About the group
The Standing Group on Methods of Normative Political Theory focuses on the way arguments can and should work in political philosophy. Within this area, we are interested in the full range of methods, approaches, tools, and techniques deployed by political philosophers/theorists, as well as the questions these raise regarding our relationships with other cognate disciplines, including history, economics, political science, sociology, and moral psychology.
Methodological topics in this area are of growing interest within our subject, as shown by the increasing numbers of panels and papers our group has hosted since 2015, including on, inter alia, ‘ideal/nonideal’ theory, ‘moralism/realism’, ‘political political’ theory, ‘comparative/transcendental’ theory, the use of thought experiments, the connection between historical and normative work in political theory, the uses we might make of social scientific data, the different ‘audiences’ political philosophy targets, and the fundamental relationship between facts and principles.
Aims and objectives
Our objective is to foster connections among a diverse community of scholars engaged in political philosophy. Through this collaboration, we seek to advance and promote the importance of methodological approaches in normative political theory.
Activities
- We organise ‘sections’ of panels on related methodological themes at each year’s General Conference;
- We propose and organise workshops at the ECPR Joint Sessions;
- We organise regular contributions to the ECPR Methods School;
- We arrange an annual prize for the best new work in methodology within political theory/philosophy.
Twitter account: https://twitter.com/ECPR_PTMethods
How to join us?
In order to join the standing group, you need to create a myECPR account at https://www.ecpr.eu/. Membership is free and open to both ECPR member institutions and non-members. While for ECPR member institutions the membership is accepted automatically, for non-member institutions, we have to accept the membership manually, and until we do so, the membership status will show as ‘pending’
Steering Commitee
Chair
Jonathan Floyd
Jonathan Floyd is a Professor in Political Theory at the University of Bristol. He’s work concerns the nature, methods, and purposes of political philosophy.
Link to Jonathan Floyd’s university profile
Members
Keith Dowding
Keith Dowding is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Political Philosophy at the Australian National University. His research expertise covers political theory and political philosophy, political science, comparative government and politics, public policy, and public administration.
Link to Keith Dowding’s university profile
Eva Erman
Eva Erman is a Professor of Political Science at Stockholm University and Deputy Head of Department at the Department of Political Science. Her research interests cover political philosophy, with focus on democratic theory, global democracy and global governance; meta-theoretical and methodological aspects of political theory; critical theory and discourse ethics.
Link to Eva Erman’s university profile
Sune Lægaard
Sune Lægaard is the Associate Dean for Education at the Department of Communication and Arts at Roskilde University. (University of Roskilde). His research encompasses several areas within political philosophy, e.g. multiculturalism, nationalism, immigration, freedom of speech, toleration, policies of recognition, secularism, freedom of religion.
Link to Sune Lægaard’s university profile
Lisa Herzog
Lisa Herzog (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) is the Director of the Center for Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Groningen. She works at the intersection of political philosophy and economic thought, and has published on the philosophical dimensions of markets (both historical and systemical), liberalism and social justice, ethics in organizations and the future of work.
