Approaches to Periodization of the History of Political and Legal Doctrines: Traditions and Criteria

Abstract

The paper is devoted to several problems. The author investigates the place and role of the history of political and legal doctrines in the system of legal education and science. The new nomenclature of scientific specialties refers this academic subject to theoretical and historical legal sciences, provided no changes are made to the proposed subject description. The main issue articulated in the paper involves the history of political and legal doctrines. This academic discipline is historical, political, legal and theoretical at the same time. Periodization in this case represents periodization of theoretical forms of reflection over political and legal institutions as one of the main problems for a historical discipline. The paper focuses on the fact that the chronological approach to periodization of the history of political and legal doctrines is the main one. However, this approach does not exclude other approaches that are also described in the paper. Moreover, the paper examines traditions established in the science and the student course. Conventionally, the history of political and legal doctrines is investigated chronologically, in a problematic or portrait ways. Needless to say, the author does not exclude the methodological approach to periodization of theoretical and legal forms of cognition of the State and legal institutions.