The Dialectical Liberalism of Richard Hofstadter

This essay examines Richard Hofstadter’s The American Political Tradition, alongside some of his unpublished writings from the 1940s, in order to reassess his contributions to the history of American political culture and thought. After exploring some of the implications of Hofstadter’s critical analysis of mid-century liberalism, the essay then considers how we might bring his insights into the present.     

Aristocratic and Confederate Republicanism in Hamiltonian Thought and Practice

This article identifies and explores the presence of republicanthought in the intellectual and policy writings of AlexanderHamilton, particularly as it applied to his theoretical understandingof the American executive branch. The article moves chronothematically,highlighting, through the Revolutionary, Constitutional, andGovernmental periods of American political development, Hamilton'sunique sense of republicanism with respect to internationaland domestic politics, as well as American political economy.The article not only attempts to demonstrate Hamilton's intellectualadherence to the republican tradition, but also his commitmentto rhetorically applying the ideology to the realization ofpractical executive policy goals.     

William Friedman's Bletchley park diary: A new source for the history of Anglo-American intelligence cooperation

The great American cryptologist William F. Friedman along with two other colleagues visited Bletchley Park and other British code-breaking facilities in the spring of 1943. A recently discovered diary that Friedman kept while in the UK gives a meticulous account of his activities during the mission. the diary sheds light on the role Friedman and his colleagues played in negotiating the 1943 Travis–Strong agreement between the United States and Great Britain and helps resolve problems with the dating of that agreement. The diary gives Friedman's mid-war assessment of the British codebreaking effort. The diary also gives a portrait of Friedman himself as none of his other writings do.     

Strauss and 'Straussianism': From the Ancients to the Moderns?

Do scholars inspired by Leo Strauss adhere to, or diverge from, his teachings as they contribute to turn of the twenty-first-century American conservative thought and new conceptions of the American political executive and constitutional order? Analyzing Strauss' view of the twofold task of political philosophy, as well as his position that modern political philosophy inexorably leads to philosophic and moral crises, the scaffolding of Strauss' political outlook – and the dimensions of its contemporary relevance – will begin to take shape. Turning to the writings on America by many of Strauss' most notable students, we discover that most of them point back to the admittedly liberal theories of John Locke and the American founders as the starting point for defining a new conservative outlook that will address the problems of modernity. We are thus confronted by a quandary. How can an important current of Strauss-inspired scholarship put forth that the theories of Locke and the American founders provide the foundation for addressing a crisis that Strauss states is rooted in that very modernity? We will discover that the thought of Strauss and an important strand of Straussianism are not the same, because Strauss-inspired scholarship on America adheres to only a facet of Strauss' two-pronged political philosophy. Strauss, however, cannot disavow responsibility for these students and followers, who embrace an important current of his thinking.     

The paradox of deinstitutionalization

Previously he taught at Clark University. He has received grants from the National Endowment for Humanities and the National Institutes of Health. Among his writings are Workers and Utopia, The State and the Mentally Ill, Mental Institutions in America, Mental Illness and American Society, From Asylum to Community,and The Mad Among Us.     

Richard Weaver's Untraditional Case for Federalism

Although Richard M. Weaver's political writings do not offera systematic examination of federalism, they include a defenseof federalist arrangements. Because Weaver's federalism is centralto his conservatism, and because his argument for federalismdiffers from more common conservative defenses of federalismoffered in the twentieth century, his writings allow studentsof federalism to examine possible connections between federalismand conservative political thought.     

The Problems of Europocentrism and Evolutionism in Marx's Writings on Colonialism

This paper examines the extent to which Marx's thinking on colonialism was Europocentric and evolutionist and the criticisms levelled against him. By examining relevant aspects of Marx's work, we can define more clearly his true ideas on colonialism and sort out the arguments of his critics. The paper discusses Marx and Engels's writings on colonialism for The New York Daily Tribune (1851–62) and examines four theoretical responses to these writings. The conclusion suggests that although Marx's writings on colonialism suffer from a specifically Europocentric bias, this alters but does not negate the overall applicability of Marx's ideas to the third world.     

Woodrow Wilson’s Administrative Thought and German Political Theory

To what extent were Woodrow Wilson’s ideas about public administration informed by German organic political theory? Drawing on the writings of Wilson, Lorenz von Stein, and Johann K. Bluntschli on public administration, and comparing American and German primary sources, the author offers insights into Wilson’s general concept of public administration, as well as his understanding of the politics–administration dichotomy. With regard to current administrative research, this study underscores how the transfer of ideas profoundly contributes to advancing comparative public administration and helps clarify terminological difficulties and conflicting perspectives among diverse administrative science traditions.     

Castoriadis and the Project of Autonomy. A Review of The Imaginary Institution of Society

This paper examines the concepts of individual and social autonomy in Castoriadis' writings and then moves on to discuss the 'dichotomy' between his early and later works in relation to Castoriadis' major work The Imaginary Institution of Society , which is discussed in some depth. This discussion is focused as much as possible on the political content of Castoriadis' thinking, with more weight being given to the philosophical concepts Castoriadis himself introduced. Finally, the way in which Castoriadis' philosophical work has been received is examined with reference to both the distorting way in which post-modernists treat his writings, but also the significance his work may have for a new liberatory project (like the Inclusive Democracy project).     

Local E‐Government in the United States: Transformation or Incremental Change?

In this article, the authors address the recent trajectory of local e‐government in the United States and compare it with the predictions of early e‐government writings, using empirical data from two nationwide surveys of e‐government among American local governments. The authors find that local e‐government has not produced the results that those writings predicted. Instead, its development has largely been incremental, and local e‐government is mainly about delivering information and services online, followed by a few transactions and limited interactivity. Local e‐government is also mainly one way, from government to citizens, and there is little or no evidence that it is transformative in any way. This disparity between early predictions and actual results is partly attributable to the incremental nature of American public administration. Other reasons include a lack of attention by early writers to the history of information technology in government and the influence of technological determinism on those writings.     

Bradley J. Birzer, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Russell Kirk: American Conservative</Emphasis>

Bradley Birzer’s Russell Kirk: American Conservative is a readable, yet erudite account of a figure all too forgotten today. Tracing his early life and career through its many twists and turns, the reader learns a great deal about the state of letters in the mid-twentieth century.     

Steger on Engels — a Brief Comment

Manfred Steger argues that properly to evaluate the last writings of Friedrich Engels, theorists must situate his work historically. With such a perspective, the tensions in his last major political work (what has come to be known as his 'testament') are easily explained. Engels was trying to preserve his revolutionary principles while outlining policies appropriate to a non-revolutionary situation. That tension was resolved in a positive direction, according to Steger, by Eduard Bernstein who discarded the revolutionary husk to preserve the liberal, reformist and realistic kernel. This article argues that Steger, while right to situate Engels' writings in their historical context, misjudges the subsequent history of Germany. This history, far from vindicating Bernstein's revisionism, provides stunning confirmation of Engels' revolutionary socialism.     

Michael Leifer and the balance of power

Abstract

In the work of the late Professor Michael Leifer few concepts are invoked more often than the balance of power. It was due to his reliance on this concept that Michael Leifer came to be widely regarded as an exponent of realism and an advocate of countervailing balance of power practices. By reviewing Leifer's own writings, this article not only re-examines the now almost standard interpretation of his work, but also investigates the significance of the balance of power in his scholarship in new ways. The first section identifies the two key meanings Leifer explicitly imputed to the balance of power. It also examines Leifer's arguments relative to what he perceived as changes in the balance of power. This will be done with reference to his analyses of the international politics of Southeast and East Asia in the Cold War and post-Cold War period. The second section extends the discussion on the particularities of Leifer's writings on the balance of power, but relates it specifically to the question of what Leifer's writings suggest about his theoretical home. His ability to demonstrate the significance of the balance of power as a political factor in the foreign policies of individual Southeast Asian states is the focus of the third section. Finally, the article builds on Leifer's empirical writings on the importance of psychological factors in relation to the balance of power as policy to take up theoretically important questions that he himself did not pursue, particularly about the extent to which the balance of power is the product of struggles for security and recognition. The article draws three conclusions. First, Leifer should be thought of not as a diehard advocate of conventional balance of power practices, but rather as a scholar broadly working within English School parameters who was deeply wedded to the idea that the balance of power is necessary to uphold regional order in international society in the context of the rise of a potentially hegemonic power. Second, one of the finest aspects of Leifer's scholarly legacy is to be found in his discussion of the balance of power factor in the foreign policies of Southeast Asian states. Third, Leifer should also be an inspiration to those interested in empirical work underlining the importance of struggles for recognition in the formation and practice of the balance of power.     

Virtue,Interest, and Works in American Foreign Policy

Three questions shape American foreign policy: Is it right? Is it in the national interest? And does it work? “Right” is defined by the American ethos, sometimes called the civil religion. Self-interest and pragmatism characterize the other two elements. The interplay among these factors may be found most clearly in presidential rhetoric. After examining Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and Ronald Reagan, the article finds that while effective presidents have invoked a religiously based virtue, U.S. foreign policy itself tended to avoid religious issues. In contrast, President George W. Bush has relied on the American civil religion to combat Islamism. But his rhetoric “stretches too far” on democratic virtue at the expense of national interest and pragmatism. The article concludes that the U.S. civil religion, although based on theological ideas, does not travel well.     

Beyond Heterodoxy: Dwight Waldo and the Politics–Administration Dichotomy

Dwight Waldo (1913–2000) is commonly known as a “heterodox” critic of the dichotomy between politics and administration. But is this reputation supported by his writings? It seems to be primarily based on The Administrative State (1948) and other early publications, in which he conceptualized politics/administration narrowly as deciding/executing and, indeed, sharply criticized it. Waldo’s later publications, by contrast, offer much broader conceptualizations and a more ambivalent, even positive appraisal of the dichotomy. Such conceptualizations are also found in an important unpublished book Waldo worked on during several phases of his career. On the basis of these published and unpublished writings, we should reconsider Waldo’s reputation and, pursuing his line of reasoning, reconceptualize the politics–administration dichotomy as a layered construct and reappreciate it as a constitutional doctrine.     

E. P. Thompson: Last of the English Radicals?

Historian, activist and campaigner Edward Thompson is seen as an exemplar of an English radicalism which some see as a lineage with which the contemporary Labour party might fruitfully reconnect. This article examines how Thompson himself understood and characterised the ‘English radical idiom’ and traces his use and then abandonment of this idea in the middle years of his career. It offers some wider reflections about what the insights and lessons associated with his historical writings and reflections on the distinctive nature of English cultural and social thought.     

王维对于“廉”的认知与践行

王维是盛唐之音的代表,被誉为“天下文宗”、“名高希代”的“高人”。“高人”之称谓,与其清廉的道德操行密切相关。其诗文因避讳而不涉“廉”字,故历来对于二者的关联缺乏必要的探讨。实际上王维对“廉”有着深刻的观念认识和丰富的精神感悟,无论是自身行事时所彰显的廉者之风,还是在为人纪功颂德的碑铭中所反映的廉政思想,都表现出“廉”的价值标准。无论源自佛禅之信仰,抑或自然之趣尚,甚而忏悔之愿望,王维都践行着自身对于“廉”的体认。     

Strong Poets and Utopia: Rorty's Liberalism, Dewey and Democracy

Richard Rorty is one of the most controversial philosophers today. He argues, among other things, that philosophy should be replaced by literary writing and that it has nothing to say to politics. Yet his own more recent writing has been more and more about political issues. This article focuses upon the inconsistency of his politics with the philosophical influence which he has consistently identified as the strongest on his writings; that of John Dewey. At the root of this incompatibility lies the failure of his theoretical project to carry over his synthesis between Deweyan pragmatism and Nietzschean poststructuralism into the realm of politics.     

Has modernity killed objectivity?

Among his writings are Searching for Safety; Risk and Culture; Speaking Truth to Power;and The Beleaguered Presidency.     

Hobbes and the prophet Samuel on leviathan government

Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan is one of the most important treatises in the history of political economy and has influenced writings on constitutional economics and public choice. In his treatise, Hobbes proposed the desirability of voluntary subjugation to an authoritarian ruler. Hobbes appealed to the authority of the prophet Samuel to make his case for Leviathan, a precedent that has remained unquestioned for some 350 years. Yet Samuel clearly warned against the dangers of appointing an all-powerful king. Hobbes’s argument in favor of Leviathan thus demands an authority other than Samuel.