What Is Political Theory

What Is Political Theory? provides students with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the discipline. Eleven substantive chapters address the most pressing topics in political theory today, including: - what resources do the classic texts still provide for political theorists? - what areas will political theorists focus on in the future? - can western political theory alone continue to provide a framework for responding to the challenges of modern political life? The authors assess the intellectual challenges to conventional political theory, such as post-structuralism and the scientific study of politics, that have revitalized the field in the last 30 years. They also broaden the perspective to take in non-western ideas and to reconceptualize political theory in the light of specifically global challenges. Students and teachers of political theory and political philosophy will find this book invaluable in understanding the factors that have shaped current political theory and which will guide its future development.

Political theorists focus on the nature of justice, liberty, and equality while ignoring the institutions through which these ideals are achieved. Political scientists keep institutions in view but deploy a meager set of value-conceptions in analyzing them. A more political political theory is needed to address this gap, Jeremy Waldron argues.

Oxford Handbooks of Political Science are the essential guide to the state of political science today. With engaging contributions from 51 major international scholars, the Oxford Handbook of Political Theory provides the key point of reference for anyone working in political theory and beyond.

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.

"This book provides an engaging and intellectually challenging introduction to political ideologies, while at the same time giving an accessible route into the subject for those new to politics. Supported by an outstanding companion website, it has strong claims to be the best undergraduate textbook on ideologies on the market." Dr. Mike Gough, University of East Anglia Introduction to Political Theory is a text for the 21st century. It shows students why an understanding of theory is crucial to an understanding of issues and events in a rapidly shifting global political landscape. Bringing together classic and contemporary political concepts and ideologies into one book, this new text introduces the major approaches to political issues that have shaped the modern world, and the ideas that form the currency of political debate. Introduction to Political Theory relates political ideas to political realities through effective use of examples and cases studies making theory lively, contentious and relevant. This thoroughly revised and updated second edition contains new chapters on global justice and political violence, as well as an expanded treatment of globalisation and the state. A wide range of pedagogical features helps to clarify, extend and apply students’ understanding of the fundamental ideologies and concepts. This is comprised of: · Case studies demonstrate how political ideas, concepts and issues manifest in the real world · ‘Focus' boxes encourage students to appreciate alternative viewpoints · A range of thought provoking photographs challenge students to examine concepts from a different angle · Suggestions for further reading and weblinks are also provided to help students to further their understanding Introduction to Political Theory is accompanied by an innovative website with multiple choice questions, biographies of key figures in political theory, further case studies and an innovative ‘how to read’ feature which helps students get to grips with difficult primary texts.

History of Political Theory: An Introduction is an engaging introduction to the main figures in the history of Western Political Theory and their most important works. The second volume traces the origin and development of liberal political theory, and so the foundations for contemporary views.

Recent political thought has grappled with a crisis in philosophical foundations: how do we justify the explicit and implicit normative claims and assumptions that guide political decisions and social criticism? In The Practice of Political Theory, Clayton Chin presents a critical reconstruction of the work of Richard Rorty that intervenes in the current surge of methodological debates in political thought, arguing that Rorty provides us with unrecognized tools for resolving key foundational issues. Chin illustrates the significance of Rorty’s thought for contemporary political thinking, casting his conception of “philosophy as cultural politics” as a resource for new models of sociopolitical criticism. He juxtaposes Rorty’s pragmatism with the ontological turn, illuminating them as alternative interventions in the current debate over the crisis of foundations in philosophy. Chin places Rorty in dialogue with continental philosophy and those working within its legacy. Focused on both important questions in pragmatist scholarship and central issues in contemporary political thought, The Practice of Political Theory is an important response to the vexed questions of justification and pluralism.

This book presents an analysis of the political concepts. It focuses on enduring disputes about the nature of freedom, power, equality, justice, democracy, and authority. The book is useful for both first year and advanced students who seek to learn more about political theory.