Politics

POLITICS
• Definition
• Basic concept
• Various views of politics
From the Greek word “polis”
meaning City States
It denotes social activity. It is the

Politics interaction of individuals.
It is about conflict andcooperation.

Is the creation, maintenance and
amendment of societal norms or
rules.
City-States refers to small
countries as center of culture
and civilization where people
interact under unified
government
SOCIAL NORMS
• are rules that a group uses for appropriate and
inappropriate values, beliefs, attitude and behavior.
• Are rules for how people should act in a given group
or society. Any behavior that is outside these norms
is considered violation of norms.
• It consist of rules of conduct and models of
behavior prescribed by a society. They are rooted in
the customs, traditions and value systems that
gradually developed in this society.
Various views of Politics
Politics is the Science of
Government
-a systematic body of knowledge that
deals with the government and regulation,
maintenance and development and
defense and augmentation of the state.
Politics as an art
It involves the exercise of control of authority

within the society through making and
enforcement of collective decisions.
-process which the government address the

needs of society by allocating benefits,
rewards and penalties.
Politics as the authoritative allocation of
values (David Easton)
-that the politics encompasses the various

processes through which the government
respond to pressures from the larger
society by allocating benefits, rewards or
penalties.
Authoritative values are those that are
widely accepted to society and are
considered binding by the mass of
citizens.
Politics is the realm of
public affairs or the state
-it is the distinction between the

state and the civil society.
-distinction between “public life”
and “private life”
Politics takes place within the machinery
of the government. That events happened
within the bureau , department and
government offices is “political” and
outside of it (business, religion and family),
civil society are “non-political”.
Public refers to the institution of the State
which is funded by the people through their
taxes to satisfy their common interest.
Private refers to civil society privately

funded to support their own interest.
Aristotle declared that “man by
nature is a political animal”
“Man as political Animal”-Aristotle
Man naturally inclined to live in a society (family,
organizations, tribes, villages…).
Aside from his private life, man must have a public life
for this perfects the essence and gives him a “good life”
That common good can be attained through active

participation of the citizens.
Politics as authority
-as “legitimate power”

-power is the ability to influence the behavior
of others, authority is the right to do so.
-Authority acknowledge duty to obey rather
than on any form of coercion or manipulation.
Weber distinguish between three kinds of
authority based on different grounds on which
obedience can be established:
- Traditional authority which is rooted in
history.
- charismatic authority which stems from
personality
- legal-rational authority is grounded in a set of
impersonal rules
Politics is he who gets, when
and how (Harold Lasswell)
The struggle involved in allocating

the scarce resources, and
determining what to produce, how
to distribute and use them.
Politics is Power (Machiavelli)
the ability to achieve a desired

-
outcome.
-the ability to influence the
behavior of others in a manner not
of their choosing.
Politics is consensus
-refers to an agreement of a
particular kind which are
accepted by a wide range of
individuals or groups.
Basic Concepts of Politics
Order Power Justice

Order
-it is the central study of politics
because it shows different
components of human society and
exists in diverse forms or levels of
societal structures.
Structures of order:
1.Community – refers to the association of
individuals who shares a common identity. This
identity is formed by the unique circumstances
surrounding the group of individuals like
geography, history, philosophy, ideology,
language, race and allegiance. The cause of
existence is primarily protection of individuals.
2.Government is the higher level of social
order that exists primarily for the
maintenance and perpetuation of the
community. It is said to possess “sovereignty”
if it can successfully assert its claim to rule. It
is said “legitimate” if its claim to rule
(authority) is willingly accepted.
Forms of Government
Monarchy –ruled and controlled by one
man (king)
Aristocracy-where a selected few who are
known for their wealth and education have
the right to rule
Democracy is the rule by the people, for the
people and of the people.
State
It refers to a community of persons more or less
numerous, permanently occupying a definite
portion of territory, having a government of their
own to which the great body of inhabitants
render obedience and enjoying freedom from
external control.
POWER
It implies “power over” people rather than
the “power or ability to” do something. This
includes influence over the behavior of
others, making them do things which they
would not otherwise have done. It involves
manipulation through the popular methods
of reward and punishment.
Justice
-legalizing and penalizing the abuse of
political power and power to rule.
“If the government gives what
people need, protect and respect
their rights, and put the common
good over and above the personal
interest of the leaders then and
there is said to be justice”.

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It denotes social activity. It is the

It is about conflict andcooperation.

It involves the exercise of control of authority

-process which the government address the

-that the politics encompasses the various

-it is the distinction between the

Private refers to civil society privately

That common good can be attained through active

-as “legitimate power”

The struggle involved in allocating

the ability to achieve a desired

Order Power Justice

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