An Introduction to Political Thought: A Conceptual Toolkit

This textbook is designed to equip students with a basic ‘conceptual toolkit’ for the study of political thought: (i) a basic political Vocabulary, (ii) a Conceptual vocabulary and (iii) a historical vocabulary. By mastering these vocabularies, students will be able to engage more deeply and confidently with political thought and the moral and political words in which they live. Organised chronologically to trace the history of political thought, the book follows a unique dual structure which introduces both key thinkers and core concepts. Each chapter is written bearing in mind this two-tier organization and explicitly draws out important elements of both the historical and conceptual vocabularies. On completion, the student will be equipped with a historical and conceptual map to orient them in further study, as well as a clear grasp of the vocabulary in which such study is undertaken.