Administrative theory (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of political tactics. Management theory of public administration. There is no single administrative theory, but rather a body of work which seeks to discover the general constraints, incentives, and structures within which administration, particularly administration in governmental or public institutions, is conducted. Source: Christopher Hood, Administrative Analysis (Brighton, 1986) Types of Public Administration

1 Comments

Alienation (19TH CENTURY- )

Variously defined, but principally the positive theory of the German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) and the critical theory of the German political economist Karl Marx (1818-1883) of consciousness in history. Hegel: human history consists of the progressive divisions or alienations of consciousness, whereby complexity and identity are recognized in growing division. Spirit creates its word in

10 Comments

Anarchism (19TH CENTURY- )

Theory advocating society without coercive government. Coercion and authority, of which government is the principal expression, are rejected as incompatible with freedom and autonomy. Society should be held together by voluntary co-operation. Human nature is naturally collaborative and social, and with the removal of all forms of power and authority a natural harmony can emerge or be cultivated. Anarchists have normally

4 Comments

Anarcho-capitalism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of unrestrained pursuit of economic self-interest. Anarcho-capitalism is the advocacy of an extreme blend of anarchism and free-market economics. Unlike anarchism, anarcho-capitalism assumes that individuals will naturally pursue their own self-interest. Unlike more mainstream advocacies of capitalist economics, anarcho-capitalism proposes doing away with government entirely and leaving all the functions normally carried out by the state, including

3 Comments

Anarcha-feminism (20TH CENTURY)

Anarchism extended to take account of the oppression of women. Of all forms of coercion and authority, that based on sex is the most fundamental and the most oppressive. The liberation of women requires the ending of all forms of oppression, but must strike at the root of male oppression or patriarchy, which is both a

2 Comments

Aristocracy

Theory of hierarchy. Originally from the Greek ‘rule by the best’, but now attribution of quality to hereditary elites. In any society there will be a minority of people of superior skill, wisdom, experience and moral fibre. These qualities are likely to be transmitted through families and are thus to all intents and purposes

3 Comments

Aristotelianism (4TH CENTURY BC- )

Theory of politics derived from the work of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC). Humans are naturally political, and the political life of the free citizen in the self-governing state or polisis the highest form of life, the essence of the ‘good life’. Inequalities breed envy which is disruptive of political stability. The best form of constitution is a

4 Comments

Austinianism (19TH CENTURY)

Theory of law expounded by English lawyer John Austin (1790-1859). Law consists of commands issued by a sovereign. It is judged law not because we ought to obey it or because it fulfills any moral criteria, but because it is habitually obeyed. A sovereign, which can be a person or a group, is the

2 Comments

Authoritarianism (20TH CENTURY)

A critical term for despotic regimes. Authoritarianism is characterized by or favoring absolute obedience to authority, as against individual freedom, and expects unquestioning obedience. Authoritarianism is a manner rather than a style of governing, which neither takes seriously nor tolerates the expression of dissenting opinion nor the pursuit of contrary policies. Sometimes used as

Authority

A theory justifying special functions or powers. Persons or institutions have authority if they possess qualities of insight, or experience, or skill which mark them off from others, and which entitle them to make decisions which those others are unqualified to make. Authority may thus justify governing others, or making pronouncements about morals, or

Autocracy

Absolute and arbitrary rule. An autocrat is not constrained by laws or coventions, and autocracy is essentially unpredictable as a form of government. Unlike authority, which implies a right or qualification to command, autocracy indicates no more than untrammelled power. Source: Roger Scruton, A Dictionary of Political Thought (London, 1982) History and etymology Autocracy comes

4 Comments

Backlash theory (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of male counterattack against feminism. Women have made slow and steady, if relatively insubstantial, advances. But in response to this a semi-consciously articulated campaign, or ‘backlash’ has developed in the last quarter of the 20th century to discredit women’s aspirations and to remove their gains, and to do so by any means from propaganda

1 Comments

Bakuninism (19TH CENTURY)

Theory of revolution attributed to and derived from Russian revolutionary exponent of anarchismMichael Bakunin (1814-1876). Human nature is essentially sociable and co-operative. Religion, government and capitalism all distort human nature, and in order to allow it to develop freely and properly, the institutions that distort it must be removed by revolutionary action. Hence ‘the urge to destroy is also

1 Comments

Balance of power (19TH CENTURY)

Theory of international relations. Equality of power between nations is conducive to peace, since it constrains any one nation from engaging in war with another. Thus weak nations may be promoting general stability by arming, but strong nations may destabilize balance by continuing to arm. The theory has in practice justified deeply complex calculations of comparative

1 Comments

Balance of terror (20TH CENTURY)

An aggressive version of balance of power. When nations possess massive destructive weaponry then they are deterred from attacking each other not by the likelihood of effective defence, but by the probability of their own destruction. Source: Roger Scruton, A Dictionary of Political Thought (London, 1983) Plot The USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Kirk, is investigating

2 Comments

Balkanization (20TH CENTURY)

A theory of the fragmentation of states, its name derived from the area of south-eastern Europe. States are broken up into smaller and more numerous units, formally autonomous but so small and so taken up with conflict amongst themselves that they present no threat to their more powerful neighbors. Nations and societies Map of

2 Comments

Bargaining theory (20TH CENTURY)

A theory of politics as negotiation. Politics – particularly the internal politics of government, legislatures, and parties – is usefully seen as a series of negotiations or bargains between groups with differing but not fundamentally incompatible interests. Such a view discounts the likelihood of significant zero-sum situations, and is opposed to conflict theory. Source: Geoffrey Roberts and Alistair

1 Comments

Behavioralism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of politics, particularly prevalent in North America in the third quarter of the 20th century. Social and particularly political life are best studied in a manner analogous to that used in the natural sciences: observation, measurement, calculation. When this is done, regularities or laws of human political behavior will be discovered, which will

1 Comments

Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism (19TH CENTURY- )

Originally developed by English political philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism asserts that actions and institutions should be judged by their contribution to utility, which is measured by calculating the relative contribution to happiness or pleasure, as opposed to pain. The aim of government should thus be ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’.

1 Comments

Billiard ball model (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of international relations. It is not necessary to study the internal politics of nations or governments, since their interactions on the international scene can be understood in terms of the pressures they exercise upon each other, and the responses to those pressures. An application to international politics of behavioralism. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey

1 Comments