Department of Political Sciences Politics and Conflict Resolution
PLC821M
STUDY UNIT 1 POLITICS AND CONFLICT (PAGE 1)
Purpose of this study unit
The intention of this study unit is to address the following:
o The relationship between politics and conflict: politics as conflict, and
politics as conflict resolution
o The different manifestations of political conflict
o The means of managing conflict
1.1 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLITICS AND CONFLICT
Political Sciences and Conflict
• Conflict is a common phenomenon in all Political Sciences disciplines.
• Conflict involves varying parties and causes, but methods and resolutions are
often similar.
• Two perspectives exist: politics as conflict and politics as conflict resolution.
• Three definitions of politics: authoritative allocation of scarce values, who gets
what, when, and how, and the activity through which people make, preserve, and
amend general rules.
Understanding Politics and its Role in Society
Definition and Competition in Politics
• Politics is associated with scarcity, leading to competition among representatives of
resource needs.
• This competition can be conflictual, hence politics' allocative or regulatory function.
• Politics is the means for distributing scarce resources in an acceptable manner.
,Rationale for the State
• The state's rationale is based on social contract theories.
• Thomas Hobbes' theory suggests the state superseded a natural state where
humans competed for scarce resources.
• The state's authority derives from the social contract, aiming to curb human
volatility and violence.
Necessities of Politics
• Politics is by nature conflictual due to rival opinions, different wants, competing
needs, and opposing interests.
• Two examples of this notion are politics as power (Realism and feminism) and
politics as a class struggle (the Marxist view).
Realism and the Balance of Power
• Realpolitik, associated with Hans Morgenthau, Reinhold Niebuhr, George F
Kennan, Henry Kissinger, Raymond Aron, and others, assumes no real harmony of
interests among nations.
• Politics should provide frameworks to minimize human propensity to engage in
conflict, preserving "the balance of power."
Understanding Realism and Politics
• Realism has been a key framework in explaining world wars and the Cold War.
• Frederick L Schumann referred to the absence of a common government in the
international system, stating that each state seeks safety by relying on its own power
and observing the power of its neighbors.
• Power and influence are used separately, with power being the ability to move
others by the threat or infliction of deprivations, and influence being the ability to do
so through promises or grants of benefits.
Feminist Political Thinking and Power
• Feminist political thinking challenges the categorization of women from politics,
arguing that they have been excluded from all actions related to politics.
• Politics is defined as power-structured relationships where one group of persons is
controlled by another.
,Classical Marxism and Politics
• Marxist perspective views society as consisting of socio-economic classes,
determined by the relations of production.
• Politics is characterized by a class struggle involving conflict until the material base
for the existence of antagonistic classes has disappeared.
• The nature state, a philosophical notion of conflict, is a particular manifestation of
politics.
Politics as Conflict Resolution
• Politics is predicated on the social contract and all mechanisms, instruments, and
procedures associated with politics are means to resolve conflicts.
• Politics as conflict resolution is predicated on the social contract and the view that
all the mechanisms, instruments, and procedures associated with politics are means
to resolve conflicts.
• Elections are crucial as a regular means for political parties to have the potential or
opportunity to become government.
Understanding Politics as Conflict Resolution
Pluralism and Politics as Conflict Resolution
• Pluralism suggests that politics is populated by interest groups interacting.
• The state provides the institutional and legal framework for these interactions,
acting as a regulatory function.
• The state mediates conflict between interest groups, not an active political actor.
• In a liberal democratic system, the state is more involved in the economy and social
security, having more direct interests.
Power as a Deterrent in Politics as Conflict Resolution
• Power as a deterrent was effective during the Cold War.
• The threat of using power or the presence of superior power can prevent conflict
use and escalation.
• However, power as a deterrent can lead to militarisation if a balance of power is
absent and one party fears its security.
, Negotiation and Diplomacy as Conflict Resolution Components
• Negotiation and diplomacy aim to resolve differences of opinion peacefully and
either prevent or resolve conflict.
• Both involve a third party to facilitate negotiation or diplomacy.
1.2 MANIFESTATIONS OF POLITICAL CONFLICT
Understanding Conflict Types and Their manifestations
Types of Conflict:
• Physical or direct conflict: Conflicts between neighbouring states over territorial
boundaries due to invasions, occupations, or peace agreements. Examples include
the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Falklands /Malvinas War, disputes
between Turkey and Greece, and disputes between Botswana and Namibia.
• Structural conflict: Conflicts between neighbouring countries over scarce resources
or the satisfaction of needs, such as water use, fishing grounds, and environmental
exploitation. Examples include the occupation of white commercial farms in
Zimbabwe in 2000.
• Ideological conflicts: Differences in ideological positions can cause conflict, as seen
in the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, and nuclear proliferation. Examples include
the tension between the two Koreas and between Cuba and the USA.
• Security perceptions: Conflict arises when a state or group feels threatened by a
neighbor due to its power or increasing power, disturbing the balance of power.
Examples include Israel's wars against Arab neighbours and the occupation of the
Golan heights and the West Bank.
Ethnic/cultural/religious differences:
Ethnic Conflict and its Variations
Major Causes of Conflict
• Benedict Anderson's "imagined community" and variations of nationalism are major
causes of conflict in the 20th century.
