What is the proper subject matter for political theory? Uncertainty about the most appropriate way of answering these questions provides the key rationales for this volume: to provide a comprehensive overview of the central questions and debates in contemporary political thought and to offer guidelines for the reformulation of political theory made necessary by the philosophical and substantive problems it faces today.

The twelve essays in this book examine some of the classic traditional questions of political theory: the nature of obligation, equality, liberty, the public, the private, democracy, and justice. They also examine questions that relate these notions to a broader framework encompassing the many recent changes in the nation-state, forms of sovereignty, domestic and international law, violence and warfare, and domestic and international political economy.

The contributors are leading scholars in political theory from the United States, Europe, and Africa: Samir Amin, Charles Beitz, Antonio Cassese, John Dunn, Jon Elster, David Held, Agnes Heller, Steven Lukes, Iain McLean, Claus Offe, Susan Moller Okin, Onora O'Neill and Ulrich K. Preuss.