The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (241 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics Online
Authors: Iain McLean
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
3.99Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Saussure , Ferdinand de
Schmitt , Carl
(1888–1985)
One of Germany's leading political scientists and legal theorists during the interwar years, and a fervent critic of the liberal democracy of the
Weimar Republic
. In works such as
Political Romanticism
(1919) and
The Concept of the Political
(1932) Schmitt articulated a theory of political action based on practical necessity and the need for dynamic leadership and ‘decisionism’ rather than on any system of abstract philosophical argument. Such a view led to a defence of authoritarian dictatorship and, more specifically, to Schmitt's own personal support for the
National Socialism
of Hitler and the Third Reich.
KT
One of Germany's leading political scientists and legal theorists during the interwar years, and a fervent critic of the liberal democracy of the
Weimar Republic
. In works such as
Political Romanticism
(1919) and
The Concept of the Political
(1932) Schmitt articulated a theory of political action based on practical necessity and the need for dynamic leadership and ‘decisionism’ rather than on any system of abstract philosophical argument. Such a view led to a defence of authoritarian dictatorship and, more specifically, to Schmitt's own personal support for the
National Socialism
of Hitler and the Third Reich.
KT
Schumpeter , Joseph A.
(1883–1950)
Austrian economist, politician, banker, and horseman. Schumpeter is best known to political scientists for his
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
(1943; henceforth
CS&D
), the product both of his training as a theoretical economist and of his experiences of Marxist and fascist totalitarianism. As an economist, Schumpeter was a respectful opponent of Marxism. He believed that most of Marxian economics was false, but that the Marxian prediction that capitalism would fall through its own contradictions might come true. In
CS&D
he illustrated this through the ‘hog cycle’, an example of individual farmers' rational behaviour leading to a foreseeable and undesirable outcome. However, it is the chapters of CS&D on democracy that have been most influential. Schumpeter forcefully argued that outcomes were not necessarily good just because they were reached democratically, giving examples of (near-)democracies which had persecuted Jews and burnt witches: democracy should therefore be evaluated only as a method whereby leaders acquire the power to give orders after a competitive struggle for votes. He contrasted this narrow basis for evaluation with what he misleadingly called ‘the classical method’, by which he really meant the approach of
Rousseau
and his followers who call (appropriately reached) democratic outcomes ‘the will of the people’.
Writing before
game theory
had been developed, Schumpeter was unable to give his powerful insights a shape which would have defended them against the Rousseauvian attacks they encountered in the 1960s and 1970s. But he was an important precursor of the rational-choice school of normative political theorists. See also
Riker
.
Austrian economist, politician, banker, and horseman. Schumpeter is best known to political scientists for his
Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
(1943; henceforth
CS&D
), the product both of his training as a theoretical economist and of his experiences of Marxist and fascist totalitarianism. As an economist, Schumpeter was a respectful opponent of Marxism. He believed that most of Marxian economics was false, but that the Marxian prediction that capitalism would fall through its own contradictions might come true. In
CS&D
he illustrated this through the ‘hog cycle’, an example of individual farmers' rational behaviour leading to a foreseeable and undesirable outcome. However, it is the chapters of CS&D on democracy that have been most influential. Schumpeter forcefully argued that outcomes were not necessarily good just because they were reached democratically, giving examples of (near-)democracies which had persecuted Jews and burnt witches: democracy should therefore be evaluated only as a method whereby leaders acquire the power to give orders after a competitive struggle for votes. He contrasted this narrow basis for evaluation with what he misleadingly called ‘the classical method’, by which he really meant the approach of
Rousseau
and his followers who call (appropriately reached) democratic outcomes ‘the will of the people’.
Writing before
game theory
had been developed, Schumpeter was unable to give his powerful insights a shape which would have defended them against the Rousseauvian attacks they encountered in the 1960s and 1970s. But he was an important precursor of the rational-choice school of normative political theorists. See also
Riker
.
Scottish Enlightenment
SDI
SDP
Other books
Bridled: Bitter Creek Doms #1 by Erika Masten
Except for the Bones by Collin Wilcox
Summer Nights by Christin Lovell
The Perfect Blend by Rogers, Donna Marie
The Fragile Hour by Rosalind Laker
The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen by M.T. Anderson
Firedragon Rising by Mary Fan
The United Nations Security Council and War:The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945 by Roberts, Adam, Lowe, Vaughan, Welsh, Jennifer, Zaum, Dominik
Apocalypse Baby by Virginie Despentes
The Sanctuary Seeker by Bernard Knight