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Politics by Andrew Heywood, 4th edition

Chapter 1- What is Politics?
Defining Politics:
• Aristotle defined politics as the “master science” because it is the activity through which human beings attempt to improve
their lives and create the Good Society
• Politics in a broad sense is the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they
live (linked to conflict and cooperation)
• Politics is better seen as the search for conflict resolution than the achievement of conflict resolution because not all conflicts
can be resolved
• Politics is defined by two broad approaches:
o 1. Politics as an arena- behaviour becomes political because of where it takes place (art of gov’t, public affairs)
o 2. Politics as a process- political behaviour is behaviour that exhibits distinctive qualities and therefore can take
place in many social contexts (compromise, power)

Politics as the Art of Government:

• Art of gov’t= the exercise of control within society through the making and enforcement of collective decisions
• Polis= ‘city-state’ (for example Athens)
• In this sense, politics may be seen as anything that concerns the polis or the state (ex. People in public office)
• David Easton defines politics as “the authoritative allocation of values”
• Anti-politics= disillusionment with formal or established political processes which is rooted in the view of politics as self-
serving and two faced

Politics as Public Affairs:

• Aristotle- “man is by nature a political animal”
• Politics is an ethical activity concerned with creating a just society
• Politics is restricted to the activities of the public sphere
o Public sphere= the state, private sphere= little platoons (Edmund Burke)
• Politics can also be viewed within seemingly ‘private’ institutions like the workplace and even the home
• Hannah Arendt: ‘politics is the most important form of human activity because it involves interaction amongst free and equal
citizens; thus giving meaning to lie and affirms the uniqueness of each individual’ (similar conclusions by Mill and Rousseau)
• Liberals feel that public activity and politics is unwanted because it prevents people from acting as they choose

Politics as Compromise and Consensus:

• Political solutions to problems imply consensus through peaceful debate
• ‘Politics is that solution that chooses conciliation rather than violence and coercion’- Crick
• This view is based on liberal-rationalists who put great faith in the efficiency of debate

Politics as Power:
• This view sees politics at work in all realms of social activity and every level of social interaction (families, friends, nations)
• Politics can be seen as a struggle over scarce resources and power can be seen as the means through which this struggle is
conducted
• Advocates of this view include Feminists and Marxists and portray politics quite negatively (politics as centered around
oppression)

Studying Politics:
• A variety of approaches has been adopted in the study of politics as an academic discipline

The Philosophical Tradition:

• Normative approach
• Attempts to descried the ideal society through questions of what ‘ought’, ‘should’, or ‘must’ be brought about
• The traditional approach= the analytical study of ideas and doctrines

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The Empirical Tradition:

• Characterized by the attempt to offer an impartial account of political reality
• ‘Descriptive’ rather than the normative approach which is ‘prescriptive’ (seeks to analyze and explain)
• Based on observation and experiment; derived from sense data and experience
Behaviouralism:
• Positivism= the theory that social and all other forms of enquiry should adhere strictly to the methods of the natural sciences
• Behaviouralism= the belief that social theories should be constructed only on the basis of observable behaviour, providing
quantifiable data for research

Rational-Choice Theory:
• This approach is usually focused on the rationality and self-interest of the individual
• Critics say it may rely too heavily on human rationality and ignore the fact that humans rarely possess a clear set of goals

New Institutionalism:
• Revised the ideas of our understanding of what constitutes as an institution
• Political institutions are now thought of as a se of rules which guide or constrain the behaviour of individual actors
• These rules can be informal or formal and both are equally likely
• Institutions are embedded in a particular normative and historic setting

Critical Approaches:
• Includes feminism, critical theory (conflict theory), green politics, constructivism, post-structuralism, and post-colonialism
• Constructivism= an approach to analysis that believes there is no objective social or political reality independent of our
understanding of it
• Post-positivism= an approach to knowledge that questions the idea of an ‘objective’ reality
• Two characteristics of critical approaches are: they seek to contest the political status quo by aligning with the interests of
marginalized groups, and they have tried to emphasize the role of consciousness shaping the political world

Concepts, Models and Theories:

• Concepts= set of ideas surrounding a particular thing (ex. Equality)
• Ideal type= a mental construct in which you attempt to draw meaning from a complex reality through the presentation of a
logical extreme
• Model= comprise a range of ideas by representing something on a smaller scale (used to impose meaning on what would
otherwise be too disorganized and difficult to grasp)
• Theory= a systematic explanation of a body of empirical data, usually presented as reliable knowledge
• Paradigm= a related set of principles, doctrines, and theories that helps to structure the process of intellectual enquiry
• Fig 1.5 on pg. 23 shows the levels of conceptual analysis

Politics in a Global Age:

Beyond the Domestic/International Divide:
• Politics within the state is usually orderly because of the ability of the state to impose rules
• Politics outside of the state is more anarchic because there is no authority in the international sphere
• Politics takes place in many spheres: the national, the local, the regional and the worldwide

Chapter 3- Politics and the State

Defining the State:
• The state is a political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined territorial borders, and exercises
authority through a set of permanent institutions
• The state can be understood by four different perspectives: an idealist perspective, a functionalist perspective, an
organizational perspective and an international perspective
o Idealism= a view of politics that emphasizes the importance of morality and ideals
• Idealist approach to the state defines 3 moments of social existence (the family, civil society and the state)

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• Functionalist approach focuses on the central role of the state, which is to maintain social order
• Organizational view defines 5 key features of the state: the state is sovereign, the state’s institutions are public, the state’s
decisions are biding because they are in the interest of the public, the state is an instrument of domination, and the state is a
territorial association
• International approach deals with the state’s relation to other states and therefore it’s ability to provide protection against
external attack (state has 4 features in this sense: a defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the
capacity to enter into relations with other states)
• The state emerged as a system with a centralized rule to subordinate all other institutions, especially the Church
• People disagree upon the reason for the mergence for the state; some say it was for the ability to fight wars, some say it came
from the transfer from feudalism to capitalism, and others claim it to be how they combine ideological, economic, military
and political forms of power

Debating the State:

Rival Theories of the State-
• There are various rival theories of the state that offer a different account of its origins, development and impact on society

1. The Pluralist State

• Pluralism= a belief in diversity; or the belief that power in modern societies is widely and evenly distributed
• The state should act as a referee for society
• Discounts the state and state organizations, focuses on ‘government’ instead
• The state is seen as neutral, meaning it will side with whichever option is best for all people (not always biased to one side or
the other and represents the common good)
• Argue that the state arose out of an original contract or voluntary agreement to protect from awful conditions of the state of
nature
• Citizens must enjoy some sort of protection from the state in the form of constitutional and representative government
• The state as ‘the servant of society and not its master’
1a. The Neopluralist State
• Neopluralism= a style of social theorizing that remains faithful to pluralist values while recognizing the need to revise/update
classical pluralism in light of other theories/trends
• Neopluralists have come to accept that modern industrialized states are more complex and less responsive to popular
pressures
• They have also accepted that the state can forge its own sectional interests

2. The Capitalist State (Marxist Tradition)

• The state must be understood in conjunction with economic structure and is a tool of class oppression
• Believes the state is part of a ‘superstructure’ that is conditioned by an economic ‘base’ (the base is the real foundation of
social life)
• Two theories of the state:
o 1. The state is dependent on society and manages the common affairs of the bourgeoisie
o 2. The state appears to mediate between conflicting interests of the classes, and so maintains that the class system
does exist (enjoys only relative autonomy)
• Both theories emphasize that there is unequal class power
• Argue that the state could be used during the transition from capitalism to communism in the form of the ‘revolutionary
dictatorship of the proletariat’
2a. The Neo-Marxist State
• Neo-Marxism refers to the attempts to revise the classical ideas of Marx while remaining faithful to certain aspects of his
theories
• Believes the state plays an important role in the process of bourgeoisie leadership and cultural control
• Sees the state as the terrain on which the struggle amongst interests, groups and classes is conducted
• The state is an entity that reflects the balance/struggle of power at any given time

3. The Leviathan State

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• Leviathan= a self-serving monster with intent only on expansion and increasing power/wealth
• Rooted in a radical form of individualism
• Strongly against state intervention in economic and social life
• Central feature is that the state pursues interests that are separate from those of society
• Explains the expansion of state power by both demand-side and supply-side pressures:
o Demand-side pressures= those that emanate from society itself, usually through electoral democracy
o Supply-side pressures= those that derive from within the state, for example from institutions
o The above makes up the ‘government oversupply thesis’

4. The Patriarchal State

• Takes account of the implications of feminist theory
• Recognizes that the state is biased in favour of men, proven through the denial of legal and political equality between the
genders
• Believe in the neutrality of the state because this bias can be overcome through the process of reform
• Radical feminists have a negative view of the state and believe state power reflects oppression through patriarchy

The Role of the State-

• There is much disagreement about the exact role of the state and the proper balance between the state and civil society

1. Minimal States
• Ideal view of classical liberals who aim to ensure that individuals enjoy the widest possible realm of freedom
• State should have the capacity to constrain human behaviour in order to prevent individuals violating the rights/liberties of
others
• State acts merely as a protective body
• 3 core functions:
o Exists to maintain domestic order
o Ensures contracts made between citizens are enforced
o Provides protection against external attack
• Institutional apparatus is limited to a police force, court system and military

2. Developmental States
• The state intervenes in economic life with the specific purpose of promoting industrial growth and economic development
• Attempts to create a partnership between the state and major economic interests (like big businesses and organized labour)
• Economic globalization has resulted in the emergence of ‘competition states’ and ‘tiger economies’
• Competition state= a state which pursues strategies (i.e. strengthening education and training) to ensure long-term
competitiveness in a globalized economy
• Tiger economy= fast-growing and export-orientated economies modeled on Japan

3. Social-Democratic States
• Ideal for both modern liberals and democratic socialists
• The state intervenes to bring about broader social restructuring through principles of fairness, equality and social justice
• Views the state as a positive entity that participates in enlarging liberty and promoting justice
• Focuses on the equitable distribution of wealth (eradicate poverty and reduce social inequality)

4. Collectivized States
• State brings all economic life under their control
• Seek to abolish private enterprise all together and set up centrally planned economies
• Justification for this type of state stems from the socialist preference for common ownership over private property
• Statism= the belief that state intervention is the most appropriate means of resolving political problems, or brining about
economic/social development

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5. Totalitarian States
• The state influences all aspects of human existence (most extreme form of interventionism)
• Examples include Hitler’s Nazi regime, Stalin’s USSR and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq
• Central pillars are a process of surveillance, terroristic policing, ideological manipulation and control
• State abolishes the ‘private sphere’ of life all together

6. Religious States
• State is driven by the tendency to reject the public/private divide and to view religion as the basis of politics
• Fundamentalist movements typically aim to seize control of the state and use it as an instrument of moral and spiritual
regeneration
• Example: Islamization in Pakistan after 1978

Eclipse of the State:

• Since the 1980s there have been assertions that the state has retreated or declined (this is misleading and untrue)
• State and market economy interlock and complement each other
• Although states may have lost authority in some respects, they have also become stronger

Decline and Fall of the State-

Globalization and State Transformation
• There are three contrasting positions about the power and significance of the state:
o 1. The rise of globalization is inevitably marked by the decline of the importance of the state
o 2. Globalization was created by the state and therefore exists to serve their purpose
o 3. Globalization has brought about changes in the role/significance of the state but not necessarily reduced or
increased its power
• Central feature of economic globalization is the rise of ‘supraterritoriality’
• Supraterritoriality= the process through which economic activity increasingly takes place within a ‘borderless world’
• Globalization has contributed to the fact that no country can be insulated from the impact of financial crises in other parts of
the world
• Increased global competition has also generated pressure to develop more efficient and responsive means of developing
public policy (blurring the distinction between state and society)

Non-State Actors and International Bodies

• Further decline of the state results from the rise of non-state actors and the growing importance of international organizations
• Major aspects of politics now take place beyond state borders, increasingly through TNCs
• TNCs show to have higher economic success than countries in some cases (ex. General Motors is comparable in economic
size to Denmark)
• The growth of politics beyond the state has also been apparent in the trend towards ‘political globalization’
• Political globalization= the growing importance of international bodies and organizations
• International bodies like the EU and the World Trade Organization have undermined the capacity of states to act as self-
governing units

Failed States and State-Building

• In some cases (India, South Korea) developing world states have been highly successful in pursuing social and economic
development
• Others have been labeled ‘failed states’ because they are unable to maintain domestic order and personal security
• State failure is not just a domestic problem as it may result in
o Precipitating refugee crises which provides a refuge for drug dealers, arms smugglers, and terrorist organizations
o Provoking external intervention to provide humanitarian relief
• There has been a growing emphasis on state-building which attempts to address deep-rooted structural causes of violence
• Externally-imposed order on failed states is only sustainable for a limited time as the presence of foreign troops and police
workers will eventually provoke hostility

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Return of the State?-

• What explains the return of the state?
o 1. The state’s unique ability to maintain domestic order and protect against external forces
 Counter-terrorism strategies have forced states to tighten border control and assumed wider powers of
surveillance and control
o 2. The state has sometimes reasserted itself as an agent of modernization by:
 Improving education and training
 Making significant concessions to the market

Chapter 12- Governments, Systems and Regimes

Traditional Systems of Classification:
• Government= the institutional processes through which collective and binding decisions are made
• Political system= the mechanisms of government and the institutions of the state, along with the structures and processes
through which these interact with society
• Regime= a ‘system of rule’ that endures even though governments come and go

Why Classify Political Systems?

• By highlighting similarities and differences in diff. types of political systems we can evaluate which systems tend to work
best
• One disadvantage to classification is that regimes of the same type will be oversimplified and their differences will be
ignored
• Another disadvantage is that value biases are often imposed on classifications

Classical Typologies-
• Most famous system of classification is Aristotle’s ‘who rules?’ and ‘who benefits from rule?’ questions
o Who can rule= One, Few, Many
o Who’s benefit= One, Few, Many
o Tyranny, oligarchy and democracy were all perverted forms of rule
o Monarchy, aristocracy and polity were preferred
• Demagogue= a political leader whose control over the masses is based on the ability to whip up hysterical enthusiasm
• Later theorists were more concerned with ‘sovereignty’ which means the most high power that alone could guarantee orderly
rule
• Jean Bodin concluded that absolutism was the most defensible of regimes
• Montesquieu proposed a ‘separation of powers’ between the executive, legislative and judicial institutions

The ‘Three Worlds’ Typology-

• The belief that the political world could be divided into three distinct blocs:
o A capitalist ‘first world’- populations enjoy the highest levels of mass affluence; private enterprise, material
incentives, free market
o A communist ‘second world’- largely industrialized and capable of satisfying the population’s basic material needs;
social equality, centralized planning
o A developing ‘third world’- economically dependent and often suffer widespread poverty
• Since the 1970s this system of classification has been increasingly hard to sustain
• Deep poverty in some areas has arguable created a ‘fourth world’
• Second and third world regimes collapsing because of the recognition that capitalism can lead to economic prosperity and
political stability

Regimes of the Modern World:

• Constitutional-institutional approach to classification was influenced by classical typologies
• Structural-functional approach developed out of systems theory and concerned with how political systems work in practice
• Economic-ideological approach attempts to take account 3 key features of a regime (political, economic and cultural aspects)

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o Significant because it emphasizes the degree to which formal political and economic arrangements may operate
differently depending on their cultural context
• Five regime types of the modern world:
o 1. Western polyarchies
o 2. New democracies
o 3. East Asian regimes
o 4. Islamic regimes
o 5. Military regimes

Western Polyarchies-
• Polyarchy= ‘rule by many’; the institutions and political processes of modern representative democracy that operate by
forcing rulers to take account for the public’s wishes
• Equivalent to liberal-democracies (North America, western Europe, and Australia)
• Polyarchial regimes are distinguished by two main features:
o A high tolerance of opposition (i.e. political party competition, healthy civil society)
o The opportunities for political participation are widespread in order to guarantee responsiveness
• These regimes respect the idea of liberal individualism by protecting individual rights, encouraging choice and competition,
and implementing some fear of government
• A Polyarchy can either have majoritarian tendencies or consensual tendencies

New Democracies-
• New democracies followed the fall of communism and the overthrow of right-wing dictatorships (Greece, Portugal, Spain)
• Multi-party elections and market-based economic reform
• Lack political culture and must handle strains caused by external forces of globalization
• Re-emergence of military forces into politics
• Post-communist regimes must deal with the consequences of communist rule but this usually is difficult to repair- leads to
discrepancies between parties
• The transition from central planning to capitalist economies can lead to insecurities and social inequality
• The weakness of state power can lead to the emergence of ethnic and nationalist tensions

East Asian Regimes-

• Orientated more around economic goals than around political goals
o Focus on boosting growth and prosperity than individual freedoms
• Broad support for ‘strong’ government and a general respect for the state
• Respect leaders because of a stress on loyalty, discipline and duty which at times invests East Asian regimes with
authoritarianism
• Large emphasis on community and social cohesion, as well as family (‘group think’)

Islamic Regimes-
• Islam is not just a religion, it is a complete way of life, defining moral, political and economic behaviour for people and
nations
• Political Islam aims at the construction of a theocracy in which political and other affairs are structured according to ‘higher’
religious principles

Military Regimes-
• Military regimes belong to a broader category of dictatorship
• The leading positions in the government are filled on the basis of the person’s position within the military chain of command
• Military junta= the armed forces assume direct control of government and there is a rivalry between the three categories of
military (army, navy and air force)
• Another form of military regime is a military-backed personalized dictatorship
• Final form of military regime is where the military works ‘behind the scenes’ as leaders (through the front of another face)

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Chapter 4- Democracy and Legitimacy

• Until well into the 19 th century the term ‘democracy’ was associated with the idea of a mob rule
• In parts of the developing world democracy promotion is associated with ‘westernization’ and therefore rejected

Legitimacy and Political Stability:

• Legitimacy= broadly means ‘rightfulness’; a moral or rational principle that lays the grounds for which governments may
demand obedience from their citizens
• Basically legitimacy is the rightfulness of a regime or system of rule (why people obey the state)

Legitimizing Power-
• Max Weber- understanding legitimacy as a sociological phenomenon
o Categories of ‘systems of domination’ (three conceptual ideas)
o Traditional authority, charismatic authority, legal-rational authority
• Traditional Authority- regarded as legitimate because earlier generations have accepted it
o Operates according to a body of long-standing, concrete rules
o Ex. Tribes or states under hereditary rule
• Charismatic Authority- based on the power of an individual’s personality
o The ability of a leader to appeal to followers as a hero or saint (ex. Hitler, Mussolini)
o The leader is unquestionable and infallible, the masses must submit and obey
o Difficult for a system under this rule to live past its founding figure (once the leader dies so does their following)
• Legal-Rational Authority- links authority to a clearly and legally defined set of rules (most modern states)
o Limit on what the office holder is able to do
o Less likely to be abused or give rise to injustices
o Promotes efficiency through a rational division of labour
• Beetham’s suggestion: power can only be legitimate if it meets three conditions
o 1. Power must be exercised according to established rules
o 2. These rules must be agreed upon by the governing and the governed
o 3. Legitimacy must be demonstrated with consent from the masses
o Therefore two key components of the legitimation process are: elections/party competition and existence of
constitutional rules

Democratic Legitimacy-
• If a political organization claims to be legitimate it most often in democratic as well
• Democracy promotes legitimacy by:
o Operating through implicit consent from citizens and promoting political participation
o Rival interests and groups live in peace through compromise, conciliation and negotiation
o Operating as a feedback system that aims for long-term political stability
• The effectiveness of democracy may be faltering- proven by decreasing political participation/ trust of politicians in places
like Canada (called political disenchantment)

Non-Democratic Legitimacy?
• Three key forms of non-democratic legitimation have been used:
o Elections (sometimes rigged or one-party though) have been used to create the façade of a democracy- helps gain
public support and acceptance (Nazi Germany)
o Performance legitimation through the ability to improve living standards, public order, improved education and
healthcare- deliver to citizens a better life and they get support
o Ideological legitimation to uphold the leader’s right to rule, or to establish broader goals that invest the regime with
a sense of rightfulness

Democracy:
Understanding Democracy-
• Lincoln describes democracy as ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people’

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• Implications of this are that we must question: Who are the people? In what sense should the people rule? And how far
should popular rule extend?

Who Are the People?

• In practice, every democracy has restricted political participation of some groups (therefore not ‘all the people’)
• For the Greeks, the ‘many’ referred to the poor, therefore all laws were biased towards them (only male citizens over 20
could participate politically; excludes many others)
• Universal suffrage in countries has only happened recently- when Black people and women were finally allowed the vote
• All democratic systems restrict children from voting (however voting age ranges from 15-21 internationally)
• ‘The people’ can be seen as one cohesive whole with similar interests and needs
• ‘The people’ can as be seen as the majority- democracy comes to be the principle of majority rule
• ‘The people’ don’t necessarily have to be bound by national borders- globalization

How Should the People Rule?

• Direct democracy- direct and continuous involvement in decision-making through mass-meetings, referendums etc.
• Representative democracy- more common form of democratic participation through voting
• ‘Totalitarian democracies’ claim to act for the people with no influence from the people themselves

How Far Should Popular Rule Extend?

• Liberal individualism view- democracy be restricted to political life to establish a framework of laws in which a person can
conduct their lives how they please
• Radical democracy- favours decentralization and participation, the widest possible dispersal of political power
o A general principle that is applicable to all areas of social existence
• Social/Economic democracy- apply democratic principles to the workplace
• Feminists demand the right of all to participate in the making of decisions in the domestic/private sphere

Debating… Is democracy always the best form of government?

Yes
The highest form of politics- democracy encourages
debate and compromise rather than violence in
order to satisfy rival interest groups
Democracy as a universal value- rights of political
participation and access to power are universally
applicable because one should be able to shape the
decisions that affect their own life
Keeping tyranny at bay- governments and leaders
are unable to abuse their power because of the
public’s ability to ‘kick the rascals out’
No
The disharmony of democracy- democracy sets
up an ongoing battle between opponents that
refuse to recognize each other’s achievements;
can strengthen tensions between groups
Democracy as westernization- the spread of
democracy onto the developing world can be
taken as a form of cultural imperialism (forcing
views and traditions on a culture)
Good government not popular government-
being committed to the principle of political
equality, democracy cannot cope with the fact
that the majority is not always right

Models of Democracy-
• 1. Classical Democracy
• 2. Protective Democracy
• 3. Developmental Democracy
• 4. People’s Democracy

1. Classical Democracy
• Based on the city-state of Athens, Greece- only pure system of popular participation through mass meetings

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• Plato criticized this system saying the mass didn’t have the wisdom to rule themselves
o His solution: rule by philosopher kings
• Largely exclusive- no women, slaves, children or non-citizens

2. Protective Democracy
• Democracy seen more as a way to protect yourself from the reign of government
• Locke said it is a natural right to vote- in the right to property as the gov’t controls taxes
• Democracy came to mean ‘government by consent’ through representative assembly
• Political equality is strictly universal suffrage
• Aims to give citizens the widest possible scope for them to live their own lives

3. Developmental Democracy
• Concerned with the development of the individual and community
• Rousseau- democracy is a means through which humans can achieve autonomy in the sense of ‘obedience to a low one
prescribes to oneself’
o Citizens are free only when they participate in shaping the life of their community
o Freedom for Rousseau is obedience to the general will
• New Left model- ‘grass-roots democracy’= political power should be exercised at the lowest possible level
• Mill- central to democracy was the promotion of the ‘highest and harmonious’ development of individual capacities
o Democracy is an educational experiences

4. People’s Democracy
• Term comes from communist regimes that formed after WWII
• Goal of social equality brought about through common ownership of wealth
• A system if ‘bourgeoisie’ democracy would be replaced by ‘proletariat’ democracy according to Marx

Democracy in Practice: Rival Views

• Liberal democracy is indirect and representative – political office is gained through election
o Based on competition and tolerance of conflicting views
o Clear distinction b/w state and civil society
o Provides protection for minorities and individuals in the form of basic rights
• This form of democracy is interpreted in these five important contexts:
o Pluralism
o Elitism
o Corporatism
o The New Right
o Marxism

1. Pluralist View
• Traced back to the ideas of Locke and Montesquieu
• James Madison argued that unchecked democratic rule might lead to majoritarianism and crushing of individual rights
o Unless each group had an equal voice in politics, order/stability not possible
o Proposed a system of bicameralism and federalism that offered access points for all groups called Madisonian
democracy
• Key feature of a pluralist democracy- competition b/w parties and ability of interest groups to express their views freely
establishes a reliable link between the government and the governed
• Pluralist democracies may face the problem of ‘pluralist stagnation’ where there are so many opposing views that no progress
is made

2. Elitist View
• Classical elitists believe that political power is always exercised by a privileged minority
o A cohesive minority will always be able to manipulate/control the masses

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o Rulers can either be ‘foxes’ (rule by cunning and manipulation) or ‘lions’ (domination through coercion and
violence)
o ‘Iron law of oligarchy’= the tendency within all organizations, however democratic they might appear, for power to
be concentrated in the hands of a small elite group
• Modern elitists believe the power-elite is able to make key ‘history-making’ decisions because of their economic power,
bureaucratic control and executive branch of gov’t
• Power elite model portrays the elite as a cohesive body bound together by common interests
• Competitive elitism highlights the significance of elite rivalry- an elite composed of multiple groups with competing interests
(the electorate can decide which elite rules but cannot change the fact that it will always be an elite that does rule)

3. Corporatist View
• A corporate state is one that integrates both managers and workers into the processes of government
• Neocorporatism= a tendency found in Western polyarchies for organized interests to be granted privileged access to policy
formulation
o Gave rise to ‘tripartite government’ in which gov’t is conducted through organizations that allow state officials,
employers’ groups and unions to deal directly with one another
• Only advantages groups that are accorded privileged access to gov’t

4. New Right View

• Focuses on the danger of ‘democratic overload’ (the paralysis of a political system that is subject to group/electoral pressures)
• Advocate for free markets with little/no government intervention
• Disagrees with corporatism because it empowers certain groups and economic interests
• ‘Democracy is to adults, what chocolate is to children: endlessly tempting; harmless in small doses; sickening in excess’
• New Right theorists view democracy as defense against arbitrary government

5. Marxist View
• Rooted in class analysis
• Political power reflects the distribution of economic power and the unequal ownership of wealth
• Focuses on the discrepancy between the political equality that liberal democracy claims to bring but the social inequality that
capitalism brings
• Power cannot be evenly dispersed as long as class power is unequally distributed

Towards Cosmopolitan Democracy? -

• The idea of cosmopolitan democracy has resulted from the advancement of globalization
• First model: construct a world parliament in line with the UN, WTO etc.
o Most people in favour of this model state that no level of this world government could have absolute authority
• Second model: have non-governmental organizations reconfigure global power by offering an alternative to top-down
globalization
• The idea of a cosmopolitan democracy would likely be blocked by major states

Chapter 9- Representation, Elections and Voting

Representation:
• Debate in 19th and 20th centuries whether representation should be restricted to those who have the competence, education and
leisure to act wisely and think seriously about politics
• Now there is widespread acceptance of political equality (universal suffrage, ‘one person, one vote’)
• What does the representative truly represent? The views of the people, their best interests, the groups from which they come?

Theories of Representation-
• 1. Trusteeship
• 2. Delegation
• 3. The mandate
• 4. Resemblance

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1. Trustee Model
• Trustee= someone who acts on behalf of others using their superior knowledge/experience
• Burke believed those who were lucky enough to have an education should act in the interests of the less fortunate
• Supports elitism because once the person has been elected they act in which ever way they think is best
• Based on the belief that knowledge and education are unequally distributed in society and not all people know what is best
for them
• John Stuart Mill suggested that certain people should have more votes based on their education level

2. Delegate Model
• Delegate= person who is chosen to act for another on the basis of clear guidance and instruction (do not think for themselves)
• Ensures that politicians are closely bound to the views of the represented
• Provides more opportunities for popular participation and limits the ability of representatives to act in their own self-interest
• Can breed narrowness and conflict because representative must be very closely bound to represented
• Representatives are unable to provide vision and inspiration to the people as they are simply reporters of their wishes

3. Mandate Model
• ‘Doctrine of the mandate’- in winning an election, the party is authorized to carry out whatever policies they outlined in their
election campaign
• Politicians remain loyal to their party and its policies
• Provides a way of keeping politicians to their word
• Criticism- voters can be persuaded by the personalities of the party leader; as well voters may be in favour of one element of
the party’s plan but opposed to another (no way around this)

4. Resemblance Model
• A representative government would constitute a microcosm of the larger society, containing members drawn form all groups
and in numbers that are proportional to the society
• Usually endorsed by socialist, feminist and radical thinkers
• Only people who come from a particular group and can share their experiences may be a representative of that group

Chapter Six- Political Economy and Globalization

• Politics affects economic outcomes in a variety of ways:
o Ability of state to ensure a framework of public order (upholding contracts, property rights)
o Capacity of government to regulate economy
o Capacity of state to exert direct control over economic life (planning/nationalization)
• Marxists say that politics is a part of a ‘superstructure’ with an economic ‘base’ and that the political process is a reflection of
class systems

Political Economy:
Approaches to Political Economy-
• Political economy= the study of the interaction of politics and the economy; as a topic, political economy focuses on the
relationship between states and markets; as a method, political economy is the use of theories developed within economics to
analyze politics
• Political economy encompasses 3 important traditions:
o State–centric political economy
o Classical/Neo-Classical political economy
o Marxist political economy

1. State-Centric Political Economy

• Developed out of mercantilism (an economic philosophy in which the state is the most significant economic actor)
• Economic markets are not ‘natural’ but largely shaped by state power

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• Build up state wealth by producing goods for export while keeping import levels low

2. Classical/Neo-Classical Political Economy

• Derives from writings of Adam Smith and David Ricardo
• Based on liberal assumptions- idea that individuals, as rationally self-interested and ‘utility maximizers’ are key economic
actors
• Key idea- unregulated market economy will tend towards long-run equilibrium
• The price mechanism (invisible hand) bring supply and demand in line with each other
• Implies policy of laissez-faire

3. Marxist Political Economy

• Portrays capitalism as a system of class exploitation
• Treats social classes as key economic actors
• The proletariat being systematically exploited by the bourgeoisie
• Surplus value= the value that is extracted form the labour of the proletariat through capitalist exploitation (Pay workers less
than the value of their labour )

Varieties of Capitalism-
• Political economy examines how different economic systems affect institutional and political arrangements and how these
affect political decision making
• Traditionally this has been the analysis of capitalism and socialism (rival views)
• There are different types of capitalist systems:
o Enterprise capitalism
o Social capitalism
o State capitalism

1. Enterprise Capitalism
• Seen as an ideal in which other capitalist systems are drawn
• Rejected by most places of the world except USA and the UK
• Central feature is the faith that the market is a self-regulating mechanism (Adam Smith’s invisible hand)
• Premium placed on high productivity and labour flexibility (don’t want labour unions)
• Disadvantages:
o Wide material inequalities and social fragmentation
o Success of enterprise capitalism may have more to do with unsustainable boom in housing and financial markets/ the
growth of public and private debts

2. Social Capitalism
• Developed in central and western Europe
• State intervention should be used to protect infant industries form foreign competition
• Central theme- idea of a social market (attempt to marry the ideas of market competition and social cohesion)
• Disadvantages:
o Difficult for businesses to adapt to changing market conditions (ex. Economic globalization)
o High levels of social spending required to maintain high-quality welfare provision

3. State Capitalism
• Capitalist economies in which the state plays a crucial directive role (often non-liberal capitalist societies)
• Liberal market economies= firms coordinate their activities on the basis of competitive market arrangements
• Coordinated market economies= depend heavily on non market arrangements
• Emphasis on cooperative, long-term relationships
• Workers re usually ‘members’ of firms- can expect lifetime employment, pensions, social protection, access to recreational/
leisure opportunities

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• State plays vital role in ‘guiding’ investment, research and trading decisions
• Disadvantages:
o Inflexible and unresponsive to changing global market conditions
o Tendency for individualism and entrepreneurialism to be stifled by emphasis on duty and hierarchy
o Contradiction between economic liberalism and non-liberal political arrangements (authoritarianism may create
resentment and demands for political freedom)

Managed or Unmanaged Capitalism

• Does a capitalist society work best when it’s left alone by government?
• Evaluation of two rival economic strategies: Keynesianism and neoliberalism
o Keynesianism= a theory of economic management associated with regulating aggregate demand to achieve full
employment (rejection of the idea of a self-regulating market)
o Aggregate demand= the total level of demand in the economy which gov’t has the capacity to manage through its
tax and spending policies
o This theory did not anticipate ‘stagflation’ which damaged its credibility in the 1970s
o Stagflation= combo of economic stagnation caused by: rising unemployment and increase in inflation of prices
• Rise in neoliberalism shifted economic priorities away from gov’t and towards the free market
o Key virtue of the market- system that can regulate the economy because it conveys messages via the price
mechanism
o Strive to ensure low inflation
• Wealth depends on social capital (cultural and moral resources that help to promote social cohesion, political stability and
prosperity)

Alternatives to Capitalism-
• State Socialism
• Market Socialism
• Green Economics

1. State Socialism
• Also called communism- USSR became first to adopt an explicitly socialist economic model
• System based on state collectivization- all economic resources under control of the party-state
• Flaws of central planning are proven by the collapse of the USSR in 1889-91
• Central planning succeeded in building up an industrial base and eradicating homelessness, unemployment and poverty
• Disadvantages:
o Inefficiency due to overwhelming amount of information for planners to handle
o Little encouragement for enterprise or efficiency (although everyone had a job, difficult to ensure everyone worked)
o New class emerges- party-state bureaucrats who are privileged

2. Market Socialism
• Appears to compensate for the defects in central planning
• Provides guarantee for consumer response and efficiency
• Avoids problems with bureaucratic power
• Still some planning and regulation but through collaborative measures
• Weaknesses:
o Self-management conflicts with market disciplines because the enterprises must respond first to their workers
3. Green Economics
• Sees capitalism and socialism as manifestations of the same ‘super-ideology’ of industrialism
o Ways of exploiting nature for the material benefit of humankind
• Obsession with economic growth has led to spoiling of natural environment and damages to ecosystem of all life
o Threatened the survival of the human species
• Alternative= recast economic priorities from prosperity to sustainability

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Globalization:
Understanding Globalization-
• Globalization is a complex of processes that sometimes overlap and contradict each other
• Globalization= emergence of a complex web of interconnectedness that means our lives are increasingly shaped by events
that occur far away from us
• Kenichi Ohmae’s theory- globalization as a ‘borderless world’
o Borderless in a physical sense (between nations and states) as well as between people previously separated by time
and space
• Scholte- argues globalization is linked to the growth of ‘supraterritorial’ relations b/w people
o Supraterritoriality= condition in which social life transcends through the growth of ‘transborder’ and ‘transglobal’
communications/interactions (ex. Electronic transfers of money)
• Globalization as a top-down process in which a single global system imprints itself on all parts of the world
(homogenization)
o All watch same TV shows for example
• Causes allegiances based on nationalism fade and may be replaced by links to the local community or religious/ethnic
identity
• Can provoke cultural/political resistance as a response to homogenization
• Can cause indigenization (the process through which alien goods and practices are absorbed by being adapted to local needs
and circumstances)
• Most significant forms of globalization:
o Economic globalization
o Cultural globalization
o Political globalization

1. Economic Globalization
• Idea that all national economies have been absorbed into an interlocking global economy in which production is
internationalized and capital flows freely between countries
• Collapse of communism gave way to economic globalization
• Key implication- the reduced capacity of national governments to manage their economies and resist their restructuring along
free-market lines

2. Cultural Globalization
• Information, commodities and images enter into a global flow that tends to reduce cultural differences between nations and
individuals
• Sometimes portrayed as a process of McDonaldization
• McDonaldization= process whereby global commodities and commercial/marketing practices associated with the fast-food
industry have come to dominate progressively more economic sectors
• Cultural globalization was also fuelled by the ‘information revolution’, the spread of satellite communication, information
technology and the internet

3. Political Globalization
• Evident in the growing importance of international organizations like the UN and NATO
• International organizations enable states to take combined action without sacrificing national sovereignty
• Reflects a commitment to internationalism and some form of world government

Ride of Neoliberal Globalization-

• Recall: neoliberalism is an updated version of classical liberalism in which the central theme is the idea that the economy
works best when left alone by government
• Earlier forms of globalization (late 19 th century) were the spread of empires however they never succeeded in ridding national
borders
• Economic globalization and neoliberalism are closely linked:
o Increasing international competition forced countries to deregulate their economies and reduce taxes in hopes of
attracting inward investment

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• At the core of neoliberal growth model are financial markets and ‘financialization’
• Financialization= the reconstruction of finances of businesses, public bodies and individual citizens to allow them to borrow
money and raise their spending
• Other key features- faith in open markets and trade liberalization and a shift in many developing economies from
manufacturing to services
• Disadvantages:
o Association with widening inequalities and social breakdown
o Tendency of the state to respond to the dictates of the state rather than public opinions

The 2007-09 Crash and Its Legacy-

• Was the first global crisis since the ‘stagflation’ of the 1970s
• Baking crises erupted and stock markets went into free-fall worldwide
• Crisis has been linked to inappropriate lending strategies adopted by US banks and mortgage institutions
• Also caused by the vulnerabilities of the neoliberal capitalism in the USA and UK especially
• Provided a dramatic reminder of the need for financial regulation of some level
• National governments at the G20 summit quickly initiated successful means of regaining lost wealth (recapitalizing of banks,
cuts in interest rates, allowing spending to exceed taxation)
• Most significant consequences of the Crash include:
o Widespread and unsustainable debt in many developed economies (public and private)
o The paradoxes and pitfalls of deficit reduction
o The possible end of neoliberal globalization
o A major redistribution of power in the global economy (from West to East; and from USA to China)
• The ‘paradox of thrift’ suggests that if everyone is saving money, everyone suffers as there is insufficient demand in the
economy (leads to stagnation and unemployment)

Chapter 5- Nations and Nationalism

What is a Nation?:
• Culturally a nation is a group of people that share a common language, religion, history and traditions
• Politically a nation is a group of people who see themselves a s apolitical community expressed through sovereignty
• Psychologically a nation is a group of people with a shared loyalty (patriotism)
• Ethnic group= group of people who share a common cultural and historical identity but lack collective political aspirations

Nations as Cultural Communities-

• Herder emphasized the language as an embodiment of a people’s distinctive traditions
• Volksgeist= the spirit of the people; revealed in songs, myths, legends
• Nationalism for Herder is a form of culturalism that emphasizes an appreciation of national traditions and collective memory
over political quest
• Cultural Nationalism= emphasis on the regeneration of the nation as a distinctive civilization rather than a political
community
• Smith- modern nations came into existence when pre-modern ethic communities were linked to political sovereignty
• Friedrich Meinecke distinguished between ‘cultural nations’ and ‘political nations’
o Cultural nations are characterized by a high level of ethnic homogeneity (exclusive and can only be born into)

Nations as Political Communities-

• Nation as a group bound together by shared citizenship (regardless of culture or ethnicity)
• Form of nationalism that emerged from the French Revolution embodied a vision of a nation governing itself and linked to
the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity (derived from Rousseau)
• Eric Habsbawn- nations are ‘invented traditions’- a belief in historical community is a myth created by nationalism
o Idea that a nation is a political community rather than ethnic
• Benedict Anderson- the nation as an ‘imagined community’
o Mental images- you will never encounter all the people that you claim to share a national identity with

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