"My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player

in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth,

there's hardly any difference."
-- Harry S. Truman, US President (1945-52)
"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics
with bloodshed."
-- Mao Zedong, Chairman of Peoples Republic of
China
"Politics is the art of the possible."
-- Otto Von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany
The American publics reactions to the behavior of their leaders in the
debt/budget battle in Washington, July-Aug 2011, Pew Research poll:
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2078/debt-ceiling-limits-budget-deficit-tea-
party-republicans-obama-democrats-republicans-ridiculous
The word politics comes from
ancient Greece.
Its root is the word polis, which
began to be used about 2,800
years ago to denote a self-
governing city (city-state)
POLIS city-state
POLITES citizen
POLITIKOS politician
POLITIKE politics as the art
of citizenship and government
POLITEIA constitution, rules
of politics
POLITEUMA political
community, all those residents
who have full political rights
 Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity
through which people make, preserve and
amend the general rules under which they
live. (Heywood)
Linked to cooperation and conflict
The heart of the politics is often portrayed as a
process of conflict-resolution, in which rival views
or competing interests are reconciled with one
another.
 Four categories
of the definition:
politics as the art
of government
politics as public
affairs
politics as
compromise
politics as power
 AS AN ART
the exercise of control within society through the
making and enforcement of collective decisions.
politics can be understood to refer to the affairs of
the polis, in effect, 'what concerns the polis'.
(Heywood) - 'what concerns the state'.
people are said to be 'in politics' when they hold
public office, or to be 'entering politics' when they
seek to do so.
 David Easton defined politics as the
'authoritative allocation of values'.
encompasses the various processes through which
government responds to pressures from the larger society,
in particular by allocating benefits, rewards or penalties.
'Authoritative values' are therefore ones that are widely
accepted in society and considered binding by the mass of
citizens. Thus, politics is associated with 'policy', with
formal or authoritative decisions that establish a plan of
action for the community.
offers a highly restricted view of politics.
 the realm of 'the political' is restricted to those state
actors who are consciously motivated by ideological
beliefs and who seek to advance them through
membership of a formal organisation like a political
party.
politicians are described as 'political' whereas civil
servants are seen as 'non-political
judges are taken to be 'non-political' figures while
they interpret the law impartially and in
accordance with the available evidence
AS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
it is only within a
political community
that human beings can
live 'the good life'.
Politics is, then, an
ethical activity
concerned with creating
a 'just society';
the 'master science'.
 AS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
beyond the narrow realm of government to
what is thought of as 'public life' or 'public
affairs'.
the distinction between 'the political' and 'the
non-political' coincides with the division
between an essentially public sphere of life
and what can be thought of as a private
sphere.
 DISTINCTION
PUBLIC THE STATE
The institutions of the state: the
apparatus of government, the
courts, the police, the army, the
society security system and so forth
are 'public' in the sense that they
are responsible for the collective
organisation of community life.
Moreover, they are funded at the
public's expense, out of taxation.
politics is restricted to the activities
of the state itself and the
responsibilities which are properly
exercised by public bodies.
PRIVATE CIVIL SOCIETY
Consists of institutions like the
family and kinship groups, private
businesses, trade unions, clubs,
community groups
'private' in the sense that they
are set up and funded by
individual citizens to satisfy their
own interests, rather than those
of the larger society.
Those areas of life in which
individuals can and do manage
for themselves - economic, social,
domestic, personal, cultural,
artistic and so on - are therefore
clearly 'non-political'.

politics is restricted to the activities of the state itself and the responsibilities which are
properly exercised by public bodies.
 DISTINCTION
According to this perspective, politics does not, and
should not, infringe upon 'personal' affairs and
institutions.
Feminist thinkers in particular have pointed out that this
implies that politics effectively stops at the front door; it
does not take place in the family, in domestic life or in
personal relationships.
Politicians, for example, tend to classify their own sexual
behaviour or financial affairs as 'personal' matters,
thereby denying that they have political significance in
the sense that they do not touch on their conduct of
public affairs.
AS A Politics is seen as a
particular means of
resolving conflict, namely
COMPROMISE by compromise,
conciliation and
negotiation, rather than
through a resort to force
and naked power.
 AS A COMPROMISE
Politics (is) the activity by which differing
interests within a given unit of rule are
conciliated by giving them a share in power in
proportion to their importance to the welfare and
the survival of the whole community. (Crick)
The key to politics is therefore a wide dispersal of
power.
Accepting that conflict is inevitable.
Critics: Crick's conception of politics is heavily
biased towards the form of politics that takes
place in western pluralist democracies
Many thinkers maintain that conflict and
integration are not two opposed faces but one
and the same overall process in which conflict
naturally produces integration, and divisions, by
their development, tend naturally toward their
own suppression leading to the coming of the
city of harmony.
The Idea of Politics, L.: Methuen, 1966, p.viii
Cooperation and conflict are two basic
modes of politics
POLITICS AS POWER
 Broadest and the most radical.
Sees politics at work in all social activities and in
every corner of human existence.
As Adrian Leftwich put it: 'Politics is at the heart
of all collective social activity, formal and
informal, public and private, in all human groups,
institutions and societies'.
In this sense, politics takes place at every level of
social interaction; it can be found within families
and amongst small groups of friends just as much
as within nations and on the global stage.
 At its broadest, politics concerns the
production, distribution and use of resources
in the course of social existence.
Politics, in essence, is power: the ability to
achieve a desired outcome, through whatever
means.
This notion is summed up in the title of Harold
Lasswell's book Politics: Who Gets What,
When, How?: Politics is therefore a struggle
over scarce resources, and power is the means
through which this struggle is conducted.
POLITICS AS CONFLICT -
as struggle for power.
Politics is driven by selfish interests of individuals,
groups, businesses, states.
More natural for the thinking of those who would like
to change the status quo in their favor.
At any given moment, in any political process or event, one can
discover elements of both cooperation and conflict which interact in
various ways
Political analysis seeks to make sense of the logics of these
interactions
POLITICS AS COOPERATION,
OR INTEGRATION
as the process of rule based
on order and justice. Politics
is driven by the
considerations of the
common good.
More natural for the thinking
of those who support the
existing social order (status
quo)
THE LEAST CONTROVERSIAL WORKING DEFINITION OF POLITICS

A HUMAN ACTIVITY focused on:

1/ the FORMULATION and EXECUTION of:

DECISIONS, which are BINDING on members of:
A SOCIAL WHOLE (family, community, society, the world)
and:

2/ the RELATIONS which are formed between individuals, groups, states IN THE
PROCESS of formulation and execution of those decisions.

See Larry Johnstons Politics, Broadview Press, 1998, p. 16

 Politics usually describes the
processes by which people and
institutions exercise and resist
power.
Includes: power, rule, authority and
influence and the manner in which
all are acquired and exercised

Manner: democratic,
autocratic, theocratic,
authoritarian,
consensual, or
invasional
 Some common definitions of
politics:*
Politics is the exercise of
power
Politics is the public
allocation of values
Politics is the resolution of
conflict
Politics is the competition
among individuals, groups,
or states pursuing their
interests
*Danziger, James N.
Understanding the Political
World. NY: Addison-Wesley, 1991
 APPROACHES

NATURE FIELDS

POLITICAL
SCIENCE
 Systematic study of the state and
government.
Study of the power structures, power
patterns, power distribution and power
relationships between individuals and groups.
Polis + scire
Jean Bodin coined the term political science.
Montesquieu distribution of the functions of
government
 Plato
Provided the first analysis of the political process
and the reason for the state.
Provided an intellectual rationale for the divine
rights of kings
Aristotle
Presented the first comprehensive analysis of the
nature of the state, of polity and of political
community.
The state was even more important than the family
because the state can be a vehicle for glory and the
good life.
FIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Public
Political Political International
Public Law Administration
Theory Behavior Relations
and Policy
 Political theory
involves the study of philosophical thought about
politics from ancient Greece to the present
the interpretation and development of concepts such
as freedom, democracy, human rights, justice, and
power
the development of models for government, such as
participatory democracy or constitutional systems
and the logic that political scientists use in their
inquiries.
Entire body of doctrines relating to the origin,
form, behavior and purposes of the state.
 Includes the following:
Organizations of governments
Limitations upon government authority
Powers and duties of governmental offices
and officers
Obligations of one state to another
 Public Administration
Focuses on the methods and techniques used in the
actual management of state affairs by the
executive, legislative and judicial branches
Public Policy
Involves the study of specific policy problems and
governmental responses to them.
Attempts to devise solutions for problems of public
concern poverty, health care, pollution, economy.
 Involves the study of how people involve
themselves in political processes and respond to
political activity.
Emphasizes the study of voting behavior, which
can be affected by social pressures; the effects of
individual psychology, such as emotional
attachments to parties or leaders; and the
rational self-interests of voters.
The results of these studies are applied during
the planning of political campaigns, and
influence the design of advertisements and party
platforms.
 Studiesthe international system,
which involves interactions
between nations, international
organizations, and multinational
corporations.
TRADITIONAL MODERN

Philosophical Behavioural

Post
Institutional
Behavioral

Historical

Legal
TRADITIONAL
widely prevalent till the outbreak of the
Second World War
mainly related to the traditional view of
politics which emphasized the study of the
state and government
primarily concerned with the study of the
organization and activities of the state and
principles and the ideas which underlie
political organizations and activities
TRADITIONAL
normative and idealistic.
what should be an ideal state? what ought to be
or should be rather than what is.
Characteristics
1. Largely normative and stresses on the values of
politics
2. Emphasis is on the study of different political
structures.
3. Made very little attempt to relate theory and
research
4. Since facts and values are closely interlinked,
studies in Political Science can never be scientific.
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL
APPROACHES PHILOSOPHICAL
oldest approach to the study of Political Science.
Leo Strauss was one of the main advocates of the
philosophical approach. He believes that the
philosophy is the quest for wisdom and political
philosophy is the attempt truly to know about the
nature of political things and the right or good
political order.
believes that the values cannot be separated from
the study of politics.
main concern is to judge what is good or bad in
any political society.
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL
APPROACHES HISTORICAL
political theory can be only understood when
the historical factors like the age, place and
the situation in which it is evolved are taken
into consideration
it emphasizes on the study of history of every
political reality to analyze any situation.
Political thinkers like Machiavelli, Sabine and
Dunning believe that politics and history are
intricately related and the study of politics
always should have a historical perspective.
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL
APPROACHES INSTITUTIONAL
deals with the formal aspects of
government and politics emphasizes the
study of the political institutions and
structures.
study of the formal structures like
legislature, executive, judiciary, political
parties, interest groups etc.
Aristotle, James Bryce, Bentley, Walter
Bagehot, Harold Laski, etc.
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL
APPROACHES LEGAL
regards the state as the fundamental
organization for the creation and
enforcement of laws.
concerned with the legal process, legal
bodies or institutions, justice and
independence of judiciary.
Cicero, Jean Bodin, Thomas Hobbes, Jeremy
Bentham, John Austin, Dicey and Sir Henry
Maine.
MODERN APPROACH
tries to draw conclusion from empirical
data.
goes beyond the study of political
structures and its historical analysis
believes in inter-disciplinary study
emphasizes scientific methods of study and
attempt to draw scientific conclusions in
Political Science
BEHAVIOURALISM
Study of political behavior
Its focus is on the individual as voter, leader,
revolutionary, party member, etc., and the
influences of the of the group or the political
system on the individuals political behavior.
Characteristics (Easton)
Regularities
Verification
Techniques
Quantification
Values
Systematization
Pure science
Integration
BEHAVIOURALISM
Criticisms
dependence on techniques and methods ignoring
the subject matter.
The advocates of this approach were wrong when
they said that human beings behave in similar
ways in similar circumstances.
Most of the political phenomena are
unquantifiable. Therefore it is always difficult to
use scientific method in the study of Political
Science.
the researcher being a human being is not always
value neutral
SYSTEMS APPROACH: EASTON
POST BEHAVIOURALISM
Believes that mere use of sophisticated
techniques and research tools would not
solve the social and political problems of the
world.
Post behaviouralists opposed the idea of
behaviouralists to make Political Science a
value-free science like other natural sciences.
Through using different techniques and
methods post-behaviouralists try to
overcome the drawbacks of behaviouralism
and make the study of Political Science more
relevant to the society.
 History
Economics
Geography
Sociology and Anthropology
Psychology
Philosophy
Statistics
Logic
Jurisprudence
 It is important because politics is important.
During the 20th century, tens of millions of
people were murdered by regimes devoted to
particular political ideologies.
Peoples lives are affected in many ways by
what governments do or choose not to do,
and by the power structures that exist in
society.
 Education for citizenship
Essential parts of liberal education
Knowledge and understanding of government
 Dannug and Campanilla (2004). Politics,
Governance and Government with Philippine
Constitution. 2nd ed.
De Leon, Hector. Textbook on the Philippine
Constitution.
http://www.kkhsou.in/main/polscience/appr
oaches_polscience.html