{"id":67,"date":"2025-09-16T15:04:50","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/?p=67"},"modified":"2025-09-18T10:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T05:11:17","slug":"political-theory-meaning-and-approaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/political-theory-meaning-and-approaches\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Theory Meaning and Approaches"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n


\n<\/span>1. Why Politics?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 <\/span>From Greek <\/span>polis <\/span>(city-state). Politics is \u201cthe <\/span>art of the possible<\/span>,\u201d the craft of
\nreconciling differences to reach <\/span>binding collective decisions<\/span>.
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Aristotle<\/span>: <\/span>\u201cMan is by nature a political animal.\u201d
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Politics is power-laden\u2014acquiring, retaining, exercising it. <\/span>Garner<\/span>\u2019s state-centric
\nmaxim\u2014<\/span>\u201cPolitical science starts and ends with the state\u201d<\/span>\u2014now competes with society wide readings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>2. Political Theory vs Political Science
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nPolitical Theory <\/span><\/td>\nPolitical Science<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Focus <\/span><\/td>\nWhy \/ should? <\/span>(conceptual) <\/span><\/td>\nWhat \/ how? <\/span>(empirical)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Method <\/span><\/td>\nAbstract reflection <\/span><\/td>\nObservation, statistics<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Scope <\/span><\/td>\nTimeless, universal (<\/span>\u23e4 <\/span>Germino<\/span>) <\/span><\/td>\nContext-bound generalisations<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bridge <\/span><\/td>\nTheory supplies the ideas, science tests them<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n

3. Political Philosophy, Theory, Ideology, Thought \u2013 Know the Splits
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Category <\/span><\/td>\nCore Question <\/span><\/td>\nScholars \/ Pointers<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Political
\nPhilosophy<\/span><\/td>\n		What ought to be? <\/span>justice, liberty,
\nequality<\/span><\/td>\n		Plato, Aristotle<\/span>, <\/span>John Rawls
\n<\/span>(<\/span>normative<\/span>)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Political
\nTheory<\/span><\/td>\n		Explains political phenomena, may
\nborrow from philosophy<\/span><\/td>\n		Leo Strauss <\/span>calls it the search for
\nthe <\/span>\u201cright & good order.\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ideology <\/span><\/td>\nProgrammatic, dogmatic defence of
\npower<\/span><\/td>\n		Karl Marx<\/span>, liberalism, feminism\u2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Political
\nThought<\/span><\/td>\n		Time- & place-bound communal
\nideas<\/span><\/td>\n		Machiavelli<\/span>, British idealists etc.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u201cEvery political philosopher is a theorist, but not every theorist a philosopher.\u201d <\/span><\/strong>\u2014 exam-worthy
\nline.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

4. Five-Stage evolution of Political Science<\/span><\/h3>\n

1. <\/span>Greek\u2013Ethical <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>Aristotle <\/span>dubs it the <\/span>\u201cmaster science\u201d<\/span>; <\/span>Barker <\/span>calls it <\/span>architectonic<\/span>.
\n2. <\/span>Medieval\u2013Theological <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas <\/span>fuse politics with
\nsalvation.
\n3. <\/span>Renaissance \/ Enlightenment <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>Machiavelli <\/span>separates power from morality; <\/span>Hobbes,
\nLocke, Rousseau, Montesquieu <\/span>add social contract, rights, separation of powers.
\n4. <\/span>Behavioural Turn <\/span>\u2013 stats & surveys; <\/span>David Easton <\/span>wants politics <\/span>\u201cas it is, not as it
\nought.\u201d
\n<\/span>5. <\/span>Post-Behaviouralism <\/span>\u2013 Easton\u2019s <\/span>\u201cCredo of Relevance\u201d <\/span>reunites values with data.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>5. Approaches & Their Critics
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Approach <\/span><\/td>\nOne-liner <\/span><\/td>\nChampion <\/span><\/td>\nClassic Critique<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Historical <\/span><\/td>\n\u201cHistory is the root;
\nPS the fruit.\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n		Sabine, Machiavelli, Laski <\/span><\/td>\nOver-traditional,
\nstate-centric<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sociological <\/span><\/td>\nPolitics embedded
\nin social structure<\/span><\/td>\n		Catlin <\/span><\/td>\nCan downplay
\ninstitutions<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philosophical <\/span><\/td>\nPurpose & morality
\nof rule<\/span><\/td>\n		Leo Strauss <\/span><\/td>\nRelativity of values
\n(<\/span>\u23e4 <\/span>Isaiah Berlin<\/span>)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Empirical vs
\nNormative<\/span><\/td>\n		Facts vs ought <\/span><\/td>\nJohn Locke, Mill, Marx,
\nEaston <\/span>vs <\/span>Plato, Aristotle,
\nRawls<\/span><\/td>\n		Each calls the other
\nincomplete<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Jacobson <\/span>warns against both <\/span>scientism <\/span>& <\/span>moralism<\/span><\/span><\/strong>; balance is key<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

6. Normative <\/span>\u2194 <\/span>Empirical Debate\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Normative <\/span><\/td>\nEmpirical<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cBest possible prescription\u201d <\/span><\/td>\n\u201cDescribe, explain, predict\u201d<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Plato \u2013 knowledge state <\/span><\/td>\nLocke \u2013 property & consent<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rawls \u2013 fairness <\/span><\/td>\nEaston \u2013 systems analysis<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n

7. Textual vs Contextual Interpretation<\/span><\/h3>\n


\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Textual<\/span>: text as timeless artefact; risk = anachronism (think <\/span>virt\u00f9 <\/span>vs <\/span>virtue<\/span>).
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Contextual<\/span>: embed writings in economic-political milieu.
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>C.B. Macpherson <\/span>reads <\/span>Locke <\/span>through emergent bourgeois lens.
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>James Tully <\/span>situates Locke\u2019s property theory amid dissenters\u2019 rights.
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Critics ask: if every text is context-bound, can old ideas still guide today?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>8. Key Quotes<\/span><\/h3>\n


\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>\u201cPolitics is the authoritative allocation of values.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>Easton<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>\u201cHistory is the best guide to politics.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>Machiavelli<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Without science, theory is worthless ethical residue. <\/span>\u2014 paraphrasing <\/span>Jacobson<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>\u201cMan is a political animal.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>Aristotle<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>9. Positivism <\/span>\u2192 <\/span>Behaviouralism: <\/span>\u201cCount what is, ignore what ought.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Building-block <\/span><\/td>\nQuick take <\/span><\/td>\nMust-cite names<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Positivism <\/span><\/td>\nSocial science should mimic
\nnatural science; <\/span>value-free
\nknowledge monopoly<\/span><\/td>\n		Auguste Comte <\/span>(root), <\/span>Logical
\nPositivists<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Behaviouralism <\/span><\/td>\nSystematic, empirical study of
\n<\/span>individual & group behaviour<\/span><\/td>\n		Charles Merriam<\/span>, <\/span>Gabriel Almond<\/span>,
\n<\/span>V.O. Key<\/span>, <\/span>Harold Lasswell<\/span>, <\/span>Herbert
\nTingsten<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Seeds <\/span><\/td>\nPost-WW I; bloomed after WW II <\/span><\/td>\nFrank Kent <\/span>encouraged statistics in
\npolitics<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

David Easton <\/span>distilled <\/span>eight foundations<\/span><\/strong>\u2014<\/span>Regularities \u00b7 Verification \u00b7 Techniques \u00b7
\nQuantification \u00b7 Value-Neutrality \u00b7 Systematization \u00b7 Pure Science \u00b7 Integration<\/span><\/strong>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

10. Why Behaviouralism peaked \u2013 and cracked<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nAchievements<\/span><\/h5>\n

Precision<\/span>, survey tools, comparative data; made political science look <\/span>\u201cscientific.\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Limitations<\/span><\/h5>\n


\n<\/span>1. <\/span>Over-complication <\/span>\u2013 jargon > clarity.
\n2. <\/span>Reductionism <\/span>\u2013 numbers flatten nuance.
\n3. <\/span>Reality gap <\/span>\u2013 \u201civory-tower\u201d retreat (critique by <\/span>Leo Strauss<\/span>).
\n4. <\/span>Ethical vacuum <\/span>\u2013 values labelled <\/span>metaphysical<\/span>.
\n5. <\/span>Status-quo bias <\/span>\u2013 avoided big moral questions.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>11. Post-Behaviouralism \u2013 <\/span>Easton\u2019s Credo of Relevance<\/span><\/h3>\n


\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Trigger: <\/span>1960s crises\u2014war, poverty, civil rights.
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Intellectual sparks: Thomas Kuhn <\/span>(paradigms) \u00b7 <\/span>Karl Popper <\/span>(falsification).
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Mantra: <\/span>\u201cSubstance before technique.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>Easton, 1969 APSA Address
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Five watch-words: Action \u00b7 Relevance \u00b7 Social change \u00b7 Values \u00b7 Reality-connection<\/span>.
\n<\/span>\u201cTo know is to bear responsibility for acting.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>Easton
\nCritiques
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Philip Beardsley<\/span><\/strong>: science vs relevance is a <\/span>false dichotomy<\/span>.
\n<\/span>\u2022 <\/span>Still leans on <\/span>systems theory <\/span>it once denounced (<\/span>Waldo<\/span><\/strong>: <\/span>\u201craving, rumbling structure
\nwithout destiny\u201d<\/span>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>12. Critical School: Behaviouralism = Status-quo Science?
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Critic <\/span><\/td>\nCharge<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dante Germino <\/span><\/strong><\/td>\n\u201cQuantification without reflection\u201d <\/span>killed political
\ntheory.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Theodor Adorno<\/strong> & Max<\/strong>
\nHorkheimer<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n		Instrumental rationality <\/span>props up capitalism.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
J\u00fcrgen Habermas <\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nTechnology now <\/span>colonises lifeworld<\/span>; Behaviouralism
\napplauds.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Herbert Marcuse <\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nMass media creates <\/span>one-dimensional man<\/span>, dampening
\nrevolt.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Yet even critics admit Behaviouralism\u2019s <\/span>technique revolution <\/span>(see <\/span>Talcott Parsons<\/span>).
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

13. Decline <\/span>\u2192 <\/span>Resurgence of Political Theory<\/span><\/h3>\n

Why it declined (per Easton)
\n<\/span>Historicism \u00b7 Moral relativism \u00b7 Hyper-factualism \u00b7 Science fetish.
\n<\/span>Mid-century verdict (<\/span>Alfred Cobban<\/span>): <\/span>theory \u201cplayed no role\u201d in both capitalism &
\ncommunism.
\n<\/span>Why it bounced back
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Catalyst <\/span><\/td>\nThinker & Text<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Experience as philosophy <\/span><\/td>\nMichael Oakeshott <\/span>\u2013<\/span>Experience and Its Modes<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lost public realm <\/span><\/td>\nHannah Arendt <\/span>\u2013<\/span>The Human Condition<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Return to classics <\/span><\/td>\nLeo Strauss<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Justice re-imagined <\/span><\/td>\nJohn Rawls <\/span>\u2013<\/span>A Theory of Justice<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Democracy, property, class <\/span><\/td>\nC.B. Macpherson<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n

Scholar Index \u2013<\/span><\/h3>\n


\nAdorno \u00b7 Alfred Cobban \u00b7 Aristotle \u00b7 Auguste Comte \u00b7 Barker \u00b7 Beardsley \u00b7 Berlin \u00b7 British
\nIdealists (Bradley, Bosanquet) \u00b7 Charles Merriam \u00b7 C.B. Macpherson \u00b7 Dante Germino \u00b7
\nDavid Easton \u00b7 Frank Kent \u00b7 Gabriel Almond \u00b7 Garner \u00b7 Harold Lasswell \u00b7 Hannah Arendt \u00b7
\nHerbert Marcuse \u00b7 Herbert Tingsten \u00b7 Hobbes \u00b7 Isaiah Berlin \u00b7 J.S. Mill \u00b7 James Tully \u00b7
\nJ\u00fcrgen Habermas \u00b7 Karl Marx \u00b7 Karl Popper \u00b7 Leo Strauss \u00b7 Locke \u00b7 Logical Positivists \u00b7 Laski
\n\u00b7 Machiavelli \u00b7 Michael Oakeshott \u00b7 Montesquieu \u00b7 Philip Beardsley \u00b7 Plato \u00b7 Rousseau \u00b7
\nSabine \u00b7 St Augustine \u00b7 St Thomas Aquinas \u00b7 Talcott Parsons \u00b7 Thomas Kuhn \u00b7 V.O. Key \u00b7
\nWaldo (Dwight)<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\u2014<\/span>Amit Pratap Singh <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. Why Politics? \u2022 From Greek polis (city-state). Politics is \u201cthe art of the possible,\u201d the craft of reconciling differences to reach binding collective decisions. \u2022 Aristotle: \u201cMan is by nature a political animal.\u201d \u2022 Politics is power-laden\u2014acquiring, retaining, exercising it. Garner\u2019s state-centric maxim\u2014\u201cPolitical science starts and ends with the state\u201d\u2014now competes with society wide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,1],"tags":[8,6,9,7],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-paper-1-section-a","category-political-theory","category-uncategorized","tag-behaviouralism","tag-political-theory","tag-post-behaviouralism","tag-psir-optional"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Political-pic.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/92"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}