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Modern Political Theory: Introduction

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Modern Political Theory:Machiavelli to the Present.

Political Theory and the Web

The course combines both a chronological or historical approach to the study of the subject matter with a thematic focus on several themes, paradigms and frameworks -- liberalism, Civic Humanism, rights, social contract, individualism. Our apporach will attend to the historical setting in which great theorists like Machiavelli, Rousseau and Mill have written. Each author was confronting a particular set of problems, often a political and social crisis relevant to the period that they lived in. In addition these works somehow "transcended" the period they were written in and we continue to read them for insights into the problems and challenges of our own world.

Political theory can help us to understand the world that we live in. Relevance is a crucial justification for the study of political theory. While political philosophy is idealistic/theoretical/abstract, it is also clearly practical/pragmatic/relevant to the problems that we face today. Theory can help to make us more self conscious about questions of democracy, participation, responsibility, justice, liberty, equality and a host of related political values. I will argue that there is a basic sense in which all of us engage in thinking about issues in political theory and philosophy. Questions about discrimination, pro-choice or pro-life, welfare reform, low voter turnout all have theoretical dimensions and political philosophy can help us understand these vital issues. I will begin by trying to give a definition of theory and its subject matter.

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What is Political Theory/Political Philosophy?

Unfortunately there is no neat single definition to give of political philosophy. We are studying an enterprise, an activity that has a history of 2,500 years beginning with the Ancient Greeks and continuing to the present. It spans many countries and continents on which a diverse range of philosophers have written. They didn't hold a "Union Card" that said philosopher nor did they adhere to a common set of professional objectives. While there are points of continuity with many later theorists, for example a Plato or Aristotle, they interpreted the Greats in varying ways and often adjusted their understanding to their own needs as a philosopher, politician, and the period they were living and writing in. It has only been within the last one hundred years that political philosophy has been seen as a distinct enterprise with a reasonably defined group of "greats" or classic work. Still after acknowledging the diversity I will argue that there are three traits that characterize much of the field of political philosophy:

  • 1) The Critical Evaluation of Beliefs and Legitimacy

  • 2) Clarify why things are connected or related.

  • 3) Set of prescriptive solutions

    1) The Critical Evaluation of Beliefs

    The philosopher is unwilling to take things for granted. They are unwilling to unquestioningly accept the status quo. The philosopher seeks to find rational grounds for accepting or rejecting a political value, belief, or institution. The philosopher is always asking why an institution functions in a particular way. The philosopher tries to draw out the underlying implications of the old and new, to discover and resolve inconsistences. More significantly, the philosopher is frequently writing in a period of crisis where the old order and formulas are declining in relevance and meaning. A philosopher like Hobbes provides a new set of categories and concepts by which to understand political phenomena. As seventeenth England descended into revolution and violence Hobbes saw the situation as one of fear and opportunity. Change and revolution was a chance for the philosopher to offer their "services" to help resolve the crisis. The philosopher recognizes that our political institutions rest on an acceptance of their legitimacy. Even in a non-democratic setting, and Hobbes was no democrat, there is a need for the populace to acknowledge the truth and wisdom of certain institutional arrangements dealing with the power of the sovereign, contracts, rights, and liberty. Power requires an acknowledgment on the part of sovereign and citizen that the institutional structure is legitimate. The collapse of power comes when large numbers of citizens no longer are willing to acknowledge the authority of the sovereign and state. We quite appropriately call it a "legitimation crises" or a crisis in authority. [Many people regarded the later part of the Vietnam War in late Sixties, and Watergate in the seventies as a crises of authority.] In situations of that sort philosophers have often offered their creative services. Our nation was founded in just such a situation and with a set of philosophers/founding fathers who offered their creative solution to a legitimation crisis in the form of the Articles of Confederation and then later the Constitution.

    2) Clarify Why Things are Connected or Related

    The philosopher tries to understand the meaning of political phenomena. Political "things" aren't clear and straightforward. They are not physical objects that we trip over. Concepts like "power", authority, consent, are not "real" physical entities. They are concepts that link together and relate political practices. Political concepts help us to draw connections between political phenomena. They provide some order to the chaos of political life. Plato in his great work The Republic talked about political life as an organic system with interrelated parts. We began to see the connections between phenomena and how the shift in one area led to a change in another. Plato, like many other philosophers after him, used the analogy of the human body to think of the state -- the body politic. The human body is an organic entity with all the parts having differing functions which vary in importance -- IE. the heart or eyes as contrasted with an eye brow or toe -- but in which all the elements are related and are needed to the completion of the whole.

    3) Set of Prescriptive Solutions

    Most of the great works in political philosophy have been written in times of crises -- a crisis that can be political, social, and/or economic. The crises normally derives from internal causes rather than external causes. As a general rule political philosophers have been more concerned with domestic problems rather than foreign policy or external enemies. The political philosopher does not just state a position -- "I believe this ..." he/she argues for a particular solution. They give reasons and they frequently argue from principles. They set forth a series of fundamental principles, rights, and then see what follows. A political theory is more than just a statement of preferences. It provides arguments, and analysis and evidence. Reading such works can help us to think and to think critically.

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    Why Study Political Theory?

    Why should we critically evaluate beliefs, why should we seek to understand the meaning and connections between social and political phenomena?

    One good reason is that some questions, events, issues in American life can't be understood or talked about without the use of theory. Take for example what has now come to be called Irangate and the involvement of Colonel Oliver North in those events. [This took place during the mid-eighties in the Regan adminstration and was his most serve crisis.] Oliver North was a participant in a complicated arms transactions involving Iran, Israel, and the Contras. The secret deal was necessitated, North and others in the adminstation felt, because Congress had expressly forbidden the selling of weapons to Iran and even the President had forbidden arms for hostages. The affair was discovered and Colonel Oliver North appeared before Senate investigations of the Iran Contra deal. The Oliver North case raises questions about:

  • Obligations to the State

  • Patriotism and Citizenship

  • Obeying the laws, Justice and Raison d'etat

  • Responsibility to One's Sovereign, to the individual and to laws of the state

    In thinking about the Oliver North episode we must raise issues in political theory and political philosophy. The only difference is whether we do it with care and deliberation or whether we follow the "common sense" and unreflective reading of such events. In quite emotional testimony before the Senate, Colonel North justified his lying and deception as part of his duty as a soldier to his country and president. He denied that the President directly knew about such events even while North held a fairly high position in the executive office. With a cracking voice he assured the American public that his actions were those of a patriot who loves his country. His obligations transcended those of a duly elected body like Congress. In the name of the national interest it was vital that the United States help the freedom fighting contras. North's testimony was charged with questions relevant to the political philosopher. Our understanding of his actions would be greatly enhanced by a clear sense of the underlying philosophical issues.

    Political values and beliefs are also fundamentally tied up our analysis and reaction to such events as:

    Nazism

    Civilized peoples and nations find the Nazi regime in the Thirties and Forties in Germany an abhorrent political regime. We are critical of the evils of tyranny and abuse of power. Those are valued clarified in and enunciated by political philosophers over the centuries.

    Slavery

    The enslavement of people is now seen in many countries as a corrupt and vile set of institutions. Lincoln is seen as a great figure in part because of the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery as an institution existed for centuries, however. The Greeks found it to be a normal institution an Aristotle would even argue that some people are slaves by nature. While there are a whole host of social, political and economic changes that are responsible for the ending of the institution of slavery the values of equality, freedom and justice were crucial in the rethinking of this heretofore normal institution. In DeTocqueville's great work Democracy in America written 25 twenty-five years prior to the Civil War he argued that the institution of slavery is doomed to extinction in a society that affords equality such prominence. ["All Men are Created Equal." ]America he argued can not continue to exist defending those values of equality and also protecting the institution of slavery. Equality is language that is hard to confine to white males, or a particular gender. If we are to understand such crucial events as the American Civil War and the role of slavery in that tragedy political theory can offer some crucial insights.

    Many of the basic values of American political life are derived from classical liberalism. Our political language is dependent on the language of rights, liberty, individual dignity, and autonomy. As Dolbeare and Medcalf and Huntington have argued America is a society that identifies itself preeminently with a set of political values. Change and revolution in America is frequently couched in terms of living up to our values of liberty, equality, and freedom.

    Political values matter. People have at times been willing to suffer and die in their cause. Over the past several years we were all witness to events of epic proportions in the former Eastern Europe. In rapid succession the Warsaw pace dissolved as Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Rumania, Bulgaria, ... all declared their independence. They threw off their old leadership in the name of economic betterment, democracy, and justice. We saw thousands fleeing East German into West Germany for reasons of political freedom and economic betterment. In East Germany many of the protestors:

    Political values intertwine in our lives in innumerable ways. They form the backdrop to our views about politics and the good society. The study of political theory and philosophy offers a way to understand our world and the forces that impact and shape us. Let's embark on the study of justice, equality, liberty, freedom, obligation, and responsibility.

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