Reinventing the Wheel? On the Production and Acquisition of Knowledge in Politics

Reinventing the Wheel? On the Production and Acquisition of Knowledge in Politics The US Declaration of Independence’s opening claim – «We hold these truths to be self-evident» – is unjustified. Historical events and present circumstances internationally do not bear it out either. Why has the ‹sustainability› of knowledge about democracy, rule of law, and human rights proven so difficult to ensure, including in world’s oldest liberal democracies? Answering this question requires us to examine how knowledge is produced and acquired in the political context today. More specifically, we must study the widespread phenomena of populism and truthiness and their effects on the respective epistemic processes. Finally, it is imperative to consider what remains, what should remain, and how that might remain in the (re-)formation of political systems over space and time. The societal significance of this investigation should at least be ‹self-evident› in this the biggest election year in history.