POLITICS

 "Man is by nature a political animal."

-- Aristotle
 "Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as
a contest of principles."
-- Ambrose Bierce, American journalist
 "Politics is the art of preventing people from
taking part in affairs which properly concern
them."
-- Paul Valery, French writer and philosopher
 "The mistake a lot of politicians make is in
forgetting they've been appointed and thinking
they've been anointed."
-- Claude D. Pepper, US Senator
 "My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player
in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth,
there's hardly any difference."
-- Harry S. Truman, US President (1945-52)

 "Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects."

-- Lester B. Pearson, Canadian PM (1963-68)

 "Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics

with bloodshed."
-- Mao Zedong, Chairman of People’s Republic of China

 "Politics is the art of the possible."

-- Otto Von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany
The word politics comes from ancient Greece.
Its root is the word polis, which began to be
used about 2,800 years ago to denote a self-
governing city (city-state)

 POLIS – city-state
 POLITES – citizen
 POLITIKOS – politician
 POLITIKE – politics as the art of citizenship
and government
 POLITEIA – constitution, rules of politics
 POLITEUMA – political community, all those
residents who have full political rights
 Some common definitions of politics:*
 Politics is the exercise of power

 Politics is the public allocation of values

 Politics is the resolution of conflict

 Politics is the competition among individuals, groups, or

states pursuing their interests

*Danziger, James N. Understanding the Political World. NY: Addison-

Wesley, 1991
Politics is often understood as:
the art and science of GOVERNMENT, as affairs of
STATE
But:
The state is rooted in society.
The state maintains a particular social order.
Politics outside the state is important.
Interactions between state and society are at the core
of politics.
So, to understand politics, it has to be examined
as part of the entire fabric of SOCIAL RELATIONS –
cooperation and conflicts between individuals, groups,
classes
4 Core Concepts in the
Study of Politics
4 Core Concepts in the
Study of Politics
4 Core Concepts in the
Study of Politics
4 Core Concepts in the
Study of Politics
 Power
The fuel of politics.
The ability to make,
or to influence the making of,
those binding decisions which are the essence of politics
Struggle for power
Distribution of power: how fair? how equal? how
effective?
Balance of power
Great power, superpower, hyperpower
A powerful leader
 TYPES OF POWER
POLITICAL POWER
control of, or influence on, the state, ability to
make, or influence, political decisions
ECONOMIC POWER
control of economic assets
MILITARY POWER
ability to wage war - or to compel others
through intimidation or deterrence
These forms of power interact in many ways.
For example?
An important distinction:
“Power over…”
and “power to…”
“Power to” conveys the idea of one’s ability to realize
one’s goals without coercing others
Individually, by exercising one’s freedom
Or collectively, by joining with others in a free and
voluntary way
Associated with visions of a good society, based on the
ideals of freedom, equality, justice, solidarity, democracy
Gandhi’s first protest, South Africa, 1906:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNmJqRV7LOA
Barack Obama, 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCFhpYMhaqY&feature=c
hannel
In real life, “power over” is the prevalent kind of power
Its main characteristics:
1. AN INTERACTIVE PROCESS
(you have to have someone to have power over)

2. POTENTIAL or ACTIVE
3. A PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITY
4. PROMOTIVE (Do it!) or PREVENTIVE (Don’t do it!)
5. BALANCED or UNBALANCED (“Absolute power corrupts
absolutely” – Lord Acton). Democracy associated with balanced
power
 INFLUENCE – use of power (or power exertion) with an
uncertain outcome
 CONTROL – use of power with a more or less certain
outcome
 DOMINATION – structured, stable use of power
5 principal forms of power (see OCDP, “power”)
1.FORCE – ability to detain and harm people and damage or
confiscate their property to compel them to obey your orders
2.PERSUASION – ability to convince people to do what they
otherwise would not have done by invoking their own
interests and common sense
3.AUTHORITY – legitimate (just and lawful) power to control
and direct people’s activities
4.COERCION – controlling people by means of threatening
use of force
5.MANIPULATION – controlling people without threats, by
persuading them about the legitimacy of the existing power
relationships, or by offering them benefits