INTRODUCTION

• Economists and political philosophers hold powerful ideas that shape the world, whether they are right or wrong.
• The influence of ideas is greater than that of vested interests, as ideas gradually encroach upon the world.
• Rational curiosity drives political theory, seeking justification and explanation beyond just causes, correlations, or probabilities.
• Political theory will not perish as long as there is a desire to understand motives and reasons.
• Science is concerned with explaining causes and effects, but political theory is about discussing what ought to be and is grounded in value judgments.
• Political theory aims to understand the present political reality and evolve mechanisms for a more just order.
• It studies the evolution, nature, composition, and purpose of government and its relationship to human nature and society.
• The golden age of political theory spans from Plato to Hegel.
• Political theory is a core area in political science, but only recently has it emerged as an academic discipline, distinct from philosophy or science.
• Political science provides generalizations and laws about politics and behavior, while political theory reflects on these through philosophical or ethical criteria.
• Political theory considers the best political order as part of the larger question of the ideal form of life an individual should lead in society.
• Political theory addresses perennial issues and requires studying the great books that contain timeless knowledge.
• Political theory is the intellectual tradition that attempts to transcend immediate concerns and view society from a critical perspective.
• There is no conflict between political theory and political science; they differ in boundaries and jurisdiction but share the same aim.
• Political theory provides ideas, concepts, and theories for analysis, description, explanation, and criticism, which are incorporated into political science.
• Political theory was once synonymous with political science, and there is no science without theory.
• Political theory can refer to both the activity of theorizing and the recorded results of theorizing.
• Some distinguish between political theory, political thought, political philosophy, and political ideology, though these terms are often used interchangeably.
• Political philosophy addresses general questions about justice, right, and the distinction between is and ought.
• Political philosophy is part of normative political theory, attempting to establish the interrelationships between concepts.
• Every political philosopher is a theorist, but not every theorist is a philosopher.
• Political philosophy is a complex activity understood by analyzing how masters have practiced it, and no single philosopher or era defines it conclusively.
• Political philosophy is intimately linked to philosophy, with Plato playing a foundational role in linking the good of the individual to the community.
• Subsequent philosophers contributed methods of analysis and judgment to political theory.
• The distinction between philosophy and political philosophy lies in the subject matter: philosophy seeks truths that are publicly demonstrable, while political theorists explain the meaning of political and its relation to the public sphere.
• Since Aristotle, political theorists have focused on defining the political rather than merely analyzing political practices or applications.
• Aristotle argued that individuals find fulfillment only through a political community, emphasizing the commonness of the political space and the distinction of political authority as representing general interests shared by all members of society.
• Hannah Arendt and Michael Oakeshott shared a similar view, seeing political life as a distinctive form of human organization with special value and a place for freedom, honour, and full human development.
• Both philosophers were concerned with safeguarding the autonomy of the political from the intrusion of social and economic issues.
• Easton defined politics as an authoritative allocation of values, with political theory focusing on the legitimacy and scope of politics as a practical activity.
• Feminists have recently questioned the traditional focus on the public sphere in political theory, highlighting issues like subjugation in the private domain and the connection between the public and private spheres.
• The debates have expanded to include questions about patriarchal constructions in political thought, the political meaning of sexual difference, and the relation between the intimate, familial, and economic spheres (Held 1991: 7–8).
• Traditionally, political theorists focused on the limits of state action, with the modern sovereign state being a central concern of political theory and analysis.
• However, globalization, the rise of intergovernmental institutions, and complex relationships between states and societies have shifted focus toward the future of the nation-state.
• Issues like religion, prices, and race can become political depending on the time and place, being consciously placed on the political agenda as collective concerns.
• Political thought represents the thoughts of the whole community, including politicians, social reformers, and ordinary people, and is expressed in various forms like treatises, speeches, policies, and prose.
• Political thought is time-bound, attempting to explain political behavior, evaluate values, and control actions. An example is the American Declaration of Independence (1776), which articulated life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• Political theory refers to speculation by a single individual and focuses on theories of institutions like the state, law, representation, and election.
• Political theory is comparative and explanatory, seeking to generalize about attitudes and actions in particular contexts, whereas political philosophy seeks to understand and resolve conflicts between equally acceptable political theories.
• Political ideology is a comprehensive, systematic doctrine that offers a complete theory of human nature and society, often with a detailed program for achieving its goals.
• John Locke is seen as the father of modern ideologies, and Marxism is a classic example, with its focus on changing the world rather than interpreting it.
• All political ideology is political philosophy, but not all political philosophy is ideology. Political ideology is often dogmatic and discourages critical appraisal.
• Political ideology emerged under positivism, focusing on subjective, unverifiable value preferences and negating political theory.
• Germino distinguishes between a political theorist and a publicist, with the former having a deep understanding of issues and the latter focused on immediate questions.
• Theorists like Aristotle, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Hegel are contrasted with publicists like Phaleas, Giles, Botero, Filmer, Condorcet, and de Maistre, who focus on practical political concerns.
• Germino rejects the sociology of knowledge thesis, which claims that belief structures have social origins and are dependent on class origin, precluding objectivity.
• Sociology of knowledge may explain propagandists for mass movements but is less useful for understanding philosophers like Plato or Hegel.
• Germino and Plato distinguish between opinion and knowledge, with the latter being the starting point for a political theorist.
• Every political theorist plays a dual role as both a scientist and a philosopher, contributing to human knowledge by combining these two roles.
• Scientific components of political theory describe political reality dispassionately, while the philosophical basisprescribes rules for the good life for all society.
• Political theory is disinterested, aiming for a just society, while ideology justifies a particular system of power and may distort reality.
• Ideologues are interested parties, either defending the status quo or advocating for a new power distribution, whereas political theorists avoid special pleading and aim for objective analysis.

• Political theory courses typically involve a detailed study of political books and philosophies from Plato to the contemporary era, examined from a historical perspective.
• These works are studied for their normative statements about desirable types of institutions, governments, and laws, often supported by rational arguments.
• The classics are viewed as timeless, permanent in relevance, and universal in significance.
• The Classical tradition demonstrates significant unity in style and argumentation, forming a common school of inquiry.
• Despite their unity, the classics offer divergent interpretations of politics, making their study valuable for understanding contemporary politics.

• Aristotle viewed the individual as a political animal, highlighting the primacy of politics and its occurrence at various levels and in different ways.
• The political is seen as all-pervasive and the highest kind of activity, symbolizing a collective public life where people create institutions to regulate common life.
• Political activity is considered an activity par excellence, as noted by Antonio Gramsci.
• Common-sense political questions (e.g., equality, state vs. individual, violence by the state, freedom vs. equality) reflect values and ideals.
• Responses to these questions often align with political ideology and vary based on individual opinions and value preferences.
• Political theory must be part of an open society, as it addresses various political ideologies like liberalism and conservatism.
• Training in political theory helps answer political questions logically, speculatively, and critically.
• Political theory is the disciplined investigation of political problems, aimed at understanding and solving issues of group life and organization.
• Political theory shows not only what a practice is but also what it means and can alter the practice (Sabine 1973).
• Political theory has been used to either defend or question the status quo.
• It describes and explains politics in abstract and general terms, allowing for critical imagination.
• As a discipline, political theory seeks to describe, explain, justify, or criticize existing institutional arrangementsand power dynamics in society.
• Commentators like Goodwin emphasize the centrality of power, while others like Talcott Parsons compare it to money in modern societies.
• Recent works by John Rawls and Robert Nozick do not emphasize power; Rawls focuses on a well-ordered society, with justice, stability, and efficiency as key ingredients, without discussing power distribution.

• Political theory helps understand the concepts and terms used in political argument and analysis, such as freedom, equality, democracy, justice, and rights.
• These terms are widely used not only in daily conversation but also in political theory discourse.
• Understanding these terms is crucial to recognize how they are employed and to distinguish between their definitionsand their usage in argument structures.
• Concept analysis reveals the ideological commitment of a speaker or writer.
• For example, a liberal defines freedom as implying choice and absence of restraints, while a socialist links it with equality.
• A liberal defines the state as an instrument of human welfare, while a socialist sees it as an instrument of oppression, domination, and class privileges.
• Conceptual clarification is possible but cannot be neutral; those engaging in it often subscribe to their own value preferences.
• The task of conceptual clarification is not different from that of the authors of classics in political theory, as it is shaped by ideological preferences.

• In the United States, political theory is often seen as an exercise in devising formal models of political processes, similar to theoretical economics.
• These models serve two purposes:
  • Explanatory: They systematically identify the factors that underpin political processes.
  • Normative: They aim to show the consequences of following certain rules.
• A notable example is Antony Downs’ (1957) theory of electoral competition, where:
  • Voters try to maximize utility from election results.
  • Parties act as teams trying to maximize their probability of winning.
  • Downs shows how parties devise ideological stances to win.
• Kenneth Arrow’s (1963) impossibility theorem stated that, when a democratic choice involves more than two alternatives, the outcome is likely to be arbitrary, influenced by the procedure used to exercise the choice.
• Josef Schumpeter’s (1976) elitist theory of democracy assumed that humans prioritize their economic life over their political life.

• The emergence of political science in the twentieth century led some political scientists to view political theory as a mere theoretical branch of the discipline.
• This view attempts to integrate empirical observations with a systematic explanation of everyday experiences in the world.
• The approach dispenses with the normative content of traditional political theory.
• While explaining political phenomena is possible, grounding it solely in empiricism is insufficient.
• Any attempt to formulate a political theory free of normative elements would inherently fail.
• This is because explaining political events requires interpreting the intentions and motives of the participants, which brings forth normative issues.

• Words must be contextualized, as argued by Raymond Williams (1958).
• Williams contextualized five important English words: industry, democracy, class, art, and culture.
• The last few decades of the 18th century and the first fifty years of the 19th century were pivotal for these words.
• These words acquired new meanings during this period, reflecting broader changes in life, thought, and language.
• Drastic social, political, and economic changes led to shifts in the meaning and use of these words.
• Industry initially referred to personal attributes but shifted to describe manufacturing and productive processes due to the Industrial Revolution.
• Democracy, originally from Greek, had a negative connotation of mob-rule until the French Revolution, after which it became associated with democratic representation.
• The word class evolved from its philosophical use (division of groups) to describe social divisions, with terms like working class and upper class emerging in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
• Art originally meant individual skill, later referring to specialized imaginative or creative activities.
• Culture evolved from “tending of natural growth” to intellectual development and later included the entirety of society’s material, intellectual, and spiritual aspects.
• Williams notes that the changing meaning of culture reflects the transformation of industry, democracy, and class.
• The significance for political theory lies in:
  • (a) The alteration of key word meanings due to societal changes.
  • (b) Reflecting new personal and social relationships.
• The new idea of culture emerged as a response to both industrial society and the rise of democracy.
• In addition to transformations in existing words, many new words emerged to describe the changing political and social landscape:
  • Ideology, intellectual, rationalism, scientist, humanitarian, utilitarian, romanticism, bureaucracy, capitalism, collectivism, commercialism, communism, doctrinaire, equalitarian, liberalism, masses, proletariat, socialism, unemployment, and more.

• A reader new to political theory may initially focus on studying institutions rather than abstract concepts to understand society.
• Institutional arrangements vary across societies due to differing sets of ideas.
• This leads to a key question: Is reality shaped by ideas, or do ideas reflect reality?
• Finding satisfactory answers to these questions is challenging, but categorizing ideas can be useful for analysis.
• Idealists like Plato believe in permanent, immutable ideas to which reality should conform.
• Materialists or realists, like Locke, argue that concepts come from observing material reality and are more empiricaland inductive in nature.
• Inductive reasoning derives general statements from specific facts, contrasting with deductive reasoning, where conclusions follow from premises.
• Descriptive theory describes reality and constructs explanations based on facts.
• Evaluative theory analyzes ideas in relation to other concepts and values.
• Facts are empirically verifiable, while values are subjective and not verifiable.
• Deontology is an ethical theory emphasizing self-evident moral duties, regardless of consequences.
• Teleology (or consequentialism) judges actions by their outcomes or consequences.
• Kantian and Rawlsian theories are deontological, while classical utilitarianism is teleological.
• Normative theory is prescriptive, setting standards or codes of conduct, using words like ought, should, and must.
• Empirical social scientists observe reality and construct general theories based on facts and data, rejecting a prioriknowledge.
• Pragmatism, associated with C.S. Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, emphasizes that beliefs are justified by their practical results.
• Empiricism views knowledge as derived from sensory experience, while pragmatism emphasizes active inquiry.
• Utilitarianism judges actions by the pleasure they increase and the pain they decrease.
• Rationalism contends that reason is key to understanding the world, correcting sensory experiences.
• Rationalism traces back to Plato, with modern theorists like René Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.
• Immanuel Kant criticized rationalism, but it re-emerged in the writings of Hegel.
• Max Weber associated rationalism with legal-rational authority over traditional or charismatic authority.
• J.S. Mill saw rationalism as the search for rational solutions based on principles, not prejudices or mysticism.
• Rationalism has been criticized by theorists like Oakeshott, who viewed it as dismissive of tradition, custom, and group experience.
• A distinction exists between subjective (personal/individual) and objective (impersonal/impartial) perspectives.
• Rousseau spoke of the general will, promoting the objective good of the community.
• Relativism suggests that values and principles lack universal or timeless validity and are valid only within specific social groups or individuals.
• Historicism has two meanings:
  • In the late 19th century, it emphasized the uniqueness of historical phenomena and the need to interpret each era by its own ideas and principles.
  • Karl Popper argued for large-scale laws of historical development, enabling predictions about history.

• Hegel‘s era marked a challenge to political theory through the rise of ideology and positivism.
• Karl Marx proclaimed that his goal was not to interpret the world, but to change it, eliminating the distinction between theory and practice.
• Marx’s approach was an anti-theory, presenting a radical and ideological vision for humanity, emphasizing messianicthinking.
• For Marx, reality had to be understood through practical productive activity, and theory became a tool of the privileged class, losing its critical dimension.
• This perspective makes Marx an ideologist rather than a political theorist.
• Antonio Louis Claude Graf Destutt de Tracy defined ideology as the science of deciphering the origin of ideas, claiming that thoughts are determined by sense-experience, the only true reality.
• He argued that abstract thought, including religion and philosophy, had no basis in reality and should be discarded.
• De Tracy rejected all forms of critical inquiry, focusing on a scientific approach to understanding human beings and exposing illusions.

Positivism

• Isidore Auguste Marie Francois Comte (1798–1857), regarded as the father of positivism, sought to create a new master-science of human beings, called sociology.
• Comte asserted that only sense-experience was real, dismissing metaphysical, ethical, and theological theories as irrelevant.
• Positivism emphasized precision, constructive power, and relativism, rendering political theory meaningless in this context.
• Positivism categorizes analytical statements about the physical or social world into three categories:
  1. Tautologies: Repeating the same idea in different words or definitional statements providing specific meanings.
  2. Empirically tested statements: Tested by observation to assess truth or falsity.
  3. Statements lacking analytic content must be discarded.
• Meaningful analysis, according to positivists, is possible only through tautologies and empirical statements, excluding metaphysics, theology, aesthetics, and ethics.
• Positivism aimed to be value-free or ethically neutral, modeling itself after the natural sciences in determining right and wrong.
• Empiricism: The belief that observation and experience are the central sources of knowledge, integral to positivism.
• Comte integrated empiricism with two additional ideas:
  1. Reviewing the development of the sciences to find a unity among the natural and social sciences, aiming to integrate them into a single system of knowledge.
  2. Founded sociology with the belief that scientific knowledge could control both nature and society.
• The three tools of analysis—empiricism, unity of science, and control—focused positivism on society to address existing issues and realize a better future.

• A revitalized form of positivism emerged as logical positivism in the 1920s and 1930s, led by the Vienna Circle which consisted of mathematicians, philosophers, and scientists.
• Key members included Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap, Otto von Neurath, Victor Kraf, and Herbert Feigl.
• Associated individuals included Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hans Kelsen, and Karl Popper.
• Wittgenstein linked the Vienna Circle with linguistic philosophy in Oxford and other English universities during the 1920s and 1930s.
• Logical positivists reject the cognitive status of traditional metaphysics.
• They classified scientific propositions as analytic or synthetic:
  • Analytic statements are logical or mathematical in nature.
  • Synthetic statements add meaning to a given term.
• Verifiability is the criterion for synthetic statements, meaning a statement is meaningful only if it is empirically verifiable.
• A statement without empirical verification is considered meaningless, as it cannot be proven true or false.
• Traditional political theory is rejected as unverifiable and meaningless by logical positivists.
• They advocate for a radical form of empiricism known as phenomenalism, limiting experience to sensations as the foundation of science.
• They emphasize logical analysis and aim to unify the sciences by viewing experience as the subject of all science and logic as the formal language to describe experiences and formulate theories.
• The impact of logical positivism on political thought was twofold:
  1. Principle of verification views politics as metaphysical, non-rational, and arbitrary, beyond the scope of science. It distinguishes between what happens (science) and what should happen (politics).
  2. To be scientific, one must adopt the aspects of science identified by logical positivism, considering physics as the paradigm of unified science, which proceeds inductively from observations to laws.

• Popper suggested an amendment to the principle of verification with his principle of falsification, addressing the problem of induction, known as “Hume’s problem.”
• Hume questioned the inductive method, arguing that no number of observations could lead to a scientifically satisfactory general statement.
• For Hume, a large sample of A being the same as B could not logically establish that all As were Bs.
• Even large samples, when used to draw conclusions, only remained psychological facts, not logical ones.
• Predictions also failed, as past experience didn’t guarantee future outcomes due to the inherent limitation of observation.
• Inductive method emerged more from psychological conditioning than logic, leading Hume to conclude that non-scientific laws lacked a rational foundation.
• Popper, following Hume, rejected the traditional view of science, emphasizing the logical asymmetry between verification and falsification.
• According to Popper, no number of cases of A leading to B could establish that all As were Bs, making universal notions unprovable and disprovable.
• In Popper’s view, a theory remains valid until it is falsified, with falsification being the suitable method for scientific enquiry.
• All knowledge is provisional, based on hypotheses that are constantly scrutinized through negative instances of falsification.
• Knowledge progresses through a process of conjectures and refutations, with arguments being tentative and subject to criticism.
• The foundation of falsification is common-sense realism and indeterminism, essential for a critical method.
• Theory formulation in Popper’s method is rigorous, requiring theories to withstand refutation, leading to the emergence of new problems and solutions.
• Refutation of existing knowledge can advance understanding by encouraging new discoveries and theories.
• The challenge in science is to go beyond existing evidence and face new situations.
• Scientific discoveries are mostly accidental, and knowledge is always incomplete and provisional.
• What is considered truth today may be falsified tomorrow, with new paradigms potentially being provisional as well.
• No theory can claim finality; it can only be considered better than its predecessor.
• Science is not a body of permanent facts; in scientific enquiry, nothing is permanently established or unalterable.
• Accuracy is provisional, with measurements of time and space being subject to a certain level of uncertainty.
• The quest for knowledge is driven by problems faced and attempts to solve them; exactness is an illusion.
• This does not mean that progress is impossible, as the pursuit of greater accuracy expands the horizon of knowledge.
• Advancement is always possible, but whether the goal has been reached is always open to question.
• Popper referenced Newton and Einstein to illustrate how scientific progress occurs, with Einstein’s theory of relativity superseding Newton’s laws of gravitation.
• Popper established the conjectural nature of scientific knowledge, arguing that no theory is the final truth.
• A theory is supported by observations so far, but it remains possible to replace it with a better theory.
• Popper denied that scientists sought the maximum probability based on evidence; instead, they sought statements that carried maximum information but were highly falsifiable.
• Falsification, whether in whole or in part, is the expected fate of all hypotheses, and criticism should be welcomed as it provides the opportunity for improvement.
• Popper criticized the theories of Plato, Hegel, and Marx using this paradigm.
• Popper’s arguments resemble Gandhi’s theory of relative truth, where Gandhi also conceded that knowing truthwas practically impossible, and we each know our version of it.
• Both Popper and Gandhi opposed any form of dogmatism and determinism.

• Linguistic philosophy was critical of traditional political theory, agreeing with logical positivists that metaphysical statements are value judgments with emotive rather than cognitive value.
• Philosophy was described as a “second-order study,” focused on conceptual enquiry.
• Linguistic philosophy was similar to the Vienna Circle but more open to metaphysical experiences, influenced by Wittgenstein.
• Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921) argued that some truths could not be expressed through the language of sense-experience.
• Weldon claimed that the function of political philosophy was not to provide new information but to avoid suggesting reforms.
• Linguistic philosophy dismissed political thought as a misconceived enquiry that took up the wrong questions.
• Weldon’s thesis about the lack of influence of political thinkers on politicians can be challenged by citing the influence of Locke on the American constitution, Clinton’s reference to Jefferson, Gandhi’s inspiration from Ruskin, Thoreau, Tolstoy, and Nehru’s indebtedness to Fabian collectivism.
• Weber criticized positivism, acknowledging the value-related nature of social science enquiry.
• The human mind makes conscious choices based on interests and does not randomly observe reality.
• Weber argued that while science relates to values, it cannot validate them.
• An empirical science can teach what one can do or wants to do, but cannot teach what one ought to do. Validating values is a matter of faith or speculative thinking, not scientific enquiry.
• The period from the late 19th century until the end of World War II was bleak for political theory, though contributions from thinkers like Bosanquet, Gramsci, Green, and Hobhouse were notable.
• Challenges to positivism and ideology came from figures such as Kierkegaard, Pareto, Mosca, Bergson, Whitehead, Croce, Scheler, Michels, Jaspers, and theorists of the Frankfurt School.
• Political science became a professional discipline after 1903, with political theory as one of its sub-fields.
• In the 1920s, Merriam and the University of Chicago School played a key role in making political science more scientific, incorporating methods from psychology and sociology.
• The goal was to make political science more quantitative, a focus emphasized by Merriam and Wallas.
• Despite the rise of scientism in the 1920s, there was not much division between empirical scientific theory and the study of the history of ideas, as the two were seen as complementary.
• Science was used for practical reform and to further rational public policy.

• The behavioural revolution became prominent in the 1950s, but its roots were in the early 20th century.
• It reaffirmed many core ideas of American political science but introduced significant changes in research within the discipline.
• Behaviouralism, as outlined by Easton, aimed to organize political science research like the natural sciences and develop a pure science of politics.
• It rejected political theory as chronological history and irrelevant to contemporary political reality, while critics saw this as a threat to political theory.
• Behaviouralists opposed normative political theory, viewing it as a hindrance to scientific research.
• The debates of this era shaped future views of political theory, either as a critique of political life or a mode of cognitive science.
• Behaviouralism remained influential through the 1960s in the U.S., focusing on understanding why people behave the way they do.
• It differed from other social sciences by emphasizing observable behaviour at both the individual and group levels as the basic unit of analysis.
• Behaviouralists claimed it was possible to empirically test any explanation of behaviour, rejecting a priori reasoningand favoring factual and statistical inquiries.
• The movement investigated topics like mass political participation, elite behaviour, and the role of non-state actors(e.g., multinational corporations, terrorist groups, supranational organizations).
• Behaviouralism had its philosophical origins in Comte’s 19th-century writings and logical positivism of the Vienna Circle.
• Although influenced by positivism, behaviouralism did not fully accept its philosophical arguments.
• Behaviouralists evaluate explanatory theories by testing internal consistency, consistency with other theories, and empirical predictions that can be tested through observation.
• Popper’s revision of positivism (falsification over verification) influenced behaviouralism, focusing on the ability to falsify theories.
• Scientific theories must generate empirical predictions that can be falsified to be considered meaningful.
• Behaviouralism, like positivism, rules out normative theories because they lack empirical content and cannot be tested.
• Lasswell and Kaplan analyzed classical political texts and found varying proportions of political philosophy vs. political science in thinkers like Aristotle, Rousseau, and Machiavelli.
• Critics like Germino argue that political theory is not just behavioural science or ideology, but rather the critical study of right order in human social existence.
• Brecht claims the study of political theory should not be limited to history but must involve addressing present theoretical crises using older ideas.
• Germino emphasizes the centrality of human experience, including ethical, metaphysical, and theologicaldimensions, in political theory-building.
• Gandhi’s inner voice argument reflects the experiential method Germino advocates.
• Key tenets of the behavioural credo:
  • Regularities in political behaviour that lead to generalizations or theory.
  • Verification of the validity of theories.
  • Techniques for seeking and interpreting data.
  • Quantification and measurement in data recording.
  • Distinction between ethical evaluation and empirical explanation.
  • Systematization of research.
  • Pure science, seeking understanding and explanation of behaviour before applying knowledge to solve societal problems.
  • Integration of political research with other social sciences.

• Behaviouralism, like positivism, has been criticized for mindless empiricism.
• Hempel and Popper reject the narrow inductivist view of scientific enquiry, arguing that proper enquiry requires theoretical expectations and that fact-gathering alone is insufficient.
• Hempel criticized the idea of collecting “all the facts,” as it is an impossible task due to the infinite variety and number of facts.
• Despite positivism moving away from inductivist approaches in the 1950s, behavioural scholars continued to use this method, focusing on data and downplaying theory.
• Two undesirable tendencies in behaviouralism:
  • Emphasis on what can be easily measured, rather than what is theoretically important.
  • Focus on observable phenomena, ignoring deeper structural factors that influence political change and stability.
• Behaviouralism aimed to be a value-free, scientific theory, steering clear of ethical and political bias, evaluating theories based on consistency with observation.
• Easton’s critiques of behaviouralism (1997) include:
  • Behaviouralism distances itself from immediate political reality, neglecting the intellectual responsibilities of scholars.
  • Its scientific method focuses on conditions that constrain action, making it a subjectless and non-humanediscipline, lacking consideration of human intentions and choices.
  • The assumption that behavioural political science is free from ideological presuppositions, which shaped its substantive concerns and methods.
  • Uncritical acceptance of a positivist interpretation of science, despite criticism from many supporters of the scientific method in social sciences.
  • Professionalization in the field hampers communication with the general public and other disciplines.
  • Indifference to the fragmentation of knowledge, which hampers solving complex social problems that require interdisciplinary approaches.
  • An inability to address value concerns and describe the good society, relegating values to a non-scientific status.
• Critics argued that it is difficult to establish regularities in human behaviour, making behavioural methods insufficient for explaining it.
• According to Germino, the meaning of behaviouralism became elusive due to internal differences; it was not a monolithic movement.
• Some behaviouralists disagreed with Lasswell’s vision of a scientifically controlled closed society and began to appreciate classical political theory.
• Germino suggests that strict adherence to behaviouralism would result in a closed society, unless there is a rejection of rigid reductionism and scientism, and a restoration of political theory.
• Germino criticized Cobban, Easton, and Waldo for failing to separate normative political theory from political and ideological doctrines and Utopian constructions.
• Germino clarified that he was not against empirical research but opposed the idea that only empirical facts should be considered part of political science.
• He criticized the neglect of critical standards for evaluating data, leading to the adoption of uncritical standards that fail under theoretical scrutiny.
• Germino argued that the rebirth of political theory would not neglect empirical research, but correct the claim that such studies constitute the entirety of political science.
• The rebirth of political theory would focus on evaluating political behaviour, the importance of paradigms, the highest good, and the best society for humans, considering historical conditions.

• In the mid-twentieth century, many observers thought political theory was in decline, with some proclaiming its death (Cobban 1953, Easton 1953, Laslett 1957, Dahl 1958, Riemer 1962).
• A major reason for this view was that classical political theory was seen as filled with value judgements that couldn’t be empirically tested.
• Logical positivists and behaviouralists criticized normative theory for being based on values beyond empirical verification.
• Easton argued that political theory had lost its constructive role, as it was now more focused on historicism rather than value theory.
• Political theory in the past was a means for articulate individuals to express ideas about the desirable direction of affairs, revealing moral frameworks.
• Historical interpretation of political theory now focused on the meaning, internal consistency, and historical development of past political values rather than constructing moral outlooks.
• Dunning (1902) set the tone for political theory as a historical study, analyzing the role of political ideas in social and political change.
• Dunning focused on the cultural and political conceptions of an age and their influence on social conditions rather than on moral considerations.
• McIlwain’s The Growth of Political Thought in the West (1932) treated political ideas as an effect of social activity, not as influencing social change.
• McIlwain viewed political theory as a history of ideas with an emphasis on how ideas evolve, but without implying they directly influence action.
• Political theory, according to McIlwain, was part of the sociology of knowledge, uncovering how social conditionsshape political thought.
• McIlwain respected moral issues, but he believed that moral judgments were subjective and relative, influenced by personal experiences.
• He acknowledged the problem of moral relativism, where values are seen as equal in worth because each is shaped by individual experiences, but did not resolve it.
• Sabine’s A History of Political Theory (1937) influenced political theory studies more than any other work.
• Sabine combined Dunning’s historical approach and McIlwain’s emphasis on moral judgements as key to understanding political theory.
• For Sabine, political theory could be viewed as social philosophy or ideology. As ideology, it was seen as a psychological phenomenon, unrelated to truth or falsity.
• Sabine distinguished between factual and moral propositions in political theory, with moral judgements at the core.
• Moral judgements for Sabine were reflections of human preferences and were not deducible from facts. They were emotional expressions, not rationally discovered.
• Political theory, for Sabine, was primarily a moral enterprise, even if it included factual propositions.
• Easton identified several reasons for the decline of political theory into historicism:
  • Political scientists conformed to the moral propositions of their time, focusing on revealing values rather than evaluating them.
  • Moral relativism emerged, where the historical context of moral preferences was described without comparing their worth.
  • History was used to endorse existing values rather than critically examine them.
• Moral relativism means that moral preferences are seen as equal in origin, but without a standard for comparison, their worth cannot be established.
• From the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, Western Europe had greater unity in moral perceptions, leading value theorists to focus on the history of moral ideas.

• In the 1930s, political theory was focused on the history of ideas, defending liberal democratic theory against totalitarianism, including Communism, Fascism, and Nazism.
• Merriam’s direction was continued by Lasswell, who sought to establish a scientific political theory aimed at controlling human behavior. Unlike classical political theory, it would describe rather than prescribe.
• Traditional political theory was preserved by Arendt, Theodore Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Leo Strauss, Oakeshott, Bertrand de Jouvenal, and Eric Vogelin.
• These theorists opposed the commitment to liberal democracy, faith in science, and historical progress in American political science.
• They also rejected political messianism and utopianism in politics.
• Arendt focused on the uniqueness and responsibility of the individual, criticizing behavioralism for reducing humans to stereotypes.
• In The Human Condition (1958), Arendt argued that the search for uniformities in human nature could undermine the significance of human actions and historical events.
• Arendt rejected the idea of anonymous forces in history and highlighted the incompatibility between ideology and political theory.
• Arendt emphasized the need to recover a sense of dignity and responsible freedom in human action.
• Through the example of Eichmann, she illustrated the difference between responsible action and automatic behavior.
• Oakeshott’s theoretical contribution was a philosophical analysis of experience, aimed at restoring the multidimensionality denied by positivism and ideology.
• Oakeshott viewed experience as a concrete whole consisting of different kinds of modes, such as history, science, practice, and poetry.
• Science deals with measurement, history with the past, practice with action, and poetry with imagination and contemplation.
• Oakeshott did not define philosophy clearly but suggested it involved discourse on experience and its modes.
• Philosophy was not practical and could not serve as a guide for practical life. He believed that great achievementswere made in the mental fog of experience, not through philosophical clarity.
• Oakeshott rejected the distinction between subject and object, fact and value, and was skeptical of rationalism and efforts at systematization.
• He argued that the understanding of politics as an empirical activity is inadequate because it fails to reveal a concrete manner of activity.
• He warned against the pursuit of impractical goals, as trying to do something inherently impossible would lead to corruption.
• Philosophy must maintain its independence from practical interests and should not be about preaching a doctrine.
• Philosophy was about clarifying one’s mind, not persuading others or seeking universal knowledge.
• For Oakeshott, political philosophy did not promise salvation or an ideology that offers a bogus eternity.
• Political ideology presents abstract principles and pre-determined ends, dictating which desires should be encouragedor suppressed.
• Oakeshott rejected political ideology and empiricism in understanding politics.
• Politics must not begin in ideological activity but should be related to an existing tradition of how to attend to societal arrangements.
• Oakeshott, like Arendt, described politics as an activity of attending to the general arrangements of a community, emphasizing the importance of mutual recognition of traditions.
• Politics, for Oakeshott, was about persuasion, not coercion, and he rejected the notion of final solutions or ultimate goals.
• Politics is a continuous process, requiring endless adjustments in response to human circumstances.
• Oakeshott, like Aristotle, Arendt, and Burke, emphasized the limits in politics.
• Echoing Albert Camus, Oakeshott believed present suffering should not be justified by abstract visions of the future.
• Political activity arises from existing traditions of behavior, not instant desires or general principles.
• Oakeshott described political activity as sailing a boundless, bottomless sea, requiring seamanship to navigate through political crises using traditional behaviors.
• Political philosophy, for Oakeshott, is not a progressive science; it is rooted in history and problem-solving.
• Political philosophy cannot increase success in political activity, but its analysis of general ideas helps to clarify concepts.
• Jouvenal opposed the trend of turning politics into administration, which stifles creativity in the public sphere.
• Politics, for both Arendt and Jouvenal, is a competitive process with a focus on moral choice and the consolidation of individuals.
• Strauss reaffirmed the importance of classical political theory to address modern crises, rejecting the idea that political theory is purely ideological.
• Strauss believed political philosophers sought truth, not merely to reflect a socio-economic interest, and past political philosophies should be studied for coherence and consistency.
• Strauss criticized behaviouralism for separating political science from political philosophy, and its failure to address normative issues.
• He argued that behaviouralism led to a nihilistic state, where social scientists disregarded value judgments and the distinction between right and wrong.
• Strauss criticized the notion that scientific knowledge was the highest form of knowledge, degrading pre-scientific knowledge.
• He equated behaviouralism’s value-free approach with dogmatic atheism and permissive egalitarianism, which justified liberal democracy.
• Strauss contended that behaviouralism undermined the capacity to make responsible value judgments regarding social phenomena.
• Vogelin argued that political theory was inseparable from political science, as it provided an experiential science of order in society.
• Political theory explains the meaning of existence through the content of experiences and must be based on empirical control.
• The Frankfurt School emerged in the 1920s in Germany in response to the defeat of the left-wing workers’ movement and the rise of Fascism and Nazism.
• The Frankfurt School rejected both capitalism and Soviet socialism, adopting a critical Marxism and rejecting crude determinism.
• Members of the Frankfurt School were committed to a critical theory of Marxism, rejecting positivism and value-free social science.
• Jurgen Habermas, a leading figure of the school, emphasized legitimization crisis and communicative action, critiquing postmodernism.
• Kolakowski listed six basic characteristics of the Frankfurt School:
  1. Marxism was treated as a tool for analyzing culture, not sacrosanct.
  2. The school was non-party, opposed to both Communism and social democracy.
  3. It was influenced by Lukacs and Korsch‘s interpretation of Marxism.
  4. It emphasized the autonomy of theory, rejecting the concept of praxis.
  5. It accepted Marxist views on exploitation and alienation but rejected the proletariat’s revolutionary role.
  6. Despite its revisionism, it remained a revolutionary intellectual movement, rejecting reformism.

• Sir Isaiah Berlin started as a logical positivist but became critical of it after World War I, questioning the anti-metaphysical claims of logical positivism.
• Berlin doubted that philosophical problems arose from linguistic confusion, criticizing the positivist view that truths about reality were equivalent to truths about human understanding.
• In his work Concepts and Categories (1978), Berlin contended that our understanding of reality involves the conception of reality existing independently of us, challenging the positivist perspective.
• Berlin rejected Oakeshott’s proposal that insoluble dilemmas could be resolved by returning to tradition, arguing instead that philosophy should highlight the incoherence of practices, even if it couldn’t resolve them.
• He proposed that the role of philosophy was to assist humans in understanding themselves, so they could act with clarity, not in the dark.
• Berlin’s conception of philosophy was tied to his ideas of freedom and pluralism, emphasizing the existence of competing, irreconcilable ultimate values.
• He argued that choices between conflicting liberties could not be forced on others, as they were often incommensurable and could not be derived from a single theory or system of principles.
• Berlin was a strong defender of individuality and human diversity, distrusting general schemes of human improvement that ignored local history, culture, and social conditions.
• He believed that efforts to harmonize divergences among humans would only lead to violence and suffering.
• Berlin acknowledged that the idea that political theory was “dead” in the twentieth century arose from the absence of a commanding work and the critical dimension in political theory.
• He argued that political philosophy could survive only in a society where ends collided, as a society dominated by a single goal would only have technical arguments about the means to achieve that goal.
• In such a society, questions about political ends or values would be replaced by empirical questions about the most effective means to a given end, thus reducing political philosophy to positive sciences.
• Berlin believed that traditional political philosophy could only exist in a pluralist society, where there were no rigid monisms or total acceptance of a single end.
• He criticized monists such as Platonists, Aristotelians, Stoics, Thomists, Positivists, and Marxists, who viewed political problems as technical and believed in objective solutions governed by discoverable laws.
• Pluralists did not believe in human perfection or the possibility of a final solution to deep human problems, aligning more with skepticism and relativism.
• Berlin pointed out that philosophical analysis revealed the sharp differences between concepts and value preferencesin political thought.
• Political philosophers searched for validity and truth to understand if a model accurately reflected reality, with disputes often arising over values and their interrelationships.
• These questions are not purely technical or empirical but involve philosophical inquiry, questioning assumptions about ends and values.

• Traditional political theory did not become marginalized under the dominance of behaviouralism; important works in political theory emerged in the 1950s and 1960s in top American universities.
• Sheldon Wolin, a major critic of behaviouralism, accused behavioural political scientists of abandoning their true vocation by focusing on method.
• Wolin defended the beauty and usefulness of traditional political theory, explaining its significance from Plato to contemporary thinkers.
• His work, Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought (1960), defines political theory as a process of seeing political phenomena in two senses: descriptive and as a form of aesthetic or religious vision.
• In the second sense, political theory involves the imaginative capacity of the theorist to form a coherent whole, exaggerating political phenomena to illuminate them.
• Imagination is necessary in political theory, as no theorist can observe all political aspects directly.
• This imaginative “seeing” is described as architectonic vision, where political phenomena are shaped by a vision of the Good outside the political order.
• The ordering element in political theory has shifted throughout history, from religious to historical to economic, but all share a futuristic quality, projecting the political order into an imagined future.
• Exaggerating the political order helps theorists explore the possibilities of political life, complementing action with vision.
• Wolin classifies political visionaries as “epic theorists”, whose theories differ by structure and intentions from other political methods, akin to Kuhnian paradigms.
• Epic theories reassemble existing political institutions and relationships to create new ways of seeing the world.
• Wolin’s concept of public concern means that epic theories focus on matters common to the whole community, with philosophy enabling individuals to become wiser in their conduct of life.
• Epic theories often emerge during times of crisis, but even in peaceful times, political chaos can inspire a search for order and stability.
• Wolin emphasizes that epic tradition is motivated by the desire for immortality and achieving a “memorable deedthrough thought.”
• Political theorists aim to understand and alter whole political systems, but they are constrained by the context of their time, reducing the “whole” to manageable aspects, leading to a paradox in theorizing.
• Every political philosophy represents a limited perspective from which political phenomena are understood, with theorists highlighting certain aspects over others.
• Wolin argued that political institutions provide a previous coherence among political phenomena, so political theorists do not confront a chaotic whirl but a set of interrelated phenomena.
• The legacy of past theorists preserves the insights and experience of previous generations, helping shape contemporary political discourse.
• Previous political theorists set the rules for discourse, providing familiar vocabulary and concepts that facilitate new interpretations.
• The past is never fully superseded in political theory; it coexists with new insights, forming a continuous evolution in political thought.
• The Western political tradition shows two tendencies: a regress to the past and a tendency toward cumulation—acquiring new insights while building on the old.
• Political theory provides a continuously evolving grammar and vocabulary, enabling communication and orientation in understanding.
• Political theorists and the Western tradition must be studied in the light of historical development, as the history of political philosophy is an ongoing intellectual progression.
• Wolin emphasized that an inquiry into the history of political thought is not just antiquarianism but a form of political education.
• Using the example of Arendt’s writings, Wolin demonstrated how past theories can illuminate contemporary predicaments and be used for a better understanding of politics.
• Theories from the past should not be judged solely by contemporary standards, but should be used to understand the political realities of their time.
• Wolin critiqued contemporary political theory for abandoning its critical dimension, focusing too much on method and lacking radical critique.
• Modern political theory has adopted the ethic of science, emphasizing objectivity, detachment, and fidelity to fact, and has abandoned its critical edge.
• Wolin differentiated between a scientist and a theorist, stating that while both aim to clarify worldviews, only the theorist attempts to change the world itself.

• Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996) observed that in every age, disciplines solve some problems but generate new ones in the process, a concept applicable not only to the natural sciences but also the social sciences.
• Kuhn’s critique of the behavioural quest for a standardized scientific theory and explanation was based on his notion of paradigm, which is “research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievements” acknowledged by a scientific community (Kuhn 1970: 10).
• A paradigm is a perspective—set of beliefs, ideals, concepts, theories, and methodologies—that guides a scientific community in selecting problems, evaluating data, and formulating theory.
• Kuhn argued that paradigms are historically derived from prior experiences, not abstract, and set the limits of what is possible in scientific inquiry.
• A successful paradigm helps a scientific community select problems and find solutions, but it also limits the ability to see beyond its own assumptions.
• Kuhn’s model of scientific development consists of four phases:
  1. Preparadigmatic phase: No dominant theoretical approach, with competing approaches in a scientific community.
  2. Paradigmatic phase: A dominant paradigm is followed by the scientific community.
  3. Crisis phase: The dominant paradigm faces challenges, leading to the possibility of a new or modified paradigm.
  4. Scientific revolution phase: The scientific community shifts to a new paradigm.
• According to Wolin (1968), there has been no scientific revolution in political science and no dominant theory akin to Newton’s theory in physics.
• In political science, there exists no significant theory but rather a framework of ideological paradigm that reflects the same political community.
• Kuhn’s work, alongside new challenges in the philosophy of social science (e.g., by Peter Winch and Alfred Schutz), began influencing political theory.
• In the 1970s, much of the discussion focused on metatheoretical debates about the nature of social scientific theoryand explanation, questioning the methodological unity of science and the adequacy of the prevailing view of natural science.
• These debates weakened the claims of positivism in political science.
• Political scientists shifted focus towards policy and substantive issues rather than adhering to a purely scientific image of political theory.
• Policy sciences and theories like rational choice and the Prisoner’s Dilemma gained significant attention during this time.

• In 1969, Easton announced a new revolution in political science: post-behaviouralism, which shifted focus from the scientific method and empirical theory to the public responsibilities of the discipline.
• Tenets of post-behaviouralism:
  1. Substance preceded technique: pressing societal problems became tools of investigation.
  2. Behaviouralism was seen as ideologically conservative and limited to abstraction, disconnected from the reality of times in crisis.
  3. Science could be evaluatively neutral; facts and values were inseparable, and value premises had to be connected to knowledge.
  4. Intellectuals were expected to shoulder societal responsibilities, defend human values, and not just become technicians isolated from social problems.
  5. Knowledge had to be put to work, and intellectuals had to engage in reshaping society.
  6. Intellectuals must actively participate in the politicization of professions and academic institutions (Easton 1969).
• Behaviouralists accepted that theoretical analysis was crucial for empirical research, with theory playing a pivotal role in post-behavioural analysis.
• Post-behaviouralism recognized that different theories might yield different observations, making empirical testing of rival theories more complex.
• A theory needed to be evaluated and empirically tested to be considered explanatory in post-behaviouralism.
• Easton (1997) noted that dissatisfaction with behaviouralism led to revisions in method and content, favoring the revival of interpretive understanding and historical analysis, and a complete rejection of systematic methodology.
• At the same time, there was an emphasis on formal modelling and rational actor deductivism.
• New concerns emerged, including feminism, environmentalism, ethnicity, racial identity, equality, and nuclear war.
• There was a loss of central focus regarding subject matter and a lack of consensus on methodologies.
• Neobehaviouralism was introduced by Easton to bring about a new unity in the theoretical focus of the discipline.

• Political theory classics are known for comprehensiveness, logical consistency, and clarity, addressing both local issues and universal principles.
• These classics offer rival conceptual frameworks, helping individuals choose and state their preference.
• Major subjects addressed by these classics include human nature, rational motivation, reasons for society, political authority, and political change.
• Classics in political theory usually arise during periods of acute crisis or great transition, often acting as a catalystrather than being directly produced by the crisis.
• A crisis must be understood in the context of political values and institutional arrangements, and hopelessnessgenerally deters political theorizing.
• Political theory must be understood in relation to the specific situation of the time to comprehend its contents.
• Theories of politics are part of the political process, reflecting political action, means of achieving goals, and obligations imposed by political purposes.
• Political theory does not reach an end, just as politics itself continues, and its history has no concluding chapter (Sabine, 1973).
• Even though political theory reflects specific incidents, it remains relevant beyond those events, addressing perennial issues of politics.
• A political theorist analyzes the present and foresees the future, using insights from the past, making their work a masterpiece.
• Great political theories effectively address immediate situations while providing timeless lessons.
• Classics in political theory are like Shakespearean plays, offering timelessness valid for all times and places.
• A political theory text must be logically constructed, descriptive, and convincing to persuade readers, without being partisan or sloganeering.
• A political theory must contain:
  1. Factual statements
  2. What is likely to happen
  3. What ought to happen (desirable outcomes)
• Great political theorists, like Plato, Machiavelli, Hugo Grotius, Hobbes, and Locke, were often political exiles or failed politicians.
• Political theory often emerges from revolutions or signs of impending ones, providing insights into reality and imagining new political organizations.
• Classics in political theory contain a wealth of ideas, offering insight into the dilemmas of their age and remaining relevant for future generations.
• A theorist articulates the spirit and temper of their age, offering new ideas framed in a context of refinement and advancement.
• Political theory is a communication with the past, establishing empathy with great minds and engaging in continuous discourse with history.
• Every age has its own problems and dilemmas, and understanding trends of a period is crucial, but localism does not hinder the richness of a classic (e.g., Aristotle’s Politics).
• Sabine observes that political theory flourished in two key periods: fifth century BC (Plato, Aristotle) and seventeenth century (English Civil War, Hobbes, Locke).
• Both periods witnessed momentous changes in European social and intellectual history, with crises catalyzing political theory.
• Political theory innovation occurs when older institutions become inoperative, and new ones emerge, especially in times of crisis.
• Germino (1967) identifies characteristics of an authentic political theory common to all classics: openness, theoretical intention, focus on universal problems, realism, intellectual honesty, and integrity.
• A theorist should transcend narrow concerns and focus on perennial issues of larger importance.
• Hacker (1954) argues that great books in political theory offer insights into both past and contemporary times, and they should be preserved for their value.
• A theory serves two functions: to explain behavior (causal theory) and to prescribe ethical behavior (ethical theory).
• Hacker categorizes great books into ten categories to study:
  1. Biographical nature (how the book came to be written).
  2. Hero Worshippers (writings of a single author).
  3. Intellectual Plagiarism (the theorist’s indebtedness).
  4. Who said it first (the origins of ideas).
  5. Mind Readers (what the theorist truly intended).
  6. Camera Eye (thoughts during specific historical periods).
  7. Influencing the Intelligentsia (impact of theorists like Hegel).
  8. Influencing the Masses (books linked to political events).
  9. Logic-Book (importance of logical structure).
  10. Timelessness (continuing relevance of classics).
• Timeless classics offer insights and solutions still valid today, such as Aristotle’s comparative method, Machiavelli’s advice to rulers, and Hobbes’ emphasis on commodious living.

• There is disagreement on whether historical contexts should be emphasized in the study of political theory or if these ideas should be analyzed divorced from their time and context.
• The textualist approach, dominant since 1945, argues that classics in political thought can be studied without reference to their historical context. It focuses on clarifying concepts used in political discourse and critically evaluating political beliefs and principles.
• Textualists believe historical context may provide some insights but is not central to interpreting the texts (Hacker 1961, Plamentaz 1963, Raphael 1990, Heywood 1999).
• Contextualists (Skinner 1966, Pocock 1971, Dunn 1979, Collini 1983) argue that a mere textual approach overlooks the historical background and author’s intentions. The purpose, motivation, and context of the author are crucial to understanding the text.
• Macpherson (1973) emphasizes the importance of situating authors in the historical society in which the text was written. Political theory itself has a history and is shaped by specific events and circumstances.
• Skinner asserts that it is unrealistic to view classical texts as answers to timeless political questions, as the political and moral assumptions are historically specific.
• Contextualists stress the interrelationship between political theory and practice, suggesting that texts respond to specific events, debates, and crises.
• Writers of the past communicated with specific audiences, and understanding their intentions, language, and the social and political context is essential for accurate interpretation.
• Rousseau’s distinction between government, democracy, state, and sovereignty is an example where historical context clarifies the meaning of terms used in political theory.
• A historical approach reveals the transformation of political ideas and concepts over time and helps to understand how political theory adapts to social stress and strain (Dunning, Sabine).
• Some scholars (Strauss 1952, Wolin 1960) approach texts by placing them in the broader Western political tradition, seeing it not as a chronological sequence but as a narrative discourse where themes are articulated and developed.
• Strauss views political philosophy as distinct from history, stating that history is preliminary and does not form an integral part of political philosophy. He argues that there are universal political elements across time that make classics evergreen.
• Wolin contends that traditional political theory aimed to define the dignity and distinctiveness of the political, which declined after the seventeenth century. He focuses on the philosophical teachings of thinkers, rather than their historical contexts.
• Some scholars (Hacker 1961, Plamentaz 1963, Bluhm 1965) view classics as addressing universal and perennialpolitical issues, arguing that the texts remain relevant for contemporary times.
• Historical study alone is not enough; a balance must be struck to avoid reducing the texts to mere historical documents that lose relevance for contemporary discussions (Iain Hampsher Monk 1992).
• The internal consistency of a text is important to assess its validity and how it compares to other texts of the same period. This allows for an evaluation of why some works are elevated to classic status.
• Political thinkers often draw from the broad Western tradition, even if their circumstances and concerns differ, creating a dialogue that spans time (e.g., Rawls updating Kant, Paine defending the French Revolution, Wollstonecraftcritiquing Burke and Rousseau).
• A philosophical approach to interpreting classics helps in evaluating moral principles and political choices, as concepts are embodied in and constitute forms of social life (MacIntyre 1971).
• The history of political theory is marked by both continuity and change in concepts, with originality lying in their redefinition and reinterpretation over time.
• Feminism and other movements have led to new interpretations of classic texts, focusing on issues like the position of women, sexual relations, and civic virtues.
• Classics are integral to liberal arts education because they engage readers with the political problems of their time, helping them understand the possibilities and limits of political action.
• Strauss captures the importance of the classical tradition, arguing that while classical political philosophy may not directly solve modern problems, it provides a crucial starting point for analyzing contemporary society.

• Classics, despite their timelessness, exhibit limitations and shortcomings.
• Hegel stated that every thinker is a child of their time, and this influences their perceptions and theories.
• Plato and Aristotle wrote for an audience with a narrow social base, focusing on the city-state or polis with limited citizenship, excluding the majority.
• Their works were largely forgotten during the post-Aristotelian era of Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Cynicism.
• This narrow view led to what Sabine calls a politics of withdrawal.
• Machiavelli’s prescriptions could not foresee the Reformation within the Christian Church.
• Hobbes viewed his portrayal of human nature as universal, though it was limited.
• Hegel’s glorification of the state exalted it at the cost of civil society.
• Marx misrepresented capitalism in his theories.
• J.S. Mill believed that representative democracy would not succeed in backward or heterogeneous societies.
• Similar biases can be found in commentaries on the classics, evident in the change of interpretation of many great thinkers over time.

• Most mainstream philosophers have ignored or dismissed the position and status of women.
• They justified and defended women’s subordination based on alleged natural and biological differences between the sexes.
• Reinforced the stereotype of women as emotional, irrational, and in need of male guidance and domination.
• Philosophers like Aristotle, Rousseau, and Hegel contended that a woman’s rightful place is in the home, burdened with household chores, thus not having time for politics, philosophy, art, or science.
• They argued that men needed leisure for public causes, while assuming women didn’t share similar needs.
• Rousseau and Hegel saw women as subversive to the unity and order of the polity, denying them citizenship rights.
• Even Kant, who spoke of moral equality, excluded women.
• Plato in The Republic was an early proponent of political and sexual equality but later defended the patriarchal family system in The Laws.
• Early liberals brought ideas of freedom, equality, and individuality which transformed the lives of both men and women.
• Early liberals accepted sexual equality, attacked patriarchy, and considered women as free, equal, and rational beings.
• The eighteenth century intellectual and social ferment gave rise to feminism, a middle-class movement demanding a re-examination of citizenship and natural rights.
• French Revolution promised equality but excluded women, reinforcing the notion of the home as women’s rightful place.
• The failure of early liberalism to address women’s issues contributed to the rise of feminism.
• Olympe de Gouges (Proclamation of the Rights of Women) and Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman) were early feminist voices.
• Early feminists were inspired by Locke’s writings.
• J.S. Mill was the only mainstream male philosopher to support women’s rights, advocating for freedom, equality, and justice in the private sphere (family and home).
• J.S. Mill also campaigned for women’s suffrage in 1865.
• Socialists like Claude-Henri Comte de Rouvroy Saint Simon, Francois-Marie Charles Fourier, Friedrich Engels, and August Bebel linked women’s emancipation to the overall liberation of society.
• The first wave feminists advocated for equal rights and opportunities, while the second wave (late 20th century) called for restructuring society.
• Feminists recognized that earlier demands for redistribution of resources didn’t bring about substantive equality.
• They exposed the gender bias and male-centeredness of the mainstream Western political tradition.
• Despite confessions and attempts to offer universal prescriptions, most classics exhibit gender bias and prejudice.
• The early feminist focus was to investigate the exclusion of women from the political process.
• Later, feminists resurrected texts to formulate a feminist political theory.

• Some great masters were eurocentric, dismissing non-Western civilizations as unchanging and unhistorical.
• India, China, and Greece were the centres where the first philosophical worldviews emerged in the sixth century BC.
• Egypt developed the art of writing around 4000 BC, followed by Mesopotamia, with ideograms used in China.
• The earliest civilizations arose in fertile regions like the Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, with agriculture being the mainstay.
• Egypt had a well-developed tax administration system with strict penalties for corruption and just legal codes.
• The code of Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC) was a social product, setting penalties for theft, false witness, and marital injustice, embodying civil justice.
• For the Hebrews, the monarch was an agent of God and a symbol of the people, needing their support alongside divine sanction.
• Hebrew thinkers rejected combining priestly and kingly functions to allow for checks and balances on rulers.
• Hebrew thought was centered on religion, limiting the development of specific sciences.
• Chinese political thought was rich, with early writings from the Chou dynasty, focusing on the Mandate of Heaven, which held that rulers must be virtuous to rule.
• Early Chinese philosophy emphasized moral behavior, with rulers expected to act based on virtue, not divine right.
• Confucius (551–479 BC) was the first political thinker, advocating for a rule by moral example rather than military power or hereditary succession.
• Confucius saw society as an extension of the ruler’s household and advocated for self-control and duty towards others.
• Mencius (372–289 BC) advanced the doctrine that the human heart reflects the cosmic order and that rulers could be executed for failing in virtue.
• Mencius believed rulers were accountable for governance quality and had a duty to ensure their people’s safety and prosperity.
• Legalism, championed by Han Fei Tzu, emphasized rule by law rather than the will of a prince, with a focus on military efficiency and agricultural growth.
• Taoist political theory promoted simplicity and non-interference in government, as seen in the works of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, advocating for a return to rural simplicity.
• Taoism anticipated Rousseau, claiming that civilization corrupts humanity, and proposed non-interference as a way to secure prosperity.
• Mo Tzu (479–390 BC) criticized elaborate ceremonies, urging that the state should focus on promoting the common people’s needs.
• Confucianism remained dominant in China, influencing later political thinkers like Mao Zedong and shaping East and South-East Asian success.
• Confucianism is seen as communitarian, contrasting with the individualism of Western thought, challenging Western dominance as noted by Huntington.
• Cultural plurality should be respected, but not taken to the point of division or particularism.
• Western assessments of Indian political thought were often prejudiced, such as Dunning’s view that India lacked political thought due to religion and theology.
• Indian political speculation dates back to the Vedic period (1500–1000 BC), with key texts like the Upanishads, Arthasastra, and Manusmriti offering rich political ideas.
• Ancient Indian political theory was influenced by Brahmin domination and a strict caste system, which hindered broader political development.
• Kautilya’s political theory (321–296 BC) still accepted the social order and divine sanction for political authority.
• Like the Chinese, ancient Indians believed the ruler’s duty was to protect the people and their social needs.
• Islamic thought began in the eighth century, where civil law was part of religious law, and non-Muslims were excluded from full societal membership.
• Akbar’s reign in the fifteenth century sought to bring equality among religious groups, but his successors reverted to orthodoxy.
• The eighteenth century saw the impact of European civilization in India, creating awareness among educated Indians.
• Raja Rammohun Roy (1774–1833) marks the beginning of modern Indian political thought.
• Non-Western political theorists like Gandhi, Mao, and Roy played an activist role in political theory, blending theory with activism.

• Since the seventies, there has been a resurgence in political theory due to the efforts of thinkers like Habermas, Nozick, and Rawls.
• Prominent themes in the revival of political theory include social justice, welfare rights theory, utilitarianism, democratic theory, pluralism, feminism, postmodernism, new social movements, and the liberalism-communitarian debate.
• Communitarianism has gained traction due to the decline of Marxism.
• The resurgence is largely confined to academia, with political theory being described as alienated politics.
• Early pronouncements about the decline of political theory were premature and academically shortsighted.
• Liberal political theory has gained prominence, especially with Rawls’ work, which focuses on impartiality and fairness in distribution of liberties, opportunities, income, wealth, and self-respect.
• Liberal democracy has proven to be more adaptable than Fascism and Communism, allowing for the free exchange of ideas.
• Much of new liberal political theory refines earlier theoretical postures, especially after the collapse of Fascism and Communism.
• Postmodernism and deconstructionism challenge dominant discourses and question the universalism of Western theory and the Platonic-Kantian ideal of good.
• Postmodernism critiques the idea of a perfect set of laws, but provides no viable alternative, having more influence in literature than in social sciences and political theory.
• Multiculturalism has emerged as a contemporary concern, with thinkers like Charles Taylor advocating for the cultural recognition of indigenous cultures, particularly in Quebec.
• Critics like Richard Rorty warn about the dangers of cultural essentialism, which can be both coercive and oppressive.
• Political theory has always responded to its time and place, and this is true in the current age.
• The current age is marked by technology, globalization, and increasing interconnectedness between nation states.
• William Rappard identified factors contributing to prosperity, such as mass production, productivity, competition, and the application of science to everyday needs.
• The situation mirrors the analysis of Polybius regarding the dominance of Rome over Greece.
• Keynes emphasized the importance of ideas in shaping the future, with political theory needing to address the complexities of our time.
• Sartori pointed out that political science often lacks self-criticism and that intellectual complacency should be avoided.
• Political theory should maintain the rigor of the discipline, drawing from the classics and acknowledging error for intellectual growth.