Abstract
John Dewey's work prefigures a distinct new science of democracy. Through its subtle appropriation of science and scientific method in the name of bold reflection upon the democratic ideal, it constitutes a worthy model for a postpositivist political science, serving to define the latter more precisely. Postpositivism functions, in turn, to retrieve important features of Dewey's thinking: not only the speculative parts overlooked by critics of his scientism, but also the naturalist elements neglected by postmodernist pragmatists such as Richard Rorty. The analysis suggests that any political science decisively influenced by pragmatism will have to embrace both dimensions-the generic and the unique, the systematic and whatever escapes system-or it is not pragmatic. But neither, on Dewey's innovative reading, is it scientific. Considering Dewey's science of democracy and contemporary postpositivism together shows them to be genuine provocations-that is, challenges to think more lucidly and boldly about thought's place in democratic politics.
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