Teaching Political Theory: A Pluralistic Approach

Abstract

A striking feature of Nicholas Tampio’s Teaching Political Theory is both the breadth and narrowness of its focus. At various times, Tampio focuses broadly on the very nature of political theorizing before proceeding to give more targeted advice on syllabus design, lecture writing, and teaching for different audiences. It is, in this respect, an ambitious and comprehensive book. It is also clear how Teaching Political Theory is situated within political theory scholarship, but also Tampio’s own interests, loves, and specialities. While it is indeed crucial for instructors in political theory to engage in central debates, questions, and themes in academic political theory and philosophy, Tampio is right in drawing a connection between Blau’s (2017, 14) view that “[a]cademia works best when we study what we love,” and the need for students to learn from academics with different loves and specialities (Tampio 2022, 16). Tampio’s Teaching Political Theory begins with an examination of the nature of political theory, its relationship with disciplines like political science, and the kinds of lessons and concepts political theory instructors ought to teach. Whether or not we agree with any of Tampio’s characterizations of the nature of political theory—as a sub-discipline of political science, for example—is beside the point. This broader examination of the nature of political theory should be a call for all instructors to think seriously about their own views on these topics, as they have the potential to meaningfully shape the courses and lessons we design. My own teaching, for example, is shaped by my interests in areas that Tampio does not share: “positive political theory, rational choice theory, or “wacky” thought experiments that clarify our normative principles” (Tampio 2022, 16). Unlike Tampio, I find that teaching central ideas and figures in analytic political theory is crucial to delivering on the reasons we teach political theory, such as the need to “think intelligently about government” (Shklar in Tampio, 2022, 4). Despite this point of disagreement, Tampio’s lack of focus on fields like analytic political theory does not detract from the book’s overall value. Tampio endorses a pluralistic approach to political theory, encompassing European, American, Chinese, and Indian perspectives. These perspectives have been excluded for so long from the canon of the history of political thought, so their inclusion over, say, analytic political theory, encourages instructors in political theory to think of how different perspectives shape our understanding of politics. Tampio (2022, 15) phrases this commitment to pluralism in terms of his own interest in “the question of how different traditions can help us