Imagining Politics critically examines two interpretations of government. The first comes from pop culture fictions about politics, the second from academic political science. Stephen Benedict Dyson argues that televised political fictions and political science theories are attempts at meaning-making, reflecting and shaping how a society thinks about its politics.

By taking fiction seriously, and by arguing that political science theory is homologous to fiction, the book offers a fresh perspective on both, using fictions such as The West Wing, House of Cards, Borgen, Black Mirror, and Scandal to challenge the assumptions that construct the discipline of political science itself.

Imagining Politics is also about a political moment in the West. Two great political shocks—Brexit and the election of Donald Trump—are set in a new context here. Dyson traces how Brexit and Trump campaigned against our image of politics as usual, and won.

Stephen Benedict Dyson is Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut.

“Imagining Politics is a first-rate work of scholarship. Popular culture as conveyed through television shows, such as The West Wing and Yes, Minister, can help to explain the political world. The study provides an innovative account of the populist turn in multiple locations around the world. This is essential reading.”
—Patrick James, University of Southern California

“This is an important and engaging resource for scholars and researchers because of the way that Dyson weaves understandings of fictional narrative into an understanding of the embedded narrative that constructs an entire academic discipline. Dyson integrates popular culture and narratives while analyzing the narratives that shape and form political science as a discipline, exploring the connections between stories told in different contexts. Imagining Politics: Interpretations in Political Science and Political Television guides the reader through a fascinating interpretation of politics, from diverse vantage points, but through an understanding of the role of narratives.”
—Lilly Goren, Carroll University