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Pitkin's Dilemma: The Wider Shores of Political Theory and Political Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2004

Ruth Lane
Ruth Lane
Affiliation:
Ruth Lane is associate professor of political science in the Department of Government, School of Public Affairs, at American University (rlane@american.edu).
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Abstract

Modern political science has created a separation between political theory and empirical political research that impoverishes both sides and is becoming increasingly outdated. I suggest that the work of Michel Foucault is profitably understood in the context of American social and political science, including the empirical research of Harold Garfinkel, Erving Goffman, and Thomas Schelling, and that the social theorists' work is better appreciated within Foucault's rigorous philosophical framework. Foucault's use of an open “game” context converges with the positions of both Wittgenstein and Schelling to suggest a theory that provides insights into the nontyrannical theory Pitkin sought. It also opens prospects for a theoretically integrated agenda for empirical and normative political research.Ruth Lane thanks the anonymous reviewers and the editors of Perspectives for comments on the paper.

Type
Research Article
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 459 - 473
Copyright
© 2004 American Political Science Association

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