Aims
This course aims to:
• introduce some of the major British political theories of the period
• explore the discipline of understanding these theories within their proper historical context
• consider the various ways in which these theories continue to inform the political debates
of today
Content
Placing each topic within its proper historical context, the course will work on two levels: one charting the change in ambition within political theory as a vocation (from the grand theories associated with the classical age of Enlightenment, through the crises of confidence during the 20th century and on to the more circumscribed aims of today); and the other reflecting on the evolution of political theory as a profession (noting its increasingly specialised role within academia, and its changing relationship with public life and culture).
Among the themes covered will be the distinctive strengths and weaknesses of the British Constitution; parliamentary reform and the changing dynamics of power between the Monarchy, the House of Lords and the House of Commons; the emergence of professional political parties and social movements; the campaigns for political rights by working men and women during the 19th and early 20th centuries; the attempts to update the respective traditions of socialism, liberalism and conservatism; and the evolving debate concerning the most coherent, constructive and relevant role for political theory in the modern world.
Presentation of the course
This course will comprise of lectures and discussions accompanied by PowerPoint presentations in a classroom setting.
Course sessions
1. Progression, Disintegration and Doubt
2. Mill
3. Bagehot
4. Green
5. Oakeshott, Berlin and the crisis of political theory
Learning outcomes
You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.
The learning outcomes for this course are:
• an understanding of the key methodological issues relating to the study of the history of ideas
• a good basic knowledge of all the individual theorists and theories covered in the course, along with an awareness of the impact of each theory upon the institutions and attitudes not only of the era in which they were conceived and adapted
• a sound and constructive appreciation of the implications of each theory’s legacy, both for thought and action
Required reading
Hampsher-Monk, Iain, ‘Introduction’ in A History of Modern Political Thought: Major Political Thinkers from Hobbes to Marx (Wiley-Blackwell, 1993)
