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College-aantekeningen State, Power And Conflict (2022)
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Toetsstof state, power and conflictLecture 1 Politics and Ideology
Inhoud
➔ What is politics? What is political science?
➔ What is a political ideology?
➔ Populism
Definition of politics by Lasswell
➔ Origins: it is a Greek word (polis; city-state).
➔ Greek society was organized in city states with self-government.
➔ In Ancient Greek society: politics is ‘what concerns the city-state.’
➔ In modern times: politics is ‘what concerns the state’?
➔ One of the best-known definitions of politics was given by Harold D. Lasswell
(1950).
➔ But why politics matters is not the same as what politics is.
➔ Which people, institutions, and social activities are ‘political’? And which are
‘non-political’?
➔ Should we think of politics as an arena or as a process?
➔ Narrow approach to politics: the activity through which people make, preserve
and amend the general rules under which they live.
Politics is all about:
➔ the government
➔ the exercise of power
➔ the public allocation of values
➔ the resolution of conflict and the competition and cooperation among
individuals, groups, or states pursuing their interests
Public: the state: apparatus of government
Public: public realm: politics, commerce, work, art, culture
Private: civil society: autonomous bodies, businesses, trade unions, clubs, families,
etc.
Private: personal realm: family and domestic life.
Political science
Political science is understood as the science of government, as affairs of the state,
but:
➔ The state is rooted in society
➔ The state maintains a particular social order’
➔ Politics outside the state is also important
➔ Interactions between the state and society are at the core of politics
It is about the study of politics and of social relations of cooperation and conflict
between individuals, groups and classes.
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,Studying politics
➔ Philosophical tradition: deals with normative questions and how should
politics be organized
➔ Empirical tradition: deals with descriptive questions, how and why is politics
organized
Political ideology: is more than left and the right wing
Heywood: A more or less coherent set of ideas that provides a basis for political
action, whether this is intended to preserve modify or overthrow the existing systems
of power relationships. All ideologies offer an account of:
➔ The existing order: worldview
➔ The desired future: a goal
➔ The roadmap: process
The big three political ideologies (But there are of course more than these three
political ideologies, like fascism, green politics etc.): liberalism, conservatism and
socialism.
Liberalism
➔ Individualism: Supreme importance of the human individual (rather than the
social group).
➔ Freedom: Individuals should enjoy maximum possible liberty consistent with a
like liberty for all.
➔ Reason: The world has a rational structure, which can be uncovered through
reason and critical enquiry. Focus on progress.
➔ Equality: Individuals are born equal, at least in terms of moral worth. Principle
of meritocracy (meritocratie: maatschappijmodel waarin elke positie van elk
individu is gebaseerd op zijn of haar verdiensten)
➔ Toleration: Belief in pluralism and diversity of thought and beliefs.
➔ Consent: Authority should be based on willing agreement, a contract (consent
by the governed).
➔ Constitutionalism: Belief in limited government; ensure (by means of
checks and balances) that power does not corrupt or gets misused).
Conservatism
➔ Tradition: Desire to conserve; respect for accumulated wisdom of the past,
and practices and institutions that have endured the test of time.
➔ Pragmatism: Belief in limitations of human rationality; faith in experience and
history and in ‘what works.’
➔ Human imperfection: Pessimistic view of human nature (morally corrupt);
strong focus on law and order.
➔ Organicism: There is a fabric of society (families, communities, the nation)
which is key for stability and upheld by shared values/common culture.
➔ Hierarchy: Gradations in social position/status are natural and inevitable, but
foster responsibility of care for the less fortunate.
➔ Authority: Authority is exercised from above, which provides clarity and a
basis for social cohesion.
➔ Property: property ownership is vital as it gives people security and
independence from government.
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,Socialism
➔ Community: humans are linked by the existence of a common humanity.
Importance of social interactions and collective bodies. Individual behaviour
can be explained in terms of social factors.
➔ Fraternity (broederschap): Humans bound by comradeship. Cooperation over
competition. Focus on collectivism.
➔ Social equality: The primacy of equality over other values.
➔ Need: Redistribution of material benefits on the basis of need rather than merit
or work.
➔ Social class: Analysing society in terms of income/wealth (social class).
Specific interest in the oppressed/exploited working class.
➔ Common ownership: The aim of common ownership is to harness material
resources to the common good. Private property may lead to social
division/selfishness.
Beyond the ideology
Francis Fukuyama and his argument:
➔ After the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism, liberal and capitalist
values would be universally accepted.
➔ End of the ideological debate : Western liberal democracy has triumphed
(overwonnen).
➔ “The universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human
government.”
Anthony Giddens his argument:
➔ The Third Way: reconciling (verzoenen) right-wing and left-wing politics.
➔ Synthesizing centre-right economics policies and centre-left social policies.
➔ Re-evaluating political policies due to doubts about:(1)the economic viability of
the state and (2)economic interventionist policies (Keynesianism).
Populism
Different views on populism:
Mudde: Populism as an ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated
into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups versus the corrupt elite, and which
argues that politics should be an expression of the general will of the people: Mudde.
Mudde says also that populism can be combined with very different other ideologies,
like communism, ecologism, nationalism or socialism.
Canovan: says that populism is a thin-cantered ideology.
Aslanidis: an anti-elite discourse in the name of the sovereign people.
Norris: populism is best threated not as a distinct type or style of leadership, or even
an ideological viewpoint, as is often assumed, but rather as a discourse about the
legitimacy of democratic governance that can be adopted by actors across the entire
ideological spectrum.
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, ➔ Populism is a thin-cantered ideology
➔ Opposites of populism: elitism and pluralism
➔ Populism can be combined with different other ideologies, like communism,
ecologism, and socialism
➔ General will of the people: populism
➔ It is an anti-elitist and anti-establishment and focuses on popular sovereignty
in the name of the sovereign people
Logic of consequences: human beings try to make that choice that gives them the
best net-result in terms of benefits and costs.
Logic of appropriateness: a human being sees other human beings primarily as
having expectations about how he or she should act. Human beings are also
socialized to internalize norms, which can be either focused on their individual or the
collective interest.
Is Donald Trump a populist of nativist?
➔ Nativism: a form of xenophobic nationalism, as an ideology that wants
congruency of the state and nation – the political and cultural unit.
Lecture 2 State, nation and nation state
Inhoud
➔ Definition of liberalism
➔ Definition of a state, of a nation
➔ Are the state and nation always linked with each other?
➔ A case study
Liberalism
➔ Classical: extreme individualism, laissez-faire capitalism (maar op zijn beloop
gaan): policy of minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of
individuals and society
➔ Modern: more sympathetic toward government intervention
➔ Neoliberalism: central pillars: the market and individual, linked to neoliberal
globalization.
Dominant nation in the Netherlands is like you feel Dutch, you are Dutch, and you
identify as a Dutch person.
State
➔ We often takes it for granted that this is the way how it is organized.
➔ Since the end of World War 2 the number of states has increased rapidly, we
have now more than 190 UN member states at this moment. Before 1945
there were 50 UN member states. The number of nations who wants to be
independent is increased.
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