INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL THEORY, PART 2

Political theorists aim to understand and critique political ideas, contribute to debates about justice and democracy, and offer insights into the practical organization of political life.

1. MOOC ON POLITICAL THEORY: CONCEPTS & DEBATES     THEORY & POLITICAL THEORY MODULE 2

2. A  theory  is a set of accepted beliefs or organized principles that explain and guide analysis and one of the ways that  theory  is defined is that it is different from practice, when certain principles are tested. Theory in general

3. Political Theory helps us better understand the concepts that have shaped our politics, including freedom, equality, individuality, democracy and justice. Political Theory

4. Concept building and Hypotheses lead to Political Theory. Concepts in Political Theory

5. Hypothesis relates concepts and seek to explain both in causal and normative political theories. Hypothesis

6. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are the best examples of ancient Greek Political Theory and the tradition of Idealism. Plato (Left) and Aristotle (Right)

7. The tradition of Great Political Thinkers include: Plato, Aristotle, Kautilya ; St. Aquinas, Bodin; Machiavelli, Hobbes-Locke- Roussseau , Bentham, Mill, Marx, Gandhi, Rawls and many others. Hobbes (Top), Rousseau (Left) and Locke (Right)

8. Empirical Political Theory emerged in modern times under the influence of Hume, Comte and others. The ‘behavioural’ theory in political science is an instance of empirical theory. Empirical Political Theory

9. While empirical  political theory  is concerned with ‘what is’,  normative political theory  is concerned with ‘what ought to be’. In other words,  normative political theory  is concerned about how the world should be and focuses on the exploration of values. Normative Political Theory

10. The tradition of ‘Normative’ Political Theory is very old. It flows from Plato (ancient) to Hegel (Modern) to Rawls and other contemporary thinkers. G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831)

11. Published in 1937 and now considered as a ‘classic’,  Sabine  dealt in it the history of political thought from Ancient Greece to fascism and Nazism in the 1930s. Sabine’s Book, A History of Political Theory (1937)

12. The ‘laws of motion’ attracted Thomas Hobbes. He was 40 years old before he looked on geometry. Influence of Euclidean Geometry on Hobbes

13. His anonymously-published  The Spirit of Law  (1748) contains his theory of ‘Separation of Powers’. Charles-Louis de Secondat , Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689-1755)

14. Behaviouralism in Political Science

15. Aristotle divided governments according to number of rulers (One, Few and Many) and two types – Ideal and Corrupt. Aristotle’ Classification of Ancient Greek Governments

16. THEORY & POLITICAL THEORY The Lecture Ends Here.