Political Theory in the Liberal Arts: How It’s Different and Why It’s Not All the Same

Abstract

This article addresses the question of how political theory within the liberal arts differs from political theory done elsewhere. It frames the discussion in terms of both the existential crisis of political theory within the political science discipline and the financial and identity crises of liberal arts education within the broader higher education environment. The article then identifies two major factors—the small size and the prevalence of liberal arts norms— that contribute to convergence in the way political theory is taught and researched in the liberal arts. These observations notwithstanding, this article’s central contention is that there is a great diversity of ways to “do” political theory in the liberal arts, and that variation among colleges and among political theorists tends to be far more definitive of the political theory experience than the commonalities derived from the liberal arts setting. The essay concludes by describing sources of divergence that complicate efforts to decipher a coherent and shared understanding of what political theory in the liberal arts means.