Getting to Know the New Maxwell Chair: Steven Johnston

Since August 2010, the department of political science has been looking for the right candidate to fill The Neal A. Maxwell Endowed Chair in Political Theory, Public Policy, and Public Service position. It called for a person with a significant record of accomplishment in areas of teaching and research, and whose work explores the relationship between normative political theory and public policy. After much consideration, the position was awarded to associate professor Steven Johnston, formerly of the University of South Florida.

Johnston studies democratic political culture, politics, and citizenship. "I am interested in democracy in all aspects and have found that it is almost always under assault in one way or another. It generates certain expectations and demands, sometimes that cannot be met. It is a great field of study because it is open-ended," says Johnston.

Although there comes a certain presumed status with the Maxwell Chair, Johnston remains humble about his position and says, "It’s important to keep in mind, with someone fortunate enough to be honored with a chair like this, that one should be modest. Not any one political theorist is in possession of one right answer—we’re not founts of wisdom that pronounce from on high and expect the world to listen to us. We offer a perspective, and we know that it is a partial perspective, that we may have insight into some things that we share, but there are other things that we may not have insight into." He concludes, "I want to point out that I recognize that the views I put forward are contestable. People are allowed to disagree. Part of what we do here is engage in discussion."

Johnston has had numerous works published including The Truth about Patriotism, published in 2007, and Encountering Tragedy: Rousseau and the Project of Democratic Order, published in 1999. Both focus on various aspects of democracy, public service, democratic citizenship, and patriotism. His latest book project, titled Tragic Democracy: Politics without Patriotism, is an investigation of patriotism and was the topic of The Political Inquiry Encounters forum held February 3rd.

"I am interested in the discrepancy between ideal and reality—the thought that in order for democracy to succeed, one must have patriotism, a love of country. In my findings, people tended to be more alert to the more reactionary patriotism and how invariably it seems to turn into an ugly direction where death is the ultimate sacrifice and ultimate act of patriotism. My thought then became, ‘How did that become our model?’ I believe that one can be passionately involved with one’s country without that passion having to be love or involve enmity and death," he explains.

This semester, Johnston is teaching two classes: Modern Political Theory—which includes studying some of the great figures in historical political thought: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Nietzsche; and Contemporary Political Theory—which examines the dilemmas that democracy faces, tragedies it has to deal with, and how democracy is under assault. "We tend to think of politics as something we’d like to be over and done with; we find meaning in other areas of our lives, but not in politics and that’s something I’d like to change. I hope thinkers come alive in these classes and help them think about their own attitude toward democracy, politics, and citizenship. Both of these classes call for a revisiting of one’s own positions and their significance. We can always benefit from taking another look at our fundamental principles," states Johnston.

When asked about how democracy has changed in the era of modern technology, Johnston says, "There is no doubt that technology has done extraordinary things—it can be empowering and it is helpful in bringing people together. The Internet, via Twitter and Facebook, has done well in terms of fundraising. But there’s something about the Occupy Movement, the physicality and immediacy of it that shouldn’t be substituted. Technology may be able to augment it, but it shouldn’t try to be a stand in for it."

On February 15th, Johnston, sociology professor Julie Stewart, and political science professor Claudio Holzner were all part of a panel discussion on the Occupy Wall Street Movement—the podcast can be heard on KUER’s website. Of the Occupy movement Johnston says, "Anytime people engage in democratic citizenship knowing that there are these manifest injustices out there, it’s absolutely extraordinary. The rhetorical device of the 1% and the 99% has brought attention to the way in which there is widespread economic injustice and unfairness and how it translates into power.It brings attention to the indifferences to suffering for those who are unemployed, as well as the absence of urgency and choices and what’s necessary to pull us out."

Johnston speaks highly not only of the movement itself, but also of the individuals who have taken part in it. "These are young people drawing attention to remarkable economic injustices that have been prominent for at least the past 30 years." He continues, "They are doing the country a great public service, and they are doing it in a democratic way, and acting as a form of resistance that is a long-standing tradition in democracy.However, it is disturbing that when people engage in politics in a public space, it is always with police surrounding them, assuming that all protests are dangerous. My question ends up being, ‘Why aren’t we out there arm in arm in solidarity with them?’ I applaud those protesters who are performing a public service and are putting themselves at risk by doing so."

With the Occupy Wall Street panel discussion behind him, Johnston continues to keep busy, setting his sights on bringing some outsideperspectives to campus in the near future. "With the current political campaign, I hope to bring different speakers in and hold various conferences regarding it, as well as how the economic crisis plays out politically," he says.