Social and Behavioral Sciences | Open Access Articles

Political Education And The History Of Political Thought, Daniel R. Sabia Dec 1984

Political Education And The History Of Political Thought, Daniel R. Sabia

Faculty Publications

Texts designed to introduce political science students to the history of political thought or to past political theories have been commonplace in the discipline, as have disputes about their pedagogical utility or justifiability, and methodological debates concerning their adequacy or legitimacy. In an effort to address these disputes and some of these debates, I construct three models of historiographical inquiry. Each model represents a particular approach, and each is defined in terms of three common features. The methodological debates are joined both indirectly and directly: indirectly by identifying clearly the majorfeatures and purposes of these approaches, and directly by consideration …

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George Orwell: Socialist Or Liberal?. Big Brother And The Abuse Of Power., Noel B. Reynolds Jun 1984

George Orwell: Socialist Or Liberal?. Big Brother And The Abuse Of Power., Noel B. Reynolds

Faculty Publications

For although he was too strongly independent in his thinking to accept the Marxist or socialist dogmas of his associates, because they did not seem to square with experience, and though he admired the tough resistance of English character and legal institutions to tyranny, Orwell never did tumble to the understanding of man and government which had shaped each over the centuries. Failing to see the constants in human nature as the key to the political problem, he looked around the world both as he perceived it and his literary fellows portrayed it, and concluded that power lust was the …

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The Electoral Fortunes Of Gubernatorial Incumbents: 1947-1981, Mark E. Tompkins May 1984

The Electoral Fortunes Of Gubernatorial Incumbents: 1947-1981, Mark E. Tompkins

Faculty Publications

I break down gubernatorial electoral outcomes into expected vote and short-term changes, using an intrastate baseline measure. Employing these measures, I find evidence of period effects in the role played by incumbency, including the growth in its importance in the last decade. Incumbents' gains are most notable in first reelection contest, but tail off in subsequent races. Moreover, these advantages are more pronounced after a two-year term than after a four-year term. Other factors influencing incumbents' success are less clear in their impact: Sabato's measure of reputation is associated with electoral gains, but increasing state bureaucratization appears more weakly linked.

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International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Substitutability, And "Nice" Laws, Benjamin A. Most, Harvey Starr Apr 1984

International Relations Theory, Foreign Policy Substitutability, And "Nice" Laws, Benjamin A. Most, Harvey Starr

Faculty Publications

Two logical problems appear to have impeded the development of an integrative understanding of international and foreign policy phenomena. The first has to do with the potential for foreign policy substitutability: through time and across space, similar factors could plausibly be expected to trigger different foreign policy acts. The second concerns the potential existence of “sometimes true,” domain-specific laws. It is the logical opposite of the substitution problem, suggesting that different processes could plausibly be expected to lead to similar results. Neither problem appears to be well understood in the current literature; if anything, both are ignored. Nevertheless, they are …

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Diminished Luster In Escambia County?, Neal Devins Jan 1984