Understanding Politics and Political Science

• Politics arises from disagreements about human goals and how to achieve them
• Disagreements in policies are resolved when one side gains the power to enforce their views
• Acquiring power is essential for achieving political goals

Definitions of Politics

• Politics involves understanding, ordering social affairs, and gaining control over situations
• Politics involves cooperation between people with different needs and ideals, or resolving conflicts within groups
• Politics concerns who gets what, when, and how

Political Science

• The classical discipline involves the study of political phenomena
• The goal is to understand political action and create tools for interpreting political events
• Political Science systematically studies political structures, processes, and behavior

Approaches to Studying Political Structures and Institutions

• Traditional Approach
• Behavioral Approach

Traditional Approach

• A combination of views on and orientations to politics in philosophical, ethical, and institutional terms

Forms of the Traditional Approach

• Philosophical: Values cannot be separated from the study of politics
• Historical: Emphasizes the history of political reality to analyze situations
• Institutional: Focuses on formal structures like legislature, executive, judiciary, and political parties
• Legal: Deals with the legal process, bodies, institutions, justice, and judicial independence

Behavioral Approach

• Emphasizes the scientific, objective, and value-free study of political phenomena

Characteristics of the Behavioral Approach

• Regularities: Political behavior has patterns that can be generalized or theorized
• Verification: Everything should be tested and verified to be scientific
• Techniques: Uses research tools and methods for valid, reliable, and comparative data
• Quantification: Data should be measured and quantified after collection
• Values: Objective research should be value-free
• Systematization: Research in Political Science should be systematic, with theory and research combined
• Pure Science: The study of Political Science should be verified by evidence
• Integration: Political Science should be integrated with social sciences like history, sociology, and economics

Importance of Politics and Government

• Staying informed about current events
• Having a voice in decisions
• Understanding the impact of political decisions on many lives

Governance

• Comes from the Latin verb "gubernare" or Greek word "kubernaein" meaning "to steer"
• Sectors of society use power to enact public policies affecting human and institutional interactions and economic/social development

Characteristics of Good Governance

• Participation: Involves the active involvement of all affected and interested parties in decision-making
• Rule of Law: People express their will and exercise sovereignty through law
• The government is of the law and not of men
• Effectiveness & Efficiency: Meeting needs and properly using resources to ensure the best results for the community
• Transparency: Open access to information regarding the decision-making process and its implementation
• Responsiveness: Protecting the interests of all citizens in a prompt and appropriate manner
• Equity & Inclusiveness: Considering all members of society in policy-making
• Ensuring everyone has a stake in society and feels included
• Consensus-Oriented: Making decisions after considering different viewpoints and establishing a strong mediation structure
• Accountability: Actors explain and are responsible for the consequences of their decisions and actions on behalf of the community

The State

• The modern term "state" is derived from the word "status"
• Niccolò Machiavelli was the first to use the term "state" in his writings
• The state is the most universal and powerful of all institutions and is natural

Definitions of the State

• A people organized for law within a definite territory
• A community of people occupying a territory with a government, habitual obedience, and freedom from external control

Elements of the State

• People: The mass population living within the state
• Answers the question "Who governs whom?" with no specific number requirement
• Territory: The demarcated area that rightfully belongs to the population
• Answers the question "Where?" and must be permanent and large enough to be self-sufficing
• Government: The agency through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed, and carried out
• Sovereignty: The supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience internally and have freedom from foreign control

Theories on the Origin of the State

• Divine Right Theory: The state is divinely created, and rulers are ordained by God
• Necessity or Force Theory: The state arose from the struggle between the strong and weak, with the strong dominating
• Natural or Instinctive Theory: The state is founded on man's natural instinct for association
• Social Contract Theory: Early states formed by a deliberate compact among people to form a society and government

State vs. Nation

• State: A community of people in a territory with a government, enjoying freedom from external control
• A political concept
• Not subject to external control
• Cannot exist without a nation or nations
• A single state can contain one or more nations
• Nation: A society united by common ancestry, language, culture, history, and shared interests
• An ethnic or racial concept that may or may not be independent of external control

Inherent Powers of the State

• Police Power: Enforces obedience to promote public health, morals, safety, and general well-being
• Eminent Domain: Appropriates property for public purposes, providing just compensation
• Taxation: Imposes burdens on subjects and objects to raise revenue for legitimate government objectives

Political Power

• Defined as the use of force or capacity to secure desired goals through force or influence
• Schwarzenberger's view: The capacity to impose one's will on others through effective sanctions
• Controlling the behavior of people, legitimate when authority is perceived as legitimate
• Can be seen as evil or unjust, reserved for humans as social beings

National Power

• Defined as the combination of power and capability a state uses to achieve national interests and goals
• Simply the ability of a nation to secure its goals in relation to other nations
• Involves using force or influence to secure national interests

Dimensions of National Power

• Military Power
• Economic Power
• Psychological Power

Interdependence of National Power

• The three work together
• Without economic power, military power cannot be developed
• Without military power, a nation cannot play an active role in international relations
• Psychological power is effective when backed by economic and military power

Military Power

• Essential for ensuring the security of the nation because security is a vital national interest and primary national concern
• A state's role in international relations depends on military power
• No state can be a superpower without military superiority

Economic Power

• The ability of a nation to satisfy its needs and control other states through access to economic goods and services
• Rich and developed nations use economic power to influence other states through aid and loans

Psychological Power

• Means the power of opinion and the image of the nation, using propaganda and persuasive negotiations

Methods of Exercising National Power

• Persuasion - Defining and explaining issues to other nations
• Rewards - Offering material, economic, or psychological incentives
• Punishments - Inflicting economic sanctions, norms, or policies
• Force/Violence - Resorting to war or acts of reprisal

Authority

• The power or right to give orders and enforce obedience based on recognized knowledge or expertise
• In a simpler term, this is legitimate power
• It is based on acknowledge duty rather than coercion or manipulation

Types of Political Authority

• Traditional: Rooted in long-standing beliefs and practices
• Assigned by customs and traditions, passed down through heredity
• Does not change or facilitate social change
• Charismatic: Stems from an individual's extraordinary personal qualities
• Charismatic leaders may exercise authority over a whole society

Legal-Rational

• Derives from law and belief in the legitimacy of society's laws, leading to leaders acting under the rules
• Found in modern states, city governments, private and public corporations, and voluntary associations

Different Forms of Government

• Monarchy: Supreme power held by a single person
  • Absolute Monarchy: Ruler rules by divine right
  • Limited Monarchy: Ruler rules in accordance with a Constitution
• Tyranny: One individual exercises power without legal restraint
• Dictatorship: Absolute control by one person
• Aristocracy: Political power exercised by a few privileged classes
  • Oligarchy - A small group of people has all the power in the government
• Democracy: Political power exercised by a majority of people
  • Direct/Pure Democracy: formulate the will immediately to the people
  • Indirect/Republican: relatively small and select group chosen by the people to express the will of the state

Extent of Powers Exercised by the Central or National Government

• Unitary Government: national control, local fairs
• Federal Government: Divide of power between national and local government

Relationship Between the Executive and Legislative Branches of Government

• Parliamentary Government: the state confers legislature to terminate power
• Presidential Government: The state executive constitutionally independently as the legislature regardless of state and the executive brand together by having a president

Ideology

• A comprehensive set of normative beliefs, conscious and unconscious ideas
• Society ideology can is often proposed by dominant class
• Political or economical ideology can be used whether or not its a explicit though

Left and Right Wing Ideologies

• Left: equality, social justice, and collective responsibility,
• Government intervention
• Right: social conservatism, limited government, and free- market economics,
  • personal responsibility and traditional values

Political Ideologies

• Communism: Central Plan
• -means or production controlled by state
• • No central government
• -Means of production owned by the whole
• Socialist - economy system factor by relation or usefulness to the people

• socialism, is, "From each according to
  

Social Ideologies

• Liberalism: individuals take priority over society
• Conservatism traditional valued and emphasis its historic inheritance over abstract inheritance
• Fascism: Ways of dictator ruler
• • No dissent is involved

Explore the nature of politics, its core definitions, and its role in resolving disagreements. Learn about political science as a discipline, including its goals and different approaches to studying political structures and institutions.