Introduction to Political Theory

influential 1947 essay ‘Rationalism in Politics’ (Oakeshott, 1962), with a few comments on the later book. The ‘rationalism’ to ...

on the other hand, is acquired only in use. It is not reflective, and cannot be formulated as rules. Most activities involve the ...

Rationalism is the politics of the ‘inexperienced’. Oakeshott uses the term ‘experience’ in a philosophical sense, meaning conta ...

aims – it might grant that individuals pursue different projects – but it will have some common aims. The commonly expressed des ...

we should be (‘nature’ is here used in the second sense of ‘character’, rather than the first sense of ‘origin’). The logic of n ...

neo-conservatives place great value on the idea of a common US culture against what they see as the separatist multiculturalist ...

State and society are distinct; marriage is a pre-political social institution that has a reality independently of the state. T ...

In the specific case of England and Wales the legislation was passed by large majorities in the elected House of Commons (400–1 ...

figure had increased from 16 per cent to 69 per cent (http://www.ipsos-mori.com/ Assets/Docs/Polls/ipsos-mori-gay-marriage-chart ...

Further reading General introductions to conservative thought and practice include: Noel O’Sullivan, Conservatism(London: Dent, ...

Chapter 10 Socialism Introduction Is socialism dead? This provocative point was argued by many conservatives, and the former Bri ...

Tanks in the streets of Prague Y ou are studying in Prague in 1968. In the spring there is much excitement because the leader of ...

The problem of variety Tony Wright calls his book Socialisms(1996) in order to emphasise the plurality of approaches and doctrin ...

intended to snuff out reform communists, and Western communists influenced by social democratic and liberal ideas called themsel ...

society (eutopia) that is nowhere (utopia = no place) (Geoghegan, 1987: 1). Karl Mannheim (an inter-war German sociologist) in I ...

Science and the ‘utopian socialists’ Three socialists were singled out by Engels as being utopian. They were: Henri Saint Simon ...

for the productive classes’, but his dictatorial leadership demonstrated the problem with his theory of character. Character was ...

contrast, the utopians seek change through general principles of ‘reason’ and ‘justice’. A theory of revolution Such is the inc ...

Party states more democratic were resisted by the Soviet leadership in 1968 and today only North Korea, Cuba, China and Vietnam ...

Hunt has argued at some length that this formulation – which nowhere else occurs in Marx’s writing – was put in to appease the m ...