本文試圖檢視行為主義與後行為主義兩個時期中 R. Dahl 的價值中立主張，藉以 解析多元政治的理論建構，從而釐清價值中立原則中的一些爭端，並探究政治參與和民主政 治之間的密切關係。本文的分析，將從價值中立的意義轉折、多元政治的理論建構、及政治 參與和幅員大小等三個主要層面，逐一分別進行。

　　　　　From the behavioralistic revolution to post-behavioralism, political scientists are lamentably disposed to involve themselves in debates about the problem of value neutrality. As often happens in polemical debates, these two opposing positions are frequently distorted; false accusations easily pass for fact. The purpose of this article is to trace the process of theory construction of polyarchy centred on the comparison of these two positions and then, on the basis of this, to give a detailed assessment of the relations between political participation and democracy.