Normative Theory

 Why is it called a theory not an approach?

 Theory is an explanation
 Normative theory is a theory because it has not attained the structure of an approach
 Political Science should be interested not only in understanding “what is”, it also should be
concerned issues of what should be.
 Asks, What is the best way to live? – a question that has been the focus of political philosophers
 Invokes principles with respect to how we should conduct and organize ourselves
 Seeks to provide norms that prescribe appropriate ways of acting individually and collectively
 Prescribe – to give advice, recommendations, engage in doing descriptive studies, normative –
more on analysis, description
 Development of normative theory in the modern times
 Compared new liberal themes concerning individual freedom and moral egalitarianism – ways of
thinking that continue to influence contemporary normative debate

The rise of liberalism is traceable to

 John Locke’s ideas in the Two Treatises of Government (1690)

 Debunked the old patriarchal vision of politics based on a natural hierarchy ordained by God
 Claimed that a rational understanding of things must proceed not from ambitious speculative
propositions but from clear reasoning based on concrete evidence
 Led to an emphasis on explanations that have a basis

Liberal thought focuses on the nature of the autonomous individual

 Two themes: 1.) political communities are not natural but artificial structures laid over the
natural character of individuals, hence these structures need justification; 2.) individuals are
independent of any collective structures… political concern with freedom becomes imperative
 Nature of Individuals: rational and self-interested
 State of Nature: Life in a state of nature is unacceptable – individuals are left entirely free to
pursue their interests which can come into conflict with one another.
 Justification for the forming of the political community: rational individuals enter into a social
contract that would establish a common authority.

Classical liberalism

 Presumes mutual respect of basic liberties to life, liberty and property

 Implies that basic rights should be respected without qualification or compromise
 A deontological doctrine – it asserts certain principles as applicable, regardless of context and
regardless also of the consequences of applying them; basic rights are universal.
 A doctrine that cannot be questioned, universal
Other liberalists

 Jeremy Bentham – Utilitarianism (greatest happiness principle) – “our moral commitments are
explicable in terms of our desire for satisfaction or well-being; what is good is pleasurable
 John Stuart Mill – (pleasure and happiness are not the same thing); thought in terms of higher
and lower pleasures; lower pleasures bring us immediate gratification, higher pleasures provide
deeper and sustained satisfaction
 A condition of liberty gives us the best chance of living a happy life
 Well-being replaces natural law and fundamental rights as the basis of liberalism
 L.T. Hobhouse and J.A. Hobson – liberal states must not only secure personal freedoms and
political rights, they must also promote the conditions for human well-being through social
provision

Latter part of the 20th C

 John Rawls revived liberal thinking by rethinking its basis – socially minded liberalism – liberty
with a redistributive welfare state
 What I want for myself, I want for others too
 Liberalism grounded in social justice

Challenges to Liberalism

 Critical Theory – (Frankfurt School) is associated with a strand of thinking developed in the mid-
20th Century; an approach strongly influenced by Marxism in its inception;
 Gives greater attention to the ideological level and to liberalism – a central element in the
ideological edifice of capitalism
 For Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, liberalism constitutes an ideology in so far as it
presents certain conceptions and self-conceptions
 Herbert Marcuse – highlighted the psychological effects of a life tied to the values and
imperatives of liberal capitalism (influential in the 1960s and 1970s)
 Liberalism… establishes a one dimensional way of conceiving of ourselves – as a rational
producers and consumers
 The capitalism system that has allowed us to have material comfort, leisure time and relief from
work in order to have time for spiritual and aesthetic well-being has also prevented us to enjoy
these very same same non-material benefits.
 Jurgen Habermas – looks to the form of rationality embodied in the human capacity for
communication, focuses more on the rational aspect – individual or collective aspirations
 He argues that use of language commits people to certain criteria: truth, sincerity, moral
appropriateness, intelligibility
 Social conversations (where political principles and norms are usually articulated) contain
communication that may be systematically distorted; discussion is consistently repressive,
certain forms of experience and self-understanding, or is consistenly exclusionary
 Lays down the foundation on how moral decisions should be debated. (fits the tradition of
deontological liberalism)
 Communitarianism – second alternative to liberalism
 Communitarians argue that we would have a more convincing account of society if we focus our
attention on the role that communities play in creating the common identity of individuals; and
in conferring upon them common beliefs.
 What is normatively compelling for individuals depends upon the norms and conventions of the
community to which they belong
 Michael Sandel argues that the emphasis upon the “unencumbered self (meaning is in the
book)” is misplaced and does not provide a sound basis upon which to make claims upon social
obligations
 Michael Walzer – contends that liberal values and institutions can be justified
 Michael Walzer – argues that the autonomy of the indi
 Postmodernism, Michel Foucault – argues that our language and all the assumptions and self-
conceptions that it contains, constitutes a structure that is independent of individual decisions
and which shapes our actions and interactions
 We live within dominant discourses
 Shows how successive discourses have arisen and have contended for dominance
 Dominant
 Richard Rorty – rejects the notion of universal truth – claims; conceptions of the individual are
always product of a particular culture