? And to what extent has the LDP changed colours under the leadership of Koizumi Jun'ichiro? This survey article attempts to answer these questions by focussing on the three dimensions of LDP dominance: electoral, parliamentary, and executive dominance. It argues that clientelist politics explain a good deal of the success of the LDP in the past. Such an orientation however became decreasingly effective and sustainable in a political environment that has changed significantly since the early 1990s. In the Koizumi era, the LDP managed to rise again to the challenges posed to its dominance by appealing directly to voters, by optimizing electoral cooperation, and by making efforts to centralize policymaking. Whether these more recent approaches to maintaining LDP dominance can be sustained, however, remains an open question.

AbstractThe Minority Treaties that were signed at the end of First World War were not only instrumental in establishing the status of minorities in their respective countries but also significant in terms of their impact on nation‐building processes. Through focusing on the post‐Ottoman lands, and specifically on Turkey, this paper examines the tension between the goals of the Allied Powers and the League of Nations, and those of the nationalist political elites in the newly‐created national states.

Context is essential for electoral geography. However, most electoral geography studies place little emphasis on constructing a theoretical framework informed by the geographical nature of the context. The present paper takes issue with these. In this regard, for understanding the geographical context of interest a thorough theoretical and factual representation is provided. Bucharest, a former socialist city, is described through its division between the historical pre-socialist urban tissue and the socialist developments. The hypothesis suggests electoral patterns overlapping this socio-spatial division. This is investigated at the Romanian parliamentary election of 2016. Spatial econometrics are used to analyze electoral data at the level of 278 polling locations in Bucharest. A strong polarization is found between the old town and the other places in Bucharest. Final discussions speak about the still important socialist past for cities and politics.

The occurrence of the financial crisis in Europe has offered enough space for the growth of populist alternatives in the public speech. Thus, the aim of this study is to connect the socio-economic consequences of the crisis with the populist rhetoric of SYRIZA (Radical Left Coalition), M5S (5 Star Movement) and PODEMOS (We Can) parties in Greece, Italy and Spain respectively. A comparative analysis will be conducted in order to identify their main characteristics as well as the differences and the commonalities of the three cases. Taking into account as analytical tools, the specificities of the South European area and the old and new theories of populism, this paper aims to offer lucrative incentives to the scientific discussion about the rise of populism in this region.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface: Basic stuff - meta-theory for the social sciences -- Returning to meta-theory -- Is there a crisis in the social sciences? -- A crisis of the Left? -- Resisting meta-theory -- Bad meta-theory is always recommending the impossible -- Intended topics of the book -- My background in philosophy -- Connell's critique of metropolitan theory -- Reading this book -- 1 Humanism and its critics -- Humanism as ethics -- The post-humanist critique -- Humanism as a particular view of 'the human' -- Humanism as a 'universalistic' ethics -- Humanism as an anthropocentric ethics -- Bringing back the body -- Social variability and the centrality of culture -- How humans become social by transcending biology -- The structure/agency dilemma -- Dealing with racists and evolutionary psychologists -- Human nature by the back door -- The elephant in the room -- 2 Knowledge in the social sciences -- The philosophy of perception -- Sociology and epistemology -- The political problems of realism -- Direct realism and social science -- 3 Debates about epistemology in recent social science -- Goldfarb on facts and interpretations -- Social and natural sciences in Flyvbjerg -- Weedon's feminist poststructuralism -- How Foucault handles these issues -- Critical Realism and epistemology -- 4 Explanation in the social sciences -- Social versus natural sciences -- Elements of explanation in the social sciences -- The poststructuralist challenge to 'humanist' social sciences -- Discourses and subjects -- Determinist and agentic versions of poststructuralism -- The multiplicity of the subject? -- Discourses and ideologies -- Gender discourses and hegemonic masculinities -- Overlaps and mapping -- 5 What do social scientists do in their accounts? -- Weber's 'Protestant ethic'