Border Crossings Toward a Comparative Political Theory

Comparative political theory is at best an embryonic and marginalized endeavor. As practiced in most Western universities, the study of political theory generally involves a rehearsal of the canon of Western political thought from Plato to Marx. Only rarely are practitioners of political thought willing (and professionally encouraged) to transgress the canon, and thereby the cultural boundaries of North America and Europe, in the direction of genuine comparative investigation.

Fred Dallmayr is Packey J. Dee Professor of Government at the University of Notre Dame.