This document includes the information of lectures 1-6 of the course The Political Dimension of Europe, for the studies European Studies at The Hague University of Applied Sciences.
Lecture 1 – the state as the key arena for politics
What is politics?
Politics is about Conflict an Cooperation
The process of resolving conflicts in which rival vies and competing interests are reconciled
because ‘we are not all alike’ and ‘there is never enough to go around’.
Politics is about the Public Sphere of the State
Struggle for power and leadership that gives an individual or a group, to have the ability to
make authoritative decisions for the public as a whole, for society
Politics is about the Pursuit and the Exercise of Power
It provides the focus for understanding the production, distribution and use of resources.
Who gets what, when, how, why and where?
The State
Definition
Three core features of a state
o A geographic territory with internationally recognized boundaries
o An identifiable population that lives within these boundaries
o A recognized government
Core features
o All states have sovereignty
- The ability to act within a territory, independently from internal or external
rivals
Internal: supreme authority domestically
External: independence internationally
o All states have certain core functions
- Protect their territory and the population within it
- Provide ‘collective goods’ and have institutions that help society function
(laws, regulation, taxation, infrastructure)
- Hence, state needs power
Max Weber: all states have ‘monopoly of legitimate violence’
o All states must be run by some sort of body
- Government: leadership that runs the state
Classifications of states
Unitary states
o Most power at the national level
o Little regional authority
Federal states
o Significant power given to regional bodies by constitution
See image below for unitary and federal states.
,Size: geographic spread, population.
Strength of the economy
Military might
Robustness of state institutions: extent to which they can withstand pressure from society
and they can effectively implement decisions.
Legitimacy: ‘right to rule’ – consent to rule on the part of the people.
Sources of legitimacy
The state has significant power. Max Weber’s categorization:
o Traditional authority: derives from traditional customs and values
o Charismatic authority: derives from personality traits of an individual
o Rational-legal authority: derives from the status of an office as part of a system of
constitutional rules
Different views (pros and cons)
Pros
o A neutral arbiter (liberals)
o The embodiment of the common good (social democrats)
o The result of society’s need for authority and discipline (conservatives)
Cons
o A useless and immoral limitation of individual freedom (anarchists)
o An instrument of oppression (Marxists)
o An instrument of male power (feminists)
, Lecture 2 – democratic and non-democratic political regimes
Democratic regimes vs Authoritarian regimes
Democratic regimes: the people hold the power through regular and representative
elections
Authoritarian regimes: one person holds power or/and a small group of people. Absence of
fair elections, no direct accountability of political rulers to the people
Democracy
Democracy is a political system where power resides with the people
o ‘power of the people’
o ‘demos’ = people, ‘kratos’ = power
To be a democracy requires also
o Participation: political equality; ruler’s accountability through frequent, fair, secret
and competitive elections
o Competition: regime with political parties, checks and balances, separation of
powers
o Freedom: regime guarantees individual rights and liberties: civil rights, political
rights, social rights
o Rule of Law: the public and those in power respect and abide by the rules and norms
of the democratic regime
Narrow definition of democracy
o Focus on the means of democracy (democratic institutions and procedures), minimal
approach
o Democracy = competitive elections + participation of electorate
o Democracy is an institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which
individuals acquire the power to decide for the whole of society by means of
competitive struggle for the people’s cote
Broad definition of democracy
o Focus on the goals of democracy (democratic ideas and values)
- Individual freedom or/and collective equality
o Democracy implies voting, but voting in itself is not enough, importance of:
- Meaningful participation, choice and debate in creating fully free individuals
and genuine communities
- Presence of alternative sources of information, free media
- Rule of law
- Lively civil society
- Free economy
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