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• Politics

  Related to the activities through which people make, preserve, or amend the general rules under which they live inside the state and with other states in the international system
• The goal of politics is to produce the conditions for securing human wellbeing, including security, wealth, faith, justice, freedom, and pursuing the “good life”
• Fields of study in Political Science

  • Ideas (Political theory or political philosophy)
  • Political institutions (Comparative politics)
  • Politics in the international sphere (International relations or international politics)
• Reasons to study politics

  • Understand how the state is managed and how state policies affect your life
  • Understand what happens in the world around you
  • Build a successful career in politics
  • Understand your rights and duties as a citizen
• Aristotle: 'Human nature being a “political animal.” Humans by nature are social creatures made for living a common life within the political community'
• Making politics is not easy because it involves arguing, discussing, debating, and fighting due to different opinions, backgrounds, ideas, beliefs, ideologies, and interests
• Politics educates citizens
• Aristotle: 'Argued that a symbol of good government was the degree to which the rulers ruled in the interest of all and not sectional interest'
• Political power

  Control of, or influence on, the state, ability to make, or influence political decisions
• Forms of government include Democracy, aristocracy, monarchy
• Politics are made between

  • People in one state through the state’s constitution and all regulatory framework
  • Nations of different states through international laws (Economic, Security, Environment, Human rights)
• Hegemony

  The dominance or influence of one group over another, can be political, economic, or military, often implicit, not overt
• Plato: 'Believes that conflicting interests of different parts of society can be harmonized by good politics'
• Ideology

  A set of interlocking assumptions about some aspects of reality, the basis of social representations shared by members of a group
• Decisions in the name of the state are binding on all members of society
• Branches of Government

  • Legislative (making laws)
  • Executive (implementing laws)
  • Judicial (enforcing laws)
• Military power

  Ability to wage war or compel others through intimidation or deterrence
• Power

  The ability to make, or to influence the making of, those binding decisions which are the essence of politics
• Politics is inevitable because

  It is about managing differences, conflicts, and security, making it an inevitable feature of all societies
• Political Science

  A social science discipline that studies politics, focusing on the theory and practice of government internally and externally
• Economic power

  Control of economic assets
• Components of a State

  • Territory
  • People
  • Government
• How to achieve the goal of politics

  Applying the principles of good governance: Transparent, Accountable, Follows rule of law, Responsive, Equitable and inclusive, Consensus oriented
• Fields of study

  • Political thought/theory/philosophy
  • International relations
  • Public administration
• Rule of Law

  Emphasizes equality and that no one is above the law
• Legitimacy implies a condition or situation of being lawful
• Sovereignty

  • Absoluteness
  • Permanence
  • Indivisibility
  • Comprehensiveness
  • Inalienability
  • Absence of foreign control
• Constitution

  The whole body of fundamental laws, customs, conventions, principles, rules, and regulations according to which a particular government of a country or an organization operates
• Development is the totality of the process of economic and social transformation
• Sovereignty

  The power of a state to govern itself
• Constitution


  • It has a Preamble
  • It specifies party system
  • It stipulates the organs and functions of government or organization
  • It outlines the rights and duties of citizens, subjects, or members
• Underdevelopment refers to a socio-economic and political condition in which the potentials of available human and material resources are not fully exploited and utilized
• Sovereignty Characteristics
• Public Policy refers to a definite course of action selected from alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions
• Legitimacy

  General acceptance of a political system, government, or administration as being appropriate
• Max Weber: '“State claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force in enforcing its order within a given territorial area”'
• Political economy

  1. As an approach, it tries to analyze the economic structure which determines the leadership structure in society

  2. At the national/domestic level, it looks at how economic conditions of a nation determine the people’s socio-cultural, religious, and political lives

  3. At the international level, it is concerned with the division of the world into the North and the South, the developed, and the developing nations or the rich and the poor countries of the world as well as how these divisions affect their interactions in the global system
• Types of states

  • Liberal state
  • Development state
  • Social Democratic State
• Election in parties

  1. Communicate competing policies

  2. Provide candidates

  3. Engage in debate

  4. Foster citizen participation

  5. Get out the vote

  6. Set electoral rules

  7. Promote electoral integrity

  8. Abide by results
• Components of the state

  • Defined territory
  • Permanent population
  • Effective government
  • International recognition