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Political Theory

      A Beginner’s Guide

      Pete Woodcock

      polity

      Copyright © Pete Woodcock 2020

      The right of Pete Woodcock to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      First published in 2020 by Polity Press

      Polity Press

      65 Bridge Street

      Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

      Polity Press

      101 Station Landing

      Suite 300

      Medford, MA 02155, USA

      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3136-3

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Woodcock, Pete (Peter Stewart), author.

      Title: Political theory : a beginner’s guide / Pete Woodcock.

      Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : Polity, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “In this highly accessible new introductory textbook, Pete Woodcock examines the fundamental questions of political theory. He takes students step-by-step through the most important answers given by history’s most famous thinkers to the most essential questions in politics, on topics ranging from liberty and justice to gender and revolution”-- Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2019024002 (print) | LCCN 2019024003 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509531332 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509531349 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509531363 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Political science--Philosophy.

      Classification: LCC JA71 .W68 2020 (print) | LCC JA71 (ebook) | DDC 320.01--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019024002 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019024003

      The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

      Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

      For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

Acknowledgements

      This book is the result of teaching I have delivered at the University of Huddersfield, and prior to that at the University of Southampton; I am in the debt of colleagues and students at both institutions that have endured my endless wittering on the subjects contained within these pages. I appreciate how lucky I am to spend my working life discussing these things with you all.

      Whilst writing this book I have sought refuge in the University of Huddersfield’s library, the Leeds Library, and Lindley Library (Kirklees), and have benefitted greatly from the expertise of the staff of those institutions, and the tranquillity of the surroundings.

      Numerous colleagues have provided me with a sounding board for ideas throughout the years whilst working on this project, but in particular Catherine McGlynn, Shaun McDaid, Leonie Jackson, Russell Bentley, David Owen, and Michael Bacon deserve special mention. George Owers and Ian Tuttle from Polity have worked beyond the call of duty in making the final product vaguely coherent. Needless to say, despite all this assistance, any errors contained herein are entirely mine.

      Most of all I would like to thank my mother, Viv Woodcock, and my much missed father, Lloyd Woodcock for the help and support they have provided me throughout my learning journey; I hope that creating a book to pass on knowledge is some small recompense for all that I have taken from others. And much love to my kids Raphs and Issy for keeping me smiling when the writing got tough; they might be impressed if this book results in my YouTube channel getting more views.

      Please follow me on Twitter for supporting activities and media: @petewoodcock

1 Introduction

       KEY QUESTIONS

      1 Why should we study the history of political thought?

      2 What are the contents of this book?

Purpose of this book

      On a hot summer’s day in 1749 the polymath Jean-Jacques Rousseau decided to walk the six miles from Paris to Vincennes to visit his friend Denis Diderot who was imprisoned there for his persistent criticism of the government. Taking a break, he opened his newspaper and glanced upon an advert for the Academy of Dijon’s essay writing competition; entries were invited to the question ‘has the progress of the sciences and arts done more to corrupt morals or improve them?’ (Rousseau, 1953: 327). Rousseau outlines the effect that seeing this question had on him in his letter to the statesman/philosopher Lamoignon-Malesherbes. His head began spinning as thousands of ideas flooded into his mind of how he could answer this question, he burst into tears, and then collapsed under a tree where he remained for an hour and a half contemplating the philosophical issues that arose from the question. He was thereafter unable to do anything other than work on his essay. He could not sleep, so spent the night-times meditating on the essay, writing sentences in his head which he would dictate to his secretary in the morning. Perhaps this reminds you of yourself when writing an essay (other than the bit about the secretary).

      When he had finished his essay, he sent it to the Academy of Dijon thinking it ‘the most feebly argued, the most deficient in proportion and harmony’ of anything that has ‘proceeded from my pen’ (Rousseau, 1953: 329). It won first prize and is a classic in the history of political thought, known thereafter as Discourse on the Arts and Sciences. Its central theme, that far from improving morals, the arts and sciences have corrupted man’s¹ natural goodness, would be one that Rousseau returned to many times, and one we will discuss below.

      Such is the impact of political theory. The artistic epiphany and breakdown that Rousseau suffered is probably not the reaction that you or I have when coming across an interesting theoretical political question; if you are reading this as part of your

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