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Politics
1
PoliticsPolitics (from Greek , [politiks]: citizen, civilian),
is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions.
The term is generally applied to the art or science of running
governmental or state affairs. It also refers to behavior within
civil governments, but politics has been observed in other group
interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious
institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority
or power"[1] and refers to the regulation of public affairs within
a political unit,[2] and to the methods and tactics used to
formulate and apply policy.[3]
EtymologyThe word "politics" comes from the Greek word ""
(politika), modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of the city", the name
of his book on governing and governments, which was rendered in
English mid-15 century as Latinized "Polettiques".[4] Thus it
became "politics" in Middle English c. 1520s (see the Concise
Oxford Dictionary). The singular "politic" first attested in
English 1430 and comes from Middle French "politique", in turn from
Latin "politicus",[5] which is the romanization of the Greek ""
(politikos), meaning amongst others "of, for, or relating to
citizens", "civil", "civic", "belonging to the state",[6] in turn
from "" (polites), "citizen"[7] and that from "" (polis),
"city".[8]
HistoryThe history of politics is reflected in the origin and
development of the institutions of government.
Native AmericansLewis H. Morgan author of Ancient Society
considers the American Indians to be the link between the primitive
and patriarchal state of society.[9] According to legend and the
Codex Chimalpopoca, Quetzalcoatl being intoxicated with pulque had
incest with his sister Quetzalpetlatl. Upon realizing the act, he
declared: "... I've sinned. I'm not fit to rule." He burned his
palace, buried his treasures and left forever the beloved city of
Tollan, cradle of Toltec civilization.[10]
Patriarchal societiesAll patriarchal societies are known by
certain characteristic features: 1. Male kinship is prevalent. Men
are counted as kin because they are descended from the same male
ancestor. 2. Marriage is permanent. It is not until one woman is
married to one man that certainty of fatherhood appears in society
but it is not a general rule of patriarchal society for polygamy
does exist in the earlier stages of social development. 3. Paternal
authority is the ruling principle of the social order. In ancient
Rome, the patria potestas extended to all descendants of one living
male ancestor; it comprised control and punishment not to mention
questions of life and death.
European Parliament
These features of the development of the patriarchal state of
society are as common among the Jews as among the Arabs, among the
Aryans as among the Dravidians and even among the Germanic and
Celtic peoples. The patriarchal state of society consists of two
stages, tribe and clan. The tribe is a large group of hundreds of
members who descend from one common male ancestor, sometimes from a
fictitious character satisfying the
Politics etiquette that descent from the male is the only basis
of society. The clan, on the other hand, is a smaller group
reaching back into the past for only four generations or so to a
common well-known male ancestor. The clan always breaks down into
smaller units when its limit is reached. According to the Scottish
historian W. F. Skene in volumen 3 of Celtic Scotland, the tribe or
larger unit is the oldest. When the tribe breaks down, clans are
formed. When the clan system breaks down, it leaves the households
or families as independent units. Finally, with the withering away
of patriarchal society, the family is dissolved and the individual
comes into existence.[11]
2
The stateThe origin of the state is to be found in the
development of the art of warfare. Historically speaking, there is
not the slightest difficulty in proving that all political
communities of the modern type owe their existence to successful
warfare. As a result the new states are forced to organize on
military principles. The life of the new community is military
allegiance. The military by nature is competitive. Of the
institutions by which the state is ruled, that of kingship stands
foremost until the French Revolution put an end to the "divine
right of kings". Nevertheless, kingship is perhaps the most
successful institution of politics. However, the first kings were
not institutions but individuals. The earliest kings were
successful militarily. They were men not only of great military
genius but also great administrators. Kingship becomes an
institution through heredity.
Sun Tzu
The king rules his kingdom with the aid of his Council; without
it he could not hold his territories. The Council is the king's
master mind. The Council is the germ of constitutional government.
Long before the council became a bulwark of democracy, it rendered
invaluable aid to the institution of kingship by: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Preserving the institution of kingship through heredity. Preserving
the traditions of the social order. Being able to withstand
criticism as an impersonal authority. Being able to manage a
greater deal of knowledge and action than a single individual such
as the king.
The greatest of the king's subordinates, the earls in England
and Scotland, the dukes and counts in the Continent, always sat as
a right on the Council. A conqueror wages war upon the vanquished
for vengeance or for plunder but an established kingdom exacts
tribute. One of the functions of the Council is to keep the coffers
of the king full. Another is the satisfaction of military service
and the establishment of lordships by the king to satisfy the task
of collecting taxes and soldiers.[12] The state and property
Property is the right vested on the individual or a group of people
to enjoy the benefits of an object be it material or intellectual.
A right is a power enforced by public trust. Sometimes it happens
that the exercise of a right is opposed to public trust.
Nevertheless, a right is really the creation of public trust, past,
present or future. The growth of knowledge is the key to the
history of property as an institution. The more man becomes
knowledgeable of an object be it physical or intellectual, the more
it is appropriated. The appearance of the State brought about the
final stage in the evolution of property from wildlife to
husbandry. In the presence of the State, man can hold landed
property. The State began granting lordships and ended up
conferring property and with it came inheritance. With landed
property came rent and in the exchange of goods, profit, so that in
modern times, the "lord of the land" of long ago becomes the
landlord. If it is wrongly assumed that the value of land is always
the same, then there is of course no evolution of property
whatever. However, the price of land goes up with every increase in
population benefitting the landlord. The landlordism of large land
owners has been the most rewarded of all political services. In
industry, the position of
Politics the landlord is less important but in towns which have
grown out of an industry, the fortunate landlord has reaped an
enormous profit. Towards the latter part of the Middle Ages in
Europe, both the State - the State would use the instrument of
confiscation for the first time to satisfy a debt - and the Church
- the Church succeeded in acquiring immense quantities of land -
were allied against the village community to displace the small
landlord and they were successful to the extent that today, the
village has become the ideal of the individualist, a place in which
every man "does what he wills with his own." The State has been the
most important factor in the evolution of the institution of
property be it public or private.[13] The state and the justice
system As a military institution, the State is concerned with the
allegiance of its subjects as disloyalty is a risk to its national
security. Thus arises the law of treason. Criminal acts in general,
breaking the peace and treason make up the whole of criminal law
enforced by the State as distinguished from the law enforced by
private individuals. State justice has taken the place of clan,
feudal, merchant and ecclesiastical justice due to its strength,
skill and simplicity. One very striking evidence of the superiority
of the royal courts over the feudal and popular courts in the
matter of official skill is the fact that, until comparatively late
in history, the royal courts alone kept written records of their
proceedings. The trial by jury was adopted by the Royal Courts,
securing it's popularity and making it a bulwark of liberty. By the
time of the Protestant Reformation, with the separation of Church
and State, in the most progressive countries, the State succeeded
in dealing with the business of administering justice.[14] The
state The making of laws was unknown to primitive societies. That
most persistent of all patriarchal societies, the Jewish, retains
to a certain extent its tribal law in the Gentile cities of the
West. This tribal law is the rudimentary idea of law as it
presented itself to people in the patriarchal stage of society, it
was custom or observance sanctioned by the approval and practice of
ancestors. The intolerable state of affairs in the 10th century
where every little town had its own laws and nations like France,
Germany, Spain and other countries had no national law till the end
of the 18th century, came to an end thanks to three great agencies
that helped to create the modern system of law and legislation: 1.
Records. From the early Middle Ages in Europe there come what are
called folk-laws and they appear exactly at the time when the
patriarchal is becoming the State. They are due almost universally
to one cause: the desire of the king to know the custom of his
subjects. These are not legislation in the sense of law-making but
statements or declarations of custom. They are drawn from a
knowledge of the custom of the people. Unwritten custom changes
imperceptibly but not the written. It is always possible to point
to the exact text and show what it says. Nevertheless, the written
text can change by addition with every new edition. 2. Law Courts.
By taking some general rule which seemed to be common to all the
communities and ignoring the differences, English common law was
modelled after such a practice so that the law became common in all
the districts of the kingdom. The reason why in the rest of Europe,
there was no common law till centuries later is because the State
in those countries did not get hold of the administration of
justice when England did. One of the shrewdest moves by which the
English judges pushed their plan of making a common law was by
limiting the verdict of the jury in every case to questions of
fact. At first the jury used to give answers both on law and fact;
and being a purely local body, they followed local custom. A famous
division came to pass: the province of the judge and the province
of the jury. 3. Fictions. Records and Law Courts were valuable in
helping the people adapt to law-making but like Fictions, they were
slow and imperfect. Though slowly, Fictions work because it is a
well known fact that people will accept a change in the form of a
fiction while they would resist it to the end if the fact is out in
the open.
3
Politics
4
Finally there is the enactment of laws or legislation. When
progress and development is rapid, the faster method of political
representation is adopted. This method does not originate in
primitive society but in the State need for money and its use of an
assembly to raise the same. From the town assembly, a national
assembly and the progress of commerce sprang Parliament all over
Europe around the end of the 12th century but not entirely
representative or homogenous for the nobility and the clergy. The
clergy had amassed a fortune in land, about one-fifth of all
Christendom but at the time, in the 12th and 13th British
parliament centuries, the Church was following a policy of
isolation; they adopted the rule of celibacy and cut themselves
from domestic life; they refused to plead in a secular court; they
refused to pay taxes to the State on the grounds that they had
already paid it to the Pope. Since the main object of the king in
holding a national assembly was to collect money, the Church could
not be left out and so they came to Parliament. The Church did not
like it but in most cases they had to come. The medieval Parliament
was complete when it represented all the states in the realm:
nobles, clergy, peasants and craftsmen but it was not a popular
institution mainly because it meant taxation. Only by the strongest
pressure of the Crown were Parliaments maintained during the first
century of their existence and the best proof of this assertion
lies in the fact that in those countries where the Crown was weak,
Parliament ceased to exist. The notion that parliaments were the
result of a democratic movement cannot be supported by historical
facts. Originally, the representative side of Parliament was solely
concerned with money; representation in Parliament was a liability
rather than a privilege. It is not uncommon that an institution
created for one purpose begins to serve another. People who were
asked to contribute with large sums of money began to petition.
Pretty soon, sessions in Parliament would turn into bargaining
tables, the king granting petitions in exchange for money. However,
there were two kinds of petitions, one private and the other public
and it was from this last that laws were adopted or legislation
originated. The king as head of State could give orders to preserve
territorial integrity but not until these royal enactments were
combined with public petition that successful legislation ever took
place. Even to the present day, this has always been the basis of
all successful legislation: public custom is adopted and enforced
by the State. In the early days of political representation, the
majority did not necessarily carry the day and there was very
little need for contested elections but by the beginning of the
15th century, a seat in Parliament was something to be cherished.
Historically speaking, the dogma of the equality of man is the
result of the adoption of the purely practical machinery of the
majority but the adoption of the majority principle is also
responsible for another institution of modern times: the party
system. The party system is an elaborate piece of machinery that
pits at least two political candidates against each other for the
vote of an electorate; its advantage being equal representation
interesting a large number of people in politics; it provides
effective criticism of the government in power and it affords an
outlet for the ambition of a large number of wealthy and educated
people guaranteeing a consistent policy in government. These three
institutions: political representation, majority rule and the party
system are the basic components of modern political machinery; they
are applicable to both central and local governments and are
becoming by their adaptability ends in themselves rather than a
machinery to achieve some purpose.[15]
Politics The state and the executive system The administration
is one of the most difficult aspects of government. In the
enactment and enforcement of laws, the victory of the State is
complete but not so in regards to administration the reason being
that it is easy to see the advantage of the enactment and
enforcement of laws but not the administration of domestic,
religious and business affairs which should be kept to a minimum by
government. Originally, the state was a military organization. For
many years, it was just a territory ruled by a king who was
surrounded by a small elite group of warriors and court officials
and it was basically rule by force over a larger mass of people.
Slowly, however, the people gained political representation for
none can really be said to be a member of the State without the
right of having a voice in the direction of policy making. One of
the basic functions of the State in regards to administration is
maintaining peace and internal order; it has no other excuse for
interfering in the lives of its citizens. To maintain law and order
the State develops means of communication. Historically, the
"king's highway" was laid down and maintained for the convenience
of the royal armies not as an incentive to commerce. In almost all
countries, the State jealously maintains the control of the means
of communication and special freedoms such as those delineated in
the First Amendment to the United States Constitution are rather
limited. The State's original function of maintaining law and order
within its borders gave rise to police administration which is a
branch of the dispensation of Justice but on its preventive side,
police jurisdiction has a special character of its own, which
distinguishes it from ordinary judicial work. In the curfew, the
State shows early in history the importance of preventing disorder.
In early days, next to maintaining law and order, the State was
concerned with the raising of revenue. This led eventually to
modern State socialism. It was then useful to the State to
establish a standard of weights and measures so that value could be
generally accepted and finally the State acquired a monopoly of
coinage. The regulation of labor by the State as one of its
functions dates from the 15th century, when the Black Plague killed
around half of the European population. The invariable policy of
the State has always being to break down all intermediate
authorities and to deal directly with the individual. This was the
policy until Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations was published
promoting a strong public reaction against State interference. By
its own action, the State raised the issue of the poor or the State
relief of the indigent. The State, of course, did not create
poverty but by destroying the chief agencies which dealt with it
such as the village, the church and the guilds, it practically
assumed full responsibility for the poor without exercising any
power over it. The Great Poor Law Report of 1834 showed that
communism ran rampant in the rural areas of England. In newly
developed countries such as the colonies of the British Empire, the
State has refused to take responsibility for the poor and the
relief of poverty in spite of the fact, that the poor classes lean
heavily towards State socialism. Recognizing the great power of the
State, it is only natural that in times of great crisis such as an
overwhelming calamity the people should invoke general State aid.
Political representation has helped to shape State administration.
When the voice of the individual can be heard, the danger of
arbitrary interference by the State is greatly reduced. To that
extent is the increase of State activity popular. There are no hard
and fast rules to limit State administration but it is a fallacy to
believe that the State is the nation and what the State does is
necessarily for the good of the nation. In the first place, even in
modern times, the State and the nation are never identical. Even
where "universal suffrage" prevails, the fact remains that an
extension of State administration means an increased interference
of some by others, limiting freedom of action. Even if it is
admitted that State and nation are one and the same, it is
sometimes difficult to admit that State administration is
necessarily good. Finally, the modern indiscriminate advocacy of
State administration conceals the fallacy that State officials must
necessarily prove more effective in their action than private
enterprise. Herein lies the basic difference between Public and
Business Administration; the first deals with the public weal while
the second deals basically in profit but both require a great deal
of education and ethical conduct to avoid the mishaps inherent in
the relationship not only of business and labor but also the State
and the Administration.[16]
5
Politics The varieties of political experience According to
Aristotle, States are classified into monarchies, aristocracies,
timocracies, democracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies. Due to an
increase in knowledge of the history of politics, this
classification has been abandoned. Generally speaking, no form of
government could be considered the best if the best is considered
to be the one that is most appropriate under the circumstances. All
States are varieties of a single type, the sovereign State. All the
Great Powers of the modern world rule on the principle of
sovereignty. Sovereign power may be vested on an individual as in
an autocratic government or it may be vested on a group as in The
swearing of the oath of ratification of the treaty of Mnster in
1648 a constitutional government. Constitutions are (1648) by
Gerard ter Borch. written documents that specify and limit the
powers of the different branches of government. Although a
Constitution is a written document, there is also an unwritten
Constitution. The unwritten constitution is continually being
written by the Legislative branch of government; this is just one
of those cases in which the nature of the circumstances determines
the form of government that is most appropriate. Nevertheless, the
written constitution is essential. England did set the fashion of
written constitutions during the Civil War but after the
Restoration abandoned them to be taken up later by the American
Colonies after their emancipation and then France after the
Revolution and the rest of Europe including the European colonies.
There are two forms of government, one a strong central government
as in France and the other a local government such as the ancient
divisions in England that is comparatively weaker but less
bureaucratic. These two forms helped to shape the federal
government, first in Switzerland, then in the United States in
1776, in Canada in 1867 and in Germany in 1870 and in the 20th
century, Australia. The Federal States introduced the new principle
of agreement or contract. Compared to a federation, a
confederation's singular weakness is that it lacks judicial power.
In the American Civil War, the contention of the Confederate States
that a State could secede from the Union was untenable because of
the power enjoyed by the Federal government in the executive,
legislative and judiciary branches. According to professor A. V.
Dicey in An Introduction to the Study of the Law of the
Constitution, the essential features of a federal constitution are:
a) A written supreme constitution in order to prevent disputes
between the jurisdictions of the Federal and State authorities; b)
A distribution of power between the Federal and State governments
and c) A Supreme Court vested with the power to interpret the
Constitution and enforce the law of the land remaining independent
of both the executive and legislative branches.[17]
6
Politics Political party A political party is a political
organization that typically seeks to attain and maintain political
power within government, usually by participating in electoral
campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions. Parties often
espouse an expressed ideology or vision bolstered by a written
platform with specific goals, forming a coalition among disparate
interests.
7
As an academic disciplinePolitical science, the study of
politics, examines the acquisition and application of power.[18]
Related areas of study include political philosophy, which seeks a
rationale for politics and an ethic of public behaviour, political
economy, which attempts to develop understandings of the
relationships between politics and the economy and the governance
of the two, and public administration, which examines the practices
of governance. The first academic chair devoted to politics in the
United States was the chair of history and political science at
Columbia University, first occupied by Prussian migr Francis Lieber
in 1857.[19]
SpectraLeft-right politicsRecently in history, political
analysts and politicians divide politics into left wing and right
wing politics, often also using the idea of center politics as a
middle path of policy between the right and left. This
classification is comparatively recent (it was not used by
Aristotle or Hobbes, for instance), and dates from the French
Revolution era, when those members of the National Assembly who
supported the republic, the common people and a secular society sat
on the left and supporters of the monarchy, aristocratic privilege
and the Church sat on the right.[20] The meanings behind the labels
have become more complicated over the years. A particularly
influential event was the publication of the Communist Manifesto by
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in 1848. The Manifesto suggested a
course of action for a proletarian revolution to overthrow the
bourgeois society and abolish private property, in the belief that
this would lead to a classless and stateless society. The meaning
of left-wing and right-wing varies considerably between different
countries and at different times, but generally speaking, it can be
said that the right wing often values tradition and social
stratification while the left wing often values reform and
egalitarianism, with the center seeking a balance between the two
such as with social democracy or regulated capitalism. According to
Norberto Bobbio, one of the major exponents of this distinction,
the Left believes in attempting to eradicate social inequality,
while the Right regards most social inequality as the result of
ineradicable natural inequalities, and sees attempts to enforce
social equality as utopian or authoritarian.[21] Some ideologies,
notably Christian Democracy, claim to combine left and right wing
politics; according to Geoffrey K. Roberts and Patricia Hogwood,
"In terms of ideology, Christian Democracy has incorporated many of
the views held by liberals, conservatives and socialists within a
wider framework of moral and Christian principles."[22] Movements
which claim or formerly claimed to be above the left-right divide
include Fascist Third-position economic politics in Italy, Gaullism
in France, Peronism in Argentina, and National Action Politics in
Mexico.
Authoritarian-libertarian politicsAuthoritarianism and
libertarianism refer to the amount of individual freedom each
person possesses in that society relative to the state. One author
describes authoritarian political systems as those where
"individual rights and goals are subjugated to group goals,
expectations and conformities",[23] while libertarians generally
oppose the state and hold the individual and his property as
sovereign. In their purest form, libertarians are anarchists, who
argue for the total abolition of the state, while the purest
authoritarians are totalitarians who support state control over all
aspects
Politics of society. For instance, classical liberalism (also
known as laissez-faire liberalism,[24] or, in much of the world,
simply liberalism) is a doctrine stressing individual freedom and
limited government. This includes the importance of human
rationality, individual property rights, free markets, natural
rights, the protection of civil liberties, constitutional
limitation of government, and individual freedom from restraint as
exemplified in the writings of John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume,
David Ricardo, Voltaire, Montesquieu and others. According to the
libertarian Institute for Humane Studies, "the libertarian, or
'classical liberal,' perspective is that individual well-being,
prosperity, and social harmony are fostered by 'as much liberty as
possible' and 'as little government as necessary.'"[25]
8
World politicsThe 20th century witnessed the outcome of two
world wars and not only the rise and fall of the Third Reich but
also the rise and fall of communism. The development of the Atomic
bomb gave the United States a more rapid end to its conflict in
Japan in World War II. Later, the development of the Hydrogen bomb
became the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. The United Nations
has served as a forum for peace in a world threatened by nuclear
war. "The invention of nuclear and space weapons has made war
unacceptable as an instrument for achieving political ends."[26]
Although an all-out final nuclear holocaust is out of the question
for man, "nuclear blackmail" comes into question not only on the
issue of world peace but also on the issue of national
sovereignty.[27] On a Sunday in 1962, the world stood still at the
brink of nuclear war during the October Cuban missile crisis from
the implementation of U.S. vs U.S.S.R. nuclear blackmail policy.NYC
UN
Political corruption
Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess
it.
William Pitt the Elder
[28]
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by
government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of
government power for other purposes, such as repression of
political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered
political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by private persons
or corporations not directly involved with the government. An
illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption
only if the act is directly related to their official duties. Forms
of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism,
nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement. While corruption may
facilitate criminal enterprise such as drug trafficking, money
laundering, and trafficking, it is not restricted to these
activities. The activities that constitute illegal corruption
differ depending on the country or jurisdiction. For instance,
certain political funding practices that are legal in one place may
be illegal in another. In some cases, government officials
Politics have broad or poorly defined powers, which make it
difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal actions.
Worldwide, bribery alone is estimated to involve over 1 trillion US
dollars annually.[29] A state of unrestrained political corruption
is known as a kleptocracy, literally meaning "rule by thieves".
"Favoritism is the only use of power." Richard L Kempe "Politics is
the art of creating situations involving the threat of loss."
Richard L Kempe
9
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(http:/ / www. thefreedictionary. com/ politics).
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index. php?term=politics). Online Etymology Dictionary. . Charlton
T. Lewis, Charles Short. "A Latin Dictionary" (http:/ / www.
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0059:entry=politicus). Perseus Digital Library. . [6] Henry George
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?id=Z3gCAAAAYAAJ& pg=PA1& dq=politics+
history#v=onepage& q=). J. M. Dent & Co.. pp.615. . "In
spite of the constantly increasing intercourse..." [10] Aun Weor,
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"We now approach the consideration of the secong stage of social
development..." [12] Jenks, Edward. A history of politics. pp.7396.
"The origin of the State, or Political Society, is to be found in
the development of the art of military warfare." [13] Jenks,
Edward. A history of politics. pp.97111. "No political institution
is of greater importance, none has been the subject of greater
controversy, than the institution of property." [14] Jenks, Edward.
A history of politics. pp.112124. "We are so accustomed to look
upon the administration of justice as an inevitable duty of the
State..." [15] Jenks, Edward. A history of politics. pp.124139. "As
we have before stated (p. 41), the notion that law could be made
was unknown to primitive society." [16] Jenks, Edward. A history of
politics. pp.140150. "We come now to the last, and by far the most
difficult department of State activity." [17] Jenks, Edward (1900).
A history of politics (http:/ / books. google. com/
?id=Z3gCAAAAYAAJ& pg=PA1& dq=politics+
history#v=onepage& q=). J. M. Dent & Co.. pp.1164. . [18]
Safire, William (2008). Safire's Political Dictionary (http:/ /
books. google. com/ ?id=jK-0NPoMiYoC& pg=PA566& dq=power+
corrupts+ and+ absolute+ power+ corrupts+ absolutely#v=onepage&
q=power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely). Oxford
University Press US. p.566. ISBN0195343342. . "Power tends to
corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." [19] Farr, James;
Seidelman, Raymond (1993). Discipline and history (http:/ / books.
google. com/ ?id=e9_jbbroRHsC& pg=PA70& dq=Discipline+ and+
history+ Francis+ Lieber+ Karl+ Marx& q=). University of
Michigan Press. ISBN0472065127. . "...a chair at Columbia in 1857
as professor of history and political science, the very first of
its kind in America." [20] Andrew Knapp and Vincent Wright (2006).
The Government and Politics of France. Routledge. [21] Bobbio,
Norberto, "Left and Right: The Significance of a Political
Distinction" (translated by Allan Cameron), 1997, University of
Chicago Press. ISBN 0226062465 [22] Roberts and Hogwood, European
Politics Today, Manchester University Press, 1997 [23] Markus
Kemmelmeier et al. (2003). "Individualism, Collectivism, and
Authoritarianism in Seven Societies". Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology 34 (3): 304322. doi:10.1177/0022022103034003005. [24]
Ian Adams, Political Ideology Today (Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 2001), 20. [25] What Is Libertarian? (http:/ /
www. theihs. org/ about/ id. 1084/ default. asp), Institute for
Humane Studies [26] Rabinowitch, Eugene (June 1973). Bulletin of
the Atomic Scientists (http:/ / books. google. com/
?id=-QsAAAAAMBAJ& pg=PA13& dq=World+ politics+ final+
nuclear+ holocaust& q=World politics final nuclear holocaust).
Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc.. p.13. . "...the
rationale of traditional patterns of world politics." [27] Dulles,
Allen (2006). The Craft of Intelligence (http:/ / books. google.
com/ ?id=mH3qdHK6_EsC& pg=PA224& dq=the+ craft+ of+
intelligence+ April+ 1963#v=onepage& q=). Globe Pequot. p.224.
ISBN1592282975. . "...using "nuclear blackmail" as a threat to
intimidate other countries." [28] Safire's political dictionary, by
William Safire, 2008, Oxford University Press US, pg 566
Politics[29] African corruption 'on the wane' (http:/ / news.
bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ business/ 6288400. stm), 10 July 2007, BBC
News
10
Political sciencePolitical science is a social science concerned
with the theory and practice of politics and the analysis of
political systems and political behavior. Political scientists "see
themselves engaged in revealing the relationships underlying
political events and conditions. And from these revelations they
attempt to construct general principles about the way the world of
politics work."[1] Political science intersects with other fields;
including public policy, national politics, economics,
international relations, comparative politics, psychology,
sociology, history, law, and political theory. Political science is
commonly divided into three distinct sub-disciplines which together
constitute the field: Political Philosophy, Comparative Politics
and International Relations. Political Philosophy is the reasoning
for an absolute normative government, laws and similar questions
and their distinctive characteristics. Comparative Politics is the
science of comparison and teaching of different types of
constitutions, political actors, legislature and associated fields,
all of them from an intrastate perspective. International Relations
deals with the interaction between nationstates as well as
intergovernmental and transnational organizations. Political
science is methodologically diverse and appropriates many methods
originating in social research. Approaches include positivism,
interpretivism, rational choice theory, behavioral, structuralism,
post-structuralism, realism, institutionalism, and pluralism.
Political science, as one of the social sciences, uses methods and
techniques that relate to the kinds of inquiries sought: primary
sources such as historical documents and official records,
secondary sources such as scholarly journal articles, survey
research, statistical analysis, case studies, and model building.
"As a discipline" political science, possibly like the social
sciences as a whole, "lives on the fault line between the 'two
cultures' in the academy, the sciences and the humanities."[2]
Thus, in some American colleges where there is no separate School
or College of Arts and Sciences per se, political science may be a
separate department housed as part of a division or school of
Humanities or Liberal Arts.[3] Whereas classical political
philosophy is primarily defined by a concern for Hellenic and
Enlightenment thought, political scientists are broadly marked by a
greater concern for "modernity" and the contemporary nation state,
and as such share a greater deal of terminology with sociologists
(e.g. structure and agency).
OverviewPolitical scientists study matters concerning the
allocation and transfer of power in decision making, the roles and
systems of governance including governments and international
organizations, political behavior and public policies. They measure
the success of governance and specific policies by examining many
factors, including stability, justice, material wealth, and peace.
Some political scientists seek to advance positive (attempt to
describe how things are, as opposed to how they should be) theses
by analyzing politics. Others advance normative theses, by making
specific policy recommendations. Political scientists provide the
frameworks from which journalists, special interest groups,
politicians, and the electorate analyze issues. According to
Chaturvedy, "...Political scientists may serve as advisers to
specific politicians, or even run for office as politicians
themselves. Political scientists can be found working in
governments, in political parties or as civil servants. They may be
involved with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or political
movements. In a variety of capacities, people educated and trained
in political science can add value and expertise to
corporations.[4] Private enterprises such as think tanks, research
institutes, polling and public relations firms often employ
political scientists."[5] In the United States, political
scientists known as "Americanists" look at a variety of data
including elections, public opinion and public policy such as
Social Security reform,..... foreign policy, US Congressional
committees, and the US Supreme Court to name only a few issues.
Political science Most United States colleges and universities
offer B.A. programs in political science. M.A. or M.A.T. and Ph.D
or Ed.D. programs are common at larger universities. The term
political science is more popular in North America than elsewhere;
other institutions, especially those outside the United States, see
political science as part of a broader discipline of political
studies, politics, or government. While political science implies
use of the scientific method, political studies implies a broader
approach, although the naming of degree courses does not
necessarily reflect their content.[6] Separate degree granting
programs in international relations and public policy are not
uncommon at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Master's
level programs in political science are common while political
scientists engage in public administration.[7] The national honour
society for college and university students of government and
politics in the United States is Pi Sigma Alpha.
11
HistoryPolitical science as a separate field is a relatively
late arrival in terms of social sciences. However, the term
"political science" was not always distinguished from political
philosophy, and the modern discipline has a clear set of
antecedents including also moral philosophy, political economy,
political theology, history, and other fields concerned with
normative determinations of what ought to be and with deducing the
characteristics and functions of the ideal state. The antecedents
of Western politics can be traced back to the Socratic political
philosophers, Plato (427347 BC), Xenophon (c. 430354 BC), and
Aristotle ("The Father of Political Science") (384322 BC). These
authors, in such works as The Republic and Laws by Plato, and The
Politics and Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, analyzed political
systems philosophically, going beyond earlier Greek poetic and
historical reflections which can be found in the works of epic
poets like Homer and Hesiod, historians like Herodotus and
Thucydides, and dramatists such as Sophocles, Aristophanes, and
Euripides.
Niccol Machiavelli, one of many influential political
theorists
The rise and fall of the Roman Empire During the height of the
Roman Empire, famous historians such as Polybius, Livy and Plutarch
documented the rise of the Roman Republic, and the organization and
histories of other nations, while statesmen like Julius Caesar,
Cicero and others provided us with examples of the politics of the
republic and Rome's empire and wars. The study of politics during
this age was oriented toward understanding history, understanding
methods of governing, and describing the operation of governments.
Nearly a thousand years elapsed, from the foundation of the city of
Rome in 753 BC to the fall of the Roman Empire or the beginning of
the Middle Ages. In the interim, there is a manifest translation of
Hellenic culture into the Roman sphere. The Greek gods become
Romans and Greek philosophy in one way or another turns into Roman
law e.g. Stoicism. The Stoic was committed to preserving proper
hierarchical roles and duties in the state so that the state as a
whole would remain stable. Among the best known Roman Stoics were
philosopher Seneca and the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Seneca, a
wealthy Roman patrician, is often criticized by some modern
commentators for failing to adequately live by his own precepts.
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, on the other hand, can be best
thought of as the philosophical reflections of an emperor divided
between his philosophical aspirations and the duty he felt to
defend the Roman Empire from its external enemies through his
various military campaigns. According to Polybius, Roman
institutions were the backbone of the empire but Roman law is the
medulla.[8]
Political science The Middle Ages With the fall of the Western
Roman Empire, there arose a more diffuse arena for political
studies. The rise of monotheism and, particularly for the Western
tradition, Christianity, brought to light a new space for politics
and political action. Works such as Augustine of Hippo's The City
of God synthesized current philosophies and political traditions
with those of Christianity, redefining the borders between what was
religious and what was political. During the Middle Ages, the study
of politics was widespread in the churches and courts. Most of the
political questions surrounding the relationship between church and
state were clarified and contested in this period. The Arabs lost
sight of Aristotle's political science but continued to study
Plato's Republic which became the basic text of Judeo-Islamic
political philosophy as in the works of Alfarabi and Averroes; this
did not happen in the Christian world, where Aristotle's Politics
was translated in the 13th century and became the basic text as in
the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas.[9] Indian Sub-Continent In
ancient India, the antecedents of politics can be traced back to
the Rig-Veda, Samhitas, Brahmanas, the Mahabharata and Buddhist
Pali Canon. Chanakya (c. 350275 BC) was a political thinker in
Takshashila. Chanakya wrote the Arthashastra, a treatise on
political thought, economics and social order. It discusses
monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and
war strategies in detail, among other topics. The Manusmriti, dated
to about two centuries after the time of Chanakya is another
important Indian political treatise. East Asia Ancient China was
home to several competing schools of political thought, most of
which arose in the Spring and Autumn Period. These included Mohism
(a utilitarian philosophy), Taoism, Legalism (a school of thought
based on the supremacy of the state), and Confucianism. Eventually,
a modified form of Confucianism (heavily infused with elements of
Legalism) became the dominant political philosophy in China during
the Imperial Period. This form of Confucianism also deeply
influenced and were expounded upon by scholars in Korea and Japan.
West Asia In Persia, works such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and
Epic of Kings by Ferdowsi provided evidence of political analysis,
while the Middle Eastern Aristotelians such as Avicenna and later
Maimonides and Averroes, continued Aristotle's tradition of
analysis and empiricism, writing commentaries on Aristotle's works.
Averroe did not have at hand a text of Aristotle's Politics, so he
wrote a commentary on Plato's Republic instead. The Renaissance
During the Italian Renaissance, Niccol Machiavelli established the
emphasis of modern political science on direct empirical
observation of political institutions and actors. Machiavelli was
also a realist, arguing that even evil means should be considered
if they help to create and preserve a glorious regime. Machiavelli
therefore also argues against the use of idealistic models in
politics, and has been described as the father of the "politics
model" of political science.[10] Later, the expansion of the
scientific paradigm during the Enlightenment further pushed the
study of politics beyond normative determinations. Like
Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, well-known for his theory of the social
contract, believed that a strong central power, such as a monarchy,
was necessary to rule the innate selfishness of the individual but
neither of them believed in the divine right of kings. John Locke,
on the other hand, who gave us Two Treatises of Government and who
did not believe in the divine right of kings either, sided with
Aquinas and stood against both Machiavelli and Hobbes by accepting
Aristotle's dictum that man seeks to be happy in a state of social
harmony as a social animal. Unlike Aquinas' preponderant view on
the salvation of the soul from original sin, Locke believed man
comes into this world with a mind that is basically tabula rasa.
According to Locke, an absolute ruler as proposed by Hobbes is
unnecessary, for natural law is based on reason and equality,
seeking peace and survival for man.
12
Political science The Enlightenment Religion would no longer
play a dominant role in politics. There would be separation of
church and state. Principles similar to those that dominated the
material sciences could be applied to society as a whole,
originating the social sciences. Politics could be studied in a
laboratory as it were, the social milieu. In 1787, Alexander
Hamilton wrote: "...The science of politics like most other
sciences has received great improvement." (The Federalist Papers
Number 9 and 51). Both the marquis d'Argenson and the abb de
Saint-Pierre described politics as a science; d'Argenson was a
philosopher and de Saint-Pierre an allied reformer of the
enlightenment.[11] Other important figures in American politics who
participated in the Enlightenment were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson.
13
Modern political scienceBecause Political Science is essentially
a study of human behavior, in all aspects of politics, observations
in controlled environments are often challenging to reproduce or
duplicate, though experimental methods are increasingly common.[12]
Citing this difficulty, former American Political Science
Association President Lawrence Lowell once said "We are limited by
the impossibility of experiment. Politics is an observational, not
an experimental science."[13] Because of this, political scientists
have historically observed political elites, institutions, and
individual or group behavior in order to identify patterns, draw
generalizations, and build theories of politics. Like all social
sciences, political sciences faces the difficulty of observing
human actors that can only be partially observed and who have the
capacity for making conscious choices unlike other subjects such as
non-human organisms in biology or inanimate objects as in physics.
Despite the complexities, contemporary political science has
progressed by adopting a variety of methods and theoretical
approaches to understanding politics and methodological pluralism
is a defining feature of contemporary political science. The advent
of political science as a university discipline was marked by the
creation of university departments and chairs with the title of
political science arising in the late 19th century. In fact, the
designation "political scientist" is typically reserved for those
with a doctorate in the field. Integrating political studies of the
past into a unified discipline is ongoing, and the history of
political science has provided a rich field for the growth of both
normative and positive political science, with each part of the
discipline sharing some historical predecessors. The American
Political Science Association was founded in 1903 and the American
Political Science Review was founded in 1906 in an effort to
distinguish the study of politics from economics and other social
phenomena. Behavioral Revolution and New Institutionalism In the
1950s and the 1960s, a behavioral revolution stressing the
systematic and rigorously scientific study of individual and group
behavior swept the discipline. A focus on studying political
behavior, rather than institutions or interpretation of legal
texts, characterized early behavioral political science, including
work by Robert Dahl, Philip Converse, and in the collaboration
between sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld and public opinion scholar
Bernard Berelson. The late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed a take
off in the use of deductive, game theoretic formal modeling
techniques aimed at generating a more analytical corpus of
knowledge in the discipline. This period saw a surge of research
that borrowed theory and methods from economics to study political
institutions, such as the United States Congress, as well as
political behavior, such as voting. William H. Riker and his
colleagues and students at the University of Rochester were the
main proponents of this shift. Criticisms of the use of this
rational choice theorizing has been widespread, even among
political scientists who adopt quantitative methods.[14] This trend
toward formalization has continued and accelerated, even as the
behavioralist revolution has subsided. At the same time, because of
the interdependence of all social life, political science also
moved towards a closer working relationship with other disciplines,
especially sociology, economics, history, anthropology, psychology,
public administration, law, and statistics without losing its own
identity.[15]
Political science Increasingly, political scientists have used
the scientific method to create an intellectual discipline
involving quantitative research methods, as well as the generation
of formal economics-style models of politics to derive testable
hypotheses followed by empirical verification. Over the past
generations, the discipline placed an increasing emphasis on
relevance and the use of new approaches to increase scientific
knowledge in the field and provide explanations for empirical
outcomes. Kenneth R. Mladenka, a political scientist at Texas
A&M University, was among the academics who proceeded to bring
acceptance of the newer urban studies component of the discipline.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he found that urban scholars were not as
prominent on the editorial boards of the major political science
journals, and that traditional scholars, called empiricists, regard
most urban research, dependent on case studies, paradigms,
qualitative analysis, and theoretical perspectives, as less
reliable than the traditional emphasis of the discipline. The urban
scholars such as Mladenka stress "local settings where global,
national, and voting behavior outcomes happen at street level and
where day-to-day lives are affected."[16] [17] Recent Developments
In 2000, the so-called Perestroika Movement in political science
was introduced as a reaction against what supporters of the
movement called the mathematicization of political science. Those
who identified with the movement argued for a plurality of
methodologies and approaches in political science and for more
relevance of the discipline to those outside of it. [18]
14
SubfieldsIn the United States, most political scientists work
broadly in one or more of the following five areas: Comparative
Politics, including Area Studies International Relations Political
Philosophy Methodology American Politics, generally limited to
scholars and departments in the United States
In contrast to this traditional distinction, some academic
departments organize scholarship into thematic categories,
including political philosophy, Political behavior (including
public opinion, collective action, and identity), and political
institutions (including legislatures and International
organizations. Political science conferences and journals often
emphasize scholarship in more specific categories. The America
Political Science Association, for example, has 42 organized
sections that address various methods and topics of political
inquiry.[19]
References[1] Political Science (http:/ / www. unc. edu/ depts/
wcweb/ handouts/ polisci. html). Unc.edu (1999-02-22). Retrieved on
2010-11-13. [2] Stoner, J. R. (2008-02-22). "Political Science and
Political Education" (http:/ / www. allacademic. com/ meta/
p_mla_apa_research_citation/ 2/ 4/ 5/ 5/ 8/ p245585_index. html).
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the APSA Teaching and
Learning Conference (APSA), San Jos Marriott, San Jos, California.
. Retrieved 2009-02-04. " although one might allege the same for
social science as a whole, political scientists receive funding
from and play an active role in both the National Science
Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities [in the
United States]." . [3] See, e.g., the department of Political
Science (http:/ / www. marist. edu/ liberalarts/ polsci/ ) at
Marist College, part of a Division of Humanities before that
division became the School of Liberal Arts (c. 2000). [4]
Chaturvedy, J. C. (2005). Political Governance (http:/ / books.
google. com/ books?id=kzV4V59udu8C& pg=PA4& dq=people+
trained+ in+ political+ science+ can+ add+ value+ and+ expertise+
to+ corporations#v=onepage& q=people trained in politcal
science can add value and expertise to corporations& f=false).
Gyan Publishing House. p.4. ISBN8182053175. . [5] Chaturvedy, J. C.
(2005). Political Governance. Gyan Publishing House. p.4.
ISBN8182053175. [6] Politics is the term used to describe this
field by Brandeis University; Cornell College; University of
California, Santa Cruz; Hendrix College; Lake Forest College;
Monash University; Mount Holyoke College; New York University;
Occidental College; Princeton University; Ursinus College; and
Washington and Lee University. Government is the term used to
describe this field by Bowdoin College; Colby College; Cornell
University; Dartmouth College; Georgetown University; Harvard
University; Smith College; Wesleyan University; the College of
William
Political scienceand Mary; the University of Sydney; the
University of Texas at Austin; the University of Ulster; the
University of Essex; Victoria University of Wellington, which has
both a "School of Government" and a separate "Political Science and
International Relations Programme"; and the London School of
Economics and Political Science. Politics and government is the
term used by the University of Puget Sound. Government and politics
is used by the University of Maryland, College Park. [7]
Vernardakis, George (1998). Graduate education in government
(http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=Rd3DDiQm3M8C&
pg=PA77& dq=political+ science+ international+ relations+
degree#v=onepage& q=political science international relations
degree& f=false). University Press of America. p.77.
ISBN0761811718. . "...existing practices at Harvard University, the
University of California at Berkeley, and the University of
Michigan." [8] Almond, Gabriel Abraham (2002). Ventures in
political science (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=VMwpeKhifwcC& pg=PA29& dq=political+ science+
Roman+ Stoics#v=onepage& q=political science Roman Stoics&
f=false). Lynne Rienner Publishers. p.29. ISBN1588260802. .
"Polybius attributes the remarkable growth and power of Rome to its
political institutions." [9] Muhsin, Mahdi (2001). Alfarabi and the
foundation of Islamic political philosophy (http:/ / books. google.
com/ books?id=y6BF52Uw9BIC& pg=PA35& dq=Political+ science+
Plato's+ republic& lr=#v=onepage& q=Political science
Plato's republic& f=false). p.35. ISBN0226501864. . "...a
combination of Plato and Plotinum, could do much more to clarify
political life as it then existed..." [10] Lane, Ruth (1996).
Political science in theory and practice: the 'politics' model
(http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=4nB0LuuYYCkC&
pg=PA89& dq=Political+ science+ Plato+ the+ republic&
lr=#v=onepage& q=Political science Plato the republic&
f=false). M. E. Sharpe. p.89. ISBN1563249402. . "Discussion then
moves to Machiavelli, for whom the politics model was not an
occasional pastime..." [11] Gay, Peter (1996). The enlightenment
(http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=gQPna6P69i0C&
pg=RA2-PA448& dq=political+ science+ the+ enlightenment&
lr=#v=onepage& q=political science the enlightenment&
f=false). 2. W. W. Norton & Co.. p.448. ISBN0393313666. . "The
men of the Enlightenment sensed that they could realize their
social ideals only by political means." [12] Druckman, James N.,
Donald P. Green, James H. Kuklinski, and Arthur Lupia. 2011.
Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science. New York:
Cambridge University Press. [13] Lowell, A. Lawrence. 1910. "The
Physiology of Politics." American Political Science Review 4: 1-15.
[14] Cohn, Jonathan. "Irrational Exuberance: When did political
science forget about politics?" The New Republic. October 15, 1999.
http:/ / www-rohan. sdsu. edu/ ~ckennedy/ nra. htm [15] Farr,
James; Seidelman, Raymond (1993). Discipline and history: political
science in the United States (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=e9_jbbroRHsC& pg=PA230& dq=political+ science+
other+ discipline& ei=m63DSoY415Ay9dO42AM#v=onepage&
q=political science other discipline& f=false). University of
Michigan Press. pp.230233. ISBN0472065127. . "...ultimately all
social life is interdependent..." [16] "Dr. Theisings Reflection on
Scholarship" (http:/ / www. siue. edu/ ~atheisi/ scholarship. htm).
siue.edu. . Retrieved October 17, 2010. [17] Kenneth R. Mladenka
and Bryan D. Jones, Urban Politics and Political Science,"
"Political Science: Looking to the Future," Vo. 4. in American
Institutions, William Crotty, ed., Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern
Illinois University Press, 1994, pp. 287289 [18] Chronicle of
Higher Education 2001 (http:/ / www. btinternet. com/ ~pae_news/
Perestroika/ Miller. htm) [19] http:/ / www. apsanet. org/
content_4596. cfm
15
Further reading The Evolution of Political Science
(http://www.apsanet.org/section_714.cfm) (Nov. 2006). APSR
Centennial Volume of American Political Science Review.
Apsanet.org. 4 Feb. 2009. Goodin, R. E.; Klingemann, Hans-Dieter
(1996). A New Handbook of Political Science. Oxford and New York:
Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-829471-9. Klingemann,
Hans-Dieter, ed. (2007) The State of Political Science in Western
Europe. Opladen: Barbara Budrich Publishers. ISBN 9783866490453.
Schramm, S. F.; Caterino, B., eds. (2006). Making Political Science
Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research, and Method. New York and
London: New York University Press. Making Political Science Matter
(http://books.
google.com/books?id=kyJ5GJ7DeMQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=making+political+science+matter&
sig=s_bqA18zhy02NKJwsJHJj3vHzKc). Google Books. 4 Feb. 2009.
Roskin, M.; Cord, R. L.; Medeiros, J. A.; Jones, W. S. (2007).
Political Science: An Introduction. 10th ed. New York: Pearson
Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-242575-9 (10). ISBN 978-0-13-242575-9
(13). Tausch, A.; Prager, F. (1993). Towards a Socio-Liberal Theory
of World Development. Basingstoke: Macmillan; New York: St.
Martin's Press. Oxford Handbooks of Political Science
Political science
16
External links International Political Science Association
(http://www.ipsa.org/) IPSAPortal : Top 300 websites for Political
Science (http://ipsaportal.unina.it/) International Association for
Political Science Students (http://www.iapss.org/) American
Political Science Association (http://www.apsanet.org/) European
Consortium for Political Research (http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/)
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. "
Political Science Department which offers MA and PhD programmes
(http://www.graduateinstitute.ch/political-science)" Political
Studies Association of the UK (http://www.psa.ac.uk/) PROL:
Political Science Research Online (prepublished research)
(http://www.politicalscience.org/) Truman State University
Political Science Research Design Handbook
(http://politicalscience.truman.edu/ researchdesignhandbook.pdf) A
New Nation Votes: American Elections Returns 17871825
(http://dca.tufts.edu/features/aas) Comparative Politics in
Argentina & Latin America
(http://www.politicacomparada.com.ar): Site dedicated to the
development of comparative politics in Latin America. Paper Works,
Articles and links to specialized web sites.
IdeologyAn ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's
goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as
a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things (compare
worldview), as in common sense (see Ideology in everyday society
below) and several philosophical tendencies (see Political
ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a
society to all members of this society (a "received consciousness"
or product of socialization). The main purpose behind an ideology
is to offer either change in society, or adherence to a set of
ideals where conformity already exists, through a normative thought
process. Ideologies are systems of abstract thought applied to
public matters and thus make this concept central to politics.
Implicitly every political tendency entails an ideology whether or
not it is propounded as an explicit system of thought. It is how
society sees things. (For the Marxist definition of ideology, see
Ideology as an instrument of social reproduction below.)
HistoryThe term "ideology" was born in the highly controversial,
philosophical and political debates and fights of the French
Revolution and acquired several other meanings from the early days
of the First French Empire to the present. The word ideology was
coined by Destutt de Tracy in 1796[1] [2] assembling the parts idea
(near to the Lockean sense) and -logy. He used it to refer to one
aspect of his "science of ideas". (To the study itself, not the
subject of the study.) He separated three aspects, namely:
ideology, general grammar and logic, considering respectively the
subject, the means and the reason of this science.[3] He argues
that among these aspects ideology is the most generic term, because
the science of ideas also contains the study of their expression
and deduction. According to Karl Mannheim's historical
reconstruction of the meaning-shifts of ideology, the modern
meaning of the word ideology was born when Napoleon Bonaparte (as a
politician) used it in an abusive way against "the ideologues" (a
group which included Cabanis, Condorcet, Constant, Daunou, Say,
Madame de Stal and Tracy), to express the pettiness of his (liberal
republican) political opponents. Perhaps the most accessible source
for the near-original meaning of ideology is Hippolyte Taine's work
on the Ancien Regime (first volume of "Origins of Contemporary
France"). He describes ideology as rather like teaching philosophy
by the Socratic method, but without extending the vocabulary beyond
what the general reader already possessed, and without the examples
from observation that practical science would require. Taine
identifies it not
Ideology just with Destutt De Tracy, but also with his milieu,
and includes Condillac as one of its precursors. (Tracy read the
works of Locke and Condillac while he was imprisoned during the
Reign of Terror.) The word "ideology" was coined long before the
Russians coined "intelligentsia", or before the adjective
"intellectual" referred to a sort of person (see substantive), i.e.
an intellectual. Thus these words were not around when the
hard-headed, driven Napoleon Bonaparte took the word "ideologues"
to ridicule his intellectual opponents. Gradually, however, the
term "ideology" has dropped some of its pejorative sting, and has
become a neutral term in the analysis of differing political
opinions and views of social groups.[4] While Karl Marx situated
the term within class struggle and domination,[5] [6] others
believed it was a necessary part of institutional functioning and
social integration.[7]
17
AnalysisMeta-ideology is the study of the structure, form, and
manifestation of ideologies. Meta-ideology posits that ideology is
a coherent system of ideas, relying upon a few basic assumptions
about reality that may or may not have any factual basis, but are
subjective choices that serve as the seed around which further
thought grows. According to this perspective, ideologies are
neither right nor wrong, but only a relativistic intellectual
strategy for categorizing the world. The pluses and minuses of
ideology range from the vigor and fervor of true believers to
ideological infallibility. Excessive need for certitude lurks at
fundamentalist levels in politics and religions. The works of
George Walford and Harold Walsby, done under the heading of
systematic ideology, are attempts to explore the relationships
between ideology and social systems. David W. Minar describes six
different ways in which the word "ideology" has been used: 1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6. As a collection of certain ideas with certain kinds of
content, usually normative;a As the form or internal logical
structure that ideas have within a set; By the role in which ideas
play in human-social interaction; By the role that ideas play in
the structure of an organization; As meaning, whose purpose is
persuasion; and As the locus of social interaction, possibly.
For Willard A. Mullins, an ideology is composed of four basic
characteristics: 1. 2. 3. 4. it must have power over cognition it
must be capable of guiding one's evaluations; it must provide
guidance towards action; and, as stated above, must be logically
coherent.
Mullins emphasizes that an ideology should be contrasted with
the related (but different) issues of utopia and historical myth.
The German philosopher Christian Duncker [8] called for a "critical
reflection of the ideology concept" (2006). In his work, he strove
to bring the concept of ideology into the foreground, as well as
the closely connected concerns of epistemology and history. In this
work, the term ideology is defined in terms of a system of
presentations that explicitly or implicitly claim to absolute
truth. Though the word "ideology" is most often found in political
discourse, there are many different kinds of ideology: political,
social, epistemological, ethical, etc.
Ideology
18
Ideology as an instrument of social reproductionIn the Marxist
economic base and superstructure model of society, base denotes the
relations of production, and superstructure denotes the dominant
ideology (religious, legal, political systems). The economic base
of production determines the political superstructure of a society.
Ruling class-interests determine the superstructure and the nature
of the justifying ideologyactions feasible because the ruling class
control the means of production. For example, in a feudal mode of
production, religious ideology is the most prominent aspect of the
superstructure, while in capitalist formations, ideologies such as
liberalism and social democracy dominate. Hence the great
importance of the ideology justifying a society; it politically
confuses the alienated groups of society via false consciousness,
such as in the case of commodity fetishismthe belief that value is
inherent to a commodity, rather than external, added to it via
labor.
Karl Marx posits that a societys dominant ideology is integral
to its superstructure.
The ruling class affect their social reproduction by the
dominant ideology's representingto every social-economic classthat
the economic interests of the ruling class are the economic
interests of the entire society. Some explanations, Gyrgy Lukcs
proposes ideology as a projection of the class consciousness of the
ruling class. Antonio Gramsci uses cultural hegemony to explain why
the working-class have a false ideological conception of what are
their best interests. Chronologically, the dominant ideologies in
Capitalism are: 1. 2. 3. 4. classical liberalism modern
liberalism[9] social democracy neo-liberalism
corresponding to these three capitalist stages of development:
1. extensive stage 2. intensive stage 3. contemporary capitalism
(late capitalism) The Marxist formulation of "ideology as an
instrument of social reproduction" is conceptually important to the
sociology of knowledge, viz. Karl Mannheim, Daniel Bell, and Jrgen
Habermas et al. Moreover, Mannheim has developed, and progressed,
from the "total" but "special" Marxist conception of ideology to a
"general" and "total" ideological conception acknowledging that all
ideology (including Marxism) resulted from social life, an idea
developed by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.
Louis Althusser's Ideological State ApparatusesLouis Althusser
proposed a materialistic conception of ideology, which made use of
a special type of discourse: the lacunar discourse. A number of
propositions, which are never untrue, suggest a number of other
propositions, which are. In this way, the essence of the lacunar
discourse is what is not told (but is suggested). For example, the
statement "All are equal before the law", which is a theoretical
groundwork of current legal systems, suggests that all people may
be of equal worth or have equal "opportunities". This is not true,
for the concept of private property over the means of production
results in some people being able to own more (much more) than
others, and their property brings power and influence (the rich can
afford better lawyers, among other things, and this puts in
question the principle of equality before the law).
Ideology Althusser also proffered the concept of the Ideological
State Apparatus to explain his theory of ideology. His first thesis
was "ideology has no history": while individual ideologies have
histories, interleaved with the general class struggle of society,
the general form of ideology is external to history. His second
thesis, "Ideas are material", explains his materialistic attitude,
which he illustrates with the "scandalous advice" of Pascal toward
unbelievers: "kneel and pray, and then you will believe". For
Althusser, beliefs and ideas are the products of social practices,
not the reverse. What is ultimately important for Althusser are not
the subjective beliefs held in the "minds" of human individuals,
but rather the material institutions, rituals and discourses that
produce these beliefs.
19
Feminism as critique of ideologyNaturalizing socially
constructed patterns of behavior has always been an important
mechanism in the production and reproduction of ideologies.
Feminist theorists have paid close attention to these mechanisms.
Adrienne Rich e.g. has shown how to understand motherhood as a
social institution. However, feminism is not a homogeneous whole,
and some corners of feminist thought criticize the critique of
social constructionism, by advocating that it disregards too much
of human nature and natural tendencies. The debate, they say, is
about the normative/naturalistic fallacythe idea that just
something "being" natural does not necessarily mean it "ought" to
be the case.
Political ideologiesMany political parties base their political
action and program on an ideology. In social studies, a Political
Ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines,
myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, or large
group that explains how society should work, and offers some
political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. A
political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate
power and to what ends it should be used. Some parties follow a
certain ideology very closely, while others may take broad
inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically
embracing any one of them. Political ideologies have two
dimensions: 1. Goals: how society should work (or be arranged). 2.
Methods: the most appropriate ways to achieve the ideal
arrangement. An ideology is a collection of ideas. Typically, each
ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers to be the best
form of government (e.g. democracy, theocracy, etc.), and the best
economic system (e.g. capitalism, socialism, etc.). Sometimes the
same word is used to identify both an ideology and one of its main
ideas. For instance, "socialism" may refer to an economic system,
or it may refer to an ideology which supports that economic system.
Ideologies also identify themselves by their position on the
political spectrum (such as the left, the center or the right),
though this is very often controversial. Finally, ideologies can be
distinguished from political strategies (e.g. populism) and from
single issues that a party may be built around (e.g. legalization
of marijuana). Philosopher Michael Oakeshott provides a good
definition of ideology as "the formalized abridgment of the
supposed sub-stratum of the rational truth contained in the
tradition." Studies of the concept of ideology itself (rather than
specific ideologies) have been carried out under the name of
systematic ideology. Political ideologies are concerned with many
different aspects of a society, some of which are: the economy,
education, health care, labor law, criminal law, the justice
system, the provision of social security and social welfare, trade,
the environment, minors, immigration, race, use of the military,
patriotism and established religion. There are many proposed
methods for the classification of political ideologies. See the
political spectrum article for a more in-depth discussion of these
different methods (each of whom generates a specific political
spectrum). Today, many commentators claim that we are living in a
post-ideological age,[10] in which redemptive, all-encompassing
ideologies have failed, and this is often associated with Francis
Fukuyama's writings on "the end of history.".[11]
Ideology
20
Epistemological ideologiesEven when the challenging of existing
beliefs is encouraged, as in science, the dominant paradigm or
mindset can prevent certain challenges, theories or experiments
from being advanced. There are critics who view science as an
ideology in itself, or being an effective ideology, called
scientism. Some scientists respond that, while the scientific
method is itself an ideology, as it is a collection of ideas, there
is nothing particularly wrong or bad about it. Other critics point
out that while science itself is not a misleading ideology, there
are some fields of study within science that are misleading. Two
examples discussed here are in the fields of ecology and economics.
A special case of science adopted as ideology is that of ecology,
which studies the relationships among living things on Earth.
Perceptual psychologist James J. Gibson believed that human
perception of ecological relationships was the basis of
self-awareness and cognition itself. Linguist George Lakoff has
proposed a cognitive science of mathematics wherein even the most
fundamental ideas of arithmetic would be seen as consequences or
products of human perceptionwhich is itself necessarily evolved
within an ecology. Deep ecology and the modern ecology movement
(and, to a lesser degree, Green parties) appear to have adopted
ecological sciences as a positive ideology. Some accuse ecological
economics of likewise turning scientific theory into political
economy, although theses in that science can often be tested. The
modern practice of green economics fuses both approaches and seems
to be part science, part ideology. This is far from the only theory
of economics to be raised to ideology statussome notable
economically-based ideologies include mercantilism, mixed economy,
social Darwinism, communism, laissez-faire economics, and free
trade. There are also current theories of safe trade and fair trade
which can be seen as ideologies.
Psychological researchPsychological research[12] increasingly
suggests that ideologies reflect motivational processes, as opposed
to the view that political convictions always reflect independent
and unbiased thinking. Research in 2008[12] proposed that
ideologies may function as prepackaged units of interpretation that
spread because of basic human motives to understand the world,
avoid existential threat, and maintain valued interpersonal
relationships. The authors conclude that such motives may lead
disproportionately to the adoption of system-justifying worldviews.
Psychologists have generally found that personality traits,
individual difference variables, needs, and ideological beliefs
seem to have a common thread.
Ideology and semiotic theoryAccording to the semiotician Bob
Hodge, ideology "identifies a unitary object that incorporates
complex sets of meanings with the social agents and processes that
produced them. No other term captures this object as well as
'ideology'. Foucault's 'episteme' is too narrow and abstract, not
social enough. His 'discourse', popular because it covers some of
'ideology's' terrain with less baggage, is too confined to verbal
systems. 'Worldview' is too metaphysical, 'propaganda' too loaded.
Despite or because of its contradictions, 'ideology' still plays a
key role in semiotics oriented to social, political life".[13]
Authors such as Michael Freeden have also recently incorporated a
semantic analysis to the study of ideologies.
Ideology
21
In everyday societyIn public discussions, certain ideas arise
more commonly than others. Often people with diverse backgrounds
and interests may find themselves thinking alike in ways startling
to those from other backgrounds. Social scientists might explain
this phenomenon as evidence of ideologies. Dominant ideologies
appear as "neutral", holding to assumptions that are largely
unchallenged. Meanwhile, all other ideologies that differ from the
dominant ideology are seen as radical, no matter what the content
of their actual vision may be. The philosopher Michel Foucault
wrote about the concept of apparent ideological neutrality.
Ideology is not the same thing as philosophy. Philosophy is an
analytic method for assessing ideologies and belief systems. Some
attribute to ideology positive characteristics like vigor and
fervor, or negative features like excessive certitude and
fundamentalist rigor. Organizations that strive for power will try
to influence the ideology of a society to become closer to what
they want it to be. Political organizations (governments included)
and other groups (e.g. lobbyists) try to influence people by
broadcasting their opinions. When most people in a society think
alike about certain matters, or even forget that there are
alternatives to the status quo, we arrive at the concept of
hegemony, about which the philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote. Such a
state of affairs has been dramatized many times in literature:
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell; Brave New World by Aldous
Huxley; and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Noam Chomsky
and Edward S. Herman have argued that social ideological
homogeneity can be achieved by restricting and filtering the
political, social, and economic information transmitted by mass
communication.
Notes[1] Kennedy, Emmet (1979) "Ideology" from Destutt De Tracy
to Marx, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Jul.Sep.,
1979), pp. 353-368 (article consists of 16 pages) http:/ / www.
jstor. org/ pss/ 2709242 [2] Hart, David M. (2002) Destutt De
Tracy: Annotated Bibliography http:/ / www. econlib. org/ library/
Tracy/ DestuttdeTracyBio. html [3] De Tracy, Destutt (1801) Les
lments d'idologie, 3rd ed. (1817), p. 4, cited by: Mannheim, Karl
(1929) Ideologie und Utopie, 2nd footnote in the chapter The
problem of "false consciousness" [4] Eagleton, Terry (1991)
Ideology. An introduction, Verso, pg. 2 [5] Tucker, Robert C
(1978). The Marx-Engels Reader, W. W. Norton & Company, pg. 3.
[6] Marx, MER, pg. 154 [7] Susan Silbey, "Ideology" (http:/ / www.
credoreference. com/ entry/ cupsoc/ ideology) at Cambridge
Dictionary of Sociology. [8] http:/ / www. ideologieforschung. de/
en [9] Clark, B. (1998). Political economy: A comparative approach.
Westport, CT: Preager. [10] Bell, D. The End of Ideology: On the
Exhaustion of Political Ideas in the Fifties (2000) (2nd ed.).
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, pg. 393 [11] Fukuyama,
F. (1992)The End of History and the Last Man. USA: The Free Press,
xi [12] Jost, John T., Ledgerwood, Alison, & Hardin, Curtis D.
(2008). Shared reality, system justification, and the relational
basis of ideological beliefs. Social and Personality Psychology
Compass, 2,171-186 [13] Bob Hodge, "Ideology" (http:/ / www.
semioticon. com/ seo/ I/ ideology. html#), at Semiotics
Encyclopedia Online.
Ideology
22
References Christian Duncker (Hg.): Ideologiekritik Aktuell
Ideologies Today. Bd. 1. London 2008, (http://
ideologieforschung.de/web/Welcome.html). ISBN 978-1-84790-015-9
Christian Duncker
(http://www.philosophieportal.net/Ideologiekritik.htm): Kritische
Reflexionen Des Ideologiebegriffes, 2006, ISBN 1-903343-88-7 Minar,
David M. (1961) "Ideology and Political Behavior", Midwest Journal
of Political Science. Midwest Political Science Association.
Mullins, Willard A. (1972) "On the Concept of Ideology in Political
Science." The American Political Science Review. American Political
Science Association. Pinker, Steven. (2002) "The Blank Slate: The
Modern Denial of Human Nature." New York: Penguin Group, Inc. ISBN
0-670-03151-8
Further reading Marx, Karl ([1845-46] 1932) The German Ideology
(http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/
german-ideology/index.htm) Lukcs, Georg (191923) History and Class
Consciousness (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/
history/index.htm) Mannheim, Karl (1936) Ideology and Utopia
Routledge Althusser, Louis (1971) 'Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses' Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays Monthly Review
Press ISBN 1583670394 Minogue, Kenneth (1985) Alien Powers: The
Pure Theory of Ideology, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-01860-6
Zizek, Slavoj (1989) The Sublime Object of Ideology Verso ISBN
0-86091-97-14 (http://www.amazon.com/
Sublime-Object-Ideology-Phronesis/dp/0860919714) Eagleton, Terry
(1991) Ideology. An introduction, Verso, ISBN 0-86091-319-8
Freeden, Michael. 1996. Ideologies and Political Theory: A
Conceptual Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN
978-0198294146
(http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Politics/PoliticalTheory/
ContemporaryPoliticalThought/?view=usa&ci=9780198294146)
Hawkes, David (2003) Ideology (2nd ed.), Routledge, ISBN
0-415-29012-0 Sorce Keller, Marcello. Why is Music so Ideological,
Why Do Totalitarian States Take It So Seriously: A Personal View
from History, and the Social Sciences, Journal of Musicological
Research, XXVI(2007), no. 2-3, pp.91122. Malesevic, Sinisa and Iain
Mackenzie (ed). Ideology after Poststructuralism. London: Pluto
Press.
External links Ideology Study Guide
(http://www.autodidactproject.org/guidideo.html) Louis Althusser's
"Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses"
(http://www.marx2mao.com/Other/LPOE70ii. html#s5) Ideology and
Symbolic Power: Between Althusser and Bourdieu
(http://dostoevskiansmiles.blogspot.com/
2009/06/ideology-and-symbolic-power-between.html)
Comparative politics
23
Comparative politicsComparative politics is a subfield of
political science, characterized by an empirical approach based on
the comparative method. Arend Lijphart argues that comparative
politics does not have a substantive focus in itself, but rather a
methodological one: it focuses on "the how but does not specify the
what of the analysis."[1] In other words, comparative politics is
not defined by the object of its study, but rather by the method it
applies to study political phenomena. Peter Mair and Richard Rose
advance a slightly different definition, arguing that comparative
politics is defined by a combination of a substantive focus on the
study of countries' political systems and a method of identifying
and explaining similarities and differences between these countries
using common concepts.[2] [] Rose states that, on his definition:
"The focus is explicitly or implicitly upon more than one country,
thus following familiar political science usage in excluding
within-nation comparison. Methodologically, comparison is
distinguished by its use of concepts that are applicable in more
than one country."[] When applied to specific fields of study,
comparative politics may be referred to by other names, such as for
example comparative government (the comparative study of forms of
government) or comparative foreign policy (comparing the foreign
policies of different States in order to establish general
empirical connections between the characteristics of the State and
the characteristics of its foreign policy). Sometimes, especially
in the Uni