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European Journal of International Relations
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Theory as a Hermeneutical Mechanism: The Democratic-Peace Thesis and the Politics of Democratization

Piki Ish-Shalom

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This article seeks to explain the influence of the democratic-peace thesis on politics by offering a new understanding of theory: as a hermeneutical mechanism of attaching meaning to political concepts. The hermeneutical mechanism is understood as a three-stage model in which theoretical constructions transform into public conventions and then into political convictions. By using discourse-tracing—analyzing the process in which the theoretical discourse was transformed into political discourse—the article explores two case studies in which the democratic-peace thesis played a political role: the Israeli Right and its criticism of the Oslo accords, and the American neoconservatives and their policies in the Middle East. En route, I will apply Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to reconstruct constructivism from a purely social theory to a sociopolitical theory that considers seriously the political dimension of social reality. The model that is developed here advances our metatheoretical understanding of theory as offering a holistic understanding of reality, rather than a mere limited explanation of specific phenomena; highlights theory’s involvement in real-world politics; and emphasizes theory’s political capital, with the resulting moral responsibility of theoreticians.

Key Words: Antonio Gramsci • constructivism • democratic peace • hermeneutical mechanism • metatheory • neoconservatism • theory

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European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 12, No. 4, 565-598 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1354066106069324
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