Crisis of political theory : an inquiry into contemporary thought

The state of political theory has been one of the major issues in political thought after the Second World War. While some scholars have claimed that political theory is dying, if not already dead, others have argued that it is flourishing or has at least revived after a temporary decline. In the course of discussing these conflicting views, however, the author points out that any assessment of the state of political theory must take into account the fact that the fundamental assumptions of traditional political theory have been severely criticized in recent years. Though much of the criticism may not be valid, students of politics today have in general rejected the traditional approach and developed new approaches to politics.

A number of scholars believe that these changes have transformed, indeed revolutionized, the study of politics. In this work, the author surveys some of the dominant trends in contemporary political thought-the behavioural approach to politics, analytical political theory, and the history of political ideas and shows that political scientists have not really been able to approach politics meaningfully. In this context, he advances a plea for a return to the approach developed by traditional political theorists.

The traditional approach is, of course, not beyond criticism. Nevertheless, the author argues that contemporary students of politics will find it fruitful to follow the traditional thinkers who wrote in response to the major problems confronting their societies. This would not only enable them to approach politics meaningfully. It would also help in better handling of some of the problems that have troubled contemporary philosophers. For example, there is the much-discussed difficulty of studying questions of value arising from the logical distinction between facts and values. In a Postscript the author offers a solution, based on the traditional approach, to this problem.