Karl Marx and Party Theory

1985 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus von Beyme
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Comprehensive Studies

PARTIES ARE THE LINK BETWEEN EXISTING POLITICAL STRUCtures and the rocesses which lead to new political institutions. No wonder, therefore, that parties play an important role at the centre of many revolutionary theories. Nevertheless the theory of parties is not as decisive to Marx's social and political theory as one might imagine. Some introductions to Marx's thought do not even mention the catchwords ‘party’ or ‘parties’ though they concentrate on the sphere of his political ideas. In most books hints at a theory of parties are hidden away in remarks of marginal importance under the topics ‘praxis’ or ‘revolution’. Only those comprehensive studies which emphasize the continuity between Marxism and Leninism, because they defend the Marxist position, deal explicitly with the theory of parties. The same is true for those authors who overemphasize the continuity of Marxist thought, to a degree which almost identifies the theoretical positions of Marx, Engels and Lenin, for the purposes of anti-Marxist polemi.

scholarly journals Institutions, Ideologies, and Comparative Political Theory

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-438
Author(s):  
Joshua Simon
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Comparative Political Theory ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Methodological Reflection ◽  
Insight Into

The growing prominence of comparative political theory has inspired extensive and fruitful methodological reflection, raising important questions about the procedures that political theorists should apply when they select texts for study, interpret their passages, and assess their arguments. But, notably, comparative political theorists have mainly rejected the comparative methods used in the subfield of comparative politics, because they argue that applying the comparative method would compromise both the interpretive and the critical projects that comparative political theory should pursue. In this article, I describe a comparative approach for the study of political ideas that offers unique insight into how the intellectual and institutional contexts that political thinkers occupy influence their ideas. By systematically describing how political thinking varies across time and over space in relation to the contexts within which political thinkers live and work, the comparative method can serve as the foundation for both deconstructive critiques, which reveal the partial interests that political ideas presented as universally advantageous actually serve, and reconstructive critiques, which identify particular thinkers or traditions of political thought that, because of the contexts in which they developed, offer compelling critical perspectives on existing political institutions.

Methodology in Karl Marx

1970 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph O'Malley
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Normative Concept ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Political Criticism ◽  
Political Journalism ◽  
Systematic Effort ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Way

The development of Marx's mature social and political theory may be traced back in his writings to his political journalism of 1842–43, where a germinal doctrine on man's social nature supports a normative concept of the nature and function of political institutions. But his developing theory first achieved a measure of systematic rigor in his Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. This work, Marx's earliest major theoretical writing, has lately received increased attention from scholars. My purpose here is to complement existing studies by highlighting certain methodological features of the work, specifically the way in which Marx combined elements of philosophical and political criticism in a systematic effort to develop his own political theory in opposition to the method and institutional conclusions of Hegel.

Vanguard of the Revolution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. James McAdams
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Revolution

This book is a sweeping history of one of the most significant political institutions of the modern world. The communist party was a revolutionary idea long before its supporters came to power. The book argues that the rise and fall of communism can be understood only by taking into account the origins and evolution of this compelling idea. It shows how the leaders of parties in countries as diverse as the Soviet Union, China, Germany, Yugoslavia, Cuba, and North Korea adapted the original ideas of revolutionaries like Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin to profoundly different social and cultural settings. The book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand world communism and the captivating idea that gave it life.

The Origins of Temporal Legitimacy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Santos Campos
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Fundamental Distinction ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Normative Political Theory

Historical analyses of the relations between political theory and time often hinge on two claims. The first is that political theorists have until recently put less emphasis on the future than the past when debating political legitimacy and obligation. The second is that the history of political theory draws a fundamental distinction between theories that invoke time to legitimate political structures and theories that reject temporal considerations in favor of timeless principles. This chapter disputes these two claims by maintaining that competing languages of legitimacy harbor different and interrelated conceptions of temporality. A survey of time conceptions in the history of political philosophy shows that normative political theory is inherently multitemporal, involving double regard for the past and the future. And, since even tenseless principles of legitimacy often depend on temporally related forms of formulation and application, considerations about time seem inescapable in normative political theory.

The Exceptionality of Jordan and its Democracy in King Hussein’s Last Speech From the Throne

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Ahmad El-Sharif
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sociocultural Context ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Critical Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Political Structures

The Late King Hussein’s last Speech from the Throne in 1997 was given amidst public outcry over the outcomes of the parliamentary elections which resulted the triumph tribal figures with regional affiliations after the boycott of most political parties. This brought to public debate the questions of maintain the long-established balance between the several socio-political structures in the political life in Jordan. While the speech can be perceived as a reflection of King Hussein’s vision about ‘Jordanian democracy’, it can also be interpreted as an elaborate scheme to construct the conventional understanding of the exceptionality of Jordan and its socio-political institutions; including democracy. This article discusses the representation of ‘Jordanian democracy’, the state, and the socio-political structures in Jordan as reflected in the Late King’s last speech from the throne (1997). The analytical framework follows a critical metaphor analysis perspective in which all instances of metaphors used to epitomise these issues are primarily acknowledged from there sociocultural context. Herein, the article focuses on revealing the aspect of metaphorical language by which the Late King Hussein legitimizes and, hence, constructs, the prevailing ideology pf the ‘exceptionality’ of Jordan.

The Political Theory of German Fascism

1934 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick L. Schuman
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Surface Phenomena ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The Social ◽  
Changing Patterns

In dealing with the evolution of political thought, most historians and social scientists, until recently at least, have tended to view political behavior and the changing patterns of power in society as rational implementations of dynamic ideas. They have accordingly concerned themselves more with the development of abstract philosophical systems than with the social-psychological contexts conditioning this development. To other observers, more Marxian than Hegelian in their outlook, all political ideas are but reflections of the economic interests and class ideologies of the various strata of society. This school therefore probes for the secrets of political and social change, not in the surface phenomena of ideas, but in the progress of technology and in the shifting economic relations of groups and classes within the social hierarchy. Still others, few in number as yet, have adopted Freud as their guide.

Chile 1971: A Revolutionary Government within a Welfare State

1972 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-304
Author(s):  
Joan E. Garcés
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Revolutionary Movements ◽  
The Revolution

THE CHILEAN REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE HAS MORE THAN enough characteristics to arouse admiration amongst those who support it and astonishment or scepticism among everyone else. A rapid glance backwards is enough to establish that their non-institutional legitimation is a factor common to practically all revolutions, ancient or modern. To such a point that political theory has devised the category of revolutionuy legitimation in order to compare it with other (religious, dynastic, historical, democratic etc.) categories. Revolutionary movements have always sought justification of their raison d'être in the causes or goals which have motivated them. Usually these goals have been in conflict with those forming the bases of the pre-existing system of political institutions. Hence revolution seems to be associated with conflict against institutionalism, and the triumph of the revolution seems to have involved the institutional collapse of the former regime.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of LGBT Politics and Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald P. Haider-Markel
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
The World ◽  
Lgbt Politics ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Lgbt People

This encyclopedia reviews and interprets a broad array of social science and humanities research on LGBT people, politics, and public policy around the world. The articles are organized around six major themes of the study of identity politics, with a focus on movement politics, public attitudes, political institutions, elections, and the broader context of political theory. Under the editorial directorship of Donald P. Haider-Markel and associate editors Carlos Ball, Gary Mucciaroni, Bruno Perreau, Craig A. Rimmerman, and Jami K. Taylor, this publication brings together peer-reviewed contributions by leading researchers and offers a the most comprehensive view of research on LGBT politics and policy to date. As a result, the Oxford Encyclopedia of LGBT Politics and Policy is a necessary resource for students and as well as both new and established scholars.

Introduction

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Sabl
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Political Disagreement ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Practical Politics ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Or History

This introductory chapter discusses how David Hume's political ideas shed light on a host of questions in political theory, political science, and practical politics that would otherwise seem intractable. Aspects of Hume's work that might seem either hard to understand or of questionable modern relevance when treated with the methods of philosophy or history both fall into place and prove their continuing importance when viewed through the lens of political theory. Political theorists can find in Hume an innovative, unfamiliar way of understanding and addressing political disagreement. Hume's “liberalism of enlargement” suggests that moral factions divide the members of polities; whereas political interests, suitably defined and creatively accommodated, unite them.

scholarly journals South Africa: The early quest for liberty and democracy

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim A. Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
British Colonial

The early quest for liberty and political freedom in South Africa had been influenced by various factors, inter alia political sentiments which originated in Reformed, Huguenot and Patriotten political theory. An analysis of early political ideas indicates that religious sentiments had a significant influence on the development of political ideas. These sentiments and ideas all contributed to a passionate search for freedom, justice and democracy. The different strata of religious and political ideas manifest in a continuous and discontinuous way, giving the impression of fragmented and contorted ideas, but still recognisable in terms of their origins. This contribution is an attempt to identify some of the fragmented and contorted strata of ideas which influenced the early quest for political freedom and the rejection of British colonial rule in South Africa.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document