Revisionism (19th century- )

An adaptation of Marxism, originally associated with the German socialist Eduard Bernstein (1850-1932). Capitalism was not in crisis, and its replacement by socialism was likely to be a matter of peaceful development and adaptation. A British version of this body of ideas is Fabianism. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (1987) Revisionism may refer to:

1 Comments

Revolution

Theory of historical change. In its earlier version, the theory of revolution dealt not with violent or insurrectionary change, but with cycles whereby systems or institutions grew, matured, and declined or collapsed. Its 19th- and 20th-century version is either a view that significant changes in social, political or economic arrangements only occur as a

2 Comments

Rights (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of entitlement to benefit or possession. Either because of natural law or divine or other moral principles, or as a result of actual practice often expressed in positive law, individuals and groups enjoy rights. These are either actual and enforceable entitlements to control over their own persons and over material goods and services (a form of property),

1 Comments

Robert Alan Dahl

Professor Robert Alan Dahl is the Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science and the Senior Research Scientist in Sociology in Yale University. Major works of Robert Dahl – Congress and Foreign Policy – Politics, Economics and Welfare (with C.E. Lindblom) – A Preface to Democratic Theory – Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an

2 Comments

Robert Michels

Born to a wealthy German family, Robert Michels is a sociologist best known for his book Political Parties, which contains a description of the iron law of oligarchy, which states that political parties and other membership organizations inevitably tend toward oligarchy,authoritarianism, and bureaucracy. He moved to Italy, where he became a revolutionary syndicalist. He died in Rome

3 Comments

Rodney Barker

Rodney Barker is a professor of government in London School of Economics. He has published on political thinking in modern Britain, and on the legitimation of governments, subjects, and rebels. His most recent books in these fields are Political Ideas in Modern Britain in and after the Twentieth Century, published by Routledge in 1997,

1 Comments

Rule of law (20TH CENTURY)

A theory most familiarly associated with the English jurist Albert Venn Dicey (1835-1922). People are governed by law rather than capriciously or arbitrarily, when all people including government and its officials are equally subject to law and when people are punishable only for an established breach of law. Source: David Miller et al., eds,

2 Comments

Satyagraha (20TH CENTURY)

A theory of civil disobedience or direct action expounded by the Indian political leader Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869-1948). Peaceful resistance to the policies of government is both politically effective and confronts a state which is inherently violent with an alternative manner of social conduct. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (1987) Origin and

1 Comments

Separation of powers

Constitutional theory principally associated with French political theorist Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755). Liberty and good government are secured by the powers of government being separated amongst distinct, autonomous, but co-ordinated institutions; usually executive, legislature, and judiciary. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (1987) History Aristotle first mentioned the

1 Comments

Separatism (20TH CENTURY)

Radical theory of feminism. Since existing institutions are both shaped in the interests of men and dominated by them, women can only achieve the abolition of gender based oppression by distinctively female and feminist forms of organization and methods of political action. This involves women forming and working within their own institutions for collective action. Source: Maggie

2 Comments

Situationism (20TH CENTURY)

Advocacy of comprehensive revolution. Radical and not always precise proposal for total revolutionary transformation of every aspect of life, beginning with individual experience; much in evidence in France in May 1968. Source: Alan Bullock, Oliver Stallybrass, and Stephen Trombley, eds, The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, 2nd edn (London, 1988) Situationism may also refer to:

1 Comments

Social choice (20th century)

Application of rational choice theory to the provision of welfare services and public goods and the relation between citizens’ preferences and public policy. There are difficulties in rationally translating people’s choices into public policy, as indicated in the impossibility theorem. Social choice is a theory not so much of the translation of individual into collective decisions as

2 Comments

Social contract

Theory of political obligation or authority. The duty to obey government and law, and the right to govern and make law, arises from a contract or agreement either between ruler and ruled, or amongst the ruled. It is not normally suggested that there ever was an actual historical contract, but that it would be reasonable to

1 Comments

Social credit (20TH CENTURY)

A theory of extended and distributed purchasing power. Individuals would be benefited, and the economy stimulated, by the distribution of ‘social credits’. The theory had little impact, and a short life. Source: John L Finlay, Social Credit (London, 1972) Social credit is an interdisciplinary and distributive philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas. It encompasses economics, political science, history, and accounting. Its policies are designed,

1 Comments

Social democracy (19TH CENTURY- )

Theory of democratic socialism. Although social democracy was used to describe 19th century Marxist parties in continental Europe, the phrase established a distinctive, non-Marxist and non-revolutionary meaning after the 1917 Russian Revolution, socialism can and should be achieved by democratic means, thus extending the meaning of democracy from simple political power to include social and economic power exercised by the electorate through

1 Comments

Socialism

Theory of the social nature or aspects of production and of its consequences. Socialism is characterized by enormous variety. It generally involves the argument that economic production has an essential social as distinct from individual element, and that this requires public investment and justifies a public share in and distribution of rewards. Source: David

1 Comments

Socialism in one country (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of revolution associated with the Russian revolutionary and politician Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) and with Stalinism. Against the theory of permanent revolution, it was argued that socialism could and should be built first in one country (the Soviet Union), thus accommodating Marxism to Russian nationalism. Source: David McLellan. Marxism After Marx (London, 1980) Background Further information: Proletarian internationalism, World revolution, and World communism The defeat of several proletarian revolutions in

1 Comments

Sovereignty

Theory of the location of legal power. In any territory there must be a sovereign, in the sense of an institution or person with the power to make ultimate and unchallengable legal decisions. There is much disagreement as to the location and character of sovereignty. Also see: Austinianism Source: David McLellan. Marxism After Marx (London,

1 Comments

Stalinism (20TH CENTURY)

Doctrines and policies associated with the Soviet politician Joseph Stalin (1879-1953). A concentration of repressive power in the hands of a single leader and the ruthless suppression of opposition and dissent, combined with the advocacy of socialism in one country. Less a doctrine espoused by Stalin than a style of politics attributed to him and to other despotic communists. Source: David

9 Comments

State

Central conception of political science. There is no single theory of the state, but the concept of the state either as the institution exercising ultimate legitimate power in a territory, or as the highest expression of the will of the people, has been at the heart of political science and political theory. Source: David

1 Comments