What is Politics?

The concept of politics is subject to various interpretations, with differing

views prevailing among individuals. Some perceive politics as a form of public
service, while others associate it with manipulation and intrigue to fulfill
personal ambitions. Instances of politicians defecting, making false promises,
and engaging in unethical practices contribute to the negative perception of
politics, often linked with scandals. This disillusionment leads many to distance
themselves from politics, expressing disinterest or vowing to avoid it altogether.

Even businessmen, entrepreneurs, and celebrities criticize politics, despite

benefiting from and supporting political parties. However, it's essential to
recognize that politics is an integral part of society. Society relies on political
organization and collective decision-making to address diverse needs and
interests. Governments, as key institutions, play a crucial role in this process,
shaping economic, foreign, and educational policies that profoundly impact
people's lives. Beyond governmental affairs, politics encompasses various
aspects of societal interactions and decision-making. Citizens actively engage in
articulating demands, organizing campaigns, and protesting policies they
disagree with. Discussions about governance, corruption, and electoral
outcomes are common as people strive to understand and influence the direction
of their society. Ultimately, politics emerges from differing visions of justice
and societal ideals, involving negotiations and collective actions aimed at
promoting social development and resolving common challenges.

The term ‗politics‘ is derived from the Greek word polis and it was
Aristotle who employed the term ―Politics‖ as a title for his book dealing with
the state. According to Greek Philosophers, Politics was a subject which dealt with all
the activities and affairs of the city state. Their City States were known as ―Polis‖. City
state was an all inclusive term, as the ancient Greeks made no distinction between the
state and the Government on one hand, and State and Society on the other. They never
differentiated between personal life and social life. Hence according to them Politics was
a total study of man, society, state, morality and so on. But the understanding and
interpretation of politics also evolve over a period of time.

Explaining the term ―Politics‖ in modern context, Harold J Laswell

defines Politics as the idea of ―Who gets what, when and how?‖ His idea
advocates the rights of citizens and institutional procedure of the state in granting
the rights of the people.
Herbert J. Spiro define, ―Politics is the process by which community of
human beings deals with their problems‖
Fairley, ―Politics includes a study of the organisation and the activities of
states and of the principles and ideals, which underlie political organisation and
activities‖.
Bernard Crick defines politics as a distinctive form of rule where people
come together through institutional mechanism to deliberate and resolve
differences to articulate public policy for the common good. The proposition of
Bernard Crick, lays emphasis on the idea of reconciliation, bargaining and shared
understanding.
There are two contradictory approaches to understanding politics: the
narrow definition of politics and the broad definition of politics. In contrast to
narrow definition of politics, broader conception of politics argues that politics
is not only confined to a particular sphere but also takes place in all aspects of
human life.

Politics has been defined in many different ways. The different views of
politics examined here are as follows:

Approaches/Nature of Politics
Politics as the art of government: This definition of politics is a highly
restricted understanding of politics narrow understanding of politics. According
to this definition, politics is what takes place within the government and state
department: only politicians, government officials, members of the political
parties are involved in politics, which means that politics is the matter of
politicians, civil servants and lobbyists. According to this view, the vast
majority of the people are not involved in politics. All the institutions that are
not engaged in ―running the country‖ are regarded as ―non-political‖. There is
also tendency to treat politics as an activity carried on by certain designated
organizations such as political parties. In other words, politics is regarded as an
activity connected with political parties. In popular mind, politics is closely
associated with the activities of political parties and politicians.

Politics as Public affairs: Public affairs refer to issues, activities, and decisions
that have consequences beyond individual or private spheres. There are matters
that affect the community as a whole and require collective attention, discussion,
and action. The ―public‖ in public affairs does not just mean government. It is
much more than government. It reaches everything in the public sphere. It
involves everybody as we live in a community. It refers to the shared space where
citizens come together to address common concerns. Politics as public affairs
emphasizing that politics encompasses all matters of collective concern that affect
the broader community rather than just individual or private interests. For
example, infrastructure, education.

Politics as the study of conflict resolution: Politics is process and it is about

managing conflicts and fostering cooperation among different groups with varying
interests, values, and goals. It includes negotiation, conciliation, compromise and
coalition-building to solve problems peacefully without violence. For instance, politics is
about resolving conflict between countries dialogue and negotiation instead of going to
war.

Resource Allocation Much of politics involves deciding how to distribute limited

resources: Who gets what, when, and how? This covers tangible resources like money,
land, and services, as well as intangible ones like rights, opportunities, and social status.
Politics as the study of power: Politics, at its most fundamental level, is the systematic study and
practice of power relationships within human societies. This perspective views political activity not merely as
electoral processes or governmental functions, but as the comprehensive examination of who possesses
influence, how that influence is exercised, and through what mechanisms it is distributed across different
social, economic, and institutional contexts. The struggle for power permeates every aspect of human
organization, from intimate family dynamics to complex international relations, making it the central
organizing principle of political analysis.

Values and Ideology Politics isn't just about practical decisions - it's deeply intertwined
with questions of justice, fairness, freedom, equality, and the good life. Different political
philosophies offer competing visions of how society should be organized.

Politics is the systematic process by which groups of people make collective decisions,
allocate resources, resolve conflicts, and organize their shared life together. It
encompasses all activities related to governance, power distribution, and the pursuit of
common goals within any organized community or society.

Approaches to the Philosophical study Politics

The study of politics has a very long tradition. Several approaches have been
adopted for this purpose. Broadly speaking, the approaches which remained
largely in vogue (remained popular) till the end of the Second World War (1939-
1945) are described as traditional approaches while those which were developed
thereafter are known to be contemporary approaches. As Alan Ball (Modern
Politics and Government; 1988) has rightly suggested, the use of the label
'traditional' is neither a criticism nor a refutation of the obvious fact that they still
play important role in modern political studies. In other words, the traditional
approaches to the study of politics have not become all outdated, but they are no
longer favoured by the champions of the contemporary approaches. It is not
possible to furnish any comprehensive lists of the traditional or contemporary
approaches. Truly speaking, they do not represent watertight compartments,
although some of their distinctive features might be identified.

A few decades ago it was argued that the contemporary approaches focus on
facts while traditional approaches focus on values. This view is no longer upheld.
Hence the distinction between empirical and normative approaches cannot be
treated as coterminous with the distinction between traditional and contemporary
approaches.
However, it is true that the traditional study of politics was dominated by the
study of philosophy, history, law and institutions. Hence philosophical, historical,
legal and institutional approaches are usually identified as traditional approaches.
On the other hand, contemporary approaches are faced with the problem of the
identity of the discipline. They particularly focus on phenomenon of politics as a
process as manifested in the behaviour of different actors in a political situation
which is sought to be studied by scientific method.
Hence 'behavioral approach' is a typically contemporary approach. Then
politics as a process is sought to be analysed by using different models of political
analysis. All these models fall within the purview of the contemporary approach.
Moreover, contemporary political science seeks to enrich itself by the relevant
achievements of other social sciences which leads us to the interdisciplinary
approach. Hence interdisciplinary approach is also a contemporary approach.

The Philosophical Tradition or Traditional View: Political analysis traces

its roots to Ancient Greece, where a scholarly tradition known as 'political
philosophy' emerged. This early approach was fundamentally concerned with
moral and prescriptive questions, reflecting a concern with what ‘should’, ‘ought’ or ‘must’ be
brought about, rather than with what ‘is’ (focusing on what political arrangements should
exist rather than examining existing realities). The emphasis was on normative
inquiry - exploring what ought to happen, what must be established, or what
should be implemented - rather than how it actually functions. Scholars would
study classical texts, engage in logical reasoning, and develop grand theories
about political organization and they lay out what makes a government legitimate,
what rights citizens should have, and what duties rulers owe to their subjects,
nature of good government, justice, and the ideal state.

Plato and Aristotle are widely recognized as the foundational figures of this
intellectual tradition. Their philosophical contributions continued to influence
later thinkers, including medieval scholars like Augustine (354–430) and Aquinas
(1225–74), who built upon these classical foundations. Plato's work exemplifies
this approach through his efforts to conceptualize an ideal society, which he
envisioned as a benevolent dictatorship led by philosopher-rulers who possessed
both wisdom and moral authority.

These classical writings became the foundation of the 'traditional' approach to

studying politics. This method focuses on analyzing the key ideas and theories
that have shaped political thinking over time. Usually, this approach studies
famous thinkers throughout history - from Plato in ancient times to Marx in more
recent history. It also looks at the most important political books ever written.
This traditional approach works much like literary criticism. Scholars are mainly
interested in understanding what these great thinkers actually said, how they built
and defended their arguments, and what was happening in their time period that
influenced their ideas.

Broadly speaking, the normative approach seeks to determine and prescribe

values. The normative approach aims at making a normative statement which is
concerned with what 'ought to be' or 'should be'. The empirical approach is
different from normative approach. The empirical approach seeks to discover and
describe. The empirical approach aims at making an empirical statement which is
concerned with 'is'. The crucial point is that an empirical statement is concerned
with a situation which can be observed by our sense-experience, which can be
verified by repeated observation and whose accuracy can be tested. Critics of the
normative approach argue that the empirical approach is objective whereas the
normative approach is subjective. Finally, the empirical approach remains largely
descriptive while the normative approach is mainly prescriptive.
Historical Approach

The term 'historical approach' to politics may be used in two senses. Firstly, it
may denote the process of arriving at the laws governing politics through an
analysis of historical events that is events of the past, as exemplified by the
theories propounded by Hegel and Marx. Karl Popper has described this approach
as 'historicism'. This means looking at past events to discover rules or patterns
about how politics works. The first interpretation refers to the method of
discovering general laws or patterns that govern politics by analyzing past
historical events. This approach believes that by studying what happened in
history, we can identify underlying principles or laws that explain how politics
works.

In the second place, historical approach stands for an attempt at understanding

politics through a historical account of political thought of the past, as exemplied
by George H. Sabine's 'A History of Political Theory'. The second interpretation
involves understanding politics by studying the evolution of political ideas and
theories throughout history. This approach examines how political thinking has
developed over time by analyzing the works of major political thinkers. This
means understanding politics by learning how political thinkers and their ideas
developed over time.

Legal Approach

Legal approach stands for an attempt to understand politics in terms of law. It

focuses its attention on the legal and constitutional framework in which different
organs of government have to function, inquires into their respective legal
position, their powers and the procedure which makes their actions legally valid.
Traditional political study also emphasized formal legal structures and official
institutions. Scholars would analyze constitutions, laws, and formal governmental
procedures to understand how political systems operate. This approach assumed
that formal rules and institutions largely determine political behavior and
outcomes.

Institutional Approach

Institutional approach is closely related to legal approach, yet it is different. What

is an Institution? Government itself is an institution, and its various organs, such
as Parliament (legislature), Cabinet (executive), and Supreme Court (judiciary),
etc. may also be recognized as institutions. Political parties—which exist
separately—are also institutions in their own right. There are lots of other
institutions in society, such as family, school, church, or club. A student of
politics will be interested only in those institutions which have a direct bearing on
politics. The institutional approach examines politics through the lens of formal
institutions - the official rules, structures, and organizations that make up
government. It looks at how these institutions are designed, how they function,
and how they interact with each other, and how the various organs, political
parties and other institutions affect politics.

Limitation of Traditional Approach

Traditional methods had several significant limitations. They were often

speculative rather than empirical, relying on logical deduction rather than
systematic observation. They tended to focus on ideal types rather than actual
political behavior. The traditional approaches also lacked systematic methodology
for testing theories or comparing different political systems objectively. They
were more concerned with developing comprehensive philosophical systems than
with precise, testable explanations of political phenomena.

While this type of analysis can be done carefully and thoughtfully, it cannot be
truly objective like a science experiment. This is because it deals with moral and
ethical questions that don't have clear right or wrong answers - questions like
"Why should people obey the government?", "How should society distribute
wealth and resources?" and "What limits should be placed on individual
freedom?" These are value-based questions where different people can reasonably
disagree, so studying them will always involve some personal judgment rather
than pure scientific objectivity (people will always have different opinions about
the answers).

Modern Approaches or View to politics

There was a shift on the way how the scholars look how the politics work. In
the traditional view, it was mainly characterized by the normative-inquiry, moral
and prescriptive questions, most of the writers of this view were influenced by
ethics and philosophy. Their ideas of politics were mainly concerned with what
ought to be, what must be, what are the ideal type of government rather than
analysing how the politics actually functions. For example, the Greek thinkers put
forth the aim of achievement of ethical life; the Medieval Christian thinkers
imagined the establishment of a theological state. The traditional thinkers
neglected the scientific method normally. Their approach is subjective and they
adopted the deductive method.

The modern view of politics has evolved significantly from traditional

conceptions that emphasized scientific methodology and empirical observation.
Modern political thought recognizes that governance involves multiple actors
beyond just government institutions. This includes civil society organizations,
international bodies, multinational corporations, and various interest groups that
all influence political outcomes. The state is no longer seen as the sole political
actor, but rather as one player in a complex network of governance.

The traditionalists had limited Politics to the study of various institutions

concerning State and Government but the proponents of the Modern View say
that Politics is concerned with everything which is related with political life of the
individual, and, which may not be directly related with state or government.
Therefore, associations, society, labour organisations, political parties, pressure
and interest groups are also included in the subject matter of politics.

Politics is the art and practice of Government of human societies: This modern
view of politics can be drawn from definition of Politics given by Robert. Firstly,
Politics is an art and the behaviour of the individual is studied in it, i.e. the study
of political activities of man is Politics. Secondly, here government means the
organised power, i.e., where the activities concerning issuing of orders and
establishing of control take place. Thirdly, Politics is concerned with the whole
human society and not with a limited association like state. Thus, Politics is
concerned with those activities of human society also which are not related with
the state.

Politics is an effort to bring about the rule of order and justice: Politics is
normally viewed as a conflict and struggle and it is said that Politics is that
struggle in which those who have power try to maintain it and make use of it and
those who are out of power try to get it by controlling the government. But it is
only one aspect of power. The other aspect is that Politics is an effort to establish
law and order and justice in the society where balance is maintained in the
interests of the society and the individual and the common interest is secured.
Thus, there are two aspects of Politics. First, Politics protects the privileges of
minority and, secondly, Politics teaches about the organised unity of individuals
as society. In fact, politics is concerned with both the aspects discussed above.
Thus, Politics is also an effort for the establishment of law and order and justice in
the society.

Why study politics? Or importance of Political Science

• To understand his position in relation to state.
• To study political thought and ideas of the great political Thinkers.
• To understand the current political problems and find solutions.
• Make people conscious of their rights and obligations.
• To understand the current trends
•To provide information about international laws, international legislation, organizations
and maintenance of world peace and international brotherhood.
• Analyse political parties and pressure groups.
• It makes people vigilant, develop a spirit of cooperation, adjustment and tolerance.
• It deals with great political events like French Revolution, American war of
Independence and freedom movements.
• It helps to form public opinion
• Helps people to safeguard their liberty.
• It prevents to misuse of power of government.
• It improve the quality of government and administration.
• It provides knowledge of the political terminology.
• Liberalises the human outlook
• Developing and strengthening a liberal democratic values and awareness.
• To understanding the political decision-making process.

Political Theory

Political theory serves as a cornerstone in comprehending the complexities of

governance, societal organization, and the evolution of values that shape our
world. Delving into the realm of political theory unveils a rich tapestry of ideas
and principles, from ancient philosophers to modern-day thinkers, each
contributing to the mosaic of political thought.

What do we study in Political Theory?

When observing the world around us, we notice ongoing movement, progress,
and transformation. However, upon deeper examination, we also identify certain
core values and principles that have motivated individuals and influenced
policies. Ideals like democracy, freedom, and equality hold significant
importance and are often safeguarded through constitutional provisions, as seen
in documents like the American and Indian constitutions.
These foundational documents are not spontaneous creations but are rooted in
the intellectual debates spanning centuries, from ancient philosophers like
Kautilya and Aristotle to modern thinkers like Rousseau, Marx, Gandhi, and Dr.
B.R. Ambedkar. Discussions on concepts like monarchy versus democracy date
back to ancient times, while modern philosophers like Rousseau emphasized the
significance of freedom, and Marx stressed the importance of equality. Closer to
home, Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar contributed significantly to discussions on
genuine freedom and minority rights, respectively. The influence of these ideas
extends to contemporary political discourse, shaping policies and guiding
political leaders. Political theory systematically examines these ideas and
principles, clarifying concepts such as freedom, equality, justice, and
democracy. It also reflects on current political experiences and anticipates future
trends and possibilities.

Despite the achievements in achieving freedom and democracy, questions

regarding these principles persist, especially concerning their application in
different spheres of life. While equal political rights may exist, economic and
social disparities continue to prevail, hindering the realization of true freedom
for all.
Furthermore, the interpretation of fundamental rights evolves over time in
response to societal changes and emerging challenges. As technology advances,
new dimensions of freedom and threats to liberty emerge, necessitating
discussions on regulations and privacy protection in the digital age. In essence,
political theory remains relevant in navigating contemporary issues and guiding
societal responses to evolving circumstances, offering insights into governance,
rights, and individual freedoms.

Political Science deals with understanding the social structures and methods used
to manage a government or State. It also encompasses the historical,
philosophical, constitutional, and legal foundation of the political system. It
further provides scope to identify the political values and ideas, governing
institutions and their policy making process. The subject enhances the ability to
address the functions and processes of government and politics in international,
national, and state levels. It ensures that students acquire citizenship skills and
engage as active citizens by appreciating human diversity.