Because it is normative, stupid! Over de rol van politieke theorie binnen de politicologie

This article presents a state-of-the-art description of political theory and analyses the
role of political theory within the discipline of political science. It starts by describing
two dominant approaches within the sub-discipline: conceptual political theory and
normative political theory. Secondly it situates political theory as separated from political
science in general and from actual political debates. Thirdly it analyses the role of
methodology in normative political theory.
I argue that the most important contribution of political theory to political science in
general is its emphasis on the fact that politics is first and foremost a normative endeavor
and that any political-scientific analysis should always be aware of this normative
character.