http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/political-theory Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:34:26 -0400 Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:34:26 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1947/architectural-beauty-as-a-public-good-through-the-lens-of-ritzer-and-kohn By Olivia Sun - After World War II, America’s baby boom and rapid migration into cities sparked a damaging housing crisis. This marked a turning point in architectural style: the rise of modernism. Modernism prioritizes function above all else and believes in the existence of a most efficient, most cost-effective housing blueprint. Hence, America rolled out planned housing developments by the masses with each community constructed in a near-identical fashion. This essay points to the consequential neglect of architectural beauty which is defined as a perfect reflection of the identity of a shared imaginative... Fri, 25 Mar 2022 02:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1947/architectural-beauty-as-a-public-good-through-the-lens-of-ritzer-and-kohn http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1937/knowledge-production-in-international-relations-a-poststructural-feminist-critique-of-liberal-feminism By Dana K.J. Al-Thani - In popular international relations (IR) theory, knowledge production is often dismissed as an objective process between the researcher and the empirical world. This article rejects this notion and contends that the process of knowledge production is always inherently political in the conduct and study of IR. In order to achieve this argument, a poststructural lens is adopted in order to critique the liberal understanding of knowledge production within IR as a scientific process capable of revealing ‘universal truths.’ Additionally, in discussing ‘the political’ this article... Wed, 09 Feb 2022 01:27 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1937/knowledge-production-in-international-relations-a-poststructural-feminist-critique-of-liberal-feminism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1913/securitization-framing-and-the-threat-of-right-wing-militias-under-donald-trump By Mia Wolosky - This paper assesses the political preferences and ideologies of the Trump administration and how they influenced framing issues in a way that has underestimated the threats of right-wing militia groups in the United States. President Trump and officials within his administration used rhetoric to place emphasis on the security concerns associated with immigration and far left-wing groups, while failing to condemn violence coming from the right. This paper analyzes how framing, and the securitization of certain issues, downplayed and encouraged the persistent threat of far right-wing domestic terrorists... Tue, 05 Oct 2021 10:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1913/securitization-framing-and-the-threat-of-right-wing-militias-under-donald-trump http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1912/populist-authoritarian-readings-of-machiavellis-prince-from-interwar-to-the-present By Graciela E. Lee - In the present day, it seems there's been an unprecedented influx of strong leaders – strong leaders, strong diplomats, strong political campaigns, and strong personalities. Not all of these qualities are mutually exclusive, though it does appear that those in power who exhibit themselves primarily through their “strong personality” possess more controversy and instability than those who are of the other character types. One man, however, seemed to cover all the above bases in his various roles – as a diplomat, strategist, poet and playwright – though he seemed to... Thu, 30 Sep 2021 10:22 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1912/populist-authoritarian-readings-of-machiavellis-prince-from-interwar-to-the-present http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1894/the-growing-popularity-of-the-radical-right-comparing-institutional-societal-and-historical-explanations-in-the-united-states-and-france By Zak Schneider - Following the enlightenment era, a new incarnation of politics created a uniquely democratic, liberal, egalitarian structure of government in Western democracies. In recent years, there has been an erosion of these qualities in favor of alternate ideologies such as Right-Wing Populism. Fundamentally, what is the appeal of these ideologies that are diametrically opposed to liberal democracy? I argue that multiple factors are catalyzing the growth of this Right-Wing Populism worldwide. Firstly, the structural weaknesses in democratic governance itself. Secondly, contemporary societal conditions... Mon, 05 Apr 2021 03:10 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1894/the-growing-popularity-of-the-radical-right-comparing-institutional-societal-and-historical-explanations-in-the-united-states-and-france http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1860/reimagining-populism-to-reveal-canadas-right-wing-populist-zeitgeist By Kyle R. Friesen - Through an examination of recent populist political formulations in Canada, this paper argues that prevailing understandings of right-wing populism are incomplete insofar as they occlude expressions of right-wing populism through regional and economic formulations of ‘the people’ that exist outside of ethnic or cultural conceptions of ‘the nation.’ Thus, counter to the prevailing popular narrative, this paper contends that Canada is not immune to right-wing populism and that such populism can exist without overt ethnic or culturally based exclusions in its construction... Mon, 11 Jan 2021 11:37 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1860/reimagining-populism-to-reveal-canadas-right-wing-populist-zeitgeist http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1834/aquinas-just-war-theory-and-pandemic-response By Ezekiel Vergara - “Just-war theory,” as it is called, aims to guide action during warfare, so that states and individuals can act ethically. Because warfare is often analogized to epidemics, this paper will argue that just-war theory can recommend how one ought to conceive of governmental action during a pandemic. Drawing off the work of Thomas Aquinas, one of the most canonical figures within the just-war tradition, this article demonstrates that just-war theory explains both why the government has expanded powers during a pandemic and what a government ought to do with these expanded powers. Notably... Tue, 10 Nov 2020 08:16 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1834/aquinas-just-war-theory-and-pandemic-response http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1784/totalitarian-friendship-carl-schmitt-in-contemporary-china By Jackson T. Reinhardt - For the past several years, the study of German jurist Carl Schmitt has exploded in China. Floria Sapio remarks that Schmitt has enjoyed “enormous currency among mainland Chinese scholars since the 2000s.”[1] Even though Schmitt has received a recent revitalization of interest of his thought among Western scholars,[2] he is still known primarily for his aphoristic (and largely untranslated) texts on political theory and his infamous association with the Nazi Party. Yet, the reason that this esoteric and controversial thinker has garnered any consideration within Chinese academia is... Tue, 14 Jul 2020 08:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1784/totalitarian-friendship-carl-schmitt-in-contemporary-china http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1783/towards-a-theory-of-leniency-for-immigrants By Keerthana Annamaneni - In his compelling account of juvenile justice, “Age of Culpability,” Gideon Yaffe provides a philosophically rigorous justification for the claim that “children should be given a break when they do wrong; they ought to be treated more leniently than adults.”[1] While his claim may be conventional, his reasoning is highly novel. Yaffe rejects the notion that children deserve “a break,” or lenient punishments, because children and adults are intrinsically different.[2] Rather, children deserve leniency because children are denied the vote and cannot author their... Wed, 15 Apr 2020 09:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1783/towards-a-theory-of-leniency-for-immigrants http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1756/populist-mobocracy-fear-and-lies-the-politics-of-american-populism By Anthony R. Brunello - American politics today operates in an arena where truth and objective reality are bent to the designs of particular interests, powerful people and commercial profiteers. All facts are questioned; the truth has purposes. Populist and nationalist waves are pulsing through many western democratic republics in the West; these waves are a challenge to the values of liberal democracy. A populist believes that the common man is possessed of the highest virtues and an earthy, superior wisdom. Fareed Zakaria said in Foreign Affairs (2017) that, “populism sees itself as speaking for the forgotten... Tue, 05 Feb 2019 08:35 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1756/populist-mobocracy-fear-and-lies-the-politics-of-american-populism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1656/the-value-and-benefit-of-an-enlightened-people-for-the-continuity-of-democratic-societies By Rocco A. Astore - Political philosophers and theorists alike continue to debate if more enlightened populations would be of value or not. This piece will contribute to that dispute by claiming that an enlightened populace is integral to the progress of free-societies. First, through Kant’s political and moral philosophy this piece will outline what being a free or enlightened person truly involves. Next, by drawing from Rousseau’s On the Social Contract, this essay will describe his vision of a citizen and how one can understand it as the political equivalent of what Kant would call an enlightened member... Thu, 19 Oct 2017 09:34 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1656/the-value-and-benefit-of-an-enlightened-people-for-the-continuity-of-democratic-societies http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1652/john-rawls-primary-goods-approach-to-justice-an-analysis-of-indexing-problems By Rhidoy Rashid - There has been extensive debate over the past few decades regarding the criteria by which we should measure distributive justice. In conceiving a just state of affairs it is imperative that we determine the most appropriate measure of the distributions we are evaluating. Different approaches have their own merits, and range from evaluations of the distribution of happiness, to that of wealth, to that of life prospects. John Rawls and fellow Rawlsians believe that primary goods are most representative of citizens’ fundamental interests. According to Rawls (1999: 54), primary goods are those... Fri, 14 Jul 2017 05:46 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1652/john-rawls-primary-goods-approach-to-justice-an-analysis-of-indexing-problems http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1628/the-fundamental-illegitimacy-of-facism-and-the-innate-desire-for-freedom By Rocco A. Astore - This piece examines the ideologies and tactics used by fascist governments to validate and enforce their authority through Michael Mann’s work Fascists. By explicating Kant’s view of autonomy and progress, found in “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” and Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, it is demonstrated that people are fundamentally progressive beings with innate capacities for freedom. Moreover, explaining J.S. Mill’s view of the innate progressiveness and value of individuality in On Liberty, it is asserted that fascist demands of obedience... Thu, 27 Apr 2017 10:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1628/the-fundamental-illegitimacy-of-facism-and-the-innate-desire-for-freedom http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1543/is-western-political-science-applicable-to-the-islamic-world-on-the-universality-of-particularism-in-the-middle-east By Samuel W. Singler - Given pervasive representations of its geostrategic and global economic significance, the Middle East constitutes an important area of political and academic study far beyond its geographical boundaries. A key debate underlying such research is whether the region represents a “unique case, quite different from the rest of the world and incomprehensible to outsiders,” or if it is rather open to analysis by an “intellectual system of general application” (Halliday, 1996: 2). By critically evaluating Fred Halliday’s view that the Middle East’s “uniqueness... Thu, 23 Feb 2017 11:12 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1543/is-western-political-science-applicable-to-the-islamic-world-on-the-universality-of-particularism-in-the-middle-east http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1492/how-democratic-was-the-roman-republic-the-theory-and-practice-of-an-archetypal-democracy By Zachary S. Brown - In Federalist No. 34 Alexander Hamilton, arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution, claimed that the Roman Republic had “attained to the utmost height of human greatness.”[1] The Roman Republic, at least an idealized version, was explicitly the model that the founding fathers looked to when developing their own democratic constitution. By and large, this model has succeeded in establishing a stable democracy. American success and the subsequent global proliferation of democratic regimes in the twentieth century have made the triumph of democracy, with its roots... Sun, 06 Nov 2016 05:57 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1492/how-democratic-was-the-roman-republic-the-theory-and-practice-of-an-archetypal-democracy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1460/theories-of-nationalism-a-brief-comparison-of-realist-and-constructivist-ideas-of-the-nation By Matt Finkel - In the immense field of scholarly work regarding defining nationhood, a raging debate exists between the conservative view of the nation and the constructivist view. A clear and definitive change in the conception of the ‘realness’ of the nation can be seen throughout the historiographical study of nationalism. The conception of the nation has shifted dramatically, from the proto-jingoist conservatism of the ‘primordial nation’ of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Gottfried Herder and the German nationalist school of thought they represent to the constructivist ‘imagined... Sun, 16 Oct 2016 08:57 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1460/theories-of-nationalism-a-brief-comparison-of-realist-and-constructivist-ideas-of-the-nation http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1436/depoliticizing-and-deconstructing-human-rights-changing-the-lens-through-which-we-view-universal-human-rights By Uday V. Garg - This paper is an attempt to navigate through existing theories of universalisation of human rights and existing justifications thereof. It is premised on several cultural and political notions that it takes as starting points, not as truisms, but through ideological deconstruction, which enable positively directing the aforementioned navigation, with the object of illustrating fundamental flaws in the current regimes, both political and discursive, of the human rights movement. The paper derives this idea from Mutua’s (2001) article, and takes it forward to proposing an alternative regime... Thu, 01 Sep 2016 09:20 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1436/depoliticizing-and-deconstructing-human-rights-changing-the-lens-through-which-we-view-universal-human-rights http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1431/erasmus-and-the-transformation-of-early-modern-political-authority-in-the-education-of-a-christian-prince By Zachary S. Brown - Often called the “prince of the humanists” Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) was one of the most influential European philosophers and theologians of the early modern period. However, today he is often overshadowed by his more radical contemporaries, particularly Niccolò Machiavelli, and regarded as a quixotic moderate. This article seeks to challenge this traditional view of Erasmus by exploring the rhetoric and claims of one of his most famous works, The Education of a Christian Prince (1516), a political advice manual written to the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. An... Sun, 07 Aug 2016 09:35 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1431/erasmus-and-the-transformation-of-early-modern-political-authority-in-the-education-of-a-christian-prince http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1430/genealogy-of-a-crisis-europe-greece-and-the-management-of-the-refugee-population By Helen Makkas - As Europe’s frontier with the Muslim East, Greece has been cast as backward, and not worthy of full sovereignty since the earliest years of its independence from the Ottoman empire. Greece's contradictory position as guardian of the origins of European civilization, and now of Fortress Europe on the one hand, and as pariah on the other, informs the tension between Greece and the EU that unfolds in the management of the current refugee crisis.The designation and self-perception of Greece as a pariah state combined with the exposure of the hypocrisy of EU rights discourse produces a violent... Tue, 26 Jul 2016 07:25 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1430/genealogy-of-a-crisis-europe-greece-and-the-management-of-the-refugee-population http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1410/defining-the-legitimacy-and-power-of-the-state-through-weber-and-foucault By Rocco A. Astore - As a founder of sociology, Max Weber influenced the social sciences immensely. In his “Politics as a Vocation,” Weber claims that one of the definitions of the state is its ability to employ legitimate violence as a means of control in a given territory.[1] He also claims that one can define the state as being a human community where people struggle with one another for what is ultimately a greater share of the power to apply legitimate force.[2] But, should one only support Weber’s claims despite the fact that states also employ knowledge as a means to preserve their power?[... Tue, 24 May 2016 11:11 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1410/defining-the-legitimacy-and-power-of-the-state-through-weber-and-foucault http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1338/comparing-the-political-theories-of-lao-tzu-and-machiavelli-arguments-in-favor-of-political-rights-and-fair-leadership By Rocco A. Astore - Within Lao Tzu’s Tao-Teh-Ching and Machiavelli’s The Prince, there are similar notions concerning how a ruler should maintain order and how he/she can be an effective leader. According to the former, it is best if people are blind to the operations of the state, so that they may always be in awe of their sovereign, much like the latter’s reasons to conclude that it is safer for a prince to be feared instead of loved.[1] With this essay, I explore how Lao Tzu’s and Machiavelli’s political theories are alike, by explicating their ideas concerning the ways in which a... Mon, 25 Jan 2016 10:40 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1338/comparing-the-political-theories-of-lao-tzu-and-machiavelli-arguments-in-favor-of-political-rights-and-fair-leadership http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1329/the-occupation-of-common-sense-from-neoliberalism-to-radical-democracy By Tristan Smaldone - Conceiving neoliberalism as a form of constructivism, an ideological project rather than a doctrine prefigured by ‘human nature’, illuminates a promising path towards countering its impoverishing effect on both the citizen subject and the ethos of democracy. This involves a concerted intervention at the level of discourse, aimed at reestablishing the importance of sociality and political community building over the fallacious, insular self. In the midst of the recent financial crisis, the Occupy Wall Street movement began this intervention but faltered over the question of representation... Wed, 20 Jan 2016 11:41 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1329/the-occupation-of-common-sense-from-neoliberalism-to-radical-democracy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1020/avoiding-the-tyranny-of-democracy-the-republican-ideal-of-a-mixed-constitution By Jessica C. Bridges - The assertion that unconstrained power brings with it inevitable corruption has occupied theorists since the first considerations of authority. That the nature of man in unconstrained assemblage will lead to a “tyrannical abuse of power” is a central assumption in the construction of political structure in the res publica (Chomsky 2007: 314). Arguments of how to best maintain and preserve order in this creed have consequently been tied to ideas of “freedom as non-domination” (Skinner 1990: 127). Stemming most notably from the works of Aristotle, later popularized by Polybius... Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1020/avoiding-the-tyranny-of-democracy-the-republican-ideal-of-a-mixed-constitution http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1611/karl-marx-and-the-fair-trade-chocolate-industry-in-the-ivory-coast By Caitlin McGonnigal - The research completed aimed to show that the idea of fair trade, using the example of goals for the chocolate industry of the Ivory Coast, can be described as an example of the economic ideal which Karl Marx imagined. By comparing specific topics discussed by Karl Marx's philosophy on capitalism and its failures, and the ideals purported by fair trade organizations and partners, parallels can be made. This analysis showed that Karl Marx's philosophy coordinates with fair trade ideals in topics such as the importance of history, the eradication of child labor and environmental degradation, and... Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1611/karl-marx-and-the-fair-trade-chocolate-industry-in-the-ivory-coast http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/628/weber-and-nagel-on-values-in-the-social-and-natural-sciences By Alexander P. Young - Due to their different subject matter, the way in which social and natural science inquiries are conducted differs. For some, this difference is constituted in a greater reliance upon values in the social sciences than in the natural. This essay, on the other hand, aims to demonstrate that both schools of science are equally value-laden. This is undertaken via an exposition of Weber’s arguments for social science as more value-laden than natural science, followed by a critique of these arguments through the lens of Nagel’s discussion of social scientific inquiry and accusations of... Tue, 27 Mar 2012 09:46 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/628/weber-and-nagel-on-values-in-the-social-and-natural-sciences http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/404/john-dewey-and-the-ethics-of-democracy By Gabrielle Micheletti - John Dewey was an ingenious and significant figure whose criticisms spanned a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, education, politics, aesthetics, and ethics. The late American philosopher Richard Rorty, in Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, was quoted as saying that the three most important figures in Contemporary Philosophy for the 21st Century were Wittgenstein, Heidegger, and Dewey. Dewey, in many circles, is often known as America’s Philosopher, and his influence is recognizable across the reformative spectrum. In his 1888 essay The Ethics of Democracy, Dewey sharply... Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:20 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/404/john-dewey-and-the-ethics-of-democracy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/349/hobbes-leviathan-and-views-on-the-origins-of-civil-government-conservatism-by-covenant By Katherine J. Wolfenden - Of course, even if a sovereign was chosen by the people, his successors would not come to power under the same circumstances, and the subjects’ descendants would not have been given a choice. Hobbes states that there is no difference between the rights of a sovereign who comes to power by force and a sovereign who is elected to power through political means; he even responds to potential critics who “hold all such covenants as proceed from fear of death or violence void,” saying that “if it were true, no man in any kind of commonwealth could be obliged to obedience&rdquo... Thu, 30 Dec 2010 01:59 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/349/hobbes-leviathan-and-views-on-the-origins-of-civil-government-conservatism-by-covenant http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/317/fascism-a-political-ideology-of-the-past By Katharine A. Mackel - Fascism cannot adapt to, and exist under, certain prominent, contemporary conditions. Specifically, it cannot adapt to the strong democracies in which extreme right parties operate, nor to the ideology of radical Islamic groups. This paper begins by defining fascism. It then notes a few conditions that enable fascism to exist, and applies these conditions to post-World War I Italy and Germany to demonstrate how fascism rose in those countries. The paper then discusses extreme right parties in Europe and whether they are fascist. In doing so, it compares the parties’ ideologies to fascist... Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:25 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/317/fascism-a-political-ideology-of-the-past http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/75/john-locke-on-equality-toleration-and-the-atheist-exception By Adalei Broers - In spite of legislation protecting each individual, conflict will inevitably erupt, if not between a government and its people then among the people themselves. This of course will impact the state and inevitably require response. It is in this perspective that Locke writes A Letter Concerning Toleration, addressing the issue of religious intolerance, a problem that permeated 17th century English society. He was extremely critical of the fervent behavior of people concerning their religious beliefs, particularly of those with “intemperate zeal” (Locke, Toleration, 9) who would attempt... Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:09 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/75/john-locke-on-equality-toleration-and-the-atheist-exception