significiant contribution Political theory
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This article will present the impact that political theory has made and the opportunities for future contributions. It will consider the contributions made by leading political theorists to policy debates, the lessons learned from their successes, and how political theorists might further pursue existing and new opportunities to develop impact. The discussion will close with consideration of several potential threats that theorists should become more aware of in order to best avoid them. The growing importance of impact in British higher education policy represents important challenges that may help promote the field of political theory. Political theorists should welcome these developments.
Keywords higher education, impact, political thought, public policy, stakeholding
A common misperception is that the so-called ‘impact agenda’ in British higher education is a major problem for colleagues working in the sub-field of political theory. The concern is that political theory is by its nature abstract and often thought to be substantially impractical. Political theorists more readily apply themselves to the consideration of ideas, but not always their relation to practice. The problem is that it has become more common to require evidence of research impact in funding applications and research assessments of departments. Political theorists are disadvantaged by this development and the impact agenda may threaten its future.
This view rests on a deep misunderstanding about the relation between ideas and practices. Political theorists should welcome the impact agenda not least because the sub-field should benefit from the impact that political theory may – and often does –possess. I offer a defence of political theory and its impact in this contribution. I will argue that the primary obstacle for political theorists is overcoming scepticism about the kind of impact theorists may offer. The issue is not about whether political theorists create impact, but rather the kinds of impact we should expect from political theorists.
A Chequered Past?
It is curious that any misperception about the impact of political theory has taken hold given the long history of impact-rich political engagement by theorists over the centuries. Examples abound. Several political theorists from antiquity had influence that many today might only dream of. Consider Aristotle and his pupil Alexander the Great with his later empire or Seneca and Imperial Rome with its powerful legacy. We owe much today to these figures from antiquity, but the influence of political theorists continues in modern history, too. For example, John Locke's (2004)Second Treatise of Government had a particularly profound impact on the founders of the United States, such as Thomas Jefferson, and became a cornerstone for much natural rights jurisprudence. Or consider Immanuel Kant's.
Explanation:
It is curious that any misperception about the impact of political theory has taken hold given the long history of impact-rich political engagement by theorists over the centuries. Examples abound. Several political theorists from antiquity had influence that many today might only dream of.