Imagining the American Polity - Political Science and the Discourse of Democracy

Americans have long prided themselves on living in a country that serves as a beacon of democracy to the world, but from the time of the founding they have also engaged in debates over what the criteria for democracy are as they seek to validate their faith in the United States as a democratic regime. In this book John G. Gunnell shows how the academic discipline of political science has contributed in a major way to this ongoing dialogue, thereby playing a significant role in political education and the formulation of popular conceptions of American democracy. Gunnell traces the dynamics of conceptual change and continuity as American political science evolved from a focus in the nineteenth century on the idea of the state, through the emergence of a pluralist theory of democracy in the 1920s and its transfiguration into liberalism in the mid- 1930s, up to the rearticulation of pluralist theory in the 1950s and its resurgence, yet again, in the 1990s. Along the way he explores how political scientists have grappled with a fundamental question about popular sovereignty: Does democracy require a people and a national democratic community, or can the requisites of democracy be achieved through fortuitous social configurations coupled with the design of certain institutional mechanisms?

About the author

John G. Gunnell was Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He was the author of numerous books and articles dealing with political theory and the philosophy and history of political and social science. His latest book is Conventional Realism and Political Inquiry: Channeling Wittgenstein.

Product details

• Authors: John G Gunnell, John G. Gunnell, Gunnell John G.
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 02.10.2024
• EAN: 9781438495897
• ISBN: 978-1-4384-9589-7
• No. of pages: 308
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, 20th Century, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / History & Theory, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / General, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, HISTORY / United States / 19th Century, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Politics & government, Political science & theory, Political structures: democracy, United States of America, USA, Politics and government, History of the Americas, Political science and theory