Lesson 1
WHAT IS POLITICS?
Required reading:
● Heywood, A. (2019). What is Politics? In Heywood, A. (Ed.)
● Politics Houndsmill: Palgrave, p. 1-26
DEFINING POLITICS
= Defining what politics is, is surprisingly hard
ARISTOTELE:
Politics would enable us to come to a good society
Humans = by nature political animals
Politics
• A mean to achieve a good society
• A way to communicate and organise
KEY ISSUES OF POLITICS
1. Politics is a loaded term: negative preconception about politics - struggle, conflict, abuse of
power
2. Essentially contested concept: people have different views and interpretation on politics
Two broad approaches to defining politics:
1. Politics is associated with an ‘arena’: behaviour becomes political because of where it takes
place
- specific context and the location
2. Politics as a process: behaviour that exhibits distinctive (=onderscheidende) characteristics
or qualities; can take place in any social context, not limited
- specific characteristic, features of the actors present or of the behaviour
4 different subviews on ‘politics’
- Politics as the art of government (arena)
- Politics as public affairs (arena)
- Politics as compromise & consensus (process)
- Politics as power (process)
ARENA
Politics as the art of government (arena)
POLITICS = Everything that concerns the state / art of government
• Politics as the activity of the governing of country: the exercise of control within society through
the making and enforcement of collective decisions
• Traditional, but restricted view on ‘the political’
– Many actors, institutions and processes ‘outside’ politics are not part of this understanding
Certain actors that exercise control on country => but many actors fall out of this category
• Pejorative view: politicians = power-seeking actors; using position their to their own advantage
→references to specific locations: parliaments, legislatures, official offices + specific individuals
who hold some kind of position with political power
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1
,Party politics
Even more restrictive view :
Those who are affiliated /in a party politics is restricted to those state actors who are motivated
by ideological beliefs and seek to advance them through membership of a formal organization
(political party)
=> that explains negative (pejorative) views on politics: politicians are often seen as
power-seeking actors who exploit their position to their own advantage
- example: judges, scientists are being accused of being political by
the decisions that they make - driven by ideological beliefs
- thin line between political and not political
Politics as public affairs (arena)
POLITICS = what concerns the state + public life / public sphere
- Broader conception of politics; less restrictive
- Cfr. Aristotle’s view of “creating a just society”: public sphere is part of living a good life
PUBLIC SPHERE = private actors and state come together to discuss what is in the public
sphere
It is social space to which the public has access and where private citizens can engage in
debates pertinent to the public interest without interference from the state (Habermas 1989)
Broader view of ‘the political’:
- Political = government, political associations, interest groups, NGOs, social movements,
voluntary associations, community groups, (social) media, …
- media: have impact, can steer political agenda, endorses political candidate (USA)
→ meta political? : yes, private companies are part of the public sphere - political
So a public actor would be a part of the political sphere
- Non-political = private life (domestic, family life)
● Alternative distinction: political / personal → Line is not always easy to draw – and
sometimes is intentionally blurred (example affair impact career? but also politicians try
to make themselves seen as ‘one of us’ )
PROCESS
Politics as compromise & consensus (process)
Positive view on politics
• Politics is a means of resolving conflict through compromise and consensus
- The key to politics is the wide dispersal of power: if power is shared among a variety of
societal actors, compromise & conciliation is inevitable
→ not always the case : always winners & losers
• ‘Political solution’ versus ‘military solution’
- “that solution to the problem of order which chooses conciliation rather than violence and
coercion” (Crick)
- There is a blur between the two solutions
Critique: restricted to Western pluralist democracies (minorities have a say in decision making)
- What about one - party states, ... ? Is consensus achievable there ?
2 4
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,Politics as power (process)
The broadest conception of politics
Politics is power and power is everywhere
• This view sees politics at work in every social interaction and in all social activities;
because it is all about power
• Politics as struggle over scarce resources; power as a means through which the struggle is
conducted
• Politics is the exercise of power by one person/entity over another:
- Power = when A gets B to do something that B would not otherwise have done (Dahl 1957)
- By use/threat of force, manipulation/intimidation, promise of reward, creation of loyalty,
power of numbers, …
Broadest definition of politics:
- Power as the means through which a struggle over scarce resources is conducted
• Broad range of activities and actors
• Politics takes place in the public and private sphere
• cfr. Feminism: ‘The Personal is Political’ → within the private sphere there is power dynamics
going on between men and women → politics is present
!!! POLITICS AS POWER - MIGHT BE IN EXAM
Can be positive but can go in a negative direction
Three ‘faces’ of power (Lukes, 2004)
- Power as decision-making
• Ability to decide on the formal rules and laws (e.g. majority in parliament)
- Power as agenda setting
• Ability to make sure that some issues are being discussed or to prevent issues from being
discussed (non-decision)
- Power as thought control
• Ability to influence another by shaping what that person thinks, wants or needs.
• ~ propaganda, soft power (US as cultural leader of the free world)
Page 3 of 4
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DEFINING POLITICS
Politics = the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules
under which they live (Heywood, p.2)
- Broad working definition
- What if you start unpacking: e.g. are we referring to a specific type of ‘making’ rules?
Politics => SOCIAL activity - different individuals attending
Politics is linked to conflict and cooperation
- the distribution of power and resources within a society —> conflict over values and resources
- Development of rules to resolve conflicts and foster cooperation in society
- Politics is the continual search for conflict resolution (not all conflicts can be solved) => Aiming
to find the solution rather than solving
STUDYING POLITICS
Origins of political science:
Previously a subpart of broader disciplines:
- Old field of study, but originally seen as part of philosophy, history or law
- early writings: The Republic: Plato; Il Principe: Niccolo Machiavelli
→study of the principles on which society should be based = normative questions
- Throughout 20th century: political science developed as a scientific discipline of its own
→ not just normative:: study political behaviour, theories developing,..
- How should society be organised?
- What is a good society? How to achieve it?
A scientific discipline
- More than ‘talking about politics’
- Empirical tradition: observations of ‘objective’ reality as a crucial test for any theory or model
about how politics works
- Based on these principles:
• Intellectual distance: ‘scientific objectivity’ and ‘political neutrality’ (is this possible? isn't
it always a bit subjective?)
• Guided by scientific principles, methods and tools
• In search of regularities: systematic inquiry → we tend to develop classifications,
typologies that help us understand what is going on in reality
- Scientific ‘language’
• Approaches
• Concepts
• Models
• Theories
Page 4 of 4
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WHAT IS POLITICS?
Required reading:
● Heywood, A. (2019). What is Politics? In Heywood, A. (Ed.)
● Politics Houndsmill: Palgrave, p. 1-26
DEFINING POLITICS
= Defining what politics is, is surprisingly hard
ARISTOTELE:
Politics would enable us to come to a good society
Humans = by nature political animals
Politics
• A mean to achieve a good society
• A way to communicate and organise
KEY ISSUES OF POLITICS
1. Politics is a loaded term: negative preconception about politics - struggle, conflict, abuse of
power
2. Essentially contested concept: people have different views and interpretation on politics
Two broad approaches to defining politics:
1. Politics is associated with an ‘arena’: behaviour becomes political because of where it takes
place
- specific context and the location
2. Politics as a process: behaviour that exhibits distinctive (=onderscheidende) characteristics
or qualities; can take place in any social context, not limited
- specific characteristic, features of the actors present or of the behaviour
4 different subviews on ‘politics’
- Politics as the art of government (arena)
- Politics as public affairs (arena)
- Politics as compromise & consensus (process)
- Politics as power (process)
ARENA
Politics as the art of government (arena)
POLITICS = Everything that concerns the state / art of government
• Politics as the activity of the governing of country: the exercise of control within society through
the making and enforcement of collective decisions
• Traditional, but restricted view on ‘the political’
– Many actors, institutions and processes ‘outside’ politics are not part of this understanding
Certain actors that exercise control on country => but many actors fall out of this category
• Pejorative view: politicians = power-seeking actors; using position their to their own advantage
→references to specific locations: parliaments, legislatures, official offices + specific individuals
who hold some kind of position with political power
Gedownload door: margolepoudre | Wil jij €76 per
Dit document is auteursrechtelijk beschermd, het verspreiden van dit document is strafbaar. maand verdienen?
1
,Party politics
Even more restrictive view :
Those who are affiliated /in a party politics is restricted to those state actors who are motivated
by ideological beliefs and seek to advance them through membership of a formal organization
(political party)
=> that explains negative (pejorative) views on politics: politicians are often seen as
power-seeking actors who exploit their position to their own advantage
- example: judges, scientists are being accused of being political by
the decisions that they make - driven by ideological beliefs
- thin line between political and not political
Politics as public affairs (arena)
POLITICS = what concerns the state + public life / public sphere
- Broader conception of politics; less restrictive
- Cfr. Aristotle’s view of “creating a just society”: public sphere is part of living a good life
PUBLIC SPHERE = private actors and state come together to discuss what is in the public
sphere
It is social space to which the public has access and where private citizens can engage in
debates pertinent to the public interest without interference from the state (Habermas 1989)
Broader view of ‘the political’:
- Political = government, political associations, interest groups, NGOs, social movements,
voluntary associations, community groups, (social) media, …
- media: have impact, can steer political agenda, endorses political candidate (USA)
→ meta political? : yes, private companies are part of the public sphere - political
So a public actor would be a part of the political sphere
- Non-political = private life (domestic, family life)
● Alternative distinction: political / personal → Line is not always easy to draw – and
sometimes is intentionally blurred (example affair impact career? but also politicians try
to make themselves seen as ‘one of us’ )
PROCESS
Politics as compromise & consensus (process)
Positive view on politics
• Politics is a means of resolving conflict through compromise and consensus
- The key to politics is the wide dispersal of power: if power is shared among a variety of
societal actors, compromise & conciliation is inevitable
→ not always the case : always winners & losers
• ‘Political solution’ versus ‘military solution’
- “that solution to the problem of order which chooses conciliation rather than violence and
coercion” (Crick)
- There is a blur between the two solutions
Critique: restricted to Western pluralist democracies (minorities have a say in decision making)
- What about one - party states, ... ? Is consensus achievable there ?
2 4
Gedownload door: margolepoudre | Wil jij €76 per
Dit document is auteursrechtelijk beschermd, het verspreiden van dit document is strafbaar. maand verdienen?
,Politics as power (process)
The broadest conception of politics
Politics is power and power is everywhere
• This view sees politics at work in every social interaction and in all social activities;
because it is all about power
• Politics as struggle over scarce resources; power as a means through which the struggle is
conducted
• Politics is the exercise of power by one person/entity over another:
- Power = when A gets B to do something that B would not otherwise have done (Dahl 1957)
- By use/threat of force, manipulation/intimidation, promise of reward, creation of loyalty,
power of numbers, …
Broadest definition of politics:
- Power as the means through which a struggle over scarce resources is conducted
• Broad range of activities and actors
• Politics takes place in the public and private sphere
• cfr. Feminism: ‘The Personal is Political’ → within the private sphere there is power dynamics
going on between men and women → politics is present
!!! POLITICS AS POWER - MIGHT BE IN EXAM
Can be positive but can go in a negative direction
Three ‘faces’ of power (Lukes, 2004)
- Power as decision-making
• Ability to decide on the formal rules and laws (e.g. majority in parliament)
- Power as agenda setting
• Ability to make sure that some issues are being discussed or to prevent issues from being
discussed (non-decision)
- Power as thought control
• Ability to influence another by shaping what that person thinks, wants or needs.
• ~ propaganda, soft power (US as cultural leader of the free world)
Page 3 of 4
Gedownload door: margolepoudre | Wil jij €76 per
Dit document is auteursrechtelijk beschermd, het verspreiden van dit document is strafbaar. maand verdienen?
, Stuvia - Koop en Verkoop de Beste Samenvattingen
DEFINING POLITICS
Politics = the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules
under which they live (Heywood, p.2)
- Broad working definition
- What if you start unpacking: e.g. are we referring to a specific type of ‘making’ rules?
Politics => SOCIAL activity - different individuals attending
Politics is linked to conflict and cooperation
- the distribution of power and resources within a society —> conflict over values and resources
- Development of rules to resolve conflicts and foster cooperation in society
- Politics is the continual search for conflict resolution (not all conflicts can be solved) => Aiming
to find the solution rather than solving
STUDYING POLITICS
Origins of political science:
Previously a subpart of broader disciplines:
- Old field of study, but originally seen as part of philosophy, history or law
- early writings: The Republic: Plato; Il Principe: Niccolo Machiavelli
→study of the principles on which society should be based = normative questions
- Throughout 20th century: political science developed as a scientific discipline of its own
→ not just normative:: study political behaviour, theories developing,..
- How should society be organised?
- What is a good society? How to achieve it?
A scientific discipline
- More than ‘talking about politics’
- Empirical tradition: observations of ‘objective’ reality as a crucial test for any theory or model
about how politics works
- Based on these principles:
• Intellectual distance: ‘scientific objectivity’ and ‘political neutrality’ (is this possible? isn't
it always a bit subjective?)
• Guided by scientific principles, methods and tools
• In search of regularities: systematic inquiry → we tend to develop classifications,
typologies that help us understand what is going on in reality
- Scientific ‘language’
• Approaches
• Concepts
• Models
• Theories
Page 4 of 4
Gedownload door: margolepoudre | Wil jij €76 per
Dit document is auteursrechtelijk beschermd, het verspreiden van dit document is strafbaar. maand verdienen?
