Reflections on the State of Political Science

1955 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans J. Morgenthau
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Sphere

In plato's Theaetetus Socrates develops the character of the philosopher, the man of knowledge, in contrast to the atheoretical, practical man.* He endeavors to demonstrate the distinctive qualities of the philosopher by emphasizing his peculiar attitude towards the political sphere.First, the philosopher has no political ambitions, and he does not care about what is going on in the political sphere.

scholarly journals Premises for the Politological Exploration of Sociobiology

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
Jarosław Nocoń
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Science Research ◽  
The Political ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
Political Sphere ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Mutual Relations ◽  
Effective Use

The article discusses the factors that encourage the use of the achievements of the broadly understood current of sociobiology in political science research. The guiding thesis here is the assumption that the effective use of the achievements of sociobiology for political science research may be an important factor inspiring new interpretations, explanations and forms of viewing the political sphere of social life. At the same time, it stimulates a broad view of the complexity of mutual relations between the sphere of culture and politics and biological factors. The condition for such a perspective is a departure from the reduced, genetically determinist perception of sociobiology and the understanding of culture and politics both in terms of products and determinants of the natural environment. The structure of the argument is subordinated to attempts to answer the following questions: Why is it worth being interested in using neo-evolutionist concepts to explain and describe the political sphere of social life? What is sociobiology and what theoretical assumptions can be a useful instrument of explanation in political science research?

scholarly journals Secret organisations and their overt politics

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Markiewicz
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Underground Structures ◽  
Specific Kind ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Political Sphere

In line with the concept of politics developed by ancient Greeks, the political sphere is identified with transparency and overtness. However, it has always been hiding secret actions, conspiracies and collusions. The emergence of the modern model of the state, along with the rationalisation of its structures, enabled the secret equivalents of authority to transform into organisations, i.e. institutions alternative to official organisations, established by law and having specific powers. Rather than talking about actual organisations, the author discusses the process whereby these secret, underground structures turn into organisations that influence the sphere of overt politics. She tries to show that this is a specific kind of game between what is explicit and public and what is concealed and secret. This game is constantly present in political activities, although we seldom realise it.

The State and Violence

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 293-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Human History ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Social Orders

Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History (Cambridge 2009) offers a theory of the evolution of the modern state and an even more ambitious framework “for interpreting recorded human history.” The book raises fundamental questions about the political structuring of violence, the functions of the rule of law, and the establishment and maintenance of political order. In doing so, it speaks to a range of political scientists from a variety of methodological and subfield perspectives. We have thus invited four prominent political science scholars of violence and politics to comment on the book: Jack Snyder, Caroline Hartzell, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Larry Diamond.

Communism and Clientelism: Rural Politics in China

1985 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean C. Oi
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Career Mobility ◽  
The State ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
Rural Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Elite Level

Despite its widespread currency in political science, the concept of clientelism has rarely found its way into the literature on communist systems. Students of communist politics regularly note the importance of personal ties, and many recognize the significance of informal bonds in economic and political spheres atalllevels of society. Some even apply the term “clientelism” to the political behavior they describe. Yet these studies are generally limited to elite-level politics, to factionalism, career mobility, recruitment patterns, and attainment of office at the top- to middle-level echelons of the bureaucracy.2Few have considered clientelism as a type of elite-mass linkage through which the state and the party exercise control at the local level, and through which individuals participate in the political system.

A Discussion of Katherine J. Cramer's The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-522
Author(s):  
Christina Wolbrecht
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interpretive Theory

The policies of Republican Governor Scott Walker have come to symbolize a resurgent assault on the public sector, and on public employee unions in particular, by the Republican Party. The fact that this is happening in Wisconsin, the state that in the last century was considered the “laboratory of Progressivism,” makes the politics surrounding these policies all the more compelling. In The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, Katherine J. Cramer analyzes the “politics of resentment” surrounding these developments. Employing an ethnographic “method of listening,” Cramer furnishes thick description of the political language employed by rural Wisconsinites, and proceeds to develop an interpretive theory of “political resentment” that illuminates the reasons why lower-class citizens so strongly oppose public policies seeking to offset social and economic inequality. The book is important methodologically and politically. We have thus invited a range of social and political scientists to comment on the book as a work of political science and as a diagnosis of the current political moment.

A Discussion of Katherine J. Cramer's The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 523-524
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Dudas
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interpretive Theory

The policies of Republican Governor Scott Walker have come to symbolize a resurgent assault on the public sector, and on public employee unions in particular, by the Republican Party. The fact that this is happening in Wisconsin, the state that in the last century was considered the “laboratory of Progressivism,” makes the politics surrounding these policies all the more compelling. In The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, Katherine J. Cramer analyzes the “politics of resentment” surrounding these developments. Employing an ethnographic “method of listening,” Cramer furnishes thick description of the political language employed by rural Wisconsinites, and proceeds to develop an interpretive theory of “political resentment” that illuminates the reasons why lower-class citizens so strongly oppose public policies seeking to offset social and economic inequality. The book is important methodologically and politically. We have thus invited a range of social and political scientists to comment on the book as a work of political science and as a diagnosis of the current political moment.

A Reply to A.G. Hopkins

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
CAROLYN M. WARNER
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Scientist

The political scientist who relies upon historiographic sources to propose and test hypotheses runs the risk of riling up not only her peers in the discipline, but also the historians upon whose work she must rely to provide the materials for these hypotheses. It was intellectually satisfying and stimulating to learn that my work has been read not only by scholars in ‘my’ discipline, but also by those in the discipline which made my own analysis possible, and I am grateful for Professor Hopkins' extensive comments. As Hopkins notes, there are differences in the orientation of the two disciplines: political science has as one of its central concerns ‘the state’, while historians are more interested ‘in charting changing relativities in international relations’. As a political scientist, I am indeed interested in identifying the factors which lead to such changes.

The State and Violence

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Human History ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Social Orders

Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History (Cambridge 2009) offers a theory of the evolution of the modern state and an even more ambitious framework “for interpreting recorded human history.” The book raises fundamental questions about the political structuring of violence, the functions of the rule of law, and the establishment and maintenance of political order. In doing so, it speaks to a range of political scientists from a variety of methodological and subfield perspectives. We have thus invited four prominent political science scholars of violence and politics to comment on the book: Jack Snyder, Caroline Hartzell, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and Larry Diamond.

The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science.

1953 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Garceau ◽  
David Easton
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political System ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political
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