Political theory methodology in a time of crisis: an uncompromising empirical view.

The goal of political theory methodology is to assist scholars to make proper, precise inferences, descriptions, evaluations and prescriptions. In recent years, many political theorists have argued that political theory has neglected methodological issues, and that political theory scholarship is too distanced from the social sciences. This latter point is especially important, as with few exceptions, political theorists have included descriptions of the political world in their writings. However, such descriptions are often made in an ad-hoc fashion. As Perez (2022), Dowding and Bosworth (2021), Floyd (2017), Baderin (2022), have shown such carelessness will simply undermine the evaluation of political institutions, as a given theorist would have a partial, flawed, or simply mistaken view of a given political institution, rule or behavior. If political theorists wish that their views of political institutions will have merit, they must demonstrate proper understanding of the evaluated political institutions, and if they recommend that existing political institutions will be replaced by different institutions, the political theorist should demonstrate some understanding of the suggested, alternative institutions, and the costs of changing from institution A to institution B. Ignoring such methodological steps will make the work produced by political theorists vague and confused. Should any of the aforementioned claims be altered in a time of crisis? The call for papers for the workshop brought up the topic of ‘method and crisis’. Should the aforementioned view be changed in a time of crisis? The answer suggested here is a clear-cut no. The reason is twofold. First, the term ‘crisis’ in and of itself, refers to certain situations in the world. The main example noted in the call for papers is the climate crisis. However, such descriptions must be grounded in some empirical evidence. They cannot be based on mere intuitions, guesses and the like, as they refer to specific descriptions of situations in the world (rising temperatures, rising sea levels, scarcity of drinkable water, growing migration resulting from desertification and on and on). Second, typically, in times of crisis, the political system is expected to act rather quickly, and in ways that deviate from accustomed norms. For example, in the environment context, and given principles such as the precautionary principle, some environmentalists such as J. Hickel, suggest radical departures from current economic policies. The suggested, alternative institutions must be grounded in a careful description and (desirably), in some explanation regarding the cost of moving from institution A to B. Absent such empirical or semi-empirical descriptions (on top of a clear view of the indicated crisis) the prescription of the political theorist; to change the political system in a radical way would be devoid of any kind of credibility.