The Terms of Political Discourse

Power. Interest. Freedom. Responsibility. Connolly explores and confronts sets of interrelated concepts such as these – concepts whose meanings are persistently subject to debate in the context of political discourse. He illuminates the role played in political life and political enquiry by such conceptual contests. And in staking out his own position in these contests, he seeks both to politicize broad areas of social life and to weave norms of responsibility more thoroughly into politics. This classic text concludes with a chapter in which Connolly sets out his position on a number of key issues, and reconsiders his central themes in the light of recent works that complement or contradict them – clarifying his thesis and widening his field of vision to take in recent developments in the philosophy of language. For this new edition, Connolly provides a fresh introductory chapter, bringing the text fully up–to–date.

Preface to the Second Edition. Preface to the First Edition. Introduction. Part I: Essentially Contested Concepts in Politics: . Essentially Contested Concepts. An Example: ′Politics.′. ′Descriptive′ and ′Normative′ Concepts. The Role of Ordinary Language. Part II: Interests in Politics: . The Import of Contests Over ′Interests′. Interests as Policy Preference. Utilitarian Interests. Interests as Need Fulfillment. Real Interests. Appraisals of Real Interests. Interest–Regarding Explanations. Part III: Power and Responsibility: . Forms of Power. Power and Responsibility. Toward a Paradigm of ′Having Power Over′.

William E. Connolly is Professor of Political Science at the Johns Hopkins University, and is the author of Identity/Difference: Democratic Negotiations of Political Paradox.

"Considered as a general introduction to contemporary political theory, social philosophy and the broader questions in political science, it can hardly be equalled. It is admirably lucid and concise in expression, and scholarly, original and profound in argument." J. N. Gray, Jesus College, Oxford