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Summary State, Power & Conflict
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Summary of the book 'Understanding Global Conflict and Cooperation' and other compulsory literature.
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Summary ‘State, Power & Conflict’All literature
Lecture 1
Heywood, A. (2015). What is Politics? In: Politics. Houndmills: Palgrave. Ch. 1. Pp. 1-26.
Politics is:
The social activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under
which they live;
Linked to the phenomena of conflict (competition between opposing interests or
disagreement about the rules) and cooperation (people must work together through
collective action to influence rules or to ensure that they are upheld; ‘acting in concert’).
A search process of conflict resolution, in which rival views or competing interests are
resolved.
People disagree about what it is that makes social interaction ‘political’: where it takes place (within
government, the state or the public sphere), or the kind of activity it involves (peacefully resolving
conflict or exercising control over the less powerful). Politics is, therefore, an ‘essentially contested’
subject and defined in different ways. Approaches to defining politics:
Politics as an arena (narrow: Politics as a process (broad: can
politics is associated with a take place in any, or all, social
certain arena or location) contexts)
Definitions of politics The art of government Compromise and consensus
Public affairs Power and the distribution of
resources
Approaches to the study of Behaviouralism Feminism
politics Rational-choice theory Marxism
Institutionalism Post-positivist approaches
Four conceptions of politics:
1. Politics as the art of government. Politics refers to the affairs of the ‘polis’ (= ‘city-state’); classically
understood to imply the highest form of social organisation. The study of politics is to study
government, or in a broader sense to study the exercise of authority. Politics is associated with
‘policy’: with formal or authoritative decisions that establish a plan of action for the community.
Politics is what takes place within a polity: a system of social organisation centred on the machinery
of government. Most people or institutions can therefore be regarded as being ‘outside’ politics. The
perception of the phenomenon of anti-politics (= disillusionment with formal or established political
processes, reflected in non-participation, support for anti-system parties or the use of direct action)
has become more common.
2. Politics as public affairs. This conception of politics on the basis of ‘public/private’ division is
‘broader’ than the previous one. The institutions of the state (government, courts, the police, army,
etc.) can be regarded as ‘public’ as they are responsible for the collective organisation of the
community life. Institutions such private businesses, clubs and community groups are considered
‘private’ as they are set up and funded by individual citizens to satisfy their own interests. Politics is
restricted to the activities of the state itself and the responsibilities that are exercised by public
bodies. An alternative divide, between the ‘public’ (politics, commerce, work, art, culture, etc.) and
the ‘personal’ (family and domestic life), regards that politics should not undermine ‘personal’ affairs
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,and institutions. Civil society can be distinguished from the state, but nevertheless is also considered
‘public’ in the wider sense that they are open institutions, operating in public, which the public has
access to.
3. Politics as compromise and consensus. Politics is here seen as a particular means of resolving
conflict by compromise, conciliation (verzoening) and negotiation, rather than through force of
power. Consensus, which is a broad agreement by a wide range of individuals or groups on certain
principles as opposed to a precise or exact agreement, is important in this conception. The view of
politics as compromise and consensus can be traced back to Aristotle’s beliefs that ‘polity’ is the ideal
system of government, as it is ‘mixed’ in the sense that it combines both aristocratic and democratic
features. The key to politics is therefore the dissemination of power.
4. Politics as power. This conception is the most radical. It sees politics at work in all social activities
and in every corner of human existence rather than constraining it to a particular sphere (i.e. the
government, the state or the public realm). Politics take place at every level of social interaction and
concerns the production, distribution and use of resources in the course of social existence. Politics is,
therefore, power: the ability to achieve a desired outcome or to influence the behaviour of others.
Different dimensions of power: (1) power as decision-making (= conscious actions that in some way
influence the content of decisions); (2) as agenda-setting (= the ability to prevent decisions being
made; non-decision-making); (3) as thought control (= the ability to influence another by shaping
what he/she thinks, wants or needs; ideological indoctrination or psychological control). In this view,
politics is about diversity and conflict, but essentially scarcity: the resources available to satisfy
human needs and desires are always limited; struggle over scarce resources. This view includes
advocates such as feminists (politics as power-structured relationships, arrangements whereby one
group is controlled by another) and Marxists (politics as merely the organised power of one class for
oppressing another; class struggle).
Studying politics
There is no dominant way of studying politics due to the disagreement about its nature in the first
place. The origins of political analysis date back to Ancient Greece and a tradition referred to as
‘political philosophy’. This involved the fixation with essentially ethical, prescriptive or normative
questions (= the prescription of values and standards of conduct; ‘what should be’). Writings from
e.g. Plato and Aristotle have formed the basis of ‘traditional’ politics in which literary analyses of
major thinkers is primary. Such analysis are, however, not objective (external to the observer;
demonstrable; unbiased).
The empirical approach (= based on observation and experiment) to politics is characterised by the
attempt to offer a impartial account of political reality. This approach is ‘descriptive’ as it seeks to
analyse and explain, whereas the normative approach is ‘prescriptive’, as it makes judgements and
offers recommendations. The principle of empiricism has developed into ‘positivism’: the theory that
social, and indeed all forms of, research should follow the methods of the natural sciences. Examples
of the empirical approach are: behaviouralism, rational-choice theory and new institutionalism.
Behaviouralism
This approach is concerned with the belief that social theories should be constructed only on the
basis of observable behaviour, providing quantifiable data for research. Analysis should be ‘value-
free’, thus, not influenced by normative beliefs. As the focus of analysis is on observable behaviour, it
is much more difficult to describe existing political arrangements (such as democracy), causing a value
bias (= sympathies or prejudices that affect human judgement; distortion).
Rational-choice theory
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,This approach assumes that individuals are rational utility maximizers: they act in ways which best
secure their goals and that these goals reflect their self-interest. It entails the application of economic
principles (e.g. prisoners dilemma) to political behaviour with the goal to analyse puzzles about
individual behaviour. Critics, however, questioned its basic assumptions. It may, for instance,
overestimate human rationality in that it ignores the fact that people seldom possess a clear set of
preferred goals and rarely make decisions based on full and accurate knowledge. In addition, it pays
insufficient attention to social and historical factors.
New institutionalism
Institutionalism, which focused on the rules, procedures and formal organisation of government, was
criticized during the 1960s and 1970s. Interest, however, was revived in the 1980s with the
emergence of ‘new institutionalism’. This approach still believed that institutions matter, in the sense
that political structures are thought to shape political behaviour, but adjusted our understanding of
what constitutes an institution. Institutions are considered to be well-established body with a formal
role and status; more broadly, a set of rules that ensure regular and predictable behaviour. Political
institutions are not longer thought of as political organisations, but rather as sets of informal or
formal rules, which guide or constrain certain behaviour. Institutions are also embedded in a
particular normative and historical context. Just as actors within an institutional setting are socialized
to accept key rules and procedures, the institution itself operates within a larger and more
fundamental body of assumptions and practices. Critics, however, argue that political actors are
viewed by this approach as ‘prisoners’ of the institutional contexts in which they operate.
Critical approaches
Until the 1980s, Marxism had constituted the principal alternative to mainstream political science.
However, modern political analysis has become richer and more diverse as a result of the emergence
of new critical perspectives. These perspectives are critical as they seek to contest the political status
quo by aligning themselves with the interests of criticized or oppressed groups. Second, they have, in
different ways and to different degrees, tried to go beyond positivism of mainstream political science,
emphasizing instead the role of consciousness in shaping social conduct and, therefore, the political
world. These post-positivist approaches question the idea of an ‘objective’ reality, emphasizing
instead the extend to which people conceive, or ‘construct’, the world in which they live.
Constructivism, for example, is based on the belief that there is no objective social or political reality;
people ‘construct’ the world in which they live, suggesting that the world operates through a kind of
‘inter-subjective’ awareness.
Post-structuralism emphasizes that all ideas and concepts are expressed in language which itself is
enmeshed in complex relations of power. This approach draws attention to the link between power
and systems of thought using the idea of discourse (= knowledge is power; human interaction and
communication; illustrates power relations). Post-structuralism and postmodernism both reject the
idea o absolute and universal truth (foundationalism), but post-structuralists argue that it is possible
to expose hidden meanings in particular concepts, theories and interpretations through a process of
deconstruction (= close reading with an eye to blind spots and/or contradictions). Post-modernism
highlights the shift away from societies structured by industrialization and class solidarity to
increasingly fragmented and pluralistic information societies. They argue that there is no thing as
certainty.
Concepts, models and theories
A concept is a general idea about something, expressed in a single word or short phrase; more than
just a name. Concepts are tools used to think, criticize, argue, explain and analyse; in order to make
sense of the world. These tools are general: they can relate to a number of objects that complies with
the characteristics of the general idea. Concepts are nevertheless problematic as political reality is
constantly shifting and highly complex; consequently concepts will be more rounded and coherent
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, than the unshaped realities they seek to describe. By recognizing particular concepts as ‘ideal types’
(Max Weber), in which certain basic or central features of the phenomenon are singled out and
features are thus downgraded or ignored, these problems can be overcome. Ideal types are
explanatory tools and not approximations of reality, and should therefore be thought of as being
more or less useful instead of being true or false. Politics is, in part, a struggle over the legitimate
meaning of terms and concepts. As certain words have different meanings to different people, it
should be accepted that there are competing versions of many political concepts and that there will
be no neutral or settled definition (= essentially contested concepts).
Models and theories are broader than concepts: they compromise a range of ideas instead of a single
idea. A model is a theoretical representation of empirical data (usually on a smaller scale) that aims to
advance understanding by highlighting significant relationships and interactions. Conceptual models
are analytical tools; their value is that they are devices through which meaning can be imposed on
what would otherwise be a disorganised collection of facts. They are simplifications of the reality they
seek to explain. A model is actually an analysis of a system: an organised or complex whole, a set of
interrelated and interdependent parts that form a collective entity.
A theory is a proposition (yet to be tested); a systematic explanation of empirical data, usually
presented as reliable knowledge (unlike a hypothesis). Theories and models are often interlinked:
broad theories may be explained by using models. It is difficult to construct theories that are purely
empirical as they often contain hidden values or implicit assumptions constructed on the basis of
broader macro theories. These macro theories reflect traditions that operate in a similar way to the
‘paradigms’: related sets of principles, doctrines and
Co
theories that help to structure the process of intellectual nce
research. A paradigm constitutes the framework within pts
which the search for knowledge is conducted. Normal Models or
science is conducted within an established paradigm, microtheories
while revolutionary science attempts to replace it with a
Macrotheories
new one. Political research is, however, a constant battle
between competing paradigms.
Ideological traditions/ paradigms
Politics in a global age
A distinction has traditionally been drawn between the domestic and international realms of politics,
reflecting differences between what happens within the state and what occurs in relations between
states. This domestic/international divide has helped to sustain a disciplinary distinction between
political science and international relations. However, globalization and the advent of an
interdependent world has cast significant doubt upon the viability of these distinctions as the state
borders have become more ‘porous’. International relations (IR) has treated states as micro-level
actors within the larger international arena, while political science tended to view states as macro-
level actors in the political world. These disciplines can be seen as overlapping as they ask similar
question, although about different (related) levels of political interaction. If political activity can no
longer be seen to take place within discrete domestic and interaction spheres, politics is perhaps best
understood in terms of overlaps and interrelationships between and amongst the global, the
regional, the national and the local spheres.
Hague, R., Harrop, M., & McCormick, J. (2016) Key Concepts. In: Comparative Government and
Politics. An Introduction. London: Palgrave. Ch. 1. pp. 1-17.
Concept Definition
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