II Political Thinkers and Ideas Penseurs et Idées Politiques
| DOI | 10.1177/002083451806800202 |
| Date | 01 April 2018 |
| Published date | 01 April 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Abstracts |
192
II
POLITICAL THINKERS AND IDEAS
PENSEURS ET IDÉES POLITIQUES
68.1917 ANGELI, Oliviero — Global constitutionalism and consti-
tutional imagination. Global Constitutionalism 6(3), Nov.
2017 : 359-376.
There is a difference between the normative reasons for endorsing
global constitutionalism and the conditions determining its emergence.
This article addresses the latter issue. Specifically, the article claims that
global constitutionalism rests on an underexplored shift in constitutional
imagination. To account for this claim, the article is structured in several
parts. It begins by clarifying the meaning of "constitutional imagination".
In so doing it builds on Kant’s concept of imagination ("Einbildungskraft")
and in its reception by H. Arendt. The article then illustrates the signifi-
cance of constitutional imagination by focusing on two major develop-
ments in constitutional thinking. The first development involves the shift
away from a narrative reconstruction of constitutional authority; the
second points to a cosmopolitanization of constitutional imagination. [R]
68.1918 AVGOUSTI, Andreas — A text for the city: Plato’s Menex-
enus and the legacy of Pericles. Polity 50(1), Jan. 2018 :
72-100.
Many readers have been reluctant to take Plato’s Menexenus as evi-
dence for its author’s fruitful engagement with the institution of the
funeral oration and have overlooked the value of the dialogue for Plato’s
political thought. In contrast, I argue that in the Menexenus, Plato theo-
rizes the Athenian regime (politeia) as an intergenerational multitude to
which reputation is key. I draw attention to the conversation between
Menexenus and Socrates, two men who stand for different generations
of Athenians. Socrates is skeptical about whether Menexenus is suffi-
ciently civic-minded in his eagerness for the ancestral custom of the
funeral oration, and, to Menexenus’s irritation, belittles the skills requ ired
to give such a speech. The funeral oration in the dialogue addresses the
tension between Menexenus and Socrates by casting the city as a
ground upon which the generations can meet. [R, abr.]
68.1919 BADILLO O'FARRELL, Pablo — Oakeshott o la filosofía
política de un caballero escéptico (Oakeshott, or the po-
litical philosophy of a skeptical gentleman). Revista de
Estudios políticos 178, Oct.-Dec. 2017 : 47-69.
This article analyses three major aspects of the English author Michael
Oakeshott’s thinking. First, we study the relation between philosophy and
politics, along with the possibility of finding a concept of political philoso-
phy in his work, since he always considered relations between the two
spheres to be problematic. Second, we analyze his skeptical attitude
towards politics, an attitude contrary to those positions that maintained
confidence and certainty regarding the attainment of a goal or an end,
displaying an attitude comparable to followers of the postulates of a
religious faith. Finally, we consider how this skeptical position became
identified with the behavioral parameters he considered appropriate for a
gentleman. [R]
68.1920 BANERJEE, Kiran ; SINGER, Abraham — Race and the
meso-level sources of domination. Political Research
Quarterly 71(1), March 2018 : 215-227.
This paper contributes to recent debates over the place of race in liberal
theory, and the work of John Rawls in particular. Controversy has cen-
tered on whether Rawls’s broader philosophical approach is capable of
addressing racial injustice, and if not, precisely why the Rawlsian frame-
work remains disconcertingly blind to such issues. Pace scholars who
focus on Rawls’s emphasis on “ideal theory,” and whether that precludes
his engagement with racial domination, we show that Rawls’s inability to
account for, or address, racial injustice lies in his limited understanding of
the kinds of “associations” or institutions that condition and perpetuate
racial oppression. As studies in race and American Political Development
have shown, nonstatutory institutions such as political parties, unions,
and universities were key to the development and maintenance of racial
hierarchical order. [R, abr.]
68.1921 BARTLETT, Robert C. — Sophistry and Political Philoso-
phy: Protagoras' Challenge to Socrates [Chicago, 2016].
Review of Politics 80(1), Winter 2018 : 115-135.
A symposium. Introduction by Alexander S. DUFF; and articles by Ryan BALOT;
Roslyn WEISS; Waller NEWELL; Paul STERN; Robert C. BARTLETT.
68.1922 BÖKER, Marit — The concept of realistic utopia: ideal
theory as critique. Constellations 24(1), March 2017 : 89-
100.
A discussion of realistic utopias from a conceptual angle adds insights to
our understanding of the purpose of ideal theory, which a less careful
usage of the term overlooks. Most existing conceptualizations of realistic
utopia — John Rawls’, George Lawson’s, and Erik Olin Wright’s — refer
to ideal visions with certain constraints that limit the scope of the ideali-
zations. Making a conceptualization of utopias realistic should not limit
the radical terrain within which the utopian spirit unfolds; it should merely
foreclose its inherent totalitarian dangers. This is possible by conceptual-
izing realistic utopia as an open-ended process of utopian visioning
within a democratic, pluralistic context; a conception which in fact shares
much in common with the normative theory of deliberative democracy.
68.1923 CARANTI, Luigi — How cosmopolitanism reduces con-
flict: a broad reading of Kant’s third ingredient for peace.
Journal of International Political Theory 14(1), Feb. 2018 : 2-
19.
The third ingredient of Kant’s “recipe” for peace — the cosmopolitan right
to visit — has been recognized as a powerful and effective instrument to
reduce militarized interstate conflicts. In the hands of political scientists,
however, this ingredient has often become nothing more than a set of
rules for securing and facilitating international trade and economic
interdependence. This article argues that this narrow reading mistakes
international trade as the essence of the third definitive article. Kant sees
economic interdependence as a means to realize what cosmopolitan
right is truly about, that is, the affirmation of a set of rules for protecting
humans qua humans, the creation of communal bonds among individu-
als beyond national or group loyalties, and the promotion of a global
moral conscience modeled on the natural rights of man. [R, abr.]
68.1924 CARANZARO, Andrea — The missing metaphor: Thomas
Hobbes and the political problem of pastoral sover-
eignty. Pensiero politico 50(2), 2017 : 203-220.
Why, despite its long tradition in political literature, does Thomas Hobbes
seem not so eager to use the comparison between the king and the
pastor in his political works? Why, on the rare occasions when it hap-
pens, does he handle this metaphor very carefully? Why does he often
avoid using it, [although] he clearly writes that the sovereign has to
ensure safety to his subjects, a duty easily comparable with that of a
shepherd who takes care of his sheep? Causes seem to lie outside
simply stylistic reasons and may deeply related to Hobbesian political
theory. Starting from a text-analysis, the essay both analyses why Hob-
bes is so cautious in using this metaphor and stresses why this deliber-
ate and systematic choice is highly significant from the perspective of his
political theory. [R]
68.1925 CASAL BÉRTOA, Fernando — The three waves of party
system institutionalisation studies: a multi- or uni-
dimensional concept? Political Studies Review 16(1), Feb.
2018 : 60-72.
An in-depth literature review of all major works dealing with the concept
reveals that in reality there is very little agreement on what party system
institutionalisation actually is or how it should be measured. In fact, since
Huntington introduced the notion of institutionalisation some 50 years
ago, party system institutionalisation has been characterised as a multi-
dimensional as well as a uni-dimensional concept. Now that half a
century has passed, the time has come to look back and, with the benefit
of hindsight, take stock of the way party system institutionalisation has
been conceptualised and operationalised, trying to distinguish both
commonalities and discordances, while looking at what still needs to be
done. We distinguish three different (both discrete and thematic) waves
of party system institutionalisation studies. [R, abr.]
68.1926 CHRIST, Julia — Critique of politics: Adorno on Durk-
heim. Journal of Classical Sociology 17(4), Nov. 2017 : 331-
341.
This paper analyzes a dual relationship between T. W. Adorno and E.
Durkheim: Adorno adopts Durkheim’s perspective on society, describing
it as an obscure, opaque thing that individuals cannot understand by
themselves; [yet], he tries to get out of the opacity that he recognizes as
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