Proletarianism

A socialist version of populism. The belief that the working class is both the repository of particular cultural and intellectual virtues, and the only feasible source of political progress under capitalism. More frequently used against those who are alleged to hold this view than as a term of self-description. English Etymology proletarian +‎ -ism; compare proletarism. Pronunciation (Received

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Propaganda by the deed

Theory of political tactics within anarchism. Selectively violent acts against government, by provoking a more violent repressive response, can reveal to people at large the ‘true’ nature of the state as a coercive institution. Such propaganda ‘by the deed’ achieves results which more conventional persuasion cannot. Source: David Miller, Anarchism (London, 1984) Anarchist origins Various

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Property is theft (19th century)

Argument of French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865). In translation the claim is self-contradictory, since without the concept of property ‘theft’ is meaningless. What Proudhon meant was that purely legal ownership without any of the responsibilities which went with it was a theft from those who actually worked the land, or the raw materials, from which the owners profited. Source: George

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Public interest

Critical revision of the theory of interests. More important than an attempt to identify individual or group interests is the identification of the public interest or common good which is shared by members of society as a whole. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (Oxford, 1987) Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho

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Public private divide

Theory underlying much liberal political thought. There is a division between the public world of paid employment and public affairs, and the private world of the household or family. For mainstream liberal theorists, the private world is the arena of free individual choice; for feminist and Marxist critics, the division is a sham which

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Radical feminism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of the primacy of sexual division and oppression in human society. The most widely found division of advantage, power, and material well-being is between men and women. This system of oppression, termed patriarchy, is not derived from other systems such as capitalism but is distinct from them. In consequence, women should organize on their own

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Radicalism

Theory that political action must aim at fundamental change. It is necessary to identify the root (radix) of current institutions and practices in order to begin afresh on superior foundations. Although radicalism is normally opposed to conservatism, the policies and theories of the new right appeared to unite both, to the frequent consternation of both enemies and

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Raison d’etat

Justification of overriding state power. There are circumstances when the need to ensure the security or well-being of the state or the nation justifies governments ignoring the normal considerations of law or morality. Source: David Robertson, The Penguin Dictionary of Politics (London, 1986) History Prior to reformations that swept 16th century Europe, national interest was often understood as secondary to

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Rational choice (20TH CENTURY)

Theory underlying public choice analysis. The behavior of individuals, groups and institutions can be understood as a series of rational choices designed, in an analogy with economics, to maximize their utility. Source: Patrick Dunleavy, Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice (London, 1991) Rational choice theory, also known as theory of rational choice, choice theory or rational action theory, is a framework

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Realism

View of international relations as the pursuit of interests. States pursue their own security and prosperity in international relations, whatever their apparent aims, alliances or moral claims. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of World Politics (Hemel Hempstead, 1990) Realism was an artistic movement that emerged in France in the 1840s, around the 1848 Revolution.[1] Realists

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Relative autonomy

Account of modern state found within recent Marxism employed by the Greek theorist Nicos Poulantzas (1936-1979). States work within the limits set by the socio-economic structures within which they operate and which they function to sustain. Their autonomy is thus relative to this overall constraint. Source: Tom Bottomore, A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, 2nd edn (Oxford, 1991) Sociology In the sociology

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Representation

Theory of political participation in complex, large, or modern societies. The only way in which most people can participate in the government of their societies is by being represented by a relatively small number of people who will in some sense act on their behalf. There is disagreement about the most appropriate way in

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Republicanism

Theory of government by citizens. In a republic – which is not necessarily presidential – government is in the hands of citizens, or of those accountable to them rather than in the control of a monarch or despot. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (Oxford, 1987) Historical development

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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:

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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

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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),

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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,

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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

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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

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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

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