Statecraft as a Straightjacket: A Reply to Gamble and Hayton

• Simon Griffiths ^[1]
  1. [1] University of London

     University of London

     Reino Unido

     
• Localización: Parliamentary affairs: A journal of representative politics, ISSN 0031-2290, Vol. 69, Nº 3, 2016, págs. 735-743
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • ‘Statecraft’ theory, with its focus on politicians' strategic, electoral choices, has undergone a revival in recent years. This is a reply to those authors who have used ‘Statecraft’ in their analysis of the Conservative Party under David Cameron [notably Hayton (2014) Parliamentary Affairs 67, 1; Gamble (2014) Parliamentary Affairs]. Statecraft theory raises various questions and contains implications—ontological, epistemic and methodological—that need to be dealt with by its contemporary advocates. I conclude that while the contributions discussed here are a valuable reminder that strategic thinking is an important part of what any politician does, strict adherence to the Statecraft model is a straitjacket to our understanding of British politics.