The Past, Present, and Future States of Political Theory

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In The Last Man, Shelley theorized that the breakdown of republican or democratic government would worsen the political conflicts and economic crises that drive contagion.

“Of particular interest to contemporary political science should be The Last Man, in which Shelley theorized how the breakdown of republican or democratic government would exacerbate the political conflicts and economic crises that drive the spread of contagion (Hunt Botting 2021).”

• cites Hunt Botting 2021 sourcePartly supported

  The Introduction (page unavailable) describes wartime political origins of plague, while the section on The Last Man and populism describes democratic erosion and a government failing to distribute necessities as plague reaches London. But the Introduction calls social and economic problems consequences of plague, not economic crises that drive contagion; the paper also describes pandemic stress as exacerbating democratic breakdown, rather than clearly making breakdown the cause of those crises. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Dystopian political science fiction has a special capacity in the current political moment to inspire theoretical work on why liberal constitutional democracies decay and how to stop rising authoritarianism, fascism, racism, and misogyny.

“Dystopian poliscifi thus has a special potential in our political moment to inspire new and compelling theoretical work on why and how liberal constitutional democracies (such as the U.S.) corrode and die, and what might be done to stop rising authoritarianism and fascism, as well as racism and misogyny, in historically liberal egalitarian political systems (Shames and Atchison 2019; Hunt Botting”

• cites Shames and Atchison 2019 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Hunt Botting 2021 sourcePartly supported

  In “Patriarchy, Populism, and Pandemics in Contemporary Feminist Political Science Fiction” (page unavailable), Botting says these fictions can warn against democratic backsliding, patriarchy, and authoritarianism, and calls for further scholarship connecting them to the study of democracy. The paper also discusses racialized exclusion, but the passages found do not address fascism as a distinct threat the fiction could help scholars understand or stop. (LLM, conf=0.84)

  Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

May combine two claims.

The 2021 APSA program contained seventeen mentions of insurrection, fifteen of which referred to January 6th.

“there were seventeen mentions of insurrection, with fifteen referring to the events of January 6th (“APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2021” n.d.)”

• cites “APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2021” n.d.Not matched

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In The Last Man, a pestilence shuts down countries and economies in the 2090s, similar to how SARS-CoV-2 affected the world in early 2020.

“The pestilence shuts down countries and economies in the 2090s, much like SARS-CoV-2 did in early 2020.”

• cites Shelley 2006Not matched

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Over the past two decades, women of all cultures and eras have received greater attention as subjects of study in the history of political thought and normative political theory.

“greater attention to women of all cultures and eras as subjects of study in the history of political thought and normative political theory”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

Over the past two decades, women, especially women of color, have gained increased representation as authors or presenters in major political theory events and journals.

“the increased representation of women, especially women of color, as authors and/or presenters in major events and/or journals”

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Over the past two decades, organized movements have sought to incorporate women and other marginalized groups into political theory and cognate fields.

“organized movements to better incorporate women and other marginalized groups into political theory and cognate fields in the humanities and social sciences, such as philosophy, literature, history, gender studies, and critical race studies”

May combine two claims.

People of color make up 8.7% of Anglo-American political science, while women of all backgrounds are 34.4% of the profession in that part of the discipline.

“people of color are presently only 8.7% of the people in Anglo-American political science, while women of all backgrounds represent only 34.4% of the profession in the Anglo-American part of the discipline (Atchison 2021).”

• cites Atchison 2021Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

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Animal Farm remains part of middle and secondary school curricula as an allegory of the disasters that follow when democracy and liberalism fail to resist authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and fascism.

“Animal Farm continues to be taught in middle and secondary school curricula as a devastating allegory of the disasters that ensue when democracy and liberalism fail to stand up to the machinations of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and fascism.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

Republicans' refusal to forbear from partisan loyalty to Trump suppressed formal public scrutiny of the administration's role in inciting violent insurrection at the Capitol while Congress was in session.

“they squelched formal public scrutiny of the presidential administration’s shocking involvement in stoking violent insurrection at the Capitol while the legislative power was in session”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: After January 6th, Republicans loyal to Trump worked to block the former president's second impeachment from being confirmed by the Senate.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Trump's 2016 election set the stage for additional democratic backsliding in the United States.

“Levitsky and Ziblatt argued that the 2016 election of Trump to the U.S. presidency paved the way for further democratic backsliding in the oldest standing republic with a written constitution (Levitsky and Ziblatt 2018).”

• cites Levitsky and Ziblatt 2018Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

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Several scholars have argued for building intellectual connections between political theory, the history of political thought, and other fields of political science.

“A number of scholars have insisted on building intellectual “corridors” to connect political theory and the history of political thought with the other fields of political science (Armitage 2012b).”

• cites Armitage 2012b sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

The APSA's first division, focused on historical approaches to political thought and philosophy, is most closely linked to Quentin Skinner and the Cambridge School, and also to Leo Strauss and his followers.

“This division of the field is most strongly associated with the work of Quentin Skinner and the “Cambridge School” on the contextually oriented and linguistically attuned approach to tracing the uses and meanings of concepts and ideas in the “history of political thought” and “intellectual history” of the West and increasingly, far beyond it. It is also associated with the competing esoteric”

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George Orwell wrote Animal Farm during the London blitz.

“George Orwell wrote Animal Farm (1945) during the blitz in London.”

• cites Solnit 2021Not matched

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The "rear-view mirror" method of studying political theory and philosophy drives a great deal of work across the wider field.

“This “rear-view mirror” approach to studying political theory and philosophy animates much of the work in the wider field.”

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Trumpian politics weakened the liberal norm of forbearance that had sustained the practical legitimacy of American democracy.

“Levitsky and Ziblatt also contended that the authoritarian tendencies of Trumpian politics broke down a culture of liberal “forebearance” that had underwritten the legitimacy of American democracy in practice (Levitsky and Ziblatt 2018).”

• cites Levitsky and Ziblatt 2018Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

In The Last Man, a fictional global plague nearly destroys the human species, which unleashed it through international war, travel, and trade.

“Her fictional global plague nearly wipes out the human species that unleashed it through international war, travel, and trade (Hunt Botting 2020).”

• cites Hunt Botting 2020 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Other major political science subfields view theory as an instrument for conceptualizing and explaining empirical findings, whereas political theory values theory for its own sake.

“While other dominant fields of the discipline (International Relations, Comparative, American politics and other nation-state centered political studies) tend to treat theory as a tool for conceptualizing and explaining what has been discovered through a rigorous social scientific method for the empirical study of politics, political theory treats theory as valuable in itself.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Using the "rear-view mirror" to understand political theory's past produces a futuristic perspective, since it drives the field in new directions by uncovering fresh topics for scholarship.

“Indeed, looking into the “rear-view mirror” in the present to understand political theory in the past generates a paradoxically futuristic outlook: for it pushes the whole field in new directions by unearthing new topics and issues for contemporary scholarship to tackle.”

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Shelley used her historically and scientifically informed political science fiction to explore futuristic questions about humanity's responsibility for its own creations and disasters.

“Shelley used her historically and scientifically informed poliscifi to explore futuristic questions about humanity’s responsibility for their own creations and disasters.”

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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein imagined using science, medicine, and technology to create human children or humanoid AIs.

“Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) envisioned the use of science, medicine, and technology to make human children or humanoid Ais (Hunt Botting 2020).”

• cites Hunt Botting 2020 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

Political theorists regard their subject as worth studying independently, and composing its intellectual history is a core activity of the modern field.

“Indeed, political theorists tend to think of political theory as worthy of study in its own right: so much so that writing (and rewriting) its intellectual history is a foundational part of the work of the contemporary field”

• cites Strauss and Cropsey 1963; Skinner 1978a, 1978b; Minogue 2000; Brett and Tully 2006; Armitage 2012a; S. B. Smith 2012; Ryan 2012; Whatmore 2016; S. B. Smith 2018; Skinner 2018; Whatmore 2022Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

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Histories of political thought usually split the field into two streams: a theoretical one aimed at understanding empirical politics, and a philosophical one that poses abstract political questions for logical analysis and argument.

“Despite varying timelines, terminologies, and foci, intellectual histories tend to divide the field into two main currents: theoretical, or oriented toward understanding the empirical political world (Minogue 2000; Shapiro et al. 2004), and philosophical, or raising abstract questions about politics for logical analysis and rigorous argumentation, and generating ongoing debate on moral, social,”

• cites Minogue 2000; Shapiro et al. 2004Not matched

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• cites S. B. Smith 2012; Shapiro 2012Not matched

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May combine two claims.

The problem of democracy turning into tyranny because the principles and practices supporting rule by and for the people decay is ancient and was highlighted by Plato and Aristotle.

“This is an ancient problem that Aristotle, and his teacher Plato before him, made prominent in the history of Western political thought, with their famous typologies of how a democracy can evolve into a tyranny due to the decay of the principles and practices that enable rule by and for the people (Plato and Lane 2007; Aristotle 1996).”

• cites Plato and Lane 2007; Aristotle 1996Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based). May combine two claims.

The Trump presidency, patriarchal populism, electoral corruption, and unchecked social media influence have combined to weaken free and fair elections, equal rights protected by legislative government, and peaceful transfers of power.

“the Trump presidency, patriarchal forms of populism, electoral corruption, and the unchecked technological influence of social media have compounded to erode three pillars of modern representative democracy: free and fair elections, protection of equal rights through legislative government, and peaceful transfers of power to newly elected representatives”

May combine two claims.

H.G. Wells's stories such as War of the Worlds and 'The Land Ironclads' came to be regarded as predicting dystopian political futures, including technologies that powered the two world wars.

“His stories like War of the Worlds (1897) and “The Land Ironclads” (1903) quickly came to be seen as predictive of dystopian political futures, including the rise of the technologies—especially “big guns” and “machines” that can “walk”—that motored the two world wars of his lifetime (Hunt Botting 2020).”

• cites Hunt Botting 2020 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Rawls and his followers' defense of liberal egalitarian justice was fundamentally flawed because they built a systematic political philosophy in relative isolation from real-world political contingencies and injustices.

“She shows that Rawls and his followers’ approach to defending a liberal egalitarian theory of justice was fatally flawed by their myopic attempt to construct a systematic political philosophy in relatively abstract isolation from the contingencies and injustices of real-world politics.”

• cites Forrester 2019 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Political theorists do not make sufficient effort to connect intellectually with other fields in political science or with other disciplines.

“we do not try hard enough to intellectually connect with other fields in the discipline or with other disciplines altogether”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

This retrospective method connects analytical, critical, literary, normative, formal, feminist, intersectional, and other approaches because each relies in different ways on established models and methods of reasoning and interpretation from the field's history.

“Such a retrospective method—broadly construed—bridges analytical, critical, literary, normative, formal, feminist, intersectional, and other approaches to political theory in that they all depend in different ways on established models and methods of reasoning and interpretation, drawn from the short- and the long-term history of the field and wider discipline.”

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Robert Dahl developed his theory of polyarchy in conversation with Juan Linz's work on democratic breakdown.

“Robert Dahl developed his theory of the most practicable form of modern democracy as polyarchy (rule by the many, instead of rule by the elite or rule by the whole people) in dialogue with the work of his comparativist colleague Juan Linz on democratic breakdown (Dahl 1989; Linz 1978).”

• cites Dahl 1989Not matched

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• cites Linz 1978 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

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Political theory often fails to reach audiences beyond its own narrow circles.

“Political theory, however, does not always make itself heard beyond its own cottage industries and echo chambers—and this may be its own fault.”

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Wollstonecraft wrote about her French Revolution experiences in political treatises, journalism, history, letters, and novels.

“Wollstonecraft wrote about her experiences of the French Revolution in a variety of genres: the political treatise, journalism, history, letters, and the novel (Wollstonecraft 2014).”

• cites Wollstonecraft 2014Not matched

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If political theory does not confront the urgent problem of democratic backsliding, liberal democratic constitutional protections that secure equal rights may be lost.

“If political theory fails to address this truly urgent problem in our own time, we risk losing the liberal democratic constitutional protections that ensure the equal rights upon which a free society—characterized by freedom of speech, association, thought, academic work, religion, and the press—depends.”

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Atchison's textbook Political Science is for Everybody divides the discipline into three overlapping fields: foundational political theories and philosophies, comparative approaches to politics, and international relations.

“Divided into three main sections, Political Science is for Everybody treats the discipline as having three overlapping fields: foundational political theories and philosophies, comparative approaches to politics, and international relations (Atchison 2021).”

• cites Atchison 2021Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Atchison and her colleagues treat intersectional political theory, grounded in Black feminist work, as foundational to the field alongside ancient works by Plato and Aristotle.

“Atchison and her colleagues highlight intersectional political theory—grounded in the work of Black feminists in the late twentieth century such as bell hooks and Kimberlé Crenshaw (hooks 2014; Crenshaw 2022)—as foundational to the field as ancient works by Plato and Aristotle.”

• cites hooks 2014Not matched

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• cites Crenshaw 2022Not matched

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Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Orwell's wife Eileen O'Shaughnessy Blair suggested the fable form and assisted with editing, and she died before Animal Farm was published from health complications worsened by wartime grief and anxiety.

“his wife Eileen O’Shaughnessy Blair—who proposed the form of a fable and helped him with editing—died before it was published, due to health complications exacerbated by wartime grief and anxiety (Topp 2020).”

• cites Topp 2020Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Without democracy and the equal rights it protects through constitutional law, political theory would have no space to exist.

“For without democracy, and the equal rights it protects through contemporary systems of constitutional law, there will be no space to do political theory at all.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Democracy and the equal rights it protects through constitutional law are worth preserving.

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Intersectionality explains how gender, race, class, and other social statuses combine to produce different experiences of disadvantage for individuals and groups.

“Intersectionality theorizes how gender, race, class, and other social statuses compound to create differing experiences of disadvantage in society for individuals and groups (Crenshaw 2022).”

• cites Crenshaw 2022Not matched

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Orwell rescued the Animal Farm manuscript after a bomb struck his and his wife's apartment.

“He salvaged the manuscript for publication after a bomb hit his and his wife’s apartment (Solnit 2021).”

• cites Solnit 2021Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.