dr Clifford Angell Bates, prof. ucz.

I am an American, born in Rhode Island. Holding a Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University, MA from the University of Dallas, and a BA from Providence College.  I am a political scientist, whose focus is the history of political philosophy/theory, with subspecializations in comparative politics, International relations, literature and politics, and American Constitutional Thought and Institutional History. My first book was on Aristotle’s Best Regime (LSU 2004), and the 2nd book is The Centrality of the Regime for Political Science (WUW, 2016). I am very much interested in the intersection between human biological nature, human institutions, and environmental forces that come to shape the political and social forces of humanity.  I am working on two projects: the question of formation of state structures (and concepts) and their viability over time and my exhaustive commentary on Aristotle’s Regime Science.

Publications

“Interweaving the Political Form and the Social Form in Light of the History of Political and Social Thought.” Polish Political Science Review, vol. 14, no. 1, (2026), pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2026-0001.

“Political Anthropological Foundations within Aristotle’s Regime Science.” Teoria Polityki 11 (2025): 83-103.

“Oakeshott’s Critique of Rationalism in Politics.” Kronos: Philosophical Journal.  VOLUME XIII (2024): 138-150  ISSN 2392-0963

“Aristotle’s Theory of Regime Change: A Reexamination of Politics 5.1-5.3”. Politeja Vol 21 nr. 3(90)(2024): pp. 9-27. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.21.2024.90.01.

“The Riddle of the Middle: Challenging the Mixed or Middle Regime Interpretation of Aristotle’s Politics” Przegląd Politologiczny/Political Science Review 3 (2024): pp. 157–175. https://doi.org/10.14746/pp.2024.29.3.10

The Centrality of the Regime for Political Science. (Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2016).

Aristotle’s Best Regime: Kingship, Democracy, and the Rule of Law. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2003).

“Once Again Into the Breach” of the Debate About “Polity” in Aristotle’s Political Teaching: Another Closer Look at Politics 4 Chapters 12 and 13″ Polish Political Science Review Polski Przegląd Politologiczny 11, no.1 (2023): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.2478/ppsr-2023-0001  

“Restoring the Distinctiveness of Politics: On the Political and the Forms of Rule.” Co-authored with Trevor Shelly. Polish Political Science Yearbook, vol. 52, no. 1, March/April 2023, pp. 1-22.

“The Trajectory of Machiavelli’s Concept of State in Early Modern Politics.” Dialogi Polityczne/Political Dialogues: Journal of Political Theory, vol. 32, no. 1, 2022, pp. 7-30.

“The Un-codifiable in any Constitutional Order.” Uncodified Constitutions and the Question of Political Legitimacy, edited by Łukasz Perlikowski, 13-25. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK, 2022.

“The Coercion-Extraction Cycle and the Paradox of Stability.” Co-authored with Łukasz Perlikowski. Polish Political Science Review/Polski Przegląd Politologiczny, vol. 10, no. 1, 2022, pp. 1-20.

Courses (selected)

MA Courses:

Proseminar: Liberty and Consent in American Political Thought

Proseminar: Civil Society and American Citizenship

Proseminar: American Political Ideas/Political Thought

BA Courses:

The US Constitution and American Constitutionalism

The Creation of the American Constitution

Democracy in America – Then and Now

The Congress

Federalism and State/Local Politics

Introduction to Politics

Hobbies/non-academic interests

Cocktails/Whiskey, Cigars, Reading, Country Music, Classical Music, Wargaming, RPG (Traveller).