Lecture 1: What is politics?
politics→ the center of power
- In all shapes and forms
- Ex: political parties,media coverage, voting (biggest political act), protesting etc.
Problem with defining politics
Too narrow: missing out
Too broad: everything becomes politics
BENJAMIN BARBER: “Politics is the necessity to make collective and binding decisions in
circumstances of conflict and uncertainty”
1. Conflict
Of interests:
- “Politics is who gets what, when and how”
- Individual and group interests
- Monetary and distributional issues (labor movements and unions)
Of Values:
- Politics is the warring of the gods - often politics isn't a clash of interest but about what the right
thing to do is
- Politics of conviction
- Creates sharp and fundamental conflicts
Of order:
- Vulnerability of human coexistence and collective action
- Organising human coexistence is always conflictual
2. Uncertainty ( there is no single right answer to political problems)
- Lack of information and knowledge
- Too many variables, future always uncertain, politics not about looking back
- Problem of acceptable risk
- Not calculable
- Conflicting facts
- Wicked problems
- Eg. global warming, causes of unemployment etc.
- Wicked because you cannot settle conflict with additional facts
Where reason claims to speak, politics is silent
- Not to be substituted by philosophy or science
- Not a scientific problem, decisions are the outcome of political processes.
, - Politics is never final
- Not to strive for truth but about finding the best reasonable option.
- Wisdom should be the nature of politics
3. Necessity
- Politics is about real things that need attention now
- War, welfare, economic growth etc.
- Cannot wait for consensus and uncertainty
4. Collective and binding decisions
- A means through which collective goals are achieved
- Binding decisions hold for all, even for those who disagree
- Making binding decisions is an act of power
The distinctive nature of politics is
- Collective
- Conflict
- An exercise of power
- Not substitutional
- About rationality, not truth
- Not a game (ongoing entertainment), but urgent
What is political science?
Political science is the study of power as an aspect of human activity
- The distribution of power in social systems, institutions and relationships
- Everything we do can be interpreted as power
- If power is an aspect of human life, it is inescapable
Political science as a separate domain
- Collective ruling organisations
- The state, its institutions and its processes
Power comes in many shapes and guises
Why study politics:
- Dahl: it helps one to understand the world one lives in, to make more intelligent choices among
the alternatives one faces and to influence the changes inherent in all political systems
Different perspectives
● Law
○ Domain: legal system (studying books and interpreting)
, ○ aspect: legality
● Economics
○ domain: economic system , markets (how do they function)
○ Aspect: utility - something economical in everything we do
● Psychology
○ domain: the human mind
○ aspect: cognition,emotions, motives
● Politics
○ domain: the state (the prime political organisation
○ aspect: power (everything you do can be interpreted in terms of power)
Reality is ambiguous
- Implications:
- There is a political aspect to markets and law
- There is a legal, economic and psychological aspect to politics
- There are different perspectives to social reality
- Methods “distort the world into clarity”
Lecture 2: What is State Domination?
1. Causal power:
- The use of power resources: eg. weapons or money to alter choice alternatives
2. Social Power
- Never completely determines actions, but structures freedom of choice
- Always contains possibility of defiance, resistance and conflict
Power doesn't cause things, it structures them.
What structures social action (why am I making certain choices?)
- Choice alternatives that are dependent on
- Material context
- Interest constellation
- Social norms
- Facts
Metaphor of the river:
- Resistance : action structures make some actions less and other actions more difficult, does not
cause action
- Path dependency: we do not start at day zero
- Routines and habits: “go with the flow”
- Change requires work: or external events
, Elementary forms of power:
Excersing power vs. holding power
Scott: elementary vs. developed power
1. Elementary forms of social power
How do we modify choice alternatives of others as subjects ? By closing off or opening possibilities
From elementary to complex:
Elementary power:
- Influencing action structures of others
- We do it all the time, all day
- Intention is often missing or unclear
More complex:
- Making a threat: If you do not obey, I will..
- To pursue our will, even against resistance
Most complex form:
- Power as domination
- Not making threat at all, still pursue your will
politics→ the center of power
- In all shapes and forms
- Ex: political parties,media coverage, voting (biggest political act), protesting etc.
Problem with defining politics
Too narrow: missing out
Too broad: everything becomes politics
BENJAMIN BARBER: “Politics is the necessity to make collective and binding decisions in
circumstances of conflict and uncertainty”
1. Conflict
Of interests:
- “Politics is who gets what, when and how”
- Individual and group interests
- Monetary and distributional issues (labor movements and unions)
Of Values:
- Politics is the warring of the gods - often politics isn't a clash of interest but about what the right
thing to do is
- Politics of conviction
- Creates sharp and fundamental conflicts
Of order:
- Vulnerability of human coexistence and collective action
- Organising human coexistence is always conflictual
2. Uncertainty ( there is no single right answer to political problems)
- Lack of information and knowledge
- Too many variables, future always uncertain, politics not about looking back
- Problem of acceptable risk
- Not calculable
- Conflicting facts
- Wicked problems
- Eg. global warming, causes of unemployment etc.
- Wicked because you cannot settle conflict with additional facts
Where reason claims to speak, politics is silent
- Not to be substituted by philosophy or science
- Not a scientific problem, decisions are the outcome of political processes.
, - Politics is never final
- Not to strive for truth but about finding the best reasonable option.
- Wisdom should be the nature of politics
3. Necessity
- Politics is about real things that need attention now
- War, welfare, economic growth etc.
- Cannot wait for consensus and uncertainty
4. Collective and binding decisions
- A means through which collective goals are achieved
- Binding decisions hold for all, even for those who disagree
- Making binding decisions is an act of power
The distinctive nature of politics is
- Collective
- Conflict
- An exercise of power
- Not substitutional
- About rationality, not truth
- Not a game (ongoing entertainment), but urgent
What is political science?
Political science is the study of power as an aspect of human activity
- The distribution of power in social systems, institutions and relationships
- Everything we do can be interpreted as power
- If power is an aspect of human life, it is inescapable
Political science as a separate domain
- Collective ruling organisations
- The state, its institutions and its processes
Power comes in many shapes and guises
Why study politics:
- Dahl: it helps one to understand the world one lives in, to make more intelligent choices among
the alternatives one faces and to influence the changes inherent in all political systems
Different perspectives
● Law
○ Domain: legal system (studying books and interpreting)
, ○ aspect: legality
● Economics
○ domain: economic system , markets (how do they function)
○ Aspect: utility - something economical in everything we do
● Psychology
○ domain: the human mind
○ aspect: cognition,emotions, motives
● Politics
○ domain: the state (the prime political organisation
○ aspect: power (everything you do can be interpreted in terms of power)
Reality is ambiguous
- Implications:
- There is a political aspect to markets and law
- There is a legal, economic and psychological aspect to politics
- There are different perspectives to social reality
- Methods “distort the world into clarity”
Lecture 2: What is State Domination?
1. Causal power:
- The use of power resources: eg. weapons or money to alter choice alternatives
2. Social Power
- Never completely determines actions, but structures freedom of choice
- Always contains possibility of defiance, resistance and conflict
Power doesn't cause things, it structures them.
What structures social action (why am I making certain choices?)
- Choice alternatives that are dependent on
- Material context
- Interest constellation
- Social norms
- Facts
Metaphor of the river:
- Resistance : action structures make some actions less and other actions more difficult, does not
cause action
- Path dependency: we do not start at day zero
- Routines and habits: “go with the flow”
- Change requires work: or external events
, Elementary forms of power:
Excersing power vs. holding power
Scott: elementary vs. developed power
1. Elementary forms of social power
How do we modify choice alternatives of others as subjects ? By closing off or opening possibilities
From elementary to complex:
Elementary power:
- Influencing action structures of others
- We do it all the time, all day
- Intention is often missing or unclear
More complex:
- Making a threat: If you do not obey, I will..
- To pursue our will, even against resistance
Most complex form:
- Power as domination
- Not making threat at all, still pursue your will
