Neglected functions of normative political theory in empirical research

pp. 59-72

in: , Klaus von Beyme, Berlin, Springer, 2014

Abstract

The theory of politics began as a part of ethics. Plato dealt with politics and ethics in the same book. Aristotle began to separate the two fields but nevertheless close links remained: ethics was the more static, politics the dynamic side of the same coin. On the continent, political theories after 1945 were frequently subsumed under three labels: the empirical-analytical school, the dialectical school, and the neo-Aristotelian school. The last two labels pointed to predominantly normative theories. Nevertheless, normative theory was an outsider in the grand debates.