Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Objectives of Review
To identify the strength and weakness of history of political thinking in post
Methodological age
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barely reconciled and he points out the inevitable association between
libertarianism and the market, and small government
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THE NATURE OF POLITICAL THEORY
Author(s): L. S. RATHORE
Source: The Indian Journal of Political Science,Vol.37, No.2(Apr.-June
'76), pp. 40-58
Published by: Indian Political Science Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41854729
Accessed: 11-12-2019 07:03 UTC
Reviewed by Muktar Edris
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Some Characteristics of Political Theory
The reasons why many political theories are philosophical?
First, a substantial part of political theory has been the work of
political philosophers. The philosophers wrote with a practical
purpose in mind.
The second reason political theory had been dominated by the
political philosophy i n three ways. 1.No clear cut distinction between
the burning philosophical, theological and political issues, 2
political theory had acquired a greater dimension than what it is
today and 3, the political theorists had been guided by the rules of
formal logic and developments in the theories of knowledge.
The third reason why political theories are philosophical is that many
of the political questions, such as political obligation, justice, the
source of authority, the nature a n d justification of social change, are
analytical and normative.
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Political Behavior-Theories
The basic principle of Political behavior school of empirical research is to
seek to understand political action in terms of attitudes and interests.
The new unit of inquiry is the 'observed and observable' behavior of
persons as individuals and officers of the state or groups. "The main
features of behavioralism in political theory are nominalism the myth of
total detachment of the knowing subject, the notion of absolute
heterogeneity of facts and values, a belief in the fundamental homogeneity
of knowledge and of the world, and an essentially static ontology. What is
important in behavioralism is a sceptical attitude towards metaphysical
assumptions and the insistence that all inductions must rest on observation
of facts
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Contemporary political theory is that, consists in building theoretical
models of political reality. These do not have the precision and elegance of
those of the physical sciences or even of economics.
Reference
History of Political Thought, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Summer 1993), pp. 301-316.
URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26214360
The Indian Journal of Political Science,Vol.37, No.2(Apr.-June '76), pp.
40-58
URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41854729