Poli 201: Intro to Government & Politics
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The Problem of Definition
• The study of politics is so multifaceted that finding a clear definition of the
field is difficult
• Is it a noble calling or corrupt enterprise?
• To what extent does the discipline revolve around the issue of conflict?
• How does one make collective decisions in a complex society? How does
one distribute the resources of that society?
Harold Lasswell (1936)
• Politics can be understood as the mechanism used to determine “who
gets what, when, how”
The Inevitability of Politics
• is conflict and politics inevitable?
• Karl Marx claims that politics is “merely the organized power of one class
for oppressing another”
• To eliminate the basis for classes is to eliminate the need for
politics
• Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history” thesis envisions a liberal democratic
triumph that puts an end to ideological conflict
Aristotle’s Classifications of States
Number Ruling Good Form (for the Corrupt Form (for the
benefit of all) benefit of the ruler)
One Monarchy Tyranny
Few Aristocracy Oligarchy
Many Polity Democracy
Power and Authority
• Once a decision is made, how is it enforced?
• Power: the ability to force behavior upon those who would not otherwise
choose it; implies coercion
• Authority: associated with legitimacy; rule by consent of the ruled
Where Does Politics Begin and End?
,• A narrow definition of politics focuses on the institution of the state
• Max Weber: the state has a “monopoly on the legitimate use of
physical force in enforcing its order within a given territorial area”
• The state is sovereign, the highest authority in a society
Politics at Levels Other Than the State
• Ranges from the family to the international community
• Recent interest in politics at the supranational level
• Effects of globalization, such as economic interdependence, increasingly
constrain the “sovereignty” of states
What Kinds of Actions Count as Political?
• Some see politics as the art of negotiating peaceful settlements to conflict
• Others see war and conflict as “politics by other means” (Clausewitz)
• Politics does need to speak about cooperation, compromise, and
consensus
• BUT it also needs to address force, violence, and military conflict
Normative Analysis - ought
• Central focus of discipline prior to the mid-20th century
• Asks value questions such as:
• What is the good life?
• Should we value something?
• How ought we live together?
• Normative judgments are not resolvable by an appeal to empirical facts
(the “is/ought” problem), so how are we to decide between them?
• Stems from problem based theory
• Interested in collective problems
• Interested in individual problems
• Interested in the way they intersect
• Some argue this makes political science unique
• Uses the word ought
Empirical Analysis - is
• Seeks to identify observable phenomena in order to establish what is
rather than what ought to be
,• Emerges in the 1950s with the rise of behaviorism
• Envisions itself as value-neutral or “objective”
• Modeled largely on the hard or natural sciences
• Studies what is tangible
Semantic Analysis
• Focuses on meaning and origin of the concepts used by discipline
• Asks why and how they are used the way they are
• Many of the concepts have no commonly accepted definition and are
“essentially contested”
Three Types of Political Analysis
• Normative: asks value questions
• Empirical: focuses on observable phenomena
• Semantic: concerned with meaning
• The three types do not operate mutually exclusively of the others, and
are instead often implied in each other
, The State, Sovereignty, and State Theory 15-12-17 11:56 AM
Defining the Sovereign State
• Central concept in the study of politics
• Jean Bodin (1529-96): sovereignty is “the most high, absolute, and
perpetual power over the citizens and subjects in a commonwealth”
• Max Weber: the state has a “monopoly on the legitimate use of physical
force in enforcing its order within a given territorial area”
• Must have a population as well
Night-Watchman State
• Sees the role of the state as minimal
• Typically restricted to the provision of security and property rights
• Minimization of state interference to maximize freedom
• Security
• Life, liberty, and threat against property
Interventionist or Developmental State
• Government and private business partner together to concentrate on
rapid economic growth, or on greater social and economic equality
through growth
• Prevalent in East Asia following world war two
• State owned companies
A Typology of the State
• States can also be classified according to how subject the leaders are to
the will of the people:
• Liberal democracy
• Illiberal democracy
• Authoritarian state
• Totalitarian state
Liberal Democracy
• Free and fair elections, universal suffrage, personal liberty and the
protection of individual rights
• Ex. Canada, US, India
Illiberal Democracy
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