The role of political theory in contemporary political science

Abstract

What is the role of political theory within political science? This question comes back like a boomerang and is rethought repeatedly. It is important to note that there is no clear answer. However, in line with Karl Raimund Popperʼs call for constant critical reflection on the state of society and democracy, it is also appropriate to reflect on the role of political theory. The social sciences from their beginnings in ancient Greece were primarily theoretical, but it was Aristotle in his Politics who did the first comparative research on the constitutions of the time. Machiavelliʼs The Prince was also a groundbreaking work in the concept of thinking about politics. All this changed fundamentally with the advent of positivism and the development of empirical investigation. Political science began to turn to positivist conceptions and in its attempt to imitate the natural sciences de facto rejected political theory. The thinkers centering around the so-called Vienna Circle desired exact scientific knowledge of the world and, by means of a logical analysis of language, wanted to eliminate the forms of statements that were unscientific and thus practically put an end to all philosophical inquiry. Incidentally, Peter Laslett made a rather fundamental accusation against the logical positivists of having destroyed political philosophy and thereby deprived the world of the inquiry into values. His statement was contextually influenced by the times, and from todayʼs perspective, we know that political theory has survived. Paradoxically, it was helped by the Second World War, which came as a shock to the whole of humanity by its cruelty. Political theorists who