How do I write political theory?
Political theory asks different things of its scholars and students than the other subfields, drawing especially heavily from the discipline of philosophy. Writing for political theory means understanding how these unique expectations in goals. Political theory writing can be thought of as having two distinct faces. First, political theorists may be asked are asked to interpret texts, making an descriptive argument about meaning and intention. Second, political theorists may be asked to make normative arguments, using logic and intuitions to show how we should think about or answer some moral controversy or question.
How do I learn about writing political theory?
This section of GovWrites teachings the building blocks of writing in political theory as two distinct curricula.. If you are new to writing in political science, you can follow the individual modules below in sequence.
Interpretive Evidence
What counts as evidence when you are interpreting a text? When should you quote, paraphrase, and cite? What kind of evidence is not directly lifted from the text?
Flavors of Interpretation
When should I consider the context in which a text is written, or the hidden interlocutors an author was speaking to? When should I focus on the text itself, without that context? How do different theorists approach interpretation differently?
Normative Evidence
What counts as evidence when making normative arguments? How can we use intuitions to support our claims? How do we persuade others that our intuitions capture a genuine moral truth?
Principals and Premises
How do you unpack an argument? What is the most effective way to state a series of logical claims? How do you relate those claims back to your original moral question or controversy?
Thought Experiments
What can thought experiments do for you when making normative argument? What makes a thought experiment useful, and when is it a distraction? How do you relate thought experiments back to your premises or principal?