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@article{206843,
        author = {Dr.Chaitra},
        title = {The Enduring Relevance of Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies in Contemporary Political Science},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {2},
        pages = {3556-3564},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=206843},
        abstract = {Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) remain a seminal work defending liberal democracy and critiquing totalitarian ideologies. Written during World War II as “war work” against the intellectual roots of fascism and communism, it argues that societies must reject historicism (the belief in inevitable laws of history) and utopian schemes, and instead embrace piecemeal reforms, critical debate, and institutions that allow rulers to be removed peacefully. This article examines Popper’s core ideas – his falsifiability criterion in science, his model of open (liberal) versus closed (authoritarian) societies, and his critique of Plato, Hegel, and Marx as “enemies” of openness – in light of today’s political challenges. We survey how Popperian concepts illuminate debates over rising populism and illiberal democracy (citing Galston 2018’s analysis of populist majoritarianism), polarization and “incivility” in public discourse, science and pseudoscience (e.g. climate change), and the tension between an open society and digital-age “cancel culture”. We compare Popper to at least six other thinkers (Plato, Hegel, Marx, Isaiah Berlin, John Rawls, and Hannah Arendt), noting for each how their views on liberty, democracy, or historicism align or conflict with Popper’s. Major criticisms of Popper (e.g. his allegedly utopian rationalism and neglect of socioeconomic inequalities) are addressed alongside defenses (e.g. by Berlin and Hayek). Finally, we discuss implications for political theory and empirical research (such as modeling political change as falsifiable hypotheses), propose policy lessons (favor incremental reform, protect free institutions), and suggest open questions (e.g. how to measure “openness” empirically, or how Popperian falsifiability applies to post-truth politics). Throughout we draw on Popper’s original text and recent scholarship to offer a critical, up-to-date appraisal in a journal-article style.},
        keywords = {Karl Popper, Open Society, Populism, Social Engineering, Utopia, Polarization},
        month = {July},
        }