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Oxford dictionary:
Politics is the science dealing with the form, Organization and
administration of a state, or part of one, and with the regulation of its
relations with other states.
Easton (1953):
Political acts are those that authoritatively allocate values in a society
Dahl (1989):
Politics is any persistent pattern of human relationship that involves, to a
significant extent, power, rule or authority.
Laswell (1935):
Politics is about who gets what, when, and how?
The economic is also political.
Redekop:
Politics, then refers to all activity whose main purpose is one of more of
the following:
To reshape or influence governmental structures or processes
To influence or replace government officeholders
To influence the formation of public policies
To influence the implementation of public policies
To generate public awareness of, and, responses to, governmental
processes, personnel and policies
To gain a place of influence or power within government
Heywood: Politics as
Art of government
o Politics in an art because the possibilities are endless
The public
Consensus/Compromise
Power
Transmission of Politics
Politics is transmitted through the process called political socialization
which is the establishment and development of attitudes and beliefs
toward a political decision
Nation
What binds a nation?
Blood relationships, a common language and literature, and a common
tradition and history
A sense of belonging (identity; nationalism)
Elements of a state
Territory
o All states have (defined) territories
o All Territories have states
o Except Antarctica
o Except the Jews and the Palestinians
People/Population
o People within territorial borders
o People: citizen and aliens
o Citizenship:
Law of the soil: birthplace
Law of the blood: inheritance
o Aliens: rights are not defined by the state
o A family does not make a state
o But population does not really matter
Independence/Sovereignty
o Self-governing
o The state is the supreme decision-making power within a
geographically delineated frontier and subject to external authority
only by its consent
o Power to make and enforce laws
o Jurisdiction over a territory (accountable)
o Diplomatic recognition/ equality of states
Government
o A nation must have some organizing hold over its population
o Otherwise, there will be anarchy
o No government, no nation
State and Government
Anthony Giddens: the state is a political organization whose rule is
territorially ordered and which is able to mobilize the means of violence to
sustain that rule.
Max Weber: the state has a monopoly of the legitimate use of physical
force within a given territory
Is the state/government necessary?
What kind of state/government do we want?
West
Treaty of Westphalia in 1648
French Revolution in 1789
East
Marxist-Leninism: the state will wither away
Crises of Nation/State-building
Identity
Legitimacy
Penetration
Participation
Distribution
September 1, 2015
Democracy
Etymology:
Greek word demos meaning people
kratia meaning rule
Definition
Rule of the people
A democratic government is based on the consent of the governed
Or government by the majority with the consent of the minority
Abraham Lincon:
Government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people