lesson 3 - politics and the state

core definition of politics (hint: regarding the state)

politics is the study of the states and what they’re doing

• about the competing interests and values, focusing on which interests come out on top

empirical view of politics

poli sci is fundamentally the study of shaping and sharing power

• lasswell definition: politics is who gets what, when, and why

Niccolo Machiavelli importance

first political scientist

• Realism “is” vs" “ought”

  • said the highest priority of a leader is the security of the state

  • used force, persuasion, give rise to “ends justify the means”

power vs. authority

Power: imply coercion or illegitimate power (undemocratic when unconsented)

authority: legitimate power backed by consent (viewed as democratic)

what are the dimensions of power

Power to: realization of personal/collective goals — capacity

power over: disempowerment — external forces constrain or direct others

• making people do something they wouldn’t do

what are steven luke’s 3 faces of power

1. decision making

• getting someone to do something they wouldn’t do

• Measured by counting vote

• pluralism

• behaviouralism

2. agenda-setting

• what issues are being addressed or not

• elitism

• mobilization of bias

3. preference shaping

• influencing someone’s wants subconsciously (social media ads)

• Hegemony

• marxism

micheal foucault view on power/knowledge

• power runs through all social relations and is productive: power produces things and forms knowledge — produces discourse

• discourse is the inseparability of power and knowledge

• disciplinary power — defines what’s ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’

what is disciplinary power

• defines what’s ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’

what are the 3 theories of the state

• pluralism

• elitism

• marxism, feminism, and race-based

• institutionalism

• neo-institutionalism/state-centred

what is pluralism as a state theory

david truman and robert dahl

• dominant form of approaching poli sci

• resources are dispersed — power is dispersed

• everyone has power

• state is neutral and is made to arbitrate, mediate, and compromise

what are the criticisms of pluralism as a theory of the state

• linked to issues of conceptualization of power

  • doesn’t rank issues based on importance

  • assumes that people who want to engage in politics will engage

• doesnt take inequality seriously and its impacts

• assume that people don’t want to engage if they don’t engage, rather than looking into the barriers

what is elitism as a theory of the state

critique of pluralism

• elite theorists argued that a selection of elites manipulate the levers of government for their own interests

• elites emerge naturally over time

the power elite - c. wright mills

• US is run by elites of corporative executives, military and politicians

vertical mosaic - john porter

• examined inequities of income, wealth, etc

• examined power from four institutional sub-systems: political, economic, administrative, and ideological

criticisms of elitism

• ignores institutional constraints that make it impossible for elites to ignore the public

• marxist critics say elite analysis is poorly theorized class analysis

marxism as a theory of the state

• state acts to maintain class domination

• brings in the focus of the third face of power: not allowing us to think outside of capitalism

what is institutionalism

early approach to the study of politics

• descriptive and comparative analysis of the institutional infrastructure of the state

• understanding the nature of formal political institutions explained politics

what is neo-institutionalism/state-centred theory of the state

• state as an autonomous and independent actor

  • state has its own interests

• institutional organization affects the extent to which interest can access political decision-makers

• path dependency: institutional decisions affect future political possibilities