1. POLITICS What is politics? Politics is….

2. “who does what to whom” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924)

3. “bloodless war” – Mao Zedong (1873-1976)

4. “who gets what, when, and how much in a society” – Harold Lasswell (1902-1978)

5. “the doctrine of the possible, the attainable” – Otto von Bismark (1815- 1898)

6. Politics is the social act, which attempts to resolve the conflict between human needs and the realities of human society

7. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

8. The Dimensions of Politics (brainstorm session) What are the realities of human societies? What are we in conflict about? What causes us to disagree?

9. The Dimensions of Politics 1)Politics as Behaviour 2)Politics as Culture 3)Politics as Values 4)Politics as Ideology (to be covered in Chapter 2 tomorrow) 5)Politics as Nation-Building (to be covered in Units 3 and 4)

10. Politics as Behaviour Political behaviour is a function of the relations humans have with their environment

11. Psychology Personality, expectations and motivations help explain individual and group responses to environmental stimuli

12. Social Relations Humans are bound by fundamental relations in families, businesses, churches, professional and leisure associations, etc.

13. Politics as Culture Every political culture is unique!

14. Beliefs Convictions / assertions that we each maintain that are based on fundamental assumptions about human behaviour

15. Customs Conventional and accepted practices, ideas of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour

16. Expectations Standard assertions about what people believe ought to happen in the political world

17. Institutions Complex structures organized around a central decision-making activity or social need

18. Laws norms sanctioned by government decree or legislation

19. Symbols Things that represent something else

20. Politics as Values Shared beliefs that provide standards for judging human thought and action Lasswell lists several values that generate politics and are sought after by people in all societies

21. Power “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac” – Henry Kissinger Power is the ability to do, act, or accomplish something

22. Wealth The level of economic status, purchasing power of the individual How to divide the economic resources of a society

23. Health

24. Enlightenment Education is a primary value in all societies

25. Employment Work or employment is the basis of all cultures

26. Justice People want a system that is fair and impartial Concept of “right” and “wrong”

27. Respect Domestically, respect for achievement and freedoms Internationally, territorial integrity and the principle of non- intervention

28. Security The ability of a society to satisfy basic human needs The ability of a country to maintain it’s independence and the non-interference of other countries

29. Essentially, politics is an activity through which contending interests and differences may be reconciled for the supposed advantage of society.

30. An example of political activity The debate surrounding an issue such as abortion. There are two main positions regarding abortion: 1)The life of the child (against) 2)The autonomy of women (for) Laws, beliefs, values, opinions, etc. are generated, and there is conflict between those who agree with a position and those who don’t.

31. Political activity brings about: CONSERVATION or CHANGE The evaluation of this is the basis of our judgement, and the foundation of all future political activity.