A History of Political Theories (Recent Times).William A. Dunning , Charles Edward Merriam , Harry Elmer Barnes

1925 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-104
Author(s):  
John Grierson
Keyword(s):  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of

Reformation, Resistance, and Reason of State (1517-1625)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Mortimer
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Reason Of State ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Ideas

The period 1517–1625 was crucial for the development of political thought. During this time of expanding empires, religious upheaval, and social change, new ideas about the organization and purpose of human communities began to be debated. In particular, there was a concern to understand the political or civil community as bounded, limited in geographical terms and with its own particular structures, characteristics, and history. There was also a growing focus, in the wake of the Reformation, on civil or political authority as distinct from the church or religious authority. To explain these new ideas about political power, the concept of sovereignty began to be used, alongside a new language of reason of state. Yet political theories based upon religion still maintained significant traction, particularly claims for the divine right of kings. In the midst of these developments, the language of natural law became increasingly important as a means of legitimizing political power; natural law provided a rationale for earthly authority that was separate from Christianity and its use enabled new arguments for religious toleration. This book offers a new reading of early modern political thought, drawing on a wide range of sources from Europe and beyond. It makes connections between Christian Europe and the Muslim societies that lay to its south and east, showing the extent to which concerns about the legitimacy of political power were shared. It demonstrates that the history of political thought can both benefit from, and remain distinctive within, the wider field of intellectual history.

Conclusions

2020 ◽  
pp. 249-252
Author(s):  
Marta Celati
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of ◽  
Humanist Tradition ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Ideal

The final section sums up the main innovative findings of this whole study. It points out how starting from the second half of the fifteenth century the development of a ‘thematic genre’ of literature on conspiracies was influenced by, but at the same time contributed to, the phenomenon of the literary fashioning of the profile of the ideal ruler, who now corresponded to the figure of a princeps. This literature also contributed to the creation of a new language and symbology of power through the multifunctional reworking of the classical legacy. This evolution culminated in Machiavelli’s attention to the issue of political plots in this work, with an approach that proves to be partly inspired by the previous cultural horizon, but already prominently projected towards an utterly new conceptual world. This analysis, besides providing a missing chapter on the background of Machiavelli’s work, more generally, underlines the significant contribution made by the humanist tradition, through its various literary expressions, to the development of modern political theories and to the history of our culture.

scholarly journals Beyond Celebrity Politics: Celebrity as Governmentality in China

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402094186
Author(s):  
Zhongxuan Lin ◽  
Yupei Zhao
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Chinese Context ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Chinese Characteristics ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of ◽  
Celebrity Politics

This article investigates the crucial political dimension of celebrity. Specifically, it examines celebrities’ great potential for governmentality in the Chinese context by tracing the history of celebrities in Confucian, Maoist, and post-Maoist governmentalities. It concludes that this type of governmentality, namely, celebrity as governmentality, displays uniquely Chinese characteristics in that it is a set of knowledge, discourses, and techniques used primarily by those who govern. It also highlights the central role of the state as the concrete terrain for the application of this mode of governmentality throughout Chinese history. Finally, it notes the always evolving nature of governmentality, as observed in the phenomena of governing from afar and resistance from below. These findings help us rethink the contingent and diversified nature of the phenomena of celebrity and governmentality and challenge Western norms and political theories that covertly employ them.

A History of American Political Theories

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Edward Merriam ◽  
Sidney A. Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of

Social Theory and National Culture: The Case of British and American Absolute Idealism, 1860–1900

1981 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-274
Author(s):  
David Watson
Keyword(s):  
National Culture ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Absolute Idealism ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of

In this essay, taking as a case study the comparative history of the two groups that gave absolute idealism a leading edge in late nineteenth-century intellectual debate in the United States and Great Britain, I attempt to make a contribution to the recent trend toward the use of sophisticated or “difficult” ideas in comparative analysis (see Moore, 1979). My intentions are twofold: (1) to assist in the clarification of how “social theory” is developed, and (2) to provide an outline of how such comparative cultural analysis can be achieved. After a preliminary discussion of the concept of “social theory” and the component parts into which it can be separated, I proceed to identify the two groups in question, locate their philosophical schemes in the development of contemporary thought, and finally, attempt to demonstrate the value of the approach in an analysis of one aspect of their specifically social and political theories.

Ideology Hunting: The Case of James Harrington

1959 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 662-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith N. Shklar
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
English Civil War ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of

It is well known that each age writes history anew to serve its own purposes and that the history of political ideas is no exception to this rule. The precise nature of these changes in perspective, however, bears investigation. For not only can their study help us to understand the past; it may also lead us to a better understanding of our own intellectual situation. In this quest the political theories of the 17th century and particularly of the English Civil War are especially rewarding. It was in those memorable years that all the major issues of modern political theory were first stated, and with the most perfect clarity. As we have come to reject the optimism of the eighteenth century, and the crude positivism of the nineteenth, we tend more and more to return to our origins in search of a new start. This involves a good deal of reinterpretation, as the intensity with which the writings of Hobbes and Locke, for instance, are being reexamined in England and America testify. These philosophical giants have, however, by the force of their ideas been able to limit the scope of interpretive license. A provocative minor writer, such as Harrington, may for this reason be more revealing. The present study is therefore not only an effort to explain more soundly Harrington's own ideas, but also to treat him as an illustration of the mutations that the art of interpreting political ideas has undergone, and, perhaps to make some suggestions about the problems of writing intellectual history in general.

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