What is Politics?

Defining Politics
Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve, and amend
the general rules under which they live. It is linked to conflict and cooperation due to rival
opinions, wants, and interests. Politics is a search for conflict resolution, driven by diversity and
scarcity.

Two major problems in defining politics:

The word "politics" is loaded with associations.

Even authorities disagree on what the subject is about.

Two broad approaches to defining politics:

1. Politics as an arena: Behavior becomes "political" because of where it takes place (e.g.,
government).
2. Politics as a process: "Political" behavior exhibits distinctive characteristics and can take
place in any context.

Politics as the Art of Government

Politics is the exercise of control within society through the making and enforcement of
collective decisions.
Derived from the Greek polis (city-state).
Politics equates to "what concerns the state."
David Easton defined politics as the "authoritative allocation of values."
Politics is practiced in government settings by politicians, civil servants, and lobbyists.
A narrower view equates politics with party politics.
Negative images of politics are often associated with politicians' activities.
Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince highlighted cunning, cruelty, and manipulation in politics.

Politics as Public Affairs

Politics extends beyond government to "public life" or "public affairs."
Aristotle: "Man is by nature a political animal," meaning humans can only live the "good life"
within a political community.
Distinction between public and private life:
Traditional view: State vs. civil society.
Alternative view: Political/personal.
Civil society: Institutions independent from government, organized by individuals.
Feminist thinkers argue politics extends to the family and personal relationships.
Hannah Arendt: Politics is interaction among free and equal citizens.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Stuart Mill: Political participation is a good in itself.
Politics as Compromise and Consensus
Politics is a means of resolving conflict through compromise, conciliation, and negotiation.
"The art of the possible."
Bernard Crick: Politics is the activity by which differing interests are conciliated by giving
them a share in power.
Requires a wide dispersal of power and a commitment to liberal-rationalist principles.
Critics point out this conception is biased towards Western pluralist democracies.

Politics as Power
Politics operates in all social activities and every corner of human existence.
Adrian Leftwich: Politics is at the heart of all collective social activity.
Politics concerns the production, distribution, and use of resources.
Harold Lasswell: Politics: Who Gets What, When, How?
Essential ingredient: Scarcity.
Feminists and Marxists view politics as power.
Kate Millett: Politics is power-structured relationships.
Marxists see political power rooted in the class system.
Radical feminists: Society is patriarchal.
Marxists: Politics in capitalist society involves exploitation.

Studying Politics
Disagreement about the nature of political activity is mirrored by controversy about the nature of
politics as an academic discipline.

Approaches to the Study of Politics

1. Philosophical Tradition:

Emphasis on ethical, prescriptive, or normative questions.

Concerned with what 'should', 'ought' or 'must' be brought about, rather than with what 'is'.
Plato and Aristotle are founding fathers.
Involves analytical study of ideas and doctrines.
Literary analysis of major thinkers and classic texts.

1. Empirical Tradition:

Descriptive and impartial account of political reality.

Aristotle's classification of constitutions, Machiavelli's statecraft, Montesquieu's theory of
government and law.
Gave rise to institutional approach.
Empiricism: Experience is the only basis of knowledge.
Positivism: Social sciences should adhere to methods of natural sciences.
1. Behavioralism:

Emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the USA.

Draws heavily on behavioralism.
Focuses on objective and quantifiable data.
Examples: voting behavior, legislator behavior.
Critiques: Constrained scope, neglects normative thought.
Claims to be value-free, but focuses on observable behavior, legitimizing the status quo.

1. Rational-Choice Theory:

Also known as formal political theory or public-choice theory.

Draws on economic theory.
Builds models based on rationally self-interested behavior.
Useful analytical device for voters, lobbyists, bureaucrats, and politicians.
Application in institutional public-choice theory.
Game theory: Analysis of individual behavior using first principles.
Critics: Overestimates rationality, ignores social and historical factors.

1. New Institutionalism:

Revived interest in institutions from the 1980s onwards.

Political structures shape political behavior.
Institutions are not just organizations, but sets of "rules."
Rules can be informal or formal.
Institutions are "embedded" in a normative and historical context.
Criticism: Subscribes to structuralist logic.

1. Critical Approaches:

Expanded since the 1980s.

Examples: Feminism, critical theory, green politics, constructivism, post-structuralism,
postcolonialism.
Contest the political status quo.
Align with marginalized or oppressed groups.
Uncover inequalities and asymmetries.
Go beyond positivism, emphasizing consciousness.
Post-positivist approaches question the idea of objective reality.
Constructivism: People construct the world they live in.
Post-structuralism: Ideas are expressed in language enmeshed in power.
Discourse: Link between power and systems of thought.
Deconstruction: Expose hidden meanings.

Concepts, Models, and Theories

Concepts: General ideas about something, expressed in a single word or phrase.
Tools for thinking, criticizing, arguing, explaining, and analyzing.
Help classify objects.
Can be slippery due to complexity and ideological controversy.
Ideal types: Basic features are singled out.
Essentially contested concepts: No neutral definition can be developed.
 Models: Representations of something, analytical tools.
Assist in imposing meaning on facts.
Include a network of relationships.
Example: David Easton's model of the political system.
Theories: Systematic explanations of empirical data.
Propositions.
More or less "true."
Values and normative beliefs intrude.
Microtheories are constructed on the basis of broader macrotheories.
Paradigms: Related set of principles that structure intellectual enquiry.
Liberalism, conservatism, socialism, etc.

Politics in a Global Age

Beyond the Domestic/International Divide?
Politics traditionally focused on the state and its governmental apparatus.
Spatial character: Borders and boundaries matter.
Distinction between domestic and international politics.
Sovereignty: Supreme authority of the state.
Domestic/international divide separates spheres of political interaction.
Political science vs. international relations (IR).
State-based paradigm under pressure due to globalization.
Growth in cross-border flows and transactions.
Domestic economies vulnerable to events elsewhere.
Digital technologies enable communication.
Spatial interdependence.
Some argue disciplinary divide between political science and IR should be dissolved.
Politics takes place in global, regional, national, and local spheres.
Domestic/international divide usually treated as prioritizing a sphere, not a rigid doctrine.
Rejecting this divide expands the parameters and complexity of politics.