The ship of state : statecraft and politics from ancient Greece to democratic America

This provocative and illuminating book provides a new perspective on the development of political thought from Homer to Machiavelli, Tocqueville, and Gertrude Stein (who is introduced here, for the first time, as a writer of political significance). Providing nuanced readings of key texts by these and other thinkers, Norma Thompson locates a powerful theme: that the political health of organized political communities—from the ancient polis to the modern state to contemporary democracy—requires a balance between masculine and feminine qualities. Although most critics view the Western tradition as a progression away from misogyny and toward rights for women, Thompson contends that the need for balance in the political community was well understood in earlier eras. Only now has it been almost entirely overlooked in our focus on surface indications of strict gender equality. Thompson argues that political rhetoric must once again promote the reconciliation of masculine and feminine forces in order to achieve effective politics and statecraft. Author Biography: Norma Thompson is associate professor of political science at Yale University. ISBN-13: 9780300088175 Contents 10 Introduction 12 PART 1. The Polis 20 Chapter One—Stories at the Limits 22 Homer and the Origins of the Polis 24 Thucydides’ Athens 33 Aristotle’s New Founding 47 Chapter Two—Plato’s Socrates 63 PART 2. The State 82 Chapter Three—The Rhetoric of the State 84 Machiavelli’s Lucrezia 90 Burke’s Queen of France 102 Shelley’s Monster 116 Chapter Four—Rousseau/Tutor 123 PART 3. Democratic America 132 Chapter Five—Surveying Tocqueville 134 Chapter Six—Gertrude Stein’s Socrates 148 Conclusion: Redressing the Balance 169 Afterword—The Ship of State: The Political Metaphor and Its Fate 178 Notes 186 Bibliography 220 Index 248 #,Publisher:,Yale,University,Press,#,Number,Of,Pages:,256,#,Publication,Date:,2001-08-01 "This book provides a new perspective on the development of political thought from Homer to Machiavelli, Tocqueville, and Gertrude Stein (who is introduced here, for the first time, as a writer of political significance). Providing nuanced readings of key texts by these and other thinkers, Norma Thompson locates a powerful theme: that the political health of organized political communities - from the ancient polis to the modern state to contemporary democracy - requires a balance between masculine and feminine qualities."--BOOK JACKET.