From opposition to accommodation: How Rockefeller foundation grants redefined relations between political theory and social science in the 1950s

Abstract

Western political theory saw a period of deep contest and rapid change in the 1950s, characterized by challenges to the discipline and its subsequent attempts to adapt. Rather than being in a state of decline as many have suggested, political theory was a prominent and diverse field, benefiting from significant funding from private foundations aiming to counterbalance the focus on behavioralism. The Rockefeller Foundation’s Legal and Political Philosophy (LAPP) program, as a major grant program, emerged as a hub for debate and policy making concerning the definition and scope of political theory. The Foundation and its collaborators sought to define the parameters of LAPP, engaging in discussions on the relationship between political theory and social science and considering various approaches within political theory. The eventual eclectic definition adopted by LAPP, however, accommodated empirical theory despite initial intentions to counterbalance it, suggesting a strategy of containment rather than opposition. Ultimately, LAPP served as a forum for political theorists to articulate their conceptions of the field, contributing to the discipline’s evolving identity and subsequent revival in the late 1960s and 1970s. – AI-generated abstract.