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Political history 1
Political history
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Political history is the narrative and analysis of political
events, ideas, movements, leaders andpolitical entities.[1] Itis
distinct from, but related to, other fields of history such as
Diplomatic history, social history, economic history,and military
history, as well as constitutional history and public
history.Generally, political history focuses on decisions made by
the leadership of nation-states. Political history studies
theorganization and operation of power in large societies. By
focusing on the elites in power, on their impact on society,on
popular response, and on the relationships with the elites in other
countries. The field often involves thedeconstruction of myths and
received wisdom. The political historian has the constant
responsibility of doing justiceto the leadership of the past.[2]
According to Hegel, political History "is an idea of the state with
a moral and spiritualforce beyond the material interests of its
subjects: it followed that the state was the main agent of
historicalchange"[3] This contrasts with social history, which
focuses predominantly on the actions and lifestyles of
ordinarypeople,[4] or people's history, which is historical work
from the perspective of common people.In two decades from 1975 to
1995, the proportion of professors of history in American
universities identifying withsocial history rose from 31% to 41%,
while the proportion of political historians fell from 40% to
30%.[5] In thehistory departments of British universities in 2007,
of the 5723 faculty members, 1644 (29%) identified themselveswith
social history while political history came next with 1425
(25%).[6]
Political world historyThe political history of the world is the
history of the various political entities (republics, empires, ...)
created by theHuman race throughout their existence and the way
these states define their borders. Together with this
descriptiveanalysis, the history of political thinking narrates the
evolution of the political ideas, and goes back to
antiquity.Political history, and thus the history of political
thinking throughout human existence stretches though up toMedieval
period and the Renaissance. In the Age of Enlightenment, political
entities expanded from basic systems ofself-governance and monarchy
to the complex democratic and communist systems that exist of the
Industrialied andthe Modern Era, in parallel, political systems
have expanded from vaguely defined frontier-type boundaries, to
thedefinite boundaries existing today.
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Political history 2
Aspects of political historyThe first "scientific" political
history was written by Leopold von Ranke in Germany in the 19th
century. Hismethodologies profoundly affected the way historians
critically examine sources; see historiography for a morecomplete
analysis of the methodology of various approaches to history. An
important aspect of political history is thestudy of ideology as a
force for historical change. One author asserts that "political
history as a whole cannot existwithout the study of ideological
differences and their implications."[7] Studies of political
history typically centrearound a single nation and its political
change and development. Some historians identify the growing trend
towardsnarrow specialization in political history during recent
decades: "while a college professor in the 1940s sought toidentify
himself as a "historian", by the 1950s "American historian" was the
designation."[8]
From the 1970s onwards, new movements sought to challenge
traditional approaches to political history. Thedevelopment of
social history and women's history shifted the emphasis away from
the study of leaders and nationaldecisions, and towards the role of
ordinary citizens; "...by the 1970s "the new social history" began
replacing theolder style. Emphasis shifted to a broader spectrum of
American life, including such topics as the history of urbanlife,
public health, ethnicity, the media, and poverty."[9] As such,
political history is sometimes seen as the more'traditional' kind
of history, in contrast with the more 'modern' approaches of other
fields of history.
BritainRead man (2009) discusses the historiography of British
political history in the 20th century. It describes how
Britishpolitical scholarship mostly ignored 20th century history
due to temporal proximity to the recent past, theunavailability of
primary sources, and the potential for bias. The article explores
how transitions in scholarship haveallowed for greater interest in
20th century history among scholars, which include less reliance on
archival sources,methodological changes in historiography, and the
flourishing of new forms of history such as oral history.
GermanyIn the course of the 1960s, however, some German
historians (notably Hans-Ulrich Wehler and his cohort) began
torebel against this idea, instead suggesting a "Primacy of
Domestic Politics" (Primat der Innenpolitik), in which
theinsecurities of (in this case German) domestic policy drove the
creation of foreign policy. This led to a considerablebody of work
interpreting the domestic policies of various states and the ways
this influenced their conduct offoreign policy.
FranceThe French Annales School had already put an emphasis on
the role of geography and economics on history, and ofthe
importance of broad, slow cycles rather than the constant apparent
movement of the "history of events" of highpolitics. It downplayed
politics and diplomacy. The most important work of the Annales
school, Fernand Braudel'sThe Mediterranean and the Mediterranean
World in the Age of Philip II, contains a traditional Rankean
diplomatichistory of Philip II's Mediterranean policy, but only as
the third and shortest section of a work largely focusing on
thebroad cycles of history in the longue dure ("long term"). The
Annales were broadly influential, leading to a turningaway from
political history towards an emphasis on broader trends of economic
and environmental change.
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Political history 3
Social historyIn the 1960s and 1970s, an increasing emphasis on
giving a voice to the voiceless and writing the history of
theunderclasses, whether by using the quantitative statistical
methods of social history or the more qualitativeassessments of
cultural history, also undermined the centrality of diplomatic
history to the historical discipline.
Further reading Swirski, Peter. (2011). American Utopia and
Social Engineering in Literature, Social Thought, and Political
History. New York, Routledge. Elman, C., & Elman, M. F.
(2001). Bridges and boundaries: historians, political scientists,
and the study of
international relations. BCSIA studies in international
security. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Elton, G. R. The practice of
history (1968), British emphasis. French, John D.. "Women in
Postrevolutionary Mexico: The Emergence of a New Feminist Political
History,"
Latin American Politics and Society, Summer 2008, Vol. 50 Issue
2, pp 175-184 Huret, Romain, All in the Family Again? Political
Historians and the Challenge of Social History, Journal of
Policy History, 21 (no. 3, 2009), 23963. Pasquino, Gianfranco.
"Political History in Italy," Journal of Policy History July 2009,
Vol. 21 Issue 3, pp
282-297; discusses political historians such as Silvio Lanaro,
Aurelio Lepre, and Nicola Tranfaglia, and studies ofFascism, the
Italian Communist party, the role of the Christian Democrats in
Italian society, and the developmentof the Italian parliamentary
Republic.
Readman, Paul. "The State of Twentieth-Century British Political
History," Journal of Policy History, July 2009,Vol. 21 Issue 3, pp
219-238
Sreedharan, E. (2007). A manual of historical research
methodology. Trivandrum, Centre for South IndianStudies.
Sreedharan, E. (2004). A textbook of historiography: 500 BC to
AD 2000. New Delhi: Orient Longman.
References[1] Politics: The historical development of economic,
legal, and political ideas and institutions, ideologies and
movements. (http:/ / etext. lib.
virginia. edu/ hi/ DicHist/ analytic/ anaV. html) In The
Dictionary of the History of Ideas.[3] John Tosh, The Pursuit of
History (2nd ed. 1991), p. 74[4] Parthasarathi, Prasannan, "The
State and Social History (http:/ / www. historycooperative. org/
journals/ jsh/ 39. 3/ parthasarathi. html/ facts.
about. me)[5] Diplomatic dropped from 5% to 3%, economic history
from 7% to 5%, and cultural history grew from 14% to 16%. Based on
full-time
professors in U.S. history departments. Stephen H. Haber, David
M. Kennedy, and Stephen D. Krasner, "Brothers under the Skin:
DiplomaticHistory and International Relations," International
Security, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Summer, 1997), pp. 34-43 at p. 4 2;
online at JSTOR (http:/ /www. jstor. org/ stable/ 2539326)
[6] See "Teachers of History in the Universities of the UK 2007
- listed by research interest" (http:/ / www. history. ac. uk/ ihr/
Resources/Teachers/ a27. html)
[7] Freeman, Joanne B., "Founding Bothers" (http:/ / www.
historycooperative. org/ journals/ cp/ vol-02/ no-02/ author/ )[8]
Richard J. Jensen, Historiography of American Political History
(http:/ / members. aol. com/ dann01/ scribner. html). In Jack
Greene, ed.,
Encyclopedia of American Political History (New York:
Scribner's, 1984), vol 1. pp 1-25[9] Brunner, Borgna, "The History
of Women's History" (http:/ / www. infoplease. com/ spot/
womensintro1. html)
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Political history 4
External links Documents of Diplomatic History (http:/ / www.
mtholyoke. edu/ acad/ intrel/ irhistry. htm) Fletcher School at
Tufts International Relations Resources (http:/ / fletcher. tufts.
edu/ inter_resources/
dhpgenresources. html) A New Nation Votes: American Elections
Returns 17871825 (http:/ / dca. tufts. edu/ features/ aas) (French)
French Website of the Comit d'histoire parlementaire et politique
(http:/ / www. parlements. org/ )
(Parliamentary and Political History Committee) and
Parlement(s), Revue d'histoire politique (http:/ / www.parlements.
org/ revueparlements. html), published three times a year. It
contains a lot of information aboutFrench political history,
including about 900 references of scholarly political history
studies and a bibliography ofparliamentary history.
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Article Sources and Contributors 5
Article Sources and ContributorsPolitical history Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=565134539 Contributors:
16@r, 5618, Alan Liefting, Alex756, Allens, Alman75, Bahar101,
Bibliosophe, Bkwillwm, BoH,BokicaK, Britannicus, C mon,
Cafeirlandais, Ckatz, Clemwang, DannyScL, DerHexer, Dthomsen8,
Ekabhishek, Electionworld, Erud, Everyking, Fl, Florm,
Frostbite2550, Hemlock Martinis,Hmains, Jbergste, Joseph Solis in
Australia, Kozuch, Mais oui!, Mathias-S, Matsuzaki-Koudou, Nagika,
Nick1nildram, Oberst, Omnipaedista, OwenBlacker, Parbatee,
PhilKnight, Physicistjedi,Prolog, Reddi, RichardF, Rjensen, SimonP,
Smasikewich, Souris2005, TallNapoleon, TheChrisD, Themightyquill,
Tucdides, Versageek, Voldock, Walton One, Wknight94, Yvwv, Zach
sarro isthe man, Zanman75, 86 anonymous edits
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