The projects linked to this research line have been active since the beginning of the creation of the Department of Political Science. Studies in this area are characterized by the plurality of their subjects and their methodological approaches, as well as by the critical analysis of the works in circulation today internationally.
A first group of research projects is linked to classical and modern political theory. Among the main research themes, the following stand out: Greek Political Theory and Divergent Conceptions of Democracy; Republican Theories and Natural Law. A second group of projects focuses on contemporary political theory. Some of the most burning issues addressed by this line are: the different alternatives for reconciliation between popular sovereignty and human rights; the justification of the rules of the democratic game and the tensions between the aggregative and deliberative aspects of these rules; the convergences/divergences of democratic thought and constitutionalist tradition; the issues of accommodating demands for pluralism, tolerance and social justice in democratic practices; the problem of political representation and its contemporary transformations; and efforts to unify the explanatory and normative dimensions of this theory. Projects related to Brazilian and Latin American political thought also have a long and solid tradition in the program. The respective researchers have stood out for their leadership in the scope of the national academic debate on these themes that include ideas of nation, nationality and nationalism, conservative thought, and lineages of Brazilian and Latin American political thought.
This research line has 8 researchers: Adrian Lavalle, Álvaro de Vita, André Singer, Bernardo Ricupero, Cícero Araujo, Eunice Ostrensky, Patrício Tierno, Rurion Melo
