POLSC 120 Reviewer Notes PDF

POLSC 120 NOTES EMAIL DRAFTS: Dear Ma'am Torres-Pilapil, Good day, Professor! I have read and acknowledged your email. My answer to your attendance prompt is that language is understood as both a tool with which we think and a means by which we communicate with others. Thank you! Sincerely, Abeg...

POLSC 120 NOTES EMAIL DRAFTS: Dear Ma'am Torres-Pilapil, Good day, Professor! I have read and acknowledged your email. My answer to your attendance prompt is that language is understood as both a tool with which we think and a means by which we communicate with others. Thank you! Sincerely, Abegail Beatrice V. Nazario 0  Reading 1: Concepts and Theories Language and Politics Language ○ Both a tool with which we think and a means by which we communicate with others ○ If language is confused it is difficult to express our views and opinions and impossible to know the contents of our minds ○ System of expression which employs symbols, in this case words, to represent things, which can include physical objects, feelings, ideas and so forth ○ Passive - reflect reality as accurately as possible ○ Active - firing the imagination and stirring the emotions shape what we see and structure our attitude towards it Language is so often wielded by those who have an incentive to manipulate and confuse professional politicians ○ Propaganda value ○ Political weapon – it is shaped and honed to convey political intent Political correctness – language invariably reflects the power structure in society at large, and so discriminates in favor of dominant groups and against subordinate ones. ○ Goal of ‘political correctness’ is to develop bias-free terminology that enables political argument to be conducted in non-discriminatory language, thereby countering deeply rooted prejudices and presuppositions ○ Hope of an unbiased and objective language of political discourse may be illusory. At best, ‘negative’ terms and images can be replaced by ‘positive’ ones imposes an ideological straitjacket upon language that both impoverishes its descriptive power and introduces a form of censorship Understanding Political Concepts Concept ○ General idea about something, usually expressed in a single word or a short phrase’ ‘General’ in the sense that they can refer to a number of objects, indeed to any object that complies with the general idea itself ○ ‘Tools’ with which we think, criticize, argue, explain and analyze In order to make sense of the world we must, in a sense, impose meaning upon it, and we do this through the construction of concepts Political Reasoning: We build up our knowledge of the political world not simply by looking at it, but by developing and refining concepts which help us make sense of it. 1  Concepts, in that sense, are the building blocks of human knowledge 3 Problems ○ Difficult to disentangle from the moral, philosophical and ideological views Normative / values concepts – Values refer to moral principles or ideals, that which should, ought or must be brought about. Descriptive or positive concepts – more securely anchored in that they refer to ‘facts’ Objective and refer to what is Often portrayed as ‘neutral’ or value-free ○ However, in politics, facts and values are invariably interlinked, and even apparently descriptive concepts tend to be ‘loaded’ with moral and ideological implications ○ Political concepts often become the subject of intellectual and ideological controversy ‘essentially contested concepts’ – no neutral or settled definition can ever be developed recognize that competing versions of the concept may be equally valid 2 criticisms Theorists defend their preferred interpretation of a concept against its rivals Certain concepts are now contested which were once the subject of widespread agreement ○ Fetishism of concepts Concepts are treated as though they have a concrete existence separate from, and, in some senses, holding sway over, the human beings who use them Words are treated as things, rather than as devices for understanding things. Solution: Weber – ideal types mental construct in which an attempt is made to draw out meaning from an otherwise almost infinitely complex reality through the presentation of a logical extreme underlines the fact that concepts are only analytical tools Postmodernism ○ attacked the ‘traditional’ search for universal values Central theme: no such thing as certainty → absolute and universal truth must be discarded ○ assumes that there is a moral and rational high point ○ plurality of legitimate ethical and political positions, and that our language and political concepts are valid only in terms of the context in which they are generated and employed 2 Political Theory Political science is therefore essentially empirical, claiming to describe, analyze and explain government and other political institutions in a rigorous and impartial manner. ○ Behavioralism Political science could adopt the methodology of natural sciences → proliferation of studies in areas like voting behavior ○ Theory – anything from a plan to a piece of abstract knowledge ○ Hypotheses – explanatory propositions waiting to be tested Political theory involves the analytical study of ideas and doctrines that have been central to political thought ○ Taken the form of a history of political thought, focusing upon a collection of ‘major’ thinkers ○ Concerned with ethical or normative questions, such as ‘Why should I obey the state?’ ○ Interested in examining what major thinkers said, how they developed or justified their views, and the intellectual context in which they worked ○ Alternative approach: Formal political theory Economic theory in building up models based on procedural rules, usually about the rationally self interested behaviour of the individuals involved ‘Political philosophy’ ○ Used loosely to cover any abstract thought about politics, law or society ○ 2 main tasks Concerned with the critical evaluation of political beliefs, paying attention to both inductive and deductive forms of reasoning Attempts to clarify and refine the concepts employed in political discourse Concerned with justifying certain political viewpoints at the expense of others Political Theory in the 21st Century Peter Laslett – political philosophy is dead ○ consequence of important shifts in philosophy, notably the rise of logical positivism Logical positivism – propositions that are not empirically verifiable are meaningless Normative concepts such as ‘liberty’, ‘equality’, ‘justice’ and ‘rights’ were therefore discarded as nonsense After 1960s – political theory re-emerged with new vitality, and the previously sharp distinction between political science and political theory began to fade 3  ○ Growing dissatisfaction with behavioralism → constrain the scope of political analysis by preventing it from going beyond what is directly observable ○ Objective truth was undermined by philosophy of science scientific knowledge is not absolute but is contingent upon the principles, doctrines and theories that structure the process of enquiry ○ Emergence of social movement and end of consensus politics brought normative and ideological questions back Modern political theory ○ greater emphasis upon the role of history and culture in shaping political understanding most now accept that any interpretation of such thinkers and texts must take account of context, and recognize that, to some extent, all interpretations are entangled with our own values and understanding ○ political theory has become increasingly diffuse and fragmented Ex: Key debates in political theory were often debates within liberalism Ex: radical feminism vs communitarianism vs multiculturalism ○ shaken by the emergence of an ‘anti-foundationalist’ critique political theory is a child of the Enlightenment, an eighteenth-century cultural movement that sought to release humankind from its bondage to superstition and ignorance by unleashing an ‘age of reason reject the idea that there is a moral and rational high point from which all values and claims to knowledge can be judged there is a plurality of legitimate ethical and political positions, and that our language and political concepts are valid only in terms of the context in which they are generated and employed the implication of anti-foundationalism is that political theory is not so much an accumulating body of knowledge RATHER it is a dialogue or conversation in which human beings share their differing viewpoints and understandings with one another. 4  ○ REVIEW: CHAPTER 1 1. What is the language for Heywood? (What is Heywood’s argument regarding language, in the context of politics?) a. Language is a tool by which we think and a means by which we communicate 2. What is the problem? a. If language is confused or poorly understood, it is difficult to express views and expressions with any degree of accuracy and it is impossible to know the contents of our own mind 3. Politics cannot be reduced to semantics because? a. The problem is how we use language and not simply what a concept or term means 5 4. Concept in politics: a. Contested 5. Politics is a social activity because? a. Answer: it is conducted through the use of language 6. What is the difference between language and concepts? a. Language and concepts tend to overlap. b. Language is a one to one correspondence while concepts are arrangements of words. Language is a group wods that is arranged to represent something. 7. What are the 2 roles of language? a. Passive – reflects reality as accurately as possible b. Active – stirs emotions and fires imagination; shapes what we see and structures our understanding towards it 8. Why is language a positive and active force? a. It fires the imagination and stirs emotions. Hence it shapes what we see and structures our understanding towards it 9. What is the difficulty with political correctness? a. The hope of unbiased and objective language is illusory because at best, it replaces “negative” words with “positive” terms. Hence, it imposes an ideological straightjacket that weakens its descriptive power and introduces a form of censorship by denying expression of “incorrect “ views 10. Can neutral scientific language be devised? Is there difficulty? If not, where does that lead us? a. No, because a definition ties a word down to a specific meaning which is difficult to do in political terms because they are complex and contested ideas. b. Samuel Johnson said: the words are daughters of the earth and that things are sons of heavens i. Language has a limited value because they are human inventions c. Political terms carry an ideological baggage which influences how we use terms and meanings we assign to them d. It leads us to (best we can do) is to be clear about the words we use and the language we assign to them 11. How do we engage in political reasoning a. Our knowledge of political world is built upon developing and refining concepts 12. What are the three problems of concepts? a. Difficult to disentangle from moral, philosophical, and ideological views 6  i. Descriptive concepts are loaded with moral and ideological implications b. They become subject of intellectual and ideological controversy i. Concepts are essentially contested c. Fetishim of concepts i. Concepts are regarded as separate entity that influences human beings ii. Words are regarded as things instead of devices for understanding 13. Why is political science a science? a. Because it uses scientific methods which involves verifying and falsifying hypothesis by testing them against empirical evidence using repeated experimentation 14. What is the central feature that makes political science a science? a. Scientific methods 15. What makes science have an unquestionable status? a. Claims to be objective and value free, hence being the only reliable means to disclosing the truth 16. What is behavioralism? a. Study of only measurable and observable behavior of human beings 17. Political theory involves what? a. Analytical study of ideas and doctrines central to political thought b. Alternative approach: formal political theory which is based on models of procedural rules about rationally self interested behavior of individuals 18. Why is political philosophy a second-order discipline? a. Instead of directly examine empirical subjects (focus of first-order disciplines) and seeking to discover new truths like science, it focuses on how we gain knowledge and how we express understanding 19. What is the difference between past and modern political theory? a. Past i. Characterized by foundationalism and hence emphasizes that there are moral and rational high points and establish objective and universal values b. Modern i. Placed a greater emphasis on role of history and culture in shaping political understanding ii. Political theory is diffused and fragmented 7 iii. Shaken by the emergence of anti-foundationalism. It rejects the idea that there is a moral and rational high ground from which we judge concepts. Instead, it emphasizes the idea of a plurality of legitimate ethical and political positions and that language and political concepts are valid only in the historical context in which they were generated and used 8  Reading 2: Human Nature, Individual, Society HUMAN NATURE Refers to the essential and immutable character of all human beings Highlights what is innate and natural about human life ○ Innate human qualities = capacity yo be shaped or molded by external factors All models of human nature are normative: they are constructed out of philosophical and moral assumptions, thus in principle they are untestable NATURE VS NURTURE ○ What factors or forces shape human nature ○ Nature – biological or genetic factors There is an established and unchanging human core Political significance Implies that political and social theories should be construed on the basis of a pre-established concept of human nature ○ Society reflects human nature Roots of political understanding lie in natural sciences, in general and in biology, in particular ○ Political arguments shall be constructed based on biological theories Herbert Spencer Survival of the fittest → endless struggle and beset fitted by nature survives Deeply influenced classical liberalism Helped shape fascist belief Biological theories embrace universalism Human beings share a common or universal character based on genetic inheritance Other theories hold that there are fundamental biological differences among human beings which are politically significant ○ Ex: racialist theories → there basic genetic differences among races reflected in their unequal physical, psychological, and intellectual inheritance Essentialism – asserts that the difference between women and men is based on essential natures ○ Nurture Influence of social environment or experience on human character Emphasizes the malleable quality of human nature aka plasticity Significance: shift political standing towards sociology Theories have optimistic ifi not utopian implications → if human nature is plastic, the opportunities confronting human beings immediately expand and perhaps become infinite 9  ○ Ex” poverty, social conflict, etc can be overcome because their origins are social and not biological Marx: it is not the consciousness of men that determines their being but on the contrary their social being determines their consciousness Social political and intellectual life is conditioned by the mode of production of material life Human beings are workers (homo faber) constantly engaged in shaping and reshaping the world they live in Human nature is formed through a dynamic or dialectical relationship between humankind and material world INTELLECT VS INSTINCT ○ Role of rationality in human life ○ Intellect Age of enlightenment (Age of Reason) – faith in power of human reason reached a high point Rationalism and belief that physical and social world can be explained by reason alone Human beings are essentially rational creatures, guided by intellect and a process of argument, analysis, and debate Rationalism implies that human beings possess capacity to fashion their own lives and own worlds ○ Enjoy free will and self-determination Importance of individual freedom and autonomy Underpins radical or revolutionary political doctrines Ex: Plato – best form of government is enlightened despotism ruled by philosopher-kings Mill: individual liberty – guided by reason, individuals would be able to seek happiness and self-realization Cause of change: persistence of conflict and social deprivation and emergence of nationalism and racialism Led to interest in influence of emotion, instinct, and psychological drives on politics ○ Instinct Human beings place their faith in tradition, custom and the known Hobbes: power of human reason as a means to an end Ex: human aggression and cruelty is seen as innate or natural Ex: Freudian psychology – id and libido COMPETITION VS COOPERATION ○ Disagreement centers on whether human beings are self-seeking and egoistical or naturally sociable and cooperative 10  ○ Political importance: contrasting theories support different forms of economic and social organizations ○ Competition Self-interest → competition is inevitable Closely linked to individualist ideas Ex: natural rights and private property Found in Ancient Greeks → SOphists Individuals act to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, calculating each in terms of utility Darwin Individuals will exhibit cooperative and social behavior to the extent that they put the species before themselves Dawkins Individuals have selfish streak and seeks its own survival Selfishness and competition is essentially a form of biologically programed behavior ○ Cooperation Religion – human beings are a product of divine creation Influence on socialist doctrines which stresses the importance of compassion, naturally sympathy, and common humanity Underpinned the theories of ethical socialism Secular theories draw attention to the social essence of human nature Individuals both lie and work collectively, as members of a community Selfishness and competition are cultivated by a capitalist society that rewards and encourages self-striving Human essence is sociable, gregarious, and cooperative, hence lending itself to communist goal of collective ownership or socialist ideal of a welfare state Kropotkin: what distinguishes human species from less successful species is capacity for cooperation or mutual aid → cooperation is a practical necessity INDIVIDUAL Implies that the single human being is an independent and meaningful entity, identity in himself or herself ○ Autonomous creatures, acting according to personal choice Individuals are not only independent but are also distinct and unique ○ Individuality – refers to what is particular and original about each and every human being ○ To see society as a collection of individuals is to understand human beings in personal terms and them according to personal qualities 11  Human beings as individuals is to believe in universalism and accept that they share certain fundamental characteristics ○ Not defined by social background but by their moral worth, personal identity, and uniqueness INDIVIDUALISM ○ Belief in the primacy of individual over any social group or collective body, suggesting that individual is central to political theory or social explanations ○ 2 views about individualisma nd collectivism Polar opposites – representing the traditional linies between capitalism and socialism Complementary and even inseparable – individuals can fulfill their goals through collective action ○ Problem: no agreement about nature of individual How these qualities can best be realized Early liberals – individualism in natural rights → social organization purpose is to protect inalienable rights Social contract theory – form of political individualism Government arises out consent of individual citizens and role is limited to protection of their right Macpherson (1973) ‘possessive individualism’ – ‘a conception of the individual as essentially the proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them’. Defense of market capitalism Economic individualism is linked to right of private property ○ Individualism in favor of social welfare and state intervention J.S. Mill: individuality - capacity of each individual to active fulfillment and realize potential ○ If historical and social factors shape the content of human nature, as advocates of ‘nurture’ theories suggest, the human individual should be seen as a product of society LIBERALISM ○ Liberal thought characterized by commitment to individualism, a belief in supreme importance to human individual and implies support individual freedom ○ Individuals are rational creatures who are entitled to greatest freedom consistent with freedom of fellow citizens ○ Human beings are essentially self-sufficient and largely self-interested People should be responsible for their own lives and circumstances ○ Minimal state – function is limited to domestic order and personal security ○ Supports a meritocratic society ○ Modern liberalism 12  Provided the basis for social or welfare liberalism characterized by the recognition that state intervention can enlarge liberty by safeguarding individuals from the social evils that blight their existence Classical liberals – freedom as absence of constraints to individual Modern liberals – linked freedom to personal development and self-realization. This created clear overlaps between modern liberalism and social democracy ○ Seeks to establish conditions in which individuals and groups can achieve the good life as each defines it INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY ○ Should the individual be encouraged to be independent and self-reliant or will this make social solidarity impossible? ○ Rugged individualism – individual as almost entirely separate from society, discounting the importance of community Individuals can and should look after themselves ○ Smiles: While self-help promotes mental moral development and through promoting entrepreneurial spirit benefits the entire nation, help from without (social welfare) weakens individual by removing incentive or need to work ○ New Right: attacked dependency culture welfare junkies’ – robbed of the desire to work and denied dignity and self-respect ○ Anti-individualism is based on commitment to importance of community and the belief that self-help and individual responsibility are threat to social solidarity Community Collection of people in a given location, such as populations of particular town Suggests a social group within which there are strong ties and collective identity ○ Genuine community is distinguished by bonds Refers to social roots of individual identity Communitarian theories: self is constituted through community, seeing it as a means of strengthening social responsibility Individualism leads to atomism and produce a society of vulnerable and isolated individuals Ferdinand Tonnies: Gemeinschaft vs Gesellschaft ○ Gemeinschaft – community 13  Gemeinschaft relationships found in rural communities are based on strong bonds of natural affection and mutual respect ○ Gesellschaft – association Gesellschaft-relationships develop in urban societies and are artificial and contractual Reflect the desire for personal gain than social loyalty ○ Cons: Violation of individual rights and liberties in the name of community Ex: fascism – proclaimed the supreme importance of Volksgegmeinschaft or national community and aimed to dissolve individuality Ex: fascist italy: totalitarian terror – police state employing repression persecution, and widespread brutality Individual in politics ○ Politics entirely in personal terms History is made by human individuals who impress their own wills in political process Ex: great men and their deeds Ex: Kennedy or Reagan Ignores the wealth of cultural, economic, social and historical factors that help shape political developments Discounts individual altogether ○ History is shaped by social, economic, and other factors; individual actors are either irrelevant or merely act as puppets ○ Economic determinism: political, legal, intellectual and cultural life were thought to be determined by the ‘economic mode of production’ ○ Does not allow for existence of personal identity or exercise of free will – imply a belief in historical inevitability If individuals ‘make politics’ they do so under certain, very specific conditions, intellectual, institutional, social and historical ○ Individuals and cultural inheritance Influenced by intellectual traditions of their time and reigning historical and social circumstances ○ Individuals and institutions Difficult to distinguish personal impact of leader from his office 14  Institutional powers are elastic to some extent, capable of being stretched or enlarged by leaders Ex: office of the British prime minister was whatever its holder chose to make of it ○ Individual and society No individual can be understood in isolation from social environment Individual behavior as representative of social forces or interests ○ Politics is made by individuals who are part of historical process but possess some kind of capacity to shape events according to their own dreams and inclinations SOCIETY Societies are characterized by regular patterns of interaction, suggesting the existence of social structure Social relationships involve mutual awareness and cooperation ○ Cooperative action doesn’t necessarily need to be reinforced by common identity or sense of loyalty Understood as civil society in politics ○ Civil society referred to a political community, a community living within a framework of law and exhibiting a common allegiance to a state ○ Hegel and Marx: civil society takes place outside the state and refers to a realm of autonomous associations formed by individuals in their capacity as private citizens Collectivism ○ For some, collectivism refers to the actions of the state and reached its highest form of development in the centrally planned economies of orthodox communist states, so-called ‘state collectivism’ ○ Stresses the capacity of human beings for collective action, stressing willingness and ability to pursue goals by working together rather than personal self-interest Human beings are social animals, identifying with fellow human beings and bound together by common collective identity ○ Fundamental to socialism ○ Nationalist and racialist doctrines ○ State has been seen as the agency through which collective action is organized, representing interests of society 15  Ex: Growth social welfare, advance of economic management, extension of nationalization Danger of state: substitute itself for the collective, taking decisions and responsibilities away from ordinary citizens ○ Collectivism stands for collective action undertaken by free individuals out of a recognition that they possess common interests or collective identity THEORIES OF SOCIETY ○ Individualist conception of society Society is a human artifact constructed by individuals to serve their interests or purposes Extreme form: there is no such thing as society – social political behavior are understood in terms of choices made by self-interested individuals ○ Ex: classical liberalism Atomistic theory – society is nothing more than a collection of individual units or atoms ignores that individuals pursue interests through formation of groups or associations Self interest holds society together, recognizing that private interests overlap. Founded on strong belief in consensus – natural balance or harmony amongst competing individuals and groups in society ○ Organic analogy Society may operate as an organic whole exhibiting properties more normally associated with living organisms Societies are complex networks of relationships which ultimately exist to maintain the whole: the whole is more important than individual part Body politic Assumes that all social activity plays some part in maintaining the basic structures of society and can therefore be understood Ex: traditional conservatives and fascists Society is naturally hierarchic ○ Pluralist theory Draws attention to conflict between the various groups and interests in society Open and competitive political system is capable of ensuring social balance and preventing a descent into unrest and violence 16  ○ Elite theorists Social order in terms of organizational advantage, manipulation and open coercion than consensus Most influential conflict theory of society is marxism Roots of social conflict lie in the existence of private property, leading to fundamental and irreconcilable class conflict Politics for instance is not so much a process through which rival interests are balanced against one another, as a means of perpetuating class exploitation Social cleavages and identity ○ Social cleavage is a split or division in society, reflecting diversity of social formations Born out of an unequal distribution of political influence, economic power or social status To interpret politics in terms of socal cleaves is to recognize particular social bonds as politically important and treat the group concerned as a major political power Fundamental and permanent divisions rooted either human nature or organic structure of society ○ Identity politics or politics of difference Identity links the personal to the social in seeing the individual as embedded in a particular cultural, social, institutional, and ideological context Identity – sense of separation and unique selfhood but it also acknowledges that how people see themselves is shaped by a web of special and other relationships that distinguish them from other people Identity implies difference Politics of recognition – identity should be fully and formally acknowledged Enemy is liberal universalism Individuals share the same core identity Liberalism is difference blind – regards considerations such as social class, gender, culture and ethnicity as, at best, secondary or peripheral in shaping personal identity ○ Strips away the very characteristics that give people a sense of who or what they are ○ Cleavage most associated with politics is social class Social class - a group of people who share similar economic and social positions and united by a common economic interest 17  An ‘underclass’, a group of people who through endemic disadvantage and deprivation are consigned to the margins of conventional society ○ Gender divisions in politics Gender’ refers to social and cultural distinctions between males and females, in contrast to ‘sex’ which highlights biological and therefore ineradicable differences between men and women Millet and daly: gender cleavages as deepest and most politically significant of all social divisions → practiced a form of sexual politics ○ Racial and ethnic cleavages Race – genetic differences among humankind which supposedly distinguishes people from one another on biological grounds (i.e. skin) racial categories are largely based upon cultural stereotypes and have little or no foundation in genetics Ethnicity – refers to cultural, linguistic and social differences, not necessarily rooted in biology Influence on political thought Racially based political theories racial divisions are seen as eradicable, the task facing anti-racists being one of reform: the construction of a more equitable and tolerant society ○ Religion also exerts immense significance upon political life Ex: islamic foundationalism ○ Culture in general and language, in particular have been potent sources of political conflict, especially in establishing national identity Language embodies distinctive attitudes, values and forms of expression, helping to create a sense of familiarity and belonging Linguistic divisions have been difficult or impossible to overcome Culture – way of life of people Importance is seen in multicultural societies ○ characterized by cultural diversity arising from the existence, usually as a result of immigration, of two or more groups whose beliefs and practices generate a distinctive sense of collective identity Supporters: culturally embedded – cultural diversity promotes vigor and health of society ○ Range of human capacities and attributes Critics: inherently fractured and conflict-ridden 18  ○ Successful societies must be based on shared values and common culture 19 REVIEW: CHAPTER 2 1. What is the significance of human nature a. Almost all political doctrines and beliefs are based on some form of theory of human nature,, sometimes explicitly formulated but in many cases applied 2. 3 contending issues of human nature? a. Nature vs Nurture b. Intellect vs Instinct c. Competition vs Cooperation 3. What is the political significance or implication of nature argument(?) (human nature)? a. Implies that political and social theories are constructed on pre-established concept of human nature b. Roots of political arguments lie on natural sciences in general, and biology in particular. Hence political arguments should be constructed based on biological theories. 4. What is the defining characteristic of human nature / What is nurture? a. The defining characteristic of human nature is plasticity which is human being’s malleability or ability to be molded by external factors, such as social environment or experience 5. Intellect vs Instinct (what is it about)? a. Rationality 6. What is individualism? a. Belief in the primacy of individuals over other social groups or a central body, suggesting that the individual is central to political and social explanations. 7. What is the line of argument that shifts attention from individual to community? a. Critiques of such policy point out that so long as social inequality and deprivation continues to exist, it is difficult to see how individuals are entirely responsible for their own circumstances. 8. What are the 2 views of individuals in politics? a. First sees individuals entirely in personal terms, specifically history is made by individuals who impress their will on political processes b. Second view discounts individual altogether 20 9. What are the 5 factors in which individuals make politics? a. Economic determinism: i. intellectual, political, legal, and cultural life are determined by economic modes of production b. Cultural inheritance: i. Practical politicians are guided in their behavior and decision-making, often unknowingly, by academic scribblers. ii. individuals are influenced by intellectual traditions of their time and historical and social circumstances of institutions c. Relationship between Individual and Institutions: i. It is difficult to distinguish between political impact of a political leader and the authority or influence he or she derives from his or her office ii. Follow up Question: What does institutions refer to in this view 1. Office d. Society: i. No individual can be understood in isolation from his or her social environment ii. Importance of social essence which sees individuals as representatives of social forces or interests e. Historical context i. Politics is made by who are part of historical process and possess some ability to shape events according to their dreams and inclinations 10. How is society referred to / understood as in politics a. understood a civil society 11. What is a civil society? a. Civil is a political community living within a framework of law and exhibiting a common allegiance to a state 12. What are the 3 theories of society? a. Atomistic – society is nothing more than a collection of individuals or atoms b. Organic analogy – whole is more important than its parts i. Societies are complex networks of relationships that exist to maintain the whole ii. Society may operate as an organic whole, exhibiting properties more normally associated with living organisms c. Rival theories – highlight the role of conflict 21  i. Pluralist theory ii. Elitist theory iii. Marxism 1. 22  Reading 3: Politics, Government, and the State Politics 3 clear distinct conceptions of politics ○ Associated with formal institutions of government and the activities ○ Politics is commonly linked to public life and public activities in contrast to private or personal ○ Politics has been related to distribution of power, wealth, and resources, which takes place within all institutions and level of social existence Art of Government ○ Art of government – exercise of control within society through the making and enforcement of collective decisions ○ Politics refers to the affairs of the polis - what concerns the polis / what concerns the state ○ David Easton: politics as… authoritative allocation of values Associated with policy, formal, or authoritative decisions that establish a plan for action Takes place within a polity, a system of social organization centered upon the machinery of government Cons: restrictive: politics is confined to governmental institutions and engaged in by limited number of people ○ Politics as the art of the possible, as a means of resolving conflict by compromise, conciliation and negotiation Bernard Crick: politics is solution to the problem of order which chooses conciliation than violence and coercion Conciliation requires that power is widely dispersed throughout society according to importance of each welfare and survival of community Enemy of politics is desire for certainty at any cost ○ At heart, the definition of politics as compromise and conciliation has an essentially liberal character. First place – it reflects a deep faith in human reason and in the efficacy of debate and discussion. Second – it is based upon an underlying belief in consensus rather than conflict, ○ Lord Acton: power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely Individuals are self-interested, the possession of political power will be corrupting itself, encouraging those in power to exploit position for personal advantage and at the expense of others 23  Public Affairs ○ A second and broader conception of politics moves it beyond the narrow realm of government to what is typically thought of as ‘public life’ or ‘public affairs’. Distinction between the political and non-political coincides with the division between public sphere of life and private sphere ○ Aristotle: man is by nature a political animal It is only within a political community that human beings can achieve the good life Politics is a master science: Ethical activity concerned with creating a just society Politics goes within public bodies such as government itself, political parties, trade unions, community groups, but does not take place within private domain ○ State can be defined as a political association which exercises sovereign power within a defined territorial area Refers to cluster of institutions centering upon apparatus of government but including courts, police, etc Public – responsible for the collective organization of community life and funded at the public’s expense, out of taxation ○ Society consists of a collection of autonomous groups and associations, embracing family and kinship groups, private businesses, trade unions, etc “Private” – they are set up and funded by individual citizens to satisfy own interests Politics is restricted to activities of the state and responsibilities exercised by public bodies ○ Civil society refers to intermediate socio-economic realm, distinct from the state and the family Private businesses and trade unions are seen to have public character Politics as public activity stops only when it infringes upon personal affairs and institutions ○ Michael Oakeshott: politics be regarded as a strictly limited activity – regulation of public life Arendt: politics is most important form of human activity because it involves interaction among free and equal citizens, and so both gives meaning to life and affirms the uniqueness of each individual Only through the direct and continuous participation of all citizens in political life can the state be bound to the common good, or what Rousseau called the ‘general will Hegel: state is regarded with uncritical reverence as a realm of altruism and mutual sympathy whereas civil society is thought to be dominated by narrow-self interest ○ Ex: totalitarian state 24  Power and Resources ○ Politics as a distinctive form of social activity but one that pervades every corner of human existence ○ Politics comprises any form of activity through which conflict about resource allocation takes place The political is linked to the production, distribution, and use of resources Politics arises out of scarcity (while human needs and desires are infinite the available resources to satisfy them are limited) Encompasses threats, intimidation, and violence Politics is power, the ability to achieve a desired outcome, through whatever means ○ Lenin: politics is most concentrated expression of economics Political power is rooted in class system ○ Radical feminist: personal is political Politics takes place whenever and wherever power and other resources are unequally distributed Politics of everyday life Lowest level: personal, family, and domestic life Second level: community level Third level: national level International or supranational level GOVERNMENT To govern is to rule or exercise control over others ○ Activity of government involves the ability to make decisions and ensure that they are carried out Government exists whenever and wherever ordered rule occurs ○ Government narrowly refers to formal and institutional processes by which rule is exercised at community, national, and international levels. ○ Government can be identified with a set of established and permanent institutions whose function is to maintain public order and undertake collective action Concerned with making, implementation, and interpretation of law ○ Law: set of enforceable rules that are binding upon society 3 functions ○ Legislation – making of laws ○ Execution – implementation of laws ○ Interpretation of law and adjudication of its meaning Separate institutions: legislature, executive, judiciary Governments operate within political systems through which it can respond to popular pressures and exercise political control 25  ○ Political systems – networks of relationships which usually involve parties, elections, pressure groups and the media Why have a government? ○ Anarchism – particular school of political thought dedicated precisely to establishing that government is unnecessary, and to bringing about its abolition Anarchy – without rule ○ Hobbes: rational human beings should respect and obey government because without it society would descend into a civil war of man against man Life in state of nature as solitary, poor, brutish, and short Escape chaos through a social contract which enables the creation of system of government Without government stability would be impossible ○ Government as intrinsically benign as a means of promoting good and not just avoiding harm Aquinas: state as perfect community and the proper effect of law was to make its subjects good Government and law would be necessary Government as an instrument which enables people to cooperate for mutual benefit ○ William Godwin: man is perfectible In the state of nature, a natural order will prevail, making a political order unnecessary ○ Anarchist: government as a cause of conflict, unrest, and violence – rules represses freedom,, breeds resentment, and promotes inequality ○ Traditional societies Solves the problem of maintaining order through maintenances of traditions and customs, often rooted in religious beliefs Social rituals sets common values and rules of conducts, ensuring consistent and predictable social behavior to maintain social structure ○ Modern societies Large, complex, and highly differentiated Consists of urban communities Due to decline of religion, ritual, and tradition, modern societies lack a unifying set of common values and cultural beliefs 26  Characterized by size, diversity, and conflict Governments and Governance ○ Democratic = describe a particular system of government indicating general approval by suggesting that in such societies government is carried out both by and for the people ○ Aristotle: who rules and who benefits from rule 6 forms of government Perverted: Tyranny, oligarchy, democracy ○ Tyranny – single person Worst because it reduces all citizens to status of slaves ○ Oligarchy – small group Impractical because it relies on god-like willingness to place the good of community before own interest ○ Democracy – masses ○ They govern in their own interest and at the expense of others Preferred: Monarchy, aristocracy, polity ○ Monarchy – single Also impractical ○ Aristocracy – small ○ Polity – masses Most practicable but masses might resent wealth of the few and too easily come under the sway of demagogue ○ Preferred because individual, small group, or masses govern in the interest of all Advocated for a mixed constitutions which would leave government in the hands of middle classes, those who are neither rich nor poor ○ Limited Government Constitutional Constitution defines duties, responsibilities, and functions of institutions and establishes relationship between government and individual Limited by the fact that power is fragmented and dispersed throughout a number of institutions Creates internal tensions or checks and balances Government is limited by existence of vigorous and independent civil society 27 ○ Liberal democracies Democratic in a sense that government rests upon consent of government Implies representative democracy as the right to exercise government power is gained by success in regular and competitive elections Elections, democratic rights, political pluralism (existence of variety of political creeds, ideologies or philosophies and of open competition among a number of parties) Majoritarian governments – single party is able to form a government of its own, either through electoral support or nature of electoral system Two party systems ○ Post communist government Adoption of multi-party elections and introduction of market based economic reforms Absence or weakness of civic culture Instability due to transition from central planning to market capitalism General weakness of state power reflected in re-emergence of ethnic and nationalist tensions or organized crime ○ East asian government Characterized by priority given to boosting growth and delivering prosperity Support for strong government, sometimes exercised through powerful leaders or ruling parties Underpinned by widely respected confucian principles, such as loyalty, discipline, and duty ○ Islamic government Contains fundamentalist and pluralist forms Ex: Afghanistan Theocracies have been constructed in which political and other affairs are structured according to higher religious principles and political office is linked to religious status ○ Military government Junta – clique of senior officers sizes power through a revolution or coup d’etat Military backed personalized dictatorships and regimes in which military leaders content themselves with pulling the strings behind the scenes ○ Governance: various ways in which social life is coordinated 28  Government can be seen as an institution involved in governance It is possible to have governance without government Growing emphasis upon governances resulted from two shifts in modern government and larger society Boundaries between the state and civil society have increasingly blurred through growth of public private partnerships and use within public bodies and state institutions of private-sector In the process of managing modern societies, government itself has become increasingly complex, leading to the idea of multi-level governance Political Systems ○ Traditional approaches Focused on machinery of the state and examined constitutional rules and institutional structures ○ Systems analysis broadened understanding of government by highlighting the complex interaction between government and larger society System: organized or complex whole, a set of interrelated and interdependent parts that form a collective entity Whole is more important that its individual parts ○ Political system extends beyond institutions of government and encompasses the processes, relationships, and institutions through which government is linked to the governed Political consists of a linkage between what Easton called “inputs” and outputs Inputs consists of demands and supports ○ Demands from government ○ Inputs – way in which public contributes to political system, such as taxes Outputs – decisions and actions of government, including policy making ○ Outputs generate feedback which shape further demands and supports Easton: political system is a dynamic process, within which stability is achieved only if outputs bear some relationship to inputs. If policy outputs do not satisfy popular demands, systemic breakdown will happen Capacity to achieve stability is regulated by gatekeepers, interest groups and political parties and the success of government in converting inputs to outputs Reflects essential liberal conception of politics because it is based on consensus, underlying the existence of social harmony Bias in favor of behavior and stability 29  Assumes that systems are self-regulating mechanisms which seek to perpetuate their own existence THE STATE State: refer to a range of things ○ Collection of institutions ○ Territorial unit ○ Historical entity ○ Philosophical idea Government and the state ○ State is often defined narrowly as a separate institution or set of institution ○ Luis XIV: L’ectat c’esst moi State stands for apparatus of government for those institutions that are public. They are responsible for collective organization of communal life and funded at public expense ○ Can be identified with Body politic Rolling forward or rolling back the state – expanding or contracting responsibilities of state and institutions – enlarging or reducing machinery of the state ○ State as a particular kind of political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within territorial borders Defining features Sovereignty ○ Absolute and restricted power ○ State commands supreme power as it stands above all other associations in society ○ Law demands the compliance of those who live within territory Form of authority ○ Authority is territorially limited: states claim sovereignty only within their own borders and regulate flow of persons and goods across borders ○ Jurisdiction within its borders is universal Everyone living in the state is subject to its authority Usually expressed through citizenship which entails rights and duties (members of the state) Compulsory Jurisdiction ○ Rarely exercise choice about accepting its authority 30  ○ Most people become subject of state by virtue of being born in their borders ○ Result of conquest ○ Immigrants and naturalized citizens are exceptions Coercion ○ State must have capacity to ensure that its laws are obeyed and possess the ability to punish its transgressors Weber: state is a human community that successfully claims the monopoly of legitimate use of power within a given territory ○ State is an inclusive association as it embraces entire community and encompasses institutions of public sphere Government is part of the state State is permanent while government is temporary Government is responsible for making and implementing state policies Government is, in effect, ‘the brains’ of the state: it gives authoritative expression to the state By implementing the various state functions, government serves to maintain the state itself in existence Theories of the state ○ Essentially contested: there is a number of rival theories of state ○ Mainstream Liberal theory State is neutral arbiter among competing groups and individuals in society Sate as umpire or referee – protect citizen from encroachment of fellow citizens ○ Basic Puralist Political power is dispersed among wide variety of social groups than elite Democratic processes are at work within the state Neo-pluralist Deformed polyarchy – modern industrialized state is both more complex and less responsive to popular pressures than the classical pluralist model suggests 31  New right strong antipathy towards government intervention in economic and social life State is parasitic – threatens individual liberty and economic security Nanny or leviathan state Public choice theorists ‘big’ government has been generated from within the machinery of the state itself by the problem of ‘bureaucratic oversupply’. Pressure for the expansion of the state comes from civil servants and other public employee ○ Marxism State emerges out of class system Function is to maintain and defend class domination and exploitation Role of the state ○ Liberals – state should be confined to a minimal role Provide a framework of peace and social order within which private citizens can conduct their lives Locke: nightwatchman state Nightwatchman: Services are only called upon when orderly existence is threatened 3 functions ○ Central function is the maintenance of domestic order, protecting individual citizens from one another State as a machinery for upholding law and order ○ Ensure that voluntary agreements or contracts which private citizens enter are respected, enforceable through a court system ○ Provide protection against possibility of external attack, needing an armed service ○ State Interventions Provision of Welfare to reduce poverty and social inequality Developed welfare states attempts to redistribute wealth through public services and state benefits, financed through taxation 32  Economic management Government’s economic responsibilities should be restricted to creating conditions wherein market forces can most effectively operate Promote competition and ensure stable prices by regulating money supply Abolish private enterprise altogether and set up a centrally planned economy, administered by a network of economic ministries and planning committee Economy is transferred from civil society to the state = collectivized states Communist countries Construction of an all-embracing state whose influence penetrates human existence, economy, education, culture, etc Characterized by ideological manipulation, surveillance, and terroristic policing Mechanisms through which oppositions can be expressed are weakened or destroyed Outright abolition of civil society Totalitarianism sets out to politicize every aspect of human existence: it seeks to establish comprehensive state control Death of politics – goal is monolithic society in which individuality, diversity and conflict are abolished 33  34  Lecture 1: Definition of Political Theory Political theory ○ Political Etymologically: Ancient Greek Hannah Arendt: Polis – organization of the people that arises out of acting and speaking together Politics – struggle among competing actors to determine government rules Political – corresponds to the condition of plurality in as much as plurality is the condition of all political life ○ Plurality is the defining characteristic of politics ○ Theory → Theoria Adriana Caverero: Theoria signifies contemplation and pertains to the human experience of seeing, to the field of vision Plato: Vision – true and universal objects or ideas with the eyes of the mind (nous) ○ Idea – literally signifies the visible Isolation – defining characteristics Political theory as an oxymoron ○ Theory: contemplative thought Adriana Caverero: entails a solitary thinker who withdraws from the human world of plurality to enjoy a noetic vision of desensitized and therefore abstract and universal object Deals with solitary vision of another worldly, abstract, universal and stable order of objects ○ Polis: shared and relational space generated by words and deeds of a plurality of human beings Action is dependent on the constant presence of others Politics belong to a worldly sphere, always particular and contingent, where plural interaction produces a series of unpredictable and uncontrollable events ○ Oxymoron: occurs together on the expression “political theory” Owes its existence on Plato’s allegory of the cave Allegory of the cave: One route ascends ○ Philosopher leaves the cave of human affairs to contemplate ideas One route descends 35  ○ Philosopher returns to sphere of polis to impose the principles he derived from his theory The ideas become the unwavering, ‘absolute’ standard for political and moral behavior World of Forms (SPI) ○ Exists in a separate world (mind) ○ Perfect model of something ○ Can only be seen by intellect World of Appearance (MIIOE) ○ Exists in a material world ○ Imperfect imitations of something ○ Can only be seen by outer eyes Visible world is the imperfect and changing manifestation of this world of perfect and unchanging forms Western traditions inherited from Plato the canons of a political theory as a specific discipline that applies the principles of theoria to politics ○ The characteristics of theory, derived from experience pertaining to a realm fo sight, are transferred to foundational criteria of politics Politics becomes a sphere that is constructed and regulated by principles of vision Task of discovering universal principles capable of regulating politics was entrusted to theoria ○ Principles of theory were applied to politics (theorizing politics) Politics was stripped of its own characteristics – plurality, action, and direct involvement of agents PLATO: Politics was conceived in accordance with characteristics pertaining to the solitary experience of contemplation instead of relational and plural one of action Fundamental issue of politics and genuine object of idea is order ○ Political theory cancels the unpredictability of plural interaction that constitutes the proprium (attribute/selfhood) of politics and replaces it with predictability of order Solution: radically rethink political theory ○ Instead of theorizing politics (i.e. reducing politics to principles of theoria), we politicize theory Politicizing theory break away from constitutive characteristic of theoria 36  Dedicate the work of thinking to understanding the propium of politics → study politics according to its own principles Politics as a field of interaction and hence of contingency Plurality: each human being appears to other “in such a way that nobody is ever the same as anyone who ever lived, lives, or will live” ○ Human being: unique individuals rather than fictitious entities like the individuals of modern political doctrine ○ Have to do with a relational dimension of reciprocal dependency, which exposes as false the autonomy and self-sufficiency on which individualism insists Political theory that freed itself from prejudicial characteristics of theoria would therefore renounce the primacy of order and disposition to conceive universal, homogenous, and orderable subjects Arendtian Politics: words and deeds are included in the arendtian category of action Action corresponds to the ability, possessed only by human being ○ To express his uniqueness or to distinguish himself, to communicate himself and not merely something Human beings communicate their uniqueness, first of all, actively and reciprocally, in a fundamentally shared space Communicate themselves in so far as they are unique and plural Plurality of uniqueness exists in relation to one another Politicizing theory is to respond to current crisis in politics ○ Categories of modern political thought seems incapable not only of comprehending but of describing contemporary scenarios ○ Need a new political theory that does not limit itself to reorganizing modern categories in a different way to adopt them to new scenarios Focus on the question of who each one is Rejection of whatness of being Does not only regard and produce fictitious entities – the man, subject, individual, person – but also concerns the problem of so-called cultural identities based on ethnicity, religion, class, etc 37  Contradiction between the paradigm of the universal individual and the plural identities of a multiethnic and multicultural society Leads to critique of the universalistic paradigm in as much as it is the historical product of an improper universalization of a western man ○ Does not do away with cultural identities and community belonging but it does keep them from becoming the foundation of politics ○ Underscores the primary value of an existent without qualities, memberships, and cultural identities Politics Is therefore a relational space that opens everywhere for everyone Contingent, groundless, contextual The relation in fact, far from protecting, ordering, or discipling express that uniqueness without qualities that bind each one to other Politicizing theory means to overturn the tradition that theorized politics, but it does not mean eliminating the sphere of sight implicit in theory ○ Vision turns not to fictitious entities but to datum of human condition ○ Political theory does not coincide with politics and does not consist in acting politically ○ Political theory is theory → its disciplinary status consists in observing, seeing, and imagining Heywood: Political theory involves the analytical study of ideas concepts both normative and descriptive ○ Normative: Values Moral principles or ideas Should, ought, or must be ○ Descriptive Facts Objective and demonstrable existence Is ○ Values and facts are linked: descriptive concepts tend to be loaded with moral and ideological implications Blackwell Encyclopedia: Systematic reflection on the nature and purposes of government, characteristically involving both an understanding of existing political institutions and a view of how (if at all) it should be changed 38 ○ Change: not as dictated in all aspects by immutable tradition but as open to modification 39  Lecture 2: Classical Normative Theory Foundational Elements of Political Theory ○ Classical normative ○ Institutional ○ Historical ○ Empirical ○ Ideological Arbitrary demarcations – there are considerable overlaps and crossover between them ○ Distinct enough in their various formats and aims Classical Normative Political Theory ○ Classical (Plato and Aristotle) ○ Served as the intellectual template for later 20th century conceptions of normative theory (in particular from 1970s) Examined in terms of distinction between thicker and thinner normative forms and self-consciously universalists and more conventionalist variants of normative theory These distinctions have antecedents in mid-to-late 20th century perceptions of older variants of classical normative theory ○ 4 Common themes There are a series of perennial or universal concerns, which go back to greek civilization, which can be focused under the rubric of normative political theory Polis: focuses on coherence, internal, and external relations and the ends of social or communal existence ○ With a view prescribing how humans ought to live in the future There are concerns on present social conditions, its origin, and what precisely we should value in our present situation Nature and role of public institutions and public rules and primacy of values which have powerful effect on the lives of all citizens within the boundary of community There is a strong sense of moral and practical significance of political or communal life over any other forms of human existence Political / communal life is key to realization of good life ○ Good life is where human beings can attain well-being and flourish 40  Classical normative political theory involves the systematic search for the best structures and means to achieve this good life and flourishing ○ Good life: conception of the good invokes and utilizes forceful suppositions about human nature and establishes how these suppositions can be developed or fulfilled in political structures Choice of a particular form of life and a conception of human nature frequently go together there is underlying preoccupation with nature of human beings and what we might expect or not from them Structure and nature of political institutions will depend heavily on the reading of human capabilities and power There is usually a common anxiety over any difference, dissonance, or conflict within civic existence and a more general preference towards consensus or common good to avoid the possibility of fractionalism, division, and civil unrest Classical normative view embodies the belief that there are common aims, purposes, or goods viewed which can be or are embodied in political life Common themes of classical normative political theory ○ Common themes = general and open-ended ○ Classical normative political theory = vary widely Distinctions in classifications of older form of classical political theory and 20th century politics Older form ○ Classifications are not definitive and many ways More of a tool of analysis Way of thinking through the material ○ Complex contextual historical classification Favored by historians of political thought Focus on larger or more substantial periodization Cover such things as classical greek, early, middle, and late medieval, early modern, and modern and so forth Dramatic cosmic classification Lea strauss: focused on themes of cultural crisis 41  ○ 3 consecutive waves of modernity which gave rise to distinction between classical and modern political period ○ 3 WAVES OF MODERNITY (MRH) 1st wave was initiated by Machiavelli Founder of modern political philosophy Machiavelli is seen to have basically subordinated all morality and religion to politics ○ Reason of state is to maintain power 2nd wave is associated with Rousseau Where moral standards are sought from contingent values of history ○ Imagines multi-stage evolution of humanity from most primitive condition to something like a modern complex society 3rd wave is initiated decisively by Heidgger What does it mean to exist Retained the insights of Rousseau's and German idealism’s historicism but denied the rationality of the process and introduced the theme of nihilism ○ Nihilism – rejection / cynicism Antithetical to the meaningful aspects of life Classification of Classical Political Theory and 20th Century Political Theory ○ Dramatic cosmic classification Dante Germino: 3 cosmic phases or tradition in political theory (TAM) Theocentric humanism ○ God is the measure and center of all things Anthropocentric humanism ○ Humanity is measure of all things Messianic humanism ○ Seeks qualitative transformation of human existence 42