Pluralism in Political Science: From Tocqueville to Putnam

This keynote speech was proffered by Gianfranco Pasquino at the opening of the VI. Congress of the Czech Political Science Association which took place in Prague, 9–11 September 2015. It covers the theoretical reflection of pluralism as a social and political phenomenon and a methodological concept in works of Tocqueville, Wright Mills, Dahl, Putnam and others. Prof. Pasquino points out several milestones in the way pluralism was used and studied in political science and ends by suggesting that distorted and shrinking pluralism opens the way to inequalities.