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政治理论

Plausible nonsense and deliberative reasoning: Benchmarking LLMs against human judgment

·558 字·2 分钟
Polihot 政治理论 研究方法 LLM相关 Large Language Models Deliberative Democracy Benchmarking Human Judgment Governance
PNAS 123/37 pp. e2600126123-e2600126123 2026-09-09 Original Plausible nonsense and deliberative reasoning: Benchmarking LLMs against human judgment Francesco Veri, Gustavo Umbelino Abstract Large Language Models (LLMs) are entering democratic contexts as instruments of governance, where the challenges at hand are ill-structured, marked by ambiguity and contestation. Ill-structured democratic problems demand more than factual precision; they call for intersubjective reasoning: context-sensitive judgments that others can understand and publicly accept. Using the Deliberative Reason Index (DRI), this study evaluates 60 LLMs against human deliberation across nine policy scenarios. Only four models consistently exceed the permutation-based null benchmark for alignment with human patterns of reason-giving. Most models fall short: their reason-preference structures rarely clear this threshold, even though their outputs can still appear coherent and persuasive. Yet outputs can appear reasonable even when this alignment is absent. The observed gap between surface plausibility and deliberative coherence urges caution: deploying LLMs in governance contexts requires prior assessment of their deliberative reasoning capacity, not just their surface outputs.

The territorial rights of wild animals: Justification

·487 字·1 分钟
Polihot 政治理论 Territorial Rights Wild Animals Animal Rights Normative Theory Justification
AJPS — 2026-08-31 Original The territorial rights of wild animals: Justification Pablo P. Castello Abstract Abstract Territorial rights (TR) have become foundational in normative political theory, addressing pressing questions about boundary drawing, governance, and resource use. Influential TR theorists Cara Nine and Margaret Moore justify humans’ TR based on the functional, social, and identity‐anchored normative significance of non‐substitutable places. However, these arguments treat animals as resources, excluding them from normative consideration and political standing. This article analyzes Nine and Moore's arguments to assess whether their justificatory logic applies to wild animals. Using mule deers as a case study, I test whether they have sufficiently weighty interests in occupancy, residency, resource use, and control to ground duties on humans and whether TR theories should continue to treat animals as mere natural resources.

On Republican Domination: Weibo as History and Concept

·91 字·1 分钟
Polihot 政治理论 中国研究 Republicanism Domination Conceptual History Chinese Political Thought Weibo
JOP — 2026-08-31 Original On Republican Domination: Weibo as History and Concept Shoufu Yin Abstract （原文未提供摘要） 中文 《论共和主义支配：作为历史与概念的Weibo》 Shoufu Yin 摘要 原文未提供摘要 关键词 共和主义、支配、非支配、概念史、政治思想史 DOI: 10.1086/743912 查看原文 →

Partisan bias in a sorted party system: A problem of epistemic inequality

·585 字·2 分钟
Polihot 政治理论 政治行为 Partisan Bias Party Sorting Epistemic Inequality Testimonial Injustice Democratic Harm
AJPS — 2026-08-26 Original Partisan bias in a sorted party system: A problem of epistemic inequality Justin Pottle Abstract Abstract Normative and empirical scholars typically treat partisans’ distrust of their political rivals as a product of individual cognitive biases. But even if bias is inevitable, it is parties’ coalition‐building and messaging strategies that determine who bias is directed toward. This paper argues that the social sorting of party conflict exacerbates the epistemic and democratic harm of partisan distrust by generating distinctive patterns of epistemic inequality. I show that when voters associate parties with particular social groups, members of those groups suffer greater risk of testimonial injustice and related credibility deficits owing to their perceived partisanship. These dynamics are most damaging for members of marginalized groups, as party–group overlap can reinforce the prejudices they already face. Addressing these harms, I argue, requires looking beyond individual partisans to the background features of party systems that shape how elites mobilize group identities and animus in the struggle for office.

Informal Authority, Legitimacy Transition, and Institutional Change: A Theory of Advisory Capture

·487 字·1 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 政治理论 Advisory Capture Informal Authority Legitimacy Transition Institutional Change DOGE
PAR — 2026-08-21 Original Informal Authority, Legitimacy Transition, and Institutional Change: A Theory of Advisory Capture Byunggeor Moon Abstract ABSTRACT How do informal actors achieve rapid bureaucratic dismantlement without formal authority? Analyzing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, this article argues that when performance‐based legitimacy displaces procedural legitimacy as the dominant evaluative framework, informal actors can bypass established safeguards and reshape government institutions. Three concepts capture this process: advisory capture , legitimacy regime transition , and constrained coercion . The analysis reveals that dismantlement targets agencies based on political vulnerability rather than functional logic, that informal authority becomes institutionalized through formal rulemaking such as the Schedule Policy/Career rule, and that judicial review operates as ongoing contestation rather than definitive constraint. Protecting democratic governance requires defending not only formal rules but the legitimacy regimes within which those rules derive meaning.

Governing Before the State: Indigenous Javanese Administrative Theory

·645 字·2 分钟
Polihot 公共行政 政治理论 Public Administration Theory Decolonial Governance Javanese Administration Nagarakretagama Weberian Bureaucracy
PAR — 2026-08-18 Original Governing Before the State: Indigenous Javanese Administrative Theory Dede Setiono Abstract ABSTRACT Public administration scholarship often treats the Weberian ideal type as a universal model of bureaucracy, making governance arrangements that differ from it appear deficient rather than different. A decolonizing approach instead asks whether non‐Western historical records can offer alternative ways of theorizing governance. This study explores that possibility through the Nagarakretagama, a 14th‐century Javanese court eulogy composed by Mpu Prapanca in 1365, which predates Machiavelli's The Prince by 148 years. Qualitative content analysis of all 98 cantos identifies five governance domains: bureaucratic hierarchy, mandala‐based territorial administration, conditional fiscal exemptions, a legal order combining written law and custom, and ceremonial practices integrated with administration. These dimensions show how the Javanese empire organized authority, territory, revenue, law, and legitimacy through institutional arrangements that differ from the Weberian model. Reading this governance system as theory reveals an alternative conceptualization of administration and advances a decolonizing, pluriversal approach to public administration.

(Non)belonging and (un)freedom

·542 字·2 分钟
Polihot 政治理论 Belonging Freedom Arendt Citizenship Pluralism
AJPS — 2026-08-13 Original (Non)belonging and (un)freedom Yuna Blajer de la Garza Abstract Abstract This article centers on the concept of “belonging” to argue that belonging and freedom are fundamentally related, and that this relationship cannot be easily captured in formal terms alone. I contend that experiences of incomplete belonging among citizens deserve attention from political science because, in addition to their more obvious challenge to equality, they also erode freedom, even in the context of robust formal guarantees. Citizens perceived as not fully belonging are more likely to eschew behaviors or opinions they know can exacerbate the likelihood of being perceived as interlopers. But although this challenge to individual freedom may be by itself worrisome, I focus on the ways in which some citizens’ unequal belonging undermines collective freedom—what Hannah Arendt calls political freedom—by confining some people's sincere expressions to narrow public spaces, limiting pluralism, and depleting the public space of opportunities for deliberation and political action.