ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses chiefly to political theorists, but with implications for the entire profession: the proposal to replace or supplement the rehearsal of routinized canons with a turn to global, cross-cultural or "comparative" political theorizing. It offers some reasons or motivations why the turn seems appropriate today. The chapter discusses a variety of theoretical or philosophical inspirations buttressing or undergirding the turn. It also explores its broader political implications. There are many reasons supporting the turn to comparative political theory. At its annual meeting in the fall of 2001, the program of American Political Science Association featured a panel with the topic "What Is Political Theory?" In the field of multiculturalism, one of the most significant contributions is owed to British-Indian political theorist Bhikhu Parekh. In terms of long-range political vision, comparative political theorizing places itself on the side of global democratic cooperation over against oligarchic or imperial control, the side of dialogical interaction over against hegemonic unilateralism and monologue.
