Reason, Ideology and Politics

In this book, Shawn Rosenberg offers a new approach to the study of political ideology. Reviewing some of the dominant perspectives in political science, Rosenberg shows that a great deal of both theoretical thinking and empirical research has been hampered by an inadequate interpretation of the relationship between political thought and action. He argues that reason and ideology are parallel constructions of a thinking individual acting within a structured social setting. This construction takes several forms, each of which yields a distinctive way of understanding political events and acting in response to them. To support his theory, Rosenberg presents several empirical studies of the sense people make of politics and international relations.Rosenberg constructs a clear and compelling case for connecting Jean Piaget's thought to an understanding of the nature of ideology and political reasoning. In a discussion ranging from survey research on political attitudes and experimental work on cognition to the theoretical writings of Jurgen Habermas, he shows how his analytical standpoint has direct consequences for both empirical research and general theory in political science and sociology. Reason, Ideology, and Politics provides an important theoretical and practical discussion that will determine the course of debate in this area. It will be of interest to students and researchers in politics, sociology and psychology.