The indispensability of Political Theories

The year is 2021. And the whole world collectively is plagued with problems more than one and I ask people to read political theories/philosophies out of all the things available. They might as well think that I am crazy to even suggest such a thing. Yes, sometimes. But not when I say that now is the time we need political theory more than anything else, for solutions, introspections and greater good.

However, to even begin talking about the relevance of theories, there needs to be an interested audience who understand its relevance and value. So let me start by some questions. Do you deny the fact that the contemporary world is built on strong theories of the past? Really? Think again! Is anything in this world bereft of Politics? Any example? Hardly. Every activity happening since the evolution of the earth, after The Big Bang had politics inherent and embedded in it. Fighting wars, establishing territories, settling colonies, religious wars and conversions, flourishing trade (rules, procedures and organisations), new world order, structure of societies, policies, in fact the very thinking inside your head which you may be hesitant to share with the world — everything has political connotations.

Political theory, as John Plamenatz, argued is not analysis of how societies and governments function, but rather how they should. The focus is on how ‘things ought to be’, to set a parameter (which is not always utopian) for humans to achieve, since the thinkers/theorist/philosophers are aware of the limitations of humankind. Mostly it is not expected that societies would achieve that ‘utopian picture’, but even if it does half of what is theorized it can lead to tremendous transformations. Here, let me tell you the thin line of difference that exists between Political theory and Political Philosophy. The former is more of a hypotheses which is waiting to be proved, the latter however is the study of nature of knowledge, reality and existence. For the general understanding, in this article I would use them interchangeably, since the theories are designed after philosophizing is done, establishing their umbilical connect.

Now, if we go back in history around 4th century BCE to Plato, Aristotle and a range of Stoics, Sophists and other thinkers we will find them engaged in the idea of finding the ‘good life’. They held discussions, delved upon the existing issues and philosophised about their ideas. Remember that this was happening at a a time when there were limitations placed on individual’s thinking. Defiance resulted in punishments , in worse cases Death, like happened with Socrates. Thinking and espousing your thoughts was and continues to be a very risky business like Hannah Arendt always said.

Gradually, the ideas that thinkers/scholars/philosophers, starting from Plato, Spinoza, Aquinas to Machiavelli, Rousseau, Locke and Marx, Laski, Arendt, Rawls, Okin, Rorty and others had indulged in acquired a character of its own. This process of normative political theories continued for a long time and scholars/thinkers like Simon de Beauvoir, Ayn Rand, Amartya Sen, Hamza Alvi, Martha Nussbaum, and others expanded the horizons in an overwhelmingly west European/ American/male dominated field. This was however not without resistance. During 1960s David Easton, Peter Lasslett, Seymour Lipset under the influence of Behaviouralism and Positivism (focus on facts rather than values) declared that Political theory is dead and espoused new empirical methods to understand Political Science. Later, Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt, John Rawls, Michael Oakeshott, Dante Germino and others presented opposition to Positivism and are held responsible for resurgence of Political theory to its normative character.

Back to the question I raised in the beginning, why read all of this convulsive sounding names and ideas. Well, because, the fact that this tradition has been surviving for the longest time, is an evidence in itself about its indispensability. Let’s take an example of the idea ‘Justice’. All of us can say that it refers to maintaining a just order in society with rule of law in place so that the last person standing gets her/his due and is not discriminated against. Fair enough. But we as a society have been able to deduce that statement only because Plato & friends one day, chose to sit and talk about it and compile it in a book which we know today as “The Republic”. Again, because of this liberal thinkers like John Locke during the period of Renaissance in Europe gave the concept of ‘Rule of Law’ & ‘Consent’ — which forms the backbone of every public policy and every interaction in the realm of International Relations. Karl Marx, writing in 19th century could present his ideas of a just society recognising the bourgeoise class as perpetrators and dreaming of a world where the proletariat would live in a classless society bereft of injustice, only because there had been an existing tradition of thinkers/philosophers addressing Justice as a concept. I only took the example of two ideologies situated at the opposite end of the spectrum so to explain as simply as possible. There are many wonderful ideologies and philosophies in between these wide ends, but their explanation would require an academic paper of 4000 words or more.

Let me take an example from popular culture. Most of you must have watched the movie ‘The Dark Knight’. If you haven’t, I strongly request you to, especially this one particular scene where Joker played by the legendary Heath Ledger asks Christian Bale’s character Bruce Wayne to choose between the two options for saving people that the former had caged. That’s Game theory in practice, part of the currently popular Rational-choice theories in Political Science. Game theory however is not just limited to Politics but has wide range of application from Maths to Economics & International Relations.

Which brings us to the most important point about political theory/philosophy and that is its interdisciplinarity. It is not just limited to politics, but also to society, policies, economics, international relations and much more. For instance though there has been immense conflict between scholars within Political Science itself regarding the nature of political theory, International Relations has stuck to its theories very ardently. It has clear cut separation between theories in the form of Realism, Liberalism & Constructivism. However, what’s interesting and confusing at the same time is that Liberalism or for that matter Realism as understood by scholars of International Relations is different from how it is understood in Political Theory & Thought. Don’t get confused, Political Science is a wider term under which we study Theory, International Relations, Public Policy, Comparative Politics to name a few.

Every theory provides us with a parameter, an intentionally ideal one at that. What does it achieve by doing so? It lays a framework for us, ordinary individuals, governments, societies to aspire and reach that level through our behaviour, policies and discussions. Following these parameters you understand what a right wing and left wing government is and why do they do what they do. You discover the politics behind discrimination on the basis of class, caste, gender, race. You understand the relationship that defines nation states across the world. You understand that there remains hidden beneath everything, the political way, which has endless interpretations.

Most importantly, you remain hopeful of a better world because you know that some philosopher, somewhere on earth spent her/his substantial time to provide you with an ideal parameter for which you can always aspire or become a philosopher yourself. And hope is all that we need, my friends in these bizarre times that we are living in.