POLITICAL SCIENCE

• Political Science


  The systematic study of the state and government
• Political


  Derived from the Greek polis, meaning a city, of what today would be equivalent of sovereign state
• Science


  Comes from the Latin scire, "to know"
• Scope of Political Science

  • Political Theory
  • Public Law
  • Private Laws
  • Public Administration
• Political Theory


  • It refers to the entire body of doctrines relating to the origin, form, behaviour, and purposes of the state
• Public Law


  • The (a) organization of governments, (b) the limitations upon government authority, (c) the powers and duties of governmental offices and officers, and (d) the obligations of one state to another
• Private Laws


  The ones which govern the relations among individuals
• Subdivisions of Public Law

  • Constitutional law
  • Administrative law
  • International Law
• Public Administration


  • Attention is focused upon methods and techniques used in the actual
• Interrelationship of Political Science with other branches of learning

  • History
  • Economics
  • Geography Geopolitics
  • Sociology & anthropology
  • Psychology
  • Philosophy
  • Statistics and Logic
  • Jurisprudence
• History


  "History is past politics and politics is present history"
• Economics


  The study of production, distribution, and conservation, and consumption of wealth
• Geography Geopolitics


  • It is concerned with the study of the influences of physical factors such as population pressures, sources of raw materials, geography, etc. Upon domestic and foreign politics
• Sociology & anthropology


  • It is deeply concerned with the origins and nature of social control and governmental authority, with the abiding influences of race and culture upon society, & with the patterns of collective human behavior
• Psychology


  • It promotes studies of the mental and emotional processes motivating the political behavior of individuals and groups. Particular topics under this are: public opinion, pressure groups, and propaganda
• Philosophy


  • The concepts and doctrines of Plato, Aristotle & Locke are important to the specialist in academic philosophy and also to the political scientist
• Statistics and Logic


  • Political theorist must have a broad background & knowledge of current political problems and he must employ scientific methods in gathering and evaluating the data & in drawing conclusions
• Jurisprudence


  • This branch of public law is concerned with the analysis of existing legal systems & also with the ethical, historical, sociological, & psychological foundations of law
• CONCEPT OF A STATE

  • A community of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a

  definite portion of the territory, independent of external control, and

  possessing a government to which a great body of inhabitants render

  habitual obedience.

  Distinguished from nation:

  -State is a legal or juristic concept, while nation is an ethnic or racial concept.

  Distinguished from Government:

  -Government is merely an instrumentality of the State through which the will

  of the State is implemented and realized.
• State: elements

  • 1. People

  • 2. Territory

  • 3. Government

  • 4. Sovereignty

  • 5. Recognition-UN
• People

  • This refers to the mass of population living within the state. There is no requirement as to

  the number of people that should compose a state. But it should be neither too small nor

  too large: small enough to be well-governed and large enough to be self-sufficing.

  • The smallest state is Vatican. China has the largest population.

  2. Territory

  Components of Territory:

  1. Terrestrial – land mass

  2. Aerial – aerospace

  3. Fluvial – internal waters

  4. Maritime Domain – external water both surface and sub-aquatic
• 3. Government- It refers to the agency through which the will of

  the state is formulated, expressed and carried out.

  Governance

  I. manner of government: the system or manner of government;

  II. state of governing a place: the act or state of governing a place;

  III. authority: control or authority
• ADMINISTRATION:

  It means the management of the affairs of a business,

  organization, or institution
• 4. Sovereignty

  ✓It is the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to

  its will from people within its jurisdiction, and to have freedom from foreign

  control.

  Two manifestations of Sovereignty:

  1. Internal or the power of the state to rule within its territory;

  2. External or the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without subjection or control by other states. External sovereignty is often referred to as independence.
• Imperium is the right of the State to pass or enact its own laws and employ

  force to secure obedience thereto, maintain peace and order within its

  territorial limits, defend the State against foreign invasion, and do any other

  act of government over its people and territory.
• Dominium refers to the independent proprietary right of possession, use,

  conservation, disposition or sale, and control by the State over its territorial

  lands.
• 5. Recognition

  • To recognize a community as a State is to declare that it fulfills the

  conditions of statehood as required by international law
• Liberalism


  Attitude, philosophy, or movement that has as its basic concern the development of personal freedom and social progress
• Conservatism


  A general state of mind that is averse to rapid change and innovation and strives for balance and order, while avoiding extremes
• Conservatives dislike the Age of Enlightenment
• Conservatives favour faith over reason
• Democracy


  (Greek demos,"the people"; kratein, "to rule"), political system in which the people of a country rule through any form of government they choose to establish
• In democracy, power is with and from the people
• Socialism


  Demands state ownership. State controls the means of production. Nationalization of resources, industries, banking, and facilities
• Capitalism


  Economic system in which private individuals and business firms. Self regulating
• Communism


  Seeks to overthrow capitalism
• Because of exploitation, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer
• Communism aims for a classless world: Karl Marx
• Socrates:

  • Athens , Greece
  • Dialogues
  • no one does wrong voluntarily
  • defender of free speech and loves the truth
• Plato:

  • student of Socrates
  • the republic: What is a just state? What is a just individual?
  • Ideal State
  • 3 Classes:

  1. Merchant
  2. Military
  3. Philosopher-Kings

  • Class determined by educational process