Politics

Politics

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Politics

1.2 Studying politics

• 1.2.1 The philosophical tradition

• 1.2.2 The empirical tradition
• 1.2.3 The scientific tradition

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Politics

• 1.2.1 The philosophical tradition

• Political philosophy
• A concern with what ‘should’, ‘ought’ or ‘must’ rather than ‘i
s’.
• Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas…etc.
• Such as
• Why should I obey the state?
• How should rewards be distributed?
• What should the limits of individual freedom be?

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• 1.2.2 The empirical tradition

• Experience is the only basis of knowledge, all hypotheses
and theories should be tested by a process of observation.
• John Lock, David Hume…

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Politics

• 1.2.3 The scientific tradition

• The first theorist to attempt
to describe politics in scienti
fic terms was Karl Marx.
• Enthusiasm for a science of p
olitics peaked in the 1950s an
d 1960s with the emergence,
most strongly in the USA, of a
form of political analysis that
drew heavily upon behaviour
alism.

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Politics

• 1.2.3 The scientific tradition

• Concept such as ‘liberty’, ‘equality’, ‘justice’ and ‘righ
ts’ were sometimes discarded as being meaningless bec
ause they were not empirically verifiable entities.
• Behaviouralism is objective and reliable is the claim th
at it is ‘value-free’. It is not contaminated by ethical or
normative beliefs.

John Rawls

Robert Nozick

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Politics

1.2.4 Recent Developments: Rational choice theory

The prisoners’ dilemma
Prisoner B
Two criminals, held in separate cells,
Does not
are faced with the choice of ‘squealing’ Confesses
confesses
or ‘not squealing’ on one another. If
only one of them confesses, but he
provides evidence to convict the other, A: B:
Confesses A: B: 0, 10
he will be released without charge, 6, 6
while his partner will take the whole
blame and be jailed for 10 years. If Prisoner A
both criminals confess, they will each
be jailed for 6 years. If both refused to A: B: A: B:
Does not 10, 0 1, 1
confess, they will only be convicted of a
confesses
minor crime, and they will each receive
a one-year sentence. The options are
shown in right figure.

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Politics

1.2.5 Can the study of politics be scientific?

• Three difficulties:
• First, The problem of data. Human beings are not tadpoles
that can be taken into a laboratory or cells that can be obse
rved under a microscope.
• Second, The existence of hidden values. Models and theorie
s of politics are entirely value-free is difficult.
• Third, The myth of neutrality in the social science. Objecti
ve and impartial manner is difficult and perhaps impossibl
e to achieve in politics.

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• Are all the tools of political analysis.

• 1.3.1 Concepts
• A concepts is a general idea about something, usually expre
ssed in a single word or a short phrase.
• E.g. The concept of a ‘cat’ is not a ‘thing’ but an ‘idea’.

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• 1.3.1 Concepts
• Concepts are the tools with which we think, criticize, argue, explai
n and analyse.
• In order to make sense of the world we must, in a sense, impose m
eaning upon it, and this we do through the construction of concept
s.

• To treat a cat as a cat, we must have a concept of what it is.

• Concepts help us to classify objects by recognizing that they have
similar properties.

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• 1.3.1 Concepts
• Such as ‘democracy’, ‘human right’, ‘capitalism’…

• First, the political reality we seek to understand is constantly shift

ing and is highly complex.
• Second, political concepts are often the subject of deep ideological
controversy.

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• 1.3.2 Models and theories
• Are broader than concepts, comprise a range of ideas rathe
r than a single idea.
• A model is usually thought of as a representation of someth
ing, usually on a smaller scale.
• A toy aeroplane

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• 1.3.2 Models and theories

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• 1.3.2 Models and theories Political Parties and
interest groups

Outputs

Gate
People Inputs Inputs Government
keepers

Outputs

The political System by David Easton

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Politics

The political protest system

• Model:
• A theoretical representation of em
pirical data that aims to advance
understanding by highlighting sig
nificant relationships and interact
ions.

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Politics

1.3 Concepts, models and theories

• 1.3.2 Models and theories
• The terms theory and model are often used interchangeably in politi
cs, are both conceptual constructs used as tools of political analysis.

• Theories and models contain hidden values or implicit assumption.

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Politics

Question for discussion

1. If politics is essentially social, why is not all social activity p
olitical?
2. Why has politics so often carried negative associations?
3. How could you defend politics as a worthwhile and ennobli
ng activity?
4. Is politics inevitable? Could politics ever be brought to an e
nd?
5. Why has the idea of a science of politics been so attractive?
6. Is it possible to study politics objectively and without bias?

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Politics

• Politics involves differences

• People expect to organize a good society
• E.g. How to avoid war and slaughter ?
• How to reduce bloodshed in conflict resolution ？
• How to prevent corruption ?……

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Politics
•1. Political consensus
•2. Plan your political life properly
•3. Resolve political conflicts in a civilized manner
•4. Learn to deal with others
•And so on ……

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Politics

1. What do you know about your target co

untry?
2. Tell us something about the politics of y
our country.

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Politics

Chapter 2 The State

1. General elements of the state
• Population
• Sovereignty
• Territory
• Government
2. National institutions
• The state legislature
• State administrative organs
• Judiciary authorities
• Armed forces

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