Polity articles from December 1997

Polity archives from December 1997

Locating a moral/political economy: lessons from sixteenth-century Anabaptism.
December 22, 1997... A growing number of scholars now assert that economic activity cannot be understood fully apart from the moral core beliefs that inform it. This article supports these contentions by examining the sixteenth-century Anabaptists' conception of...

Thucydides' realistic critique of realism. (ancient Greek historian and political thinker)
December 22, 1997... For the last half century foreign policy thinking in the United States has been dominated by the realist school. Part of its prestige has rested on its adherents' ability to trace their intellectual pedigree back to Thucydides. Read carefully,...

Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, and the boundaries of politics in American thought.
December 22, 1997... Later interpreters have usually described Gilford Pinchot and John Muir as defining two different conceptions of nature: "conservationism" and "preservationism." While the difference between these conceptions is significant, it plays a much less...

Intergovernmental conflict over emergency planning: the politics of the Shoreham nuclear power plant.
December 22, 1997... The 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant led to increased contention over nuclear policy in the United' States, pitting federal agencies committed to promoting the use of atomic energy against citizens and state or local'...

Performing politics: Foucault, Habermas, and postmodern participation. (political thinkers Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas)
December 22, 1997... The contemporary world presents a serious challenge to the traditional liberal understanding of political participation. While both Jurgen Habermas and Michel Foucault have provided strong philosophical impetus for reconceptualizing...

Rousseau's case for and against heroes. (political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
December 22, 1997... Understood properly, Rousseau's account of heroes develops a new understanding of heroism and its effects on ordinary people that is sensitive to the dangers of the heroes as well as to the benefits they confer. He shows how admiration for heroes...

Politics and prescription.
December 22, 1997... Introduction: Politics and Prescription The importance of incorporating political analysis into policy prescription could not be more evident than it is today in the United States. Those who wish government to play a larger role in...

Social Policy in the United States: Future Possibilities in Historical Perspective.
December 22, 1997... Theda Skocpol, Social Policy in the United States: Future Possibilities in Historical Perspective, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. Social Policy in the United States offers intriguing explanations of social policy battles and...

Competing Solutions: American health Care Proposals and International Experience.
December 22, 1997... Joseph White, Competing Solutions: American Health Care Proposals and International Experience, Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1995. White, like Skocpol, incorporates comparative analysis to understand the United States, distilling...