The Political Science Interpretivist

Using David Easton’s theory of the political system as my interpretive framework, in this post I will offer a non-mechanistic theory of how human political behavior can be “caused.” I will argue that, for Interpretive Political Science, reasons can be causes of political behavior. Indeed, respect for the subject matter – human political behavior – requires this causal theory. After all, people are not machines. “Reasons” will be understood as units of meaning in the minds of people. I will offer examples of such causal relations in the operations of two political systems, China and Peru. Hypothesis: The operation of a political system will tend to provide reasons which explain the political sentience of the public. A well-functioning political system will probably be the reason for high approval ratings among its membership. Likewise, a poorly functioning system will probably be the reason for low approval ratings. China In the past 40 years the Chinese political system hel

According to a 2022 Pew Research study, 82% of Americans have a negative view of the Chinese political system. 42% of Americans are very critical of what they see as China’s human rights offenses. 43% are very concerned about China’s growing military power. And 47% resent what they believe to be China’s involvement, or meddling, with US domestic politics. [1] A 2021 Pew study found that 89% of US adults consider China a competitor or enemy , rather than a partner. [2] In August of 2022, Foreign Affairs magazine published an editorial by Elbridge Colby urging the United States to do more to prepare for war with China due to the increasing likelihood of a People’s Liberation Army (mainland China’s military) invasion of Taiwan. [3] These attitudes are reminiscent of the Cold War era, when Ronald Reagan denigrated the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.” Such a characterization, of course, factors out everything good that the political leadership may have done for the people in that country

Introduction: The Approach Helen Yaffe has written an informed and insightful study of Cuba’s current political and economic situation. That is, from the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s to the time of publication in 2020. Her approach includes drawing from scores of interviews she conducted, mostly between 2010 and 2019. (279) She interviewed Cuban officials, intellectuals, and ordinary citizens living in Cuba so that she could understand and explain how these Cubans understood their own political and economic conditions. She also marshals a great deal of quantitative data which re-enforces and further illuminates how these Cubans saw themselves and their conditions. Political scientists will note that Yaffe doesn’t organize her study around the concept of the political system. In part, this is because her emphasis is more on the economic development of Cuba, its challenges, successes, and persistent needs, rather than the policy making pro

Introduction: the Primary Factions The official explanation for Mr. Hu Jintao’s removal from the last meeting of the 20 th National Party Congress is that he wasn’t feeling well, so an usher assisted him in getting out of his chair and walking out of the Great Hall of the People.* But that explanation seems contrary to the appearances that anyone can see on the numerous You Tube videos of the event. So I offer a different interpretation. Hu Jintao was once the most powerful man in China. He was the Communist Party General Secretary from 2002 to 2012. At the same time he was the President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and he was the civilian Commander in Chief of the Chinese military. Then between 2012 and 2013 all these offices were given to Xi Jinping in a peaceful transfer of power. Xi Jinping was made the Party leader because he was acceptable to the two major factions in Chinese politics. These are the “Radicals” and the “Liberals.” The Radicals are the pro-Maoist hardl

On October 16 th , this year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will begin its 20 th National Congress. This is the biggest event of 2022 for the CCP, because the Congress only meets every five years. It will last for between a week and 10 days. It takes place in the Great Hall of the People, next to Tiananmen Square, in Beijing. Among other things, the delegates will vote on the New 5 Year Plan, vote on revisions to past 5 Year Plans, and elect the Party’s Central Committee from among their membership. The Central Committee is the governing body of the CCP. It has about 300 members. The Committee members will then select its General Secretary, or chief executive officer. Most China Watchers expect to see Xi Jinping elected to his third term as General Secretary. No Presidential Election Little known to Western media is that no presidential election is held by a Party National Congress. According to the Constitution for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) the president is to be elec

  Warnings about the 2022 Midterms that Biden had Better Heed                                                                                                                                                               Introduction   Earl Ofari Hutchinson has written an interesting, well researched, and quite readable book. As the title* indicates, the book is about the importance of midterm elections in the US political process, and about why the voter turnout is often a fraction of that for presidential elections. The book came out in September 2022, and the discussion in it concerns the midterms of November 2022. The need for a book on the midterms is clear. The old joke among political pollsters is that when man-in-the-street surveys are conducted in the USA by asking folks if they were planning to vote in the midterms, most replied, “What are midterms?” Thus, Mr. Hutchinson addresses an educational need for Americans. Hutchinson, however, is not coy about his own political