Communal Democracy and Liberal Democracy: An Outside Friend's Look at the Swiss Political Tradition

This article offers a brief overview of the history of Swisscommunal liberty. The author traces the development of key conceptsand practices, especially the use of covenant, that were employedto strengthen and expand the federation. The author then explainshow the cultural background of the peoples that settled Switzerlandcontributed to the formation of the polity. In a comparativeanalysis between liberal democracy and communal democracy, theauthor notes that the struggle to synthesize the conflict betweenthe theories and practices of these two forms of democracy hasbeen at the heart of Swiss politics for the last 200 years.     

Two Cheers for Interpretivism: Deconstructing the British Political Tradition

This article engages with Bevir and Rhodes' version of interpretivism from a critical realist perspective. It argues that they are misguided to equate path‐dependency with path‐determinancy. Instead, we argue that there are three path‐dependencies, institutional, discursive and political‐economic, which constrain without determining the actions of agents and thus effect political outcomes. The argument is illustrated through a brief consideration of the operation of the British Political Tradition.     

Inside Moves and Outside Views: An Australian Case Study of Elite and Public Perceptions of Political Corruption

The search for a definition of political corruption that adequately captures the nuances of governmental activity has been a long one. This article defends social or attitudinal definitions of corruption against some recent criticisms. It examines the value of Arnold Heidenheimer's widely cited distinctions among "black,""gray," and "white" corruption using empirical evidence from an interview study of over 100 Australian politicians and 500 voters. The results show that the broad dimensions of corruption — the official, the donor, the payoff, and the favor — identified by John Peters and Susan Welch affect the views of both politicians and voters alike.
Nonetheless, elites and the public come to judgments from different perspectives, and they judge some acts differently. Put another way, some corruption is gray. Politicians judge actions more subtly than do voters, who are more likely to see corruption in all acts. As Michael Johnston has suggested, the different experiences of political insiders and outsiders explain this disparity in their moral outlooks. Insiders are socialized to see at least some actions as functional and therefore not corrupt. Outsiders, unaware of the insiders' rules, tend to judge political action by moral absolutes. Thus the structure of liberal democratic government contributes to conflicting elite and public views of political right and wrong.     

Hegel's Plato: The Owl of Minerva and a Fading Political Tradition

The strengths and weaknesses of Hegel's interpretation of Plato's political philosophy are shown to derive from Hegel's own philosophical premisses, namely the progressive, historical development of freedom and the dependence of political philosophy upon an actual political tradition. Hegel's historicism is seen as enabling him to recognize the Republic 's reflection of traditional practice in the priority it assigns to the ideals of social harmony and community. The innovative radicalism and artistic suggestiveness of the Republic , however, are denied in Hegel's interpretation of it as a systematic reconstruction of a fading political tradition. This critical analysis of Hegel's Plato both evaluates Plato's political philosophy and assesses the explanatory power of Hegel's system.     

一个学科、两种传统和三个方法论层面

公共管理学科在我国兴起的时间并不长,其发展还处于库恩所说的"范式前阶段"。但是,散布在其他学科,与公共管理学科紧密相关的,或者说本来就应归属于公共管理学科的教学和科研活动却并不逊于其他学科。在我国改革不断向纵深发展、社会急剧转型的今天,公共管理的教育与科研活动势必要面对社会需求,把自身作为一个学科来建设,并且需要加快建设步伐,才能够走向成熟。而如何把公共管理学科建设好,是"业内"人士必须予以关注的问题。为此,在学报2006年1月召开编委会年会之际,我们和与会的专家学者商定,以笔谈的方式开设公共管理学科建设专栏,大家各抒己见,以期引起反响。在此,我们诚邀对此论题感兴趣的同道学人赐稿,为公共管理学科建设献智献力。     

Neoliberalism,Nationalism and the Decline of Political Traditions

The three great Western political traditions (conservatism, liberalism, social democracy) incorporate three of the four possible combinations of the core political axes: traditional, unchanging authority versus the challenge of change, and egalitarianism versus inegalitarianism. The fourth possibility—egalitarian conservatism—has appeared in various guises, but has usually become submerged within the right, including its most authoritarian forms. Current xenophobic movements claiming to represent those suffering from excessive change—for example, those involved in the UK 's EU referendum and Donald Trump's victory in the USA —are seeing an apparent resurgence of this neglected tradition. What are its implications for politics in general?     

政治学的双重分野——政治科学与政治哲学的概念辨析

政治科学和政治哲学是政治学研究方法的双重分野,是同一对象不同的研究视角.政治科学和政治哲学的使用都是有条件的,因此把政治哲学与政治科学进行错位思考是危险的.处于"多重转型"期的中国政治学研究需要处理好政治学、政治科学与政治哲学等问题,从而科学地确立中国特色的政治学理论体系.     

“美”:一种政治哲学解读

价值是政治哲学的主题."美"作为政治哲学不可或缺的价值向度,是人类精神层面表现出来的与直观、情感相联系而又超越直观、情感的政治认知能力和政治实践能力."美"根源于人的存在,人的存在的双重生命构成了对"美"进行政治哲学诠释的逻辑基础;"美"在与政治理性的合理性张力关系中,确立其空间存在和功能定位;"美"在与政治道德的合理性张力关系中,确立其形式存在和功能定位;"美"在与政治自由的合理性张力关系中,彰显其现实存在的必要性和未来发展指向性.     

Re-centring British Government: Beliefs, Traditions and Dilemmas in Political Science

Bevir and Rhodes have offered a useful addition to the tools of political scientists by developing an interpretivist approach to political science. Interpretation is a crucial mechanism for understanding the social world but one that has been underused in political analysis. This article welcomes Bevir and Rhodes' emphasis on interpretivism but suggests that there are a number of problems in the way they use the approach. In particular: they use a narrow definition of interpretivism; they caricature the nature of existing work in political science; the concept of tradition does too much work; and they pay insufficient attention to power and power relations.     

Political Philosophy and Empowering Citizens

This paper defends the idea of empowering citizens by means of teaching them political philosophy. First, I explain and define empowerment as an experience leading to the development of critical and philosophical capabilities. Several challenges to using philosophy to empower citizens are then discussed and rejected. This group of challenges is called the 'divorce theory', because, according to them, philosophy and politics should be distinguished, as if divorced from each other, so that they can live happily side by side, but not together. Finally, empowerment is normatively defended and distinguished from paternalism, and examine the relationships between empowerment through political philosophy and deliberative democracy.     

对公共政策制定的政治哲学思考

公共政策制定是社会政治生活中公共决策系统的经常性活动。在现代社会,由于公共政策的巨大作用和影响,公共政策制定问题引起了广泛的关注。从政治哲学的角度审视,以公意为价值取向、以政治权力为基本依托,以政治秩序为最终归宿,才能建立起人民期待的合理、公正、有效的公共政策,从而进一步推进决策的科学化、民主化。     

政治哲学与行政哲学的比较分析--从另一种角度探讨行政哲学

政治决定行政,行政是整个政治过程的一个有机组成部分.政治哲学是对政治生活的哲学反思,行政哲学是对行政生活的哲学反思,政治与行政之间的有机联系必然会在政治哲学与行政哲学之间的关系中体现出来.因此,比较政治哲学与行政哲学之间的异同点,并借鉴理论形态已经相当成熟的政治哲学在研究对象、研究内容、研究方向、研究方法等方面的经验,对处于初创时期的行政哲学的发展具有重要的推动作用.     

Between Psychoanalysis and Political Philosophy: Towards a Critical Theory of Political Myth

Abstract

This paper focuses on a specific aspect of political imaginaries: political myth. What are political myths? What role do they play within today's commoditized political imaginaries? What are the conditions for setting up a critique of them? We will address these questions, by putting forward a theory of political myth which situates itself between psycho analysis and political philosophy, in line with the tradition of critical theory that many still associate with the name of the Frankfurt School. We will first discuss the notion of political myth by illustrating the contribution of both disciplines to its understanding and then, through a discussion of the notion of social unconscious, we will apply this analysis to a contemporary example of political myth, that of a clash of civilizations.     

Outsiders Inside and Insiders Outside: Linking Transnational and Domestic Public Action for Human Rights

Human Rights Review - “Is the traditional divide between domestic and international politics breaking down?” and, if so, with what effects on transnational human rights activism? This...