Hostname: page-component-5f56664f6-6m42z Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-07T13:26:09.314Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On Partisan Political Justification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2011

JONATHAN WHITE  and
LEA YPI
JONATHAN WHITE*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
LEA YPI*
Affiliation:
Nuffield College, University of Oxford
*
Jonathan White is Lecturer in European Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London UK WC2A 2AE ([email protected]).
Lea Ypi is Post Doctoral Prize Research Fellow in Political Theory, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, New Road, Oxford, UK OX1 1NF ([email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Political justification figures prominently in contemporary political theory, notably in models of deliberative democracy. This article articulates and defends the essential role of partisanship in this process. Four dimensions of justification are examined in detail: the constituency to which political justifications are offered, the circumstances in which they are developed, the ways in which they are made inclusive, and the ways in which they are made persuasive. In each case, the role of partisanship is probed and affirmed. Partisanship, we conclude, is indispensable to the kind of political justification needed to make the exercise of collective authority responsive to normative concerns.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 105 , Issue 2 , May 2011 , pp. 381 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Ball, Terence. 1989. “Party.” In Political Innovation and Conceptual Change, eds. Ball, James Farr and Hanson, Russell L.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 155–76.Google Scholar
Bertram, Christopher. 1997. “Political Justification, Theoretical Complexity, and Democratic Community.” Ethics 107: 563–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohman, James. 1998. “The Coming Age of Deliberative Democracy.” Journal of Political Philosophy 6 (4): 400–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohman, James, and Richardson, Henry S.. 2009. “Liberalism, Deliberative Democracy, and ‘Reasons That All Can Accept.’” Journal of Political Philosophy 17 (3): 253–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolingbroke, Viscount. [1733] 1997. “A Dissertation on Parties,” “Letter on the Spirit of Patriotism,” and “On the Idea of a Patriot King.” In Political Writings, ed. Armitage, David. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1—294.Google Scholar
Boltanski, Luc, and Thévenot, Laurent. 2006. On Justification: Economies of Worth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burke, Edmund. [1770] 1998. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful and Other Pre-revolutionary Writings. London: Penguin Classics.Google Scholar
Campbell, Angus, Converse, Philip E., Miller, Warren E., and Stokes, Donald E.. 1960. American Voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Chambers, Simone. 2003. “Deliberative Democratic Theory.” Annual Review of Political Science 6: 307–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, Simone. 2010. “Theories of Political Justification.” Philosophy Compass 5 (11): 893–903.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiano, Thomas. 1996. The Rule of the Many: Fundamental Issues in Democratic Theory. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Cohen, Joshua. 1989. “Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy.” In The Good Polity, eds. Hamlin, Alan and Petit, Phillip. Oxford: Blackwell, 17–34.Google Scholar
Cohen, Joshua. 1996. “Procedure and Substance in Deliberative Democracy.” In Democracy and Difference, ed. Benhabib, Seyla. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press: 95–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruddas, Jon, and Nahles, Andrea. 2009. “Building the Good Society: The Project of the Democratic Left.” London: Compass. http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/compass/documents/good%20society%20english%20WEB.pdf (accessed February 28, 2011).Google Scholar
Dahl, Robert. 1961. Who Governs? Democracy and Power in an American City. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, Larry, and Gunther, Richard. 2003. “Species of Political Parties: A New Typology.” Party Politics 9 (2): 167–99.Google Scholar
Disch, Lisa. 2011. “Toward a Mobilization Conception of Democratic Representation.” American Political Science Review 105 (2): 100–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. An Economic Theory of Democracy. Boston: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Dryzek, John. 2000. Deliberative Democracy and Beyond: Liberals, Critics, Contestations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dyrberg, T. B. 2005. “The Democratic Ideology of Right–Left and Public Reason in Relation to Rawls's Political Liberalism.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 8 (2): 161–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, Henry. 2008. “Can Partisanship Save Citizenship?” American Prospect December 31.Google Scholar
Farrell, Henry. 2009. “Partisanship and Extremism.” Cato Unbound February 6. www.cato-unbound.org/2009/02/06/henry-farrell/partisanship-and-extremism/ (accessed March 20, 2011).Google Scholar
Farrell, Henry, Lawrence, Eric, and Sides, John. 2010. “Self-segregation or Deliberation? Blog Readership, Participation, and Polarization in American Politics.” Perspectives on Politics 8 (10): 141–57.Google Scholar
Freeden, Michael. 1996. Ideologies and Political Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Freire, Paulo. [1970] 1993. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Fung, Archon. 2005. “Deliberation before the Revolution: Towards an Ethics of Deliberative Democracy in an Unjust World.” Political Theory 33 (2): 397–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandhi, Mahatma. [1927] 1982. An Autobiography: Or the Story of My Experiments with Truth. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford. 1983. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. New York: Basic.Google Scholar
Goodin, Robert E. 2008. Innovating Democracy: Democratic Theory and Practice after the Deliberative Turn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gramsci, Antonio. 1971. Selections from the Prison Notebooks, eds. Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. London: Lawrence and Wishart.Google Scholar
Gunn, J.A.W. 1971. Factions No More: Attitudes to Party in Government and Opposition in Eighteenth-century England. London: Frank Cass.Google Scholar
Gutmann, Amy, and Thompson, Dennis. 1996. Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Habermas, Jürgen. 1996. Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendriks, Carolyn M., Dryzek, John S., and Hunold, Christian. 2007. “Turning up the Heat: Partisanship in Deliberative Innovation.” Political Studies 55 (2): 362–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hume, David. [1748] 1998. “Of Parties in General.” In Political Essays, ed. Haakonssen, Knud.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 33–40.Google Scholar
Johnson, James. 2006. “Political Parties and Deliberative Democracy.” In Handbook of Party Politics, eds. Katz, Richard S. and Crotty, William J.. London: Sage, 47–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kateb, George. 1981. “The Moral Distinctiveness of Representative Democracy.” Ethics 91: 357–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, Richard, and Mair, Peter. 2009, “The Cartel Party Thesis: A Restatement.” Perspectives on Politics 7 (4): 753–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirchheimer, Otto. 1966. “The Transformation of the Western European Party Systems.” In Political Parties and Political Development, eds. La Palombara, Joseph and Weiner, Myron. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 177–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipset, Seymour, and Rokkan, Stein, eds. 1967. Party Systems and Voter Alignments. New York: Free.Google Scholar
Mandela, Nelson. 1994. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. London: Abacus.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane J. 1983. Beyond Adversary Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane J. 2006. “Conflict and Self-interest in Deliberation.” In Deliberative Democracy and Its Discontents, eds. Besson, Samantha and Marti, Jose Luis. London: Ashgate: 107–32.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane J., Bohman, James, Chambers, Simone, Estlund, David, Føllesdal, Andreas, Fung, Archon, Lafont, Cristina, Manin, Bernard, and Martí, José luis. 2010. “The Place of Self-interest and the Role of Power in Deliberative Democracy.” Journal of Political Philosophy 18 (1): 64–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marx, Karl. [1843] 1994. “From the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right.” In Marx: Early Political Writings, ed. O'Malley, Joseph. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1–27.Google Scholar
Michels, Robert. [1915] 1959. Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy. New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Mill, John S. [1861] 1991. “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion.” In On Liberty and Other Essays, ed. Gray, John. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 20–61.Google Scholar
Mills, Charles W. 2005. “Ideal Theory as Ideology.” Hypatia 20 (3): 165–84.Google Scholar
Muirhead, Russell. 2006. “A Defence of Party Spirit.” Perspectives on Politics 4 (4): 713–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muirhead, Russell. 2010. “Can Deliberative Democracy Be Partisan?” Critical Review 22: 2–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muirhead, Russell. N.d. In Defense of Party. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Muirhead, Russell, and Rosenblum, Nancy. 2006. “Political Liberalism vs. ‘The Great Game of Politics’: The Politics of Political Liberalism.” Perspectives on Politics 4 (1): 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pateman, Carole. 1970. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rehfeld, Andrew. 2005. The Concept of Constituency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Römmele, Andrea. 2003. “Political Parties, Party Communication and New Information and Communication Technologies.” Party Politics 9 (1): 7–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenblum, Nancy. 2008. On the Side of the Angels: An Appreciation of Parties and Partisanship. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Sanders, Lynn. 1997. “Against Deliberation.” Political Theory 25 (3): 347–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. [1968] 1990. “The Sociology of Parties: A Critical Review.” In The West European Party System, ed. Mair, Peter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 316–49.Google Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1976. Parties and Party Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, Joseph. 1943. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Simmons, A.J. 1999. “Justification and Legitimacy.” Ethics 109 (4): 739–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Tom W. 1987. “That Which We Call Welfare by Any Other Name Would Smell Sweeter: An Analysis of the Impact of Question Wording on Response Patterns.” Public Opinion Quarterly 51 (1): 75–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunstein, Cass. 1991. “Preferences and Politics.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 20: 3–34.Google Scholar
Teorell, Jan. 1999. “A Deliberative Defence of Intra-party Democracy.” Party Politics 5: 363–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Dennis F. 2008. “Deliberative Democratic Theory and Empirical Political Science.” Annual Review of Political Science 11: 497–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tocqueville, Alexis de. 2003. Democracy in America. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Urbinati, Nadia. 2010. “Unpolitical Democracy.” Political Theory 38 (1): 65–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Biezen, Ingrid, and Saward, Michael. 2008. “Democratic Theorists and Party Scholars: Why They Don't Talk to Each Other, and Why They Should.” Perspectives on Politics 6 (1): 21–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walzer, Michael. 2007. “Deliberation, and What Else?” In Thinking Politically: Essays in Political Theory, ed. Miller, David. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 134–46.Google Scholar
Ware, Alan. 1996. Political Parties and Party Systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
White, Jonathan. 2010. “Europe in the Political Imagination.” Journal of Common Market Studies 48 (4): 1015–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Jonathan. 2011. Political Allegiance after European Integration. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Jonathan. N.d. “Community, Transnationalism and the Left−Right Metaphor.” European Journal of Social Theory. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
White, Jonathan, and Ypi, Lea. 2010. “Rethinking the Modern Prince: Partisanship and the Democratic Ethos.” Political Studies 58 (4): 809–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Michelle. 2008. The Roots of Participatory Democracy: Democratic Communists in South Africa and Kerala, India. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Michelle. 2009. “Reimagining Socialist Futures in South Africa and Kerala, India.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 44 (1): 97–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 2001. “Activist Challenges to Deliberative Democracy.” Political Theory 29 (5): 670–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 2002. Inclusion and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ypi, Lea. 2011. Global Justice and Avant-garde Political Agency. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zola, Emile. [1885] 1983. Germinal. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.