What is the role of political theory in a world of partisan
politics? Various approaches to this long-standing problem
are raised in this stimulating collection of essays. Arlene
Saxonhouse begins the volume by usefully reminding us of
Plato's metaphor of the ship in book 6 of the Republic, in
which self-interested sailors fight over the boat's direction
"while the one who knows how to guide the boat, who can
read the stars, stands aft staring upward and is considered
useless" (p. 19). Similarly in the Assembly, self-interested
rhetoricians may sway the crowd, without any concern for the
pursuit of truth.