Communalism

Advocacy of communes. There is a positive value in individuals cooperating with each other in small groups, rather than relying on individual effort. Communalism differs from collectivism in that it values groups small enough for all members to be familiar with one another; and in seeing the benefits of co-operation as consisting as much in social

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Communism

Theory of ideal society. The management of material resources should be a common enterprise of the whole society. A communist society would be characterized by the absence of private property, classes based on economic possession, or any form of state. The term was loosely and strictly nonsensically applied to the state socialist regimes of Eastern Europe

Communitarism (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of democracy. Because of the large number of voters in modern democracies, elections provide a greatly diluted form of political participation. Representative, indirect politics – with voters meeting and discussing and choosing at local level – achieves some of the involvement in a political community which otherwise would be lost. Source: Anne Phillips, Engendering

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Complex interdepence (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of international politics. Nations are involved in a complex network of interdependence such that states are not necessarily the appropriate unit of analysis. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of World Politics (Hemel Hempstead, 1990) History of the term The term “complex interdependence” was claimed by Raymond Leslie Buell in 1925

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Conflict theory

Theory of politics as moderated antagonism. Politics is best seen as competition or conflict over resources, power, or prestige. The term covers a wide range of theories, amongst which, appropriately, there is no agreement, but of which Marxism is the most familiar. Also see: dialectical materialism Source: Alan Bullock, Oliver Stallybrass, and Stephen Trombley, eds, The Fontana Dictionary

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Consciousness-raising (20TH CENTURY)

Feminist theory of understanding. Women’s understanding of their social and political situation is achieved by group discussion in which personal experience is related and re-assessed. Individual experience is thus shown to be both typical (rather than isolated or abnormal), and a basis for wider social and political action and understanding. Source: Maggie Humm, The

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Consent

Theory of basis of political obligation. The sole justification for enforcing laws is if those against whom they are enforced have consented to the general arrangements in which the laws are drawn up. Thus the consent of the governed is the only thing that can legitimate a system of government. There is disagreement about

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Conservatism (19TH CENTURY- )

Political theory based on tradition. The institutions of human society and government have evolved slowly and survive because they have stood the test of time. Social life is thus formed by processes beyond the rational comprehension of any single person. The principle virtue is thus caution, in not seeking ambitiously to go beyond the

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Conservative paradox (1991)

Theory of government described by English political scientist Rodney Barker (1942- ). Conservatives, and others, assume that those whom they govern but who are in revolt or rebellion or are otherwise disaffected, share the same values and beliefs as their rulers. Therefore, like naughty children who accept the values of their parents, they will be not

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Conspiracy

Theory of political power. In many or all social and political situations, there is a small group of people who deliberately, in concert, and in secret pursue an objective of their own. They do so under cover of the ostensible constitution or political arrangements. Conspiracy theory has variously identified communists, Jews, the secret service,

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Constitutionalism

Theory of government limited by law. Constitutions, either in the form of written law or established convention, can provide a framework within which government should operate, and by which it can be prevented from despotic conduct or the infringement of rights. The theory of constitutionalism has much in common with that of the rule of law.

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Constructive apathy (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of the political inaction of the majority in democracies, developed by American political scientists in the second half of the 20th century. Only a small number, an elite, are politically active in democracies. Any great degree of activism on the part of the masses would be destabilizing, and subversive of democracy. Therefore the political apathy of

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Contingency theory

A skeptical theory of politics and history. Any historical situation or set of political events is as likely to be shaped by particular circumstances – contingencies – as by any general structures, rules, or frameworks. Understanding thus depends as much on looking at the peculiarities of the case as at the general conditions in

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Crisis management (20TH CENTURY)

Attempted general account of strategy in international conflict. A middle way requires to be found between total intransigence and surrender. Source: Graham Evans and Jeffrey Newnham, The Dictionary of World Politics (Hemel Hempstead, 1990) Introduction Crisis management is a situation-based management system that includes clear roles and responsibilities and process related organisational requirements company-wide.

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Crisis theory (20TH CENTURY)

Any theory which sees history or political events making their most significant advances through crises. Crises may be of many kinds: crisis of capitalism, legitimacy crisis, crisis of confidence amongst rulers, or of faith or support amongst subjects. Source: James O’Connor, The Meaning of Crisis (Oxford, 1987) Crisis theory, concerning the causes[1] and consequences of the tendency for

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Critical theory (20TH CENTURY)

An academic development of Marxism. Critical theory was developed in Germany and then America in the 1930s by the ‘Frankfurt School’. It stressed cultural and intellectual developments in place of the more traditional Marxist concern with the economy and with class. Critical theory (also capitalized as “Critical Theory” to distinguish the school of thought from a theory that

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Cybernetics (20TH CENTURY)

Application of mechanical and scientific models for the understanding of political life. The manner in which political systems and institutions co-ordinate and control their own actions can be explained principally in terms of their internal ‘mechanisms’, and their actions understood principally in terms of these internal processes, rather than by reference to outside pressures

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Decision making theory (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of politics as rational. Government and politics can be treated as a series of decisions taken by persons and institutions who make rational decisions, or who act as if they made rational decisions, in the light of their interests and the circumstances in which they operate. Source: Patrick Dunleavy, Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice (Hemel

Decline of the west (1918)

Historical theory of German writer Oswald Spengler (1880-1936). A version of cyclical theory which presents civilizations as having ‘seasons’, and Western Europe as entering its ‘winter’ in the 20th century, with predictions of war and despotic leadership. Source: David Miller et al., eds, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (Oxford, 1987) General context Spengler relates that

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Deference (20TH CENTURY)

Theory of political order, and of voting. In obeying laws and rulers, people are moved by ‘deference’ to those whom they regard as in some often unspecified sense their superiors. Similar attitudes explain the support given to conservative and right wing parties by voters who it might be argued would benefit from redistributive or

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