Note
Studied by 6 peoplePOL1004F: Introduction to Politics
What is Politics?
Dominance of the behavioral approach suggests politics should be approached through analyzing relations between:
Individuals.
Groups.
States (international relations).
Individuals and institutions (state and government as main units).
Study of government departments and legislature in public policy and administration.
Definitions of Politics
David Easton: Politics is the "authoritative allocation of values," including benefits, rewards, and penalties by the government.
Robert Dahl: "A political system is any persistent pattern of human relationships that involves, to a significant extent, power, rule, or authority" (Dahl, p. 6).
Harold Laswell: Politics is "the study of the shaping and sharing of power" (Dahl, p. 5).
Max Weber: Politics is the enforcement of order within a given territory through the application and threat of force.
What is the Public Sphere?
The state
The legislature
Government
Courts
Police
Army
What is the Private Sphere?
The church
School
Family
Businesses
Trade unions
Social clubs
Approaches to the Study of Politics
The Empirical Approach
Focuses on the empirical and descriptive aspects of politics (objects and concrete stuff).
Supports analysis of objective phenomenon or quantitative data.
Includes:
Behaviouralism
Rational-choice theory
The institutional approach
The Normative Approach (Philosophical Approach)
Political theory or political philosophy.
Deals with questions of power and how the discipline should be approached.
Considers international relations, comparative politics, public policy, and public administration.
The Empirical Approach:
Think of this as the "what is" approach. It's all about observing and describing what actually happens in politics.
It relies on evidence, data, and facts to understand political phenomena.
It tries to be objective and avoid personal opinions or values.
Example:
Instead of debating whether democracy is the best form of government (normative), an empirical study might analyze voter turnout rates in different democracies to see if certain electoral systems encourage more participation.
Measuring public opinion through polls and surveys to understand what people think about specific policies or political candidates.
Analyzing the frequency and types of interactions between politicians on social media to understand their communication strategies.
The Normative Approach:
Think of this as the "what should be" approach. It deals with values, ethics, and ideals in politics.
It asks questions about what is good, just, or desirable in the political world.
It often involves moral judgments and arguments about how things ought to be.
Example:
Arguing that all citizens should have equal access to healthcare, regardless of their income (normative).
Debating the ethical implications of using drones in warfare.
Examining the concept of justice and how it should be applied in a legal system.
Philosophical discussions on the ideal form of government, such as whether a monarchy, aristocracy, or democracy is
Relations Determined by Factors
Power, authority, legitimacy.
David Easton's definition contrasts with social contract theorists like Thomas Hobbes, who describe a "war of each against all" in the state of nature (where there is no politics).
Robert Dahl and David Easton agree that politics is defined by its relationship to authority, power, and rule.
According to Heywood, politics is “a system of social organisation centred on the machinery of government” (Heywood, p. 4).
Max Weber's definition emphasizes enforcement of order through force (by those controlling legitimate violence, such as the army and police).
Okay, let's analyze and contrast the opinions of these political scientists:
David Easton vs. Thomas Hobbes:
David Easton:
Politics is the "authoritative allocation of values." This means government decides who gets what (benefits, rewards) and who faces penalties.
Focuses on the role of government and its binding decisions.
Thomas Hobbes:
In contrast, Hobbes believed that in a natural state (without government), life would be a "war of each against all."
Government (especially a strong, centralized power) is necessary to escape this brutal state of nature.
People give up some freedoms for protection and order.
Important Differences:
Easton sees politics as the way a society decides who gets what.
Hobbes thinks of politics as a way to avoid chaos.
Robert Dahl vs. David Easton:
Robert Dahl:
A political system involves power, rule, or authority.
Stresses human relationships and patterns of control.
David Easton:
Politics is the authoritative allocation of values.
Focuses on how government makes decisions.
Differences:
Dahl has a broader view, looking at all sorts of relationships involving power.
Easton focuses more on the government's role in making decisions.
Harold Laswell:
Politics is the shaping and sharing of power.
Emphasizes the struggle for influence.
Key point:
Laswell’s definition emphasizes power dynamics, focusing on how influence is gained and used
Analyzing Economic and Political Systems
Systems analysis requires distinguishing between an object and the analytic system used to understand its operations.
Examples of political systems: the state, the legislature, or a political party.
Analyzing Economic and Political Systems (Simplified):
Imagine you're comparing a car (economic system) and the traffic laws and government that manages the roads (political system).
To understand how the car works, you need to:
See the car as a distinct thing.
Understand what it does (how it moves people).
Have a system for studying its parts and how they work together (engine, wheels, etc.).
The same goes for political systems:
Recogn
Public Sphere vs. Private Sphere
Politics concerns the public sphere (state, government, legislature, courts, police, army) rather than the private sphere (civil society – church, school, family, businesses, trade unions, clubs).
Civil society/private sphere: "a realm of choice, personal freedom, and individual responsibility" (Heywood, p. 7).
Distinction identifies the arena where politics takes place, associating it with institutions.
Robert Dahl's definition opposes this separation, viewing politics as ubiquitous.
Politics and Deliberation
Concepts like compromise, deliberation, conciliation, and negotiation describe how decisions are made within society.
These concepts refer to how power is exercised within a social organization, as opposed to force, coercion, and violence.
Democratic practices: participatory democracy, deliberative democracy, egalitarian democracy, pluralism (electoral choices).
Politics and Power
Robert Dahl: "Political analysis deals with power, rule, or authority" (Dahl, p. 7).
Some argue politics shouldn't be restricted to the study of government and the state, opposing the separation of public and private spheres.
Power: "the ability to achieve a desired outcome through whatever means" (Heywood, p. 10).
Power is the means through which the struggle over scarce resources is conducted.
Marxist and feminist definitions:
Marxists: based on class struggle, no separation between public and private spheres.
Feminists: politics is patriarchal, no separation between private and public spheres.
Analysis of politics and power helps distinguish democratic and authoritarian systems.
Approaches to the Study of Politics (Normative and Empirical)
Politics is a relatively young discipline compared to philosophy, law, history, anthropology, or sociology.
Methodological and theoretical approaches have shifted from philosophical to scientific.
Apparent struggle between proponents of these approaches.
Philosophical Tradition (Normative Approach)
Political theory and political philosophy.
Foundations in Greek metaphysics.
Ancient Greek philosophers (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) focused on conditions of truth or good within society.
Heywood: concerned with ethical, prescriptive, or normative questions – the study of what "should, ought, or must be" (Heywood, 12).
Attempt to describe the nature of an ideal society (Heywood, p. 12).
Involves the study of ideas, doctrines, ideologies, and discourses – the history of thought.
Empirical Tradition
Scientific approaches to the study of politics – the comparative approach
Scientific approaches focus on empirical and descriptive aspects of politics (objects and concrete stuff).
Unlike the normative tradition, the empirical tradition involves a descriptive form of analysis.
Can be traced to the eclecticism of thinkers like John Locke or sociologists like David Hume.
Associated with the work of Auguste Comte in positivism, which assumes political or sociological analysis must "strictly adhere to the methods of the natural sciences" (Heywood, p. 13).
Empiricists believe that knowledge can only be attained through the analysis of objective phenomenon.
Behaviouralism
Quantitative research methods
Heavily influenced by positivism or the scientific approach.
Became largely dominant during the 1950s and 1960s.
Founded on the idea that political analysis should be based on the testing of quantifiable data against a hypothesis.
Relies on quantitative research methods which focus on "voting behaviour, behaviour of legislatures, the behaviour of municipal politicians and lobbyists, the behaviour of individuals" (Heywood, 14).
Without theory, this approach may end being just descriptive because it relies on empirically verifiable data.
Rational-Choice Theory
Largely drawn from the area of political economy or economic theory which focuses on how consumers make their choices (the idea of homo economicus).
Translated to the analysis of how voters choose leaders or political parties during elections.
Focuses on how individuals are susceptible to rationally self-interested behaviour.
Like behaviouralism, it focuses on the behaviour of voters, lobbyists, bureaucrats, politicians, and states.
Helps understand modalities of party competition, interest group behaviour.
However, it largely “overestimates human reality” and forgets the role of influence and coercion on how decisions are made.
By focusing heavily on the individual, it fails to pay attention to social and historical factors which influence behaviour and choices.
The Institutionalist Approach
Largely focuses on the study of institutions, “the rules procedures and formal organisations of government” (Heywood, 15).
That is, the study of organisational rules and structures” (Heywood, 15).
Focuses on policy making processes.
Critical Approaches
Critical approaches include Marxism, structuralism, feminism, poststructuralism, anti-colonialism, postcolonialism, postmodernism.