Citizenship: Conceptual Differences between Disciplinary Political Theory and Governance

This paper examines the conceptual differences between disciplinary political theory and governance from the point of view of citizenship in particular. Starting from a broad description of the special emphasis of “political” values that has been typical to most Western mainstream post-WWII political theory from Arendt to Rawls to Mouffe, the paper firstly discusses the relationship of these values to the more contemporary vocabulary of governance, exemplified by concepts such as governance, network, and stakeholdership instead of government, nation-state, and citizenship. Secondly, it discusses the relevance and “grasp” of the different “disciplinary” perspectives on politics and governance that are nowadays available, such as “traditional” political theory vis-à-vis management, administrative science, and organizational sociology. Thirdly, the paper seeks to identify substantial issues and problems that are associated with these perspectives, emphasizing the concept and practices of citizenship. KEYWORDS: Political theory, citizenship, governance