What is Politics? - Law & Politics

What is Politics? - Law & Politics

• 1.
  WHAT IS POLITICS?
• 2.
  Problems with definingpolitics • Politics is a loaded term – few people come to politics without preconceptions • It is also an essentially contested concept, seen variously as 1) The art of government 2) Public affairs 3) Compromise and consensus 4) Distribution of power and resources
• 3.
  • ‘Politics isnot a science… but an art’ (Chancellor Bismarck) • Politics is understood as that which concerns the state • To study politics is to study government – and the exercise of authority • This offers a highly restrictive view of politics – most institutions and activities (businesses, schools, families) are seen as ‘non-political’ Politics as the art of government
• 4.
  • Distinction between‘the political’ and ‘the non-political’ coincides with the division between an essentially public sphere of life and what can be thought of as a private sphere. • Traditional division between public and private realm conforms to division between state and civil society • An alternative divide distinguishes between ‘the political’ and ‘the personal’ • Politics does not and should not infringe on personal affairs (ie. family and domestic life). Politics as public affairs
• 5.
  • Politics isseen as a means of resolving conflict (by compromise and negotiation rather than through force) • Based on faith in the efficacy of debate and discussion, as well as on the belief that society is characterized by consensus, rather than by irreconcilable conflict • A failure to understand politics as a process of compromise may have contributed to a growing popular disenchantment with democratic politics across much of the developed world. Politics as compromise and consensus
• 6.
  • This viewsees politics at work in all social activities and in every corner of human existence • Politics is, in essence, power • Advocates of this view include feminists and Marxists Politics as the distribution of power and resources
• 7.
  • The philosophicaltradition • The empirical tradition • Behaviouralism • Rational-choice theory • New institutionalism • Critical approaches Approaches to the study of politics
• 8.
  • Concepts helpus to classify objects by recognizing that they have similar forms or similar properties. • Models include a network of relationships that highlight the meaning and significance of relevant empirical data • Theories offer a systematic explanation of a body of empirical data Tools of political analysis
• 9.
  • A distinctionhas traditionally been made between the domestic and international realms of politics • The state-based paradigm of politics has come under pressure as a result of recent trends and developments, including globalization • The increase in transnational flows has expanded the parameters and complexity of political activity Politics in a global age
• 10.
  • A distinctionhas traditionally been made between the domestic and international realms of politics • The state-based paradigm of politics has come under pressure as a result of recent trends and developments, including globalization • The increase in transnational flows has expanded the parameters and complexity of political activity Politics in a global age