The Descent of Political Theory

The Descent of Political Theory PDF Author: John G. Gunnell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226310817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
This provocative work reveals the origins and development of political theory as it is presently understood—and misunderstood. Tracing the evolution of the field from the nineteenth century to the present, John G. Gunnell shows how current controversies, like those over liberalism or the relationship of theory to practice, are actually the unresolved legacy of a forgotten past. By uncovering this past, Gunnell exposes the forces that animate and structure political theory today. Gunnell reconstructs the evolution of the field by locating it within the broader development of political science and American social science in general. During the behavioral revolution that swept political science in the 1950s, the relationship between political theory and political science changed dramatically, relegating theory to the margins of an increasingly empirical discipline. Gunnell demonstrates that the estrangement of political theory is rooted in a much older quarrel: the authority of knowledge versus political theory is rooted in a much older quarrel: the authority of knowledge versus political authority, academic versus public discourse. By disclosing the origin of this dispute, he opens the way for a clearer understanding of the basis and purpose of political theory. As critical as it is revelatory, this thoughtful book should be read by any one interested in the history of political theory or science—or in the relationship of social science to political practice in the United States.

The Descent of Political Theory

The Descent of Political Theory PDF Author: John G. Gunnell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226310817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Get Book

Book Description
This provocative work reveals the origins and development of political theory as it is presently understood—and misunderstood. Tracing the evolution of the field from the nineteenth century to the present, John G. Gunnell shows how current controversies, like those over liberalism or the relationship of theory to practice, are actually the unresolved legacy of a forgotten past. By uncovering this past, Gunnell exposes the forces that animate and structure political theory today. Gunnell reconstructs the evolution of the field by locating it within the broader development of political science and American social science in general. During the behavioral revolution that swept political science in the 1950s, the relationship between political theory and political science changed dramatically, relegating theory to the margins of an increasingly empirical discipline. Gunnell demonstrates that the estrangement of political theory is rooted in a much older quarrel: the authority of knowledge versus political theory is rooted in a much older quarrel: the authority of knowledge versus political authority, academic versus public discourse. By disclosing the origin of this dispute, he opens the way for a clearer understanding of the basis and purpose of political theory. As critical as it is revelatory, this thoughtful book should be read by any one interested in the history of political theory or science—or in the relationship of social science to political practice in the United States.

Imagining the American Polity

Imagining the American Polity PDF Author: John G. Gunnell
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271074213
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Americans have long prided themselves on living in a country that serves as a beacon of democracy to the world, but from the time of the founding they have also engaged in debates over what the criteria for democracy are as they seek to validate their faith in the United States as a democratic regime. In this book John Gunnell shows how the academic discipline of political science has contributed in a major way to this ongoing dialogue, thereby playing a significant role in political education and the formulation of popular conceptions of American democracy. Using the distinctive “internalist” approach he has developed for writing intellectual history, Gunnell traces the dynamics of conceptual change and continuity as American political science evolved from a focus in the nineteenth century on the idea of the state, through the emergence of a pluralist theory of democracy in the 1920s and its transfiguration into liberalism in the mid-1930s, up to the rearticulation of pluralist theory in the 1950s and its resurgence, yet again, in the 1990s. Along the way he explores how political scientists have grappled with a fundamental question about popular sovereignty: Does democracy require a people and a national democratic community, or can the requisites of democracy be achieved through fortuitous social configurations coupled with the design of certain institutional mechanisms?

Political Theory and Social Science

Political Theory and Social Science PDF Author: J. Gunnell
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780230109544
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This work is devoted to a critical analytical examination of the history, character, and conduct of contemporary academic political theory and to a reconsideration of significant elements of this field of inquiry from the perspective of the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Reappraising Political Theory

Reappraising Political Theory PDF Author: Terence Ball
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198279957
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Written in a lively and accessible style, the book will provoke debate among students and scholars alike. Throughout, Terence Ball shows just how exciting and important political theory can be.

The Descent of Icarus

The Descent of Icarus PDF Author: Yaron Ezrahi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Contains the Proceedings of the Second International Symposium (see title) held at Fort Collins, Colorado in June of 1989. Discussing the impact of science on centuries of political theory, Ezrahi (political science, Hebrew U., Jerusalem) eschews the interpretation that the Enlightenment did rationalize politics through science, only to be overpowered by the forces of unreason. He posits instead the notion of the specifically political and ideological role of science in upholding modern conceptions of action, authority, and accountability. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Introduction to Contemporary Political Theory

Introduction to Contemporary Political Theory PDF Author: Colin Farrelly
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761949084
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Colin Farrelly's central objective in writing this introductory text is to demonstrate to students the practical relevance of contemporary theoretical debates to everyday issues in policy creation and implementation and politics.

A History of Political Theory

A History of Political Theory PDF Author: George Holland Sabine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political science
Languages : en
Pages : 934

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Book Description


The Orders of Discourse

The Orders of Discourse PDF Author: John G. Gunnell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780847692033
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
In this insightful book, distinguished political scientist John G. Gunnell explores the relationship between social science and philosophy, and the range of problems that have attended this relationship. Gunnell argues that social science has turned to philosophy, especially to areas such as the philosophy of science and other sites of philosophical foundationalism, in search of cognitive identity and the grounds for normative and empirical judgment. Gunnell's emphasis is on political and social theory and the theoretical constitution of social phenomena.

Political Theory

Political Theory PDF Author: David Leopold
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199230080
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Political Theory: Methods and Approaches is one of the first books to analyze research methods in political theory and political philosophy. Drawing together a distinguished set of contributors, the book asks how political theory should be conducted today and examines the connections between political theory and a range of adjacent disciplines - including moral philosophy, the empirical social sciences, the history of political thought, the world of 'real' politics, critical social theory, and ideology.

The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Political Thought

The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Political Thought PDF Author: Terence Ball
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521563543
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 772

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Book Description
Table of contents