UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCI & POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES

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  • Politics
    • The art of science of government concerned with the proper management of the affairs of the society.
    • The exercise of power, the science of government, the making of collective decisions, the allocations of scarce resources and the practice of deception and manipulation.
    • Any form of social interaction that involves the art of government, ,public affairs, compromising and consensus, or power and distribution of resources.
  • Political Science
    • derived from the Greek word “Polis” (meaning “city”) and “Scire” (meaning “to know”)
    • a social science that is focused on the practice and theory of politics, the analysis of political systems, and the study of political behavior
  • 3 Scopes of Political Science:
    1. Political Theory
    2. Public Law
    3. Public Administration
  • Political theory is the study of the nature of political power and the nature of the state.
  • Public Law - The law that governs the relationship between the state and its citizens.
  • Public administration – The process by which public policies are implemented through administrative agencies: the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary branches
  • What are the three administrative sectors?
    Legislative branch, Executive branch, and Judiciary branch
  • State - A political concept that is not subject to external control and may consist of one or more people.
    4 Elements of State
    1. People
    2. Territory
    3. Government
    4. Sovereignty
    Inherent Powers of State
    • Police Power
    • Eminent domain
    • Power of Taxation
  • Police Power - The power vested by the Constitution that gives the Legislature the authority to create fair and sensible laws that benefit the state and its people, with or without punishments, if these laws don't go against the Constitution.
  • Eminent Domain - The right of the government to take private property for public use upon payment of just compensation.
  • Power of taxation - The power of the legislature to impose taxes on individuals and corporations within their jurisdiction.
  • Government - Agent of State; State cannot exist without government; Government may change but not the State.
  • Nation - ethnic concept, may or may not be independent from external control, single nation may consists of several states.
  • Major characteristics of a good governance
    ● Participation
    ● Rule of Law
    ● Transparency
    ● Responsiveness
    ● Consensus-oriented
    ● Equity and Inclusiveness
    ● Effectiveness and efficiency
    ● Accountability
  • Citizenship
    ● Relationship between an individual and a state to which the
    individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its
    protection.
    ● Implies the status of freedom with accompanying
    responsibilities.
  • Citizen
    ● Is a person having the title of citizenship
    ● a member of a democratic community who enjoys full civil
    and political rights, and is accorded protection inside and
    outside the territory of the State
  • General ways of acquiring citizenship
    ● By birth
    ● By naturalization
  • Jus sanguinis (right of blood)
    ● Blood relationship is the basis for the acquisition of
    citizenship under this rule.
  • Jus Soli (right of soil)
    ● Place of birth serves as the basis for acquiring citizenship
    under this rule.
  • Political Ideologies
    ● the term was created during the French Revolution by
    Antoine Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836)
    ● first used in public in 1796
    ● ideologies referred to a new ‘science of idea’
  • Liberalism: willingness to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; openness to new ideas
  • Conservatism: commitment to traditional values and ideas with opposition to change or innovation
  • Socialism
    ●Human beings are interconnected by a shared humanity, viewing
    each other as brothers and sisters.
    ● People possess the capacity for personal growth and
    transformation through life experiences.
    ● Cooperation is valued over competition as the natural relationship
    among humans.
    ● Advocacy for communal ownership of all property is upheld.
  • Fascism: an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
  • Communism
    ● is a form of government most closely associated with the ideas of
    Karl Marx, which he outlined in The Communist Manifesto.
    Communism is based on the goal of eliminating socioeconomic
    class struggles by creating a classless society in which everyone
    shares the benefits of labor, and the state controls all property
    and wealth.
  • Power
    ● the ability to influence another
    ● involves one’s capacity to get things done, and to make someone
    do something he or she would not otherwise do
  • Political Power
    ● involves three interrelated concepts: legitimacy, authority, and
    sovereignty
  • Legitimacy refers to the people's perception that their government
    rules rightfully, and thus must be obeyed.
  • Sovereignty speaks of the ability of a national government to be the
    sole leader, which has the last word of law in that society.
  • Authority is seen as the political leader's ability to command respect
    and exercise power.
  • Main forms of Power
    • Influence - the ability to persuade others to follow your will, to convince them to want to do what you want them to do.
    • Coercion - the deliberate subjection of one’s will to another through fear of harm or threats of harm.
    • Authority - in which people obey commands not because they have been rationally or emotionally persuaded or because they fear the consequences of disobedience, but simply because they respect the source of the command
  • Dimensions of power
    Power as decision-making
    • Power is perceived as the influence on the content of decisions. Who decides, what to be made, and how to execute such decisions all involve power.
    Power as agenda-setting
    • Power involves the ability to set or control a political agenda, highlighting one at the exclusion of other issues.
    Power as thought control
    • Power is seen as an ideological indoctrination or a psychological control where one has the ability to change or shape how another thinks or behaves. (Heywood, 2013)