Second lecture political practice and ethico-political theory

Synthese ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-155
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Practice

scholarly journals The Theory of Democratic Antinomies and the Identification of Value Trade-Offs in Political Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 264-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Hidalgo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Relevant Issue ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The One ◽  
Existence Of Value

In theory, the idea of democracy consists of several insoluble contradictions, aporias, and conflicts. In practice, democracy demands an effective balancing of its essentially opposing principles and values in order to preserve an authentic character as well as to avoid its inherent self-destructive tendencies. In this regard, the concept of value trade-offs promises a heuristic tool to grasp both the analytical and normative impact of a political theory which takes the complexity of democracy seriously. Proceeding from this, the contribution will demonstrate to what extent the conceptualisation of democratic antinomies and the notion of value trade-offs can be seen as a kind of communicating vessel. The article’s general argument is that democracy is defined by several antinomies that are irreducible in theory and therefore require trade-offs in political practice. Moreover, it will discuss three relevant issue areas to suggest the approach’s empirical relevance and to prove the existence of value trade-offs as an operating benchmark for the legitimacy and consolidation of democratic processes on the one hand but also for their shortcomings and risks on the other. Correspondingly, the article concerns the antinomic relationships between freedom and security, economic growth and sustainability, and finally, democracy and populism to underpin the general perception that the success of democratic institutions first and foremost depends on the balance of the necessarily conflicting principles of democracy.

Introduction

John Rawls ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 53-60
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Real World ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
The World ◽  
Ideal Standards ◽  
Principles Of Justice ◽  
The Ideal

What is the relation between political theory and political practice? In what ways can political philosophy help people to address real injustices in the world? John Rawls argues that an important role of political philosophy is to identify the ideal standards of justice at which we should aim in political practice. Other philosophers challenge this approach, arguing that Rawls’s idealizations are not useful as a guide for action or, worse, that they are an impediment to addressing actual injustices in the world. They argue, instead, that political philosophy ought to be focused on theorizing about the elimination of existing injustice. Still others argue that principles of justice should be identified without any constraint concerning the possibility of implementation or regulation in the real world at all....

Pragmatic Belief and Political Agency

2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 651-666
Author(s):  
Jakob Huber
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Scant Attention

According to a recent methodological critique, much of contemporary political theory has lost touch with the realities of political life. The aim of this article is to problematise the underlying antagonism between distant ideals and concrete contexts of agency. Drawing on Kant’s notion of pragmatic Belief – the idea that in certain situations we can put full confidence in something we lack sufficient evidence for – I point to the distinctly practical function of political ideals that these disputes pay scant attention to. Particularly in political contexts, action is itself often framed by ‘ideal constructions’ that not only motivate and enable us to pursue uncertain goals but also ultimately feed back onto what is practically possible. The upshot is that especially if we are interested in a kind of theorising that is less detached from political practice, we should be wary of disregarding distant ideals as unduly utopian from the outset.

Statelessness, sentimentality and human rights

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1011-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Staples
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Political Practice

This article considers the ongoing difficulties for mainstream political theory of actualizing human rights, with particular reference to Rorty’s attempt to transcend their liberal foundations. It argues that there is a problematic disjuncture between his articulation of exclusion and his hope for inclusion via the expansion of the liberal human rights culture. More specifically, it shows that Rorty’s description of victimhood is based on premises unavailable to him, with the consequence that stateless persons are rendered inhuman, and, further, that his accounts of sentimentality and solidarity have limited potential for the inclusion of such victims within the liberal ‘community of justification’. In the final analysis, the article argues that there is a substantial mismatch between Rorty’s dependence on both liberal norms and international political practice, and his hopes for the human rights culture to include those stripped of human dignity.

scholarly journals The Concept Of Policy Networks: The Transition To A Study Of Qualitative Characteristics And Its Value For Political Theory And Practice In Russia

2015 ◽  
pp. 90-103
Author(s):  
V A Osipov
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Networks Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Characteristics

This article analyses the most relevant aspects of the policy networks concept. On the example of a number of issues, the change in focus of scientific interest in this approach found out. In that case, we examine the heuristic potential and applicability of this theory in the Russian political science and political practice. In addition, the author names the most important Russian specialists in policy networks theory and reviews some of their works that include method of policy networks analysis.

Civilization and Culture in Anticolonial and Comparative Political Theory

2019 ◽  
pp. 653-676
Author(s):  
Jimmy Casas Klausen
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Frantz Fanon ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Comparative Political Theory ◽  
Subject Positions ◽  
The Subject

This chapter interrogates the political practices and forces that constitute anticolonial thought and comparative political theory. Both anticolonial and comparative political theorists are curators or collectors of culture and civilization. However, their political projects often point in distinct, if not opposed, directions. This chapter aims to map the different conditions under which each group collects, the different strategies by which they curate, the subject positions these conditions and strategies produce, and, most important, the effects of their appropriations. It does so by way of four contrapuntal pairings: Aurobindo Ghose with Fred Dallmayr, Mohandas Gandhi with Farah Godrej, Frantz Fanon with Leigh Jenco, and Amilcar Cabral with Roxanne Euben. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the need to take seriously a politics of incommensurability as a political practice, one attuned to the constraints that enable subjectivity oriented toward minimizing (usually historically sedimented) forms of domination.

Returning of Primakov (1985–1989)

2014 ◽  
pp. 98-110
Author(s):  
P. Cherkasov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Defense Policy ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Practical Politics

The article is devoted to the research activities of IMEMO in 1985–1989, when the Institute was headed by Academician Yevgeny Primakov. Perestroika in IMEMO was characterized by a noticeable revival of scientific research, which was gradually released from censorship and ideological diktat. The revision of the old dogmas affected both the theory and practical politics. In this way, the researchers met with great difficulties. Thus, the attempt to create in IMEMO a fundamental work on the theory of international relations failed. During these years political theory couldn’t keep pace with political practice. More successful was the search for new approaches to foreign and defense policy of the USSR. A number of recommendations of IMEMO were approved and used in a strategic dialogue with the United States.

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