Conclusion
One of the questions that interests students of politics is the relationship between
studying politics as an academic discipline and the practice of politics in the world
outside. We thought that it might be useful to tackle this question by way of
concluding this volume.Academic political theory and politics
What makes concepts political is that they respond to conflicts that arise in the
world of practice. Academic political theory should address itself to the kind of
issues that politicians themselves raise, and which are part and parcel of public
debate.
We have already noted, in the discussion about ideologies, the problem of trying
to treat politics in a purely neutral manner as though it was a study of mere
behaviour or an analysis of words. But it does not follow from a critique of what
came to be called ‘apolitical politics’ that academic political theory has no differences
from the kind of political theory which appears in party manifestos and in the
speeches of politicians.
The fact that academic political theory has something in common with the theory
of the publicist and propagandist does not mean that it does not also have something
which is different from everyday discourse. Academic political theorists write for
individuals who are either academically trained or who are anxious to educate
themselves in a systematic and coherent way. Academic political theory is not
primarily geared towards convincing an audience of the ideological correctness of
its position. Its task is to stimulate rather than persuade, so that rhetoric is curtailed
in favour of logic, and sober evidence is offered in place of extravagant emotion.
It is not the task of the academic political theorist to exhort people to undertake a
particular course of action at a particular time and particular place. Although
thinking about a problem is crucial to solving it, this is not the same as actually
organising people to implement a solution.
Academic political theory can and should seek to raise the tone of public political
debate. Good causes can be strengthened by good arguments, while party positions
and publicist writing provide challenging points of reference to make academic
political theory more relevant and useful. There is nothing wrong in Thatcher
making use of Hayek’s work on the free market, even if – and this is a matter of