Studying Ideas as Policy Solutions: Understanding How Political Ideas Shape Policy Change

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Ideas as policy solutions

This article explores how political ideas shape policymaking beyond their technical merit. It examines why some ideas gain influence, how problem definitions evolve, and how shifts in perception drive policy change. Through comparative perspectives and key theorists, it highlights how politics, institutions, and framing determine which ideas succeed or fade in shaping agendas and outcomes. … Read more

Three Kinds of Ideas in Politics: How Policy Solutions, Problem Definitions, and Public Philosophies Shape Change

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Three Kinds of Ideas in Politics

The article “Three Kinds of Ideas” explores how different levels of ideas—policy solutions, problem definitions, and public philosophies—shape the policymaking process and political change. Policy ideas like Keynesianism provide concrete solutions to given problems, while problem definitions frame what issues governments prioritize. At the broadest level, public philosophies and zeitgeist guide the underlying values and … Read more

The Role of Ideas in Politics: Why Political Thought Shapes Power and Policy

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Role of Ideas in Politics

The significance of ideas in politics has long been underestimated by political scientists focused on material interests and rational choices. Yet, ideas—ranging from beliefs and ideologies to policy frameworks—profoundly shape how societies think, act, and govern. This essay explores the evolution of political thought on the role of ideas, tracing its roots from Weber’s cultural … Read more

Compatibility of Moral Traditions: Green, Rawls & Nagel

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Compatibility of Moral Traditions: Green, Rawls & Nagel

The central focus of the essay is the comparison and compatibility between the British Idealist moral philosophy of T. H. Green and the contemporary liberal theories of Rawls and Nagel, especially regarding value pluralism, moral conflict, and volitional vs. epistemological aspects Bringing Two Different Traditions Together: Compatibility of Themes and Contexts There is an overlap … Read more

Resolving Moral Conflicts: British Idealist and Contemporary Liberal Approaches to Value Pluralism and Moral Conduct

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Resolving Moral Conflicts: British Idealist and Contemporary Liberal Approaches to Value Pluralism and Moral Conduct

In an increasingly global world, the fact of pluralism has become a problem. While difference is welcome when each culture has its own space to flourish, in a world of fast communications and ever more elusive boundaries, communities are more and more exposed to other people’s values. And even if we were to agree to disagree, there would … Read more

Partisan Shifts in U.S. Foreign Policy over Israel-Gaza: How Democrats & Republicans Are Growing Apart

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partisan shifts US foreign policy Israel Gaza

Changes to Foreign Relations: Israel/Gaza Relations and Political Partisanship U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza has changed more than slightly in the past two years. It has experienced some realignment. Differentiation of issues between Democrats and Republicans these days goes beyond single votes and statements. There are more fundamental moral, strategic, and political frame issues … Read more

True Desires: Discovering T.H. Green’s Philosophy of Real Desire and True Good

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True Desires: Discovering T.H. Green’s Philosophy of Real Desire and True Good

Unlike simple impulses or fleeting passions, Green’s concept of desire is rooted in self-conscious activity. A true desire, for Green, is not just a passing urge but a solicitation with which we identify and consciously adopt. This nuanced approach to human motivation challenges the mechanical models of Hume and aligns with the moral psychology of … Read more

Green and the Idealist Conception of a Person’s Good

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Green and the Idealist Conception of a Person’s Good

Idealist philosophers of the nineteenth century shared a certain conception of a person’s good. It can be found in Fichte and Hegel, and then later in Britain in Bradley and Green. In Green, as in these other Idealists, it fits into a philosophical scheme that has far-reaching metaphysical as well as moral dimensions. Each philosopher … Read more