INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ANALYSIS (GOVT1000)

The Nature of Politics Bernard Crick Politics: - Is the means by which different groups of people with conflicting interests are able to live together in harmony. -Is essentially a process which seeks to manage or resolve conflicts between people usually in a peaceful manner. -Is used to describe the interaction between any group of individuals but in its specific sense refers to the many and complex relationships which exist between state institutions and the rest of society.

Crick (cont’d) -In its general sense can be looked at in two ways, (a) at a micro level, e.g. at the school level; (b) macro level e.g. the state level. Political activity culminates in the taking of decisions and all decisions involve choice. Studying politics means considering the range of resources and how they are employed.

De Vos and Lasswell Politics consists of all those social interactions that are directly designed to, and that actually do obtain binding decisions about who shall have what, when and how in a social system. Ponton and Gill Politics is the way in which we understand and order our social affairs. This applies especially to the allocation of scarce resources, the principles underlying this and the means by which some people and groups acquire and maintain a greater control over the situation than others. Hence, politics is above all a social activity concerned with people’s social and material relationships, varied in expression in different places and continually changing through time.

Heywood Politics: -The principles upon which human society should be based -Is the study of political values and normative theories -Is an academic discipline -Is the study of international or global influences upon modern life, such as the impact of trans- national technology and multinational corporations’

-Is what takes place within a polity, a system of social organization centered upon the machinery of government. Politics is therefore practised in cabinet rooms, government departments and the like and is engaged in by a limited and specific group of people, notably politicians, civil servants and lobbyists. -As compromise and consensus, politics is the struggle over scarce resources, and the use of power through which those resources are distributed. Hence, politics is the power and the distribution of resources. -Is the existence of rival opinions, different wants and competing needs and opposing interests. -Is a process of conflict resolution in which rival views or competing interests are reconciled with one another.

-Is the exercise of power, the exercise of authority, the making of collective decisions, the allocation of scarce resources, the practice of deception and manipulation, and so on. -Is a civilized and civilizing force. Peple should be encouraged to respect politics as an activity and should be prepared to engage in the political life of their own community. -In its broadest sense, is the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live

Feminists Politics: -Is everyday life. In the feminist’ view, relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children are every bit as political as relationships between employers and workers or between government s and citizens. -Focuses on ‘power-structured relationships and arrangements whereby one group of persons is controlled by another.

Marxists Politics: -In a conventional sense refers to the apparatus of the state. Political power is merely organized power of one class for oppressing another. -Together with law and culture, is a part of a ‘superstructure’ that is distinct from the economic ‘base’ that is the real foundation of social life.

Towards a Definition Politics is the study of political institutions and the structures in a country, namely the executive, legislature and judiciary, as well as the bureaucracy, and the behaviour of individuals and groups in terms of public policy and in relation to those structures and the decisions take; Politics is the study of the nature, distribution and dynamics of power and conflict in a country, region or in the international community; Politics is about taking decisions authoritatively in a state or society of influence and determining who gets the valuable rewards in that state or society.

References Barry, N. P. An Introduction to Modern Political Theory De Vos, T. Introduction to Politics Harris, P. B. Foundations of Political Science Heywood, A. Politics.