Comment on decline of political theory. (150 words)
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 mid-20th-century death verdict — ironic against Sabine’s “perennial concern”.
Route 2 the positivist–behavioural turn dismisses normative philosophy.
Laslett/Dahl pronounce it dead → Easton’s four causes: historicism → moral relativism (Hume–Weber) → science–theory confusion → hyper-factualism.
Berlin: theory cannot perish while rational curiosity lives — permanent human concerns keep it alive.
Route 1 not death but a crisis of a historicist, value-neglecting theory.
Route 2 the debate itself cleared the ground for revival (post-behaviouralism, Rawls).
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
Also asked on this head
Political Theory — 10 questions in the Vault.
- Comment on Post-Behavioural approach. (150 words)
- Discuss the significance of a normative approach to political theory.
- Examine the importance of behavioural approach in political theory. What led to its decline?
How this is taught
The same flow snapshot, built for every head of the syllabus, with the answer written in class.
The first session of Foundation 2027 is published in full.
Six programmes across three levels.