UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA (UNISA)
College of Economic and Management Sciences
⋄
ASSIGNMENT 2
Politics as Social Activity: Short Paragraphs
⋄
Module Code: PLC1501
Module Name: Politics as Social Activity
Assignment No.: Assignment 2
Due Date: 10 April 2026, 13:00
Semester: Semester 1, 2026
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for PLC1501
at the University of South Africa.
, UNISA | PLC1501 – Politics as Social Activity Assignment 2, Semester 1, 2026
Question 1: The Rationalistic Theory as an Explanation for the Origin of Politics
Political life does not simply appear out of nowhere. People have spent centuries trying to
explain why human beings end up living under systems of authority, law, and governance, rather
than simply doing whatever they please. The rationalistic theory is one of the oldest and most
enduring answers to this question. It holds that politics is not accidental, not the result of force
alone, and not the product of divine decree. Instead, it is a product of human reason: conscious,
deliberate, and purposeful (Study Guide, 2002:31).
1.1 What Rationalistic Theory Argues
At its core, rationalistic theory says that human beings entered political life because they chose
to. They reasoned their way there. The argument begins with a straightforward observation
about human nature: people are social creatures, but they are also self-interested ones. Left
without rules, the conflict between competing interests quickly becomes ungovernable. Ra-
tionalistic theorists argue that it was precisely this recognition, arrived at through reason, that
drove individuals to form political communities and submit to common authority (Study Guide,
2002:31–32).
This is not a mystical or religious argument. Thinkers in this tradition were doing something
quite specific: they were stripping politics down to its rational foundations. If you take away
culture, tradition, and emotion, what is left? According to rationalists, what remains is a cal-
culation. Each individual calculates that life under some form of political order is preferable
to life without it. That calculation, repeated across many individuals, is what produces politics
(Wikipedia, 2025a).
1.2 Philosophical Roots
The rationalistic theory of political origins has roots going back to ancient Greece. Plato, in The
Republic, treated politics as a domain that could and should be governed by reason. He held that
properly structured political life, led by those with the greatest rational insight, would produce
justice and order (Wikipedia, 2025a). Aristotle took this a step further. His famous claim that
the human being is by nature a political animal was not a statement about instinct. It was a
rational argument: the political community, the polis, is the only setting in which human beings
can fully exercise their capacity for reason and therefore flourish as human beings (Study Guide,
Page 1 of 13
College of Economic and Management Sciences
⋄
ASSIGNMENT 2
Politics as Social Activity: Short Paragraphs
⋄
Module Code: PLC1501
Module Name: Politics as Social Activity
Assignment No.: Assignment 2
Due Date: 10 April 2026, 13:00
Semester: Semester 1, 2026
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for PLC1501
at the University of South Africa.
, UNISA | PLC1501 – Politics as Social Activity Assignment 2, Semester 1, 2026
Question 1: The Rationalistic Theory as an Explanation for the Origin of Politics
Political life does not simply appear out of nowhere. People have spent centuries trying to
explain why human beings end up living under systems of authority, law, and governance, rather
than simply doing whatever they please. The rationalistic theory is one of the oldest and most
enduring answers to this question. It holds that politics is not accidental, not the result of force
alone, and not the product of divine decree. Instead, it is a product of human reason: conscious,
deliberate, and purposeful (Study Guide, 2002:31).
1.1 What Rationalistic Theory Argues
At its core, rationalistic theory says that human beings entered political life because they chose
to. They reasoned their way there. The argument begins with a straightforward observation
about human nature: people are social creatures, but they are also self-interested ones. Left
without rules, the conflict between competing interests quickly becomes ungovernable. Ra-
tionalistic theorists argue that it was precisely this recognition, arrived at through reason, that
drove individuals to form political communities and submit to common authority (Study Guide,
2002:31–32).
This is not a mystical or religious argument. Thinkers in this tradition were doing something
quite specific: they were stripping politics down to its rational foundations. If you take away
culture, tradition, and emotion, what is left? According to rationalists, what remains is a cal-
culation. Each individual calculates that life under some form of political order is preferable
to life without it. That calculation, repeated across many individuals, is what produces politics
(Wikipedia, 2025a).
1.2 Philosophical Roots
The rationalistic theory of political origins has roots going back to ancient Greece. Plato, in The
Republic, treated politics as a domain that could and should be governed by reason. He held that
properly structured political life, led by those with the greatest rational insight, would produce
justice and order (Wikipedia, 2025a). Aristotle took this a step further. His famous claim that
the human being is by nature a political animal was not a statement about instinct. It was a
rational argument: the political community, the polis, is the only setting in which human beings
can fully exercise their capacity for reason and therefore flourish as human beings (Study Guide,
Page 1 of 13
