Table of Contents
Politics and the Method of Comparison ..........................................................................................2
Politics definitions .......................................................................................................................2
Pillars of politics- classical ideological traditions .....................................................................3
Studying politics – why do we compare ....................................................................................4
Take home points ........................................................................................................................4
State and nation ................................................................................................................................4
What is a state..............................................................................................................................4
Nationalism ..................................................................................................................................6
Take home message .....................................................................................................................7
Democracy and Legitimacy ..............................................................................................................7
Legitimacy ....................................................................................................................................7
Democracy ...................................................................................................................................7
Democracy in practice...............................................................................................................8
Take home ....................................................................................................................................8
Political Regimes in comparison .....................................................................................................9
Power ............................................................................................................................................9
Regime types ................................................................................................................................9
Is democracy in retreat? ...........................................................................................................10
Take home message ...................................................................................................................10
Government and It’s Institutions ...................................................................................................11
Government institutions ...........................................................................................................11
The system of government ........................................................................................................12
Take home message ...................................................................................................................12
Globalisation and multilevel politics .............................................................................................13
Globalisation ..............................................................................................................................13
Multilevel governance ...............................................................................................................14
Take home ..................................................................................................................................15
1
, Politics and the Method of Comparison
The origins of politics are from the Greek word polis (city-state) as the Greek society was organized in
city states with self-government.
Politics is an organisation of conflict and cooperation; it matters because it decides about the distribution
of power and resources. The existence of different views and values guaranteed disagreement about the
rules however with this comes cooperation to influence these rules people must work together. This is
how politics exists and why it is considered the process of conflict resolution. It defines out place in
society and what opportunities we have. It sets the rules of society through the exercise of power (to
decide, implement and punish), it allocates public goods and values and therefore is the competition
and cooperation among individuals, groups or states pursuing their interests.
Left values equality and seeks to reduce social and economic inequalities.
Right accepts inequality as natural or inevitable and attempts to eliminate it as either undesirable or
utopian.
These ideologies offer an account of the existing order, desired future and the road map. So, a world
view, a goal which is the alternative to the worldview, and the process on how to achieve the desired
future.
There are two major problems when clarifying the meaning of politics. The first issue is mass of
associations as this word is publicly perceived differently compared to other words. The second issue
is that authorities cannot agree what the subject is about giving rise to competing definitions. Therefore,
it is easy to view politics in these two approaches: politics is associated with a location, where, and it is
viewed as a process with a behaviour which is distinctive, how.
Politics definitions
Politics as the art of government can be seen as a group of people who work together as an organised
political entity: polity. It encompasses the various processes through which government responses to
pressures from wider society. However, this definition is a very restricted view on politics as it only
focuses on what is practiced in political areas and thus schools and business are non-political as they
are not engaged in running the country. This is why a mechanism of allocation authoritative values is
needed to ensure that politics is conducted within a framework of check to guarantee that governmental
power is not abused with the rise in anti-politics.
Politics as public affairs can be seen as a public and private sphere. We live in a private and a public
world which can be seen as the division between the state and the civil society. The public institutions
are responsible for the civil society and its public interests whilst the civil society consists of institutions
like family and businesses which are private to ensure private interests. Therefore, politics is restricted
to the activities to protect public interests, performed by public bodies. Feminist perspective reject that
politics should exclude the personal because of gender inequality which has been preserved precisely
because the sexual division is seen as natural rather than political.
Politics as compromise and consensus focuses on the way in which decisions are made, so negotiation
and conciliation, with the aim to remove the view that disagreement results into armed conflict.
Politics as power confines politics to a particular sphere where it is present in all social activities and
every corner of human existence. Here politics can be found both from family and friends to global
stages. It focuses on power the ability to achieve a desired outcome however, there is a struggle over
scares resources, and not all infinite desires can be achieved. This is where power can be seen as the
2
Politics and the Method of Comparison ..........................................................................................2
Politics definitions .......................................................................................................................2
Pillars of politics- classical ideological traditions .....................................................................3
Studying politics – why do we compare ....................................................................................4
Take home points ........................................................................................................................4
State and nation ................................................................................................................................4
What is a state..............................................................................................................................4
Nationalism ..................................................................................................................................6
Take home message .....................................................................................................................7
Democracy and Legitimacy ..............................................................................................................7
Legitimacy ....................................................................................................................................7
Democracy ...................................................................................................................................7
Democracy in practice...............................................................................................................8
Take home ....................................................................................................................................8
Political Regimes in comparison .....................................................................................................9
Power ............................................................................................................................................9
Regime types ................................................................................................................................9
Is democracy in retreat? ...........................................................................................................10
Take home message ...................................................................................................................10
Government and It’s Institutions ...................................................................................................11
Government institutions ...........................................................................................................11
The system of government ........................................................................................................12
Take home message ...................................................................................................................12
Globalisation and multilevel politics .............................................................................................13
Globalisation ..............................................................................................................................13
Multilevel governance ...............................................................................................................14
Take home ..................................................................................................................................15
1
, Politics and the Method of Comparison
The origins of politics are from the Greek word polis (city-state) as the Greek society was organized in
city states with self-government.
Politics is an organisation of conflict and cooperation; it matters because it decides about the distribution
of power and resources. The existence of different views and values guaranteed disagreement about the
rules however with this comes cooperation to influence these rules people must work together. This is
how politics exists and why it is considered the process of conflict resolution. It defines out place in
society and what opportunities we have. It sets the rules of society through the exercise of power (to
decide, implement and punish), it allocates public goods and values and therefore is the competition
and cooperation among individuals, groups or states pursuing their interests.
Left values equality and seeks to reduce social and economic inequalities.
Right accepts inequality as natural or inevitable and attempts to eliminate it as either undesirable or
utopian.
These ideologies offer an account of the existing order, desired future and the road map. So, a world
view, a goal which is the alternative to the worldview, and the process on how to achieve the desired
future.
There are two major problems when clarifying the meaning of politics. The first issue is mass of
associations as this word is publicly perceived differently compared to other words. The second issue
is that authorities cannot agree what the subject is about giving rise to competing definitions. Therefore,
it is easy to view politics in these two approaches: politics is associated with a location, where, and it is
viewed as a process with a behaviour which is distinctive, how.
Politics definitions
Politics as the art of government can be seen as a group of people who work together as an organised
political entity: polity. It encompasses the various processes through which government responses to
pressures from wider society. However, this definition is a very restricted view on politics as it only
focuses on what is practiced in political areas and thus schools and business are non-political as they
are not engaged in running the country. This is why a mechanism of allocation authoritative values is
needed to ensure that politics is conducted within a framework of check to guarantee that governmental
power is not abused with the rise in anti-politics.
Politics as public affairs can be seen as a public and private sphere. We live in a private and a public
world which can be seen as the division between the state and the civil society. The public institutions
are responsible for the civil society and its public interests whilst the civil society consists of institutions
like family and businesses which are private to ensure private interests. Therefore, politics is restricted
to the activities to protect public interests, performed by public bodies. Feminist perspective reject that
politics should exclude the personal because of gender inequality which has been preserved precisely
because the sexual division is seen as natural rather than political.
Politics as compromise and consensus focuses on the way in which decisions are made, so negotiation
and conciliation, with the aim to remove the view that disagreement results into armed conflict.
Politics as power confines politics to a particular sphere where it is present in all social activities and
every corner of human existence. Here politics can be found both from family and friends to global
stages. It focuses on power the ability to achieve a desired outcome however, there is a struggle over
scares resources, and not all infinite desires can be achieved. This is where power can be seen as the
2
