1 What is Politics? Flashcards
For Aristotle, politics was the “______ science”, the activity through which humans improve their ______ and create the ______ Society.
For Aristotle, politics was the “master science”, the activity through which humans improve their lives and create the Good Society.
Broad definition of politics?
Activity whereby people determine the rules under which they live.
What two factors make politics an inevitable feature of the human condition?
1 Diversity –differing needs and wants
2 Scarcity –never enough to go around
US historian Henry Adams summed up politics as ‘the systematic organization of _______’.
US historian Henry Adams summed up politics as ‘the systematic organization of hatreds’.
Difference between authority and power?
Authority is power with some kind of perceived legitimacy
Machiavelli dates?
1469-1527
When was The Prince published?
1532
What was Machiavelli’s The Prince based on?
Machiavelli’s first-hand observations of the statecraft of Cesare Borgia.
What was the purpose of Machiavelli’s The Prince?
As a guide for the future prince of a united Italy.
Who said this?
‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’.
Lord Acton (1834–1902)–British politician and historian.
Aristotle dates?
384-322 BC
What was Aristotle’s school called?
Peripatetic school –after his tendency to pace as he talked.
What does Aristotle argue in “Politics”?
That the city-state is the basis for virtue and wellbeing and that democracy is preferable to oligarchy.
What is ‘civil society’?
Sum of non-government and private institutions –businesses, families, etc.
What do liberal theorists propose as the role of the political?
That it be narrow, and stay out of private activities such as business and family life, as it can prevent people from acting as they choose.
What’s the difference between a procedural and substantive consensus?
A procedural consensus is a willingness to make decisions through a process of consultation and bargaining.
A substantive consensus is an overlap of ideological positions that reflect agreement about broad policy goals.
What is Bernard Crick’s definition of politics?
Using conciliation and debate (rather than violence) to distribute power to groups in proportion to their importance to community.
What are the 3 faces of political power?
1 Power to influence decision-making e.g., the stick, the deal, the kiss (obligations, loyalty) (Keith Boulding)
2 Power to set agenda –ability to prevent decisions being made or even discusssed
3 Power as thought control –ideological indoctrination, etc.
Power can be said to be exercised whenever A gets B to do something that B…
Power can be said to be exercised whenever A gets B to do something that B would not otherwise have done.
What is meant by the radical feminist slogan, “the personal is the political”?
If politics is the exercise of power, this can take place in personal spaces in the subjugation of women at home. This private patriarchal structure then reproduces male dominance in public life.
What do Marxist and Feminist views of politics have in common?
Both view politics as form of subjugation – of proletariat or women –but also of means of liberation.
Why do second-wave feminists object to the political/private divide?
If politics and public life is dominated by men, this means women will be excluded.
Death of Socrates date?
399BC
What was Plato’s political philosophy?
Power should be vested in hands of educated elite – ‘philosopher kings’
What did Plato think of democracy?
Was critical of it, as uneducated people should not determine affairs of state.
What is institutionalism?
The study of the assumptions, sets of rules and practices of institutions
What is the prisoner’s dilemma?
Scenario in which two prisoners can:
Individually confess –confessor goes free, other gets 10 years
Both confess –6 years each
Not confess –1 year each
What is Max Weber’s idea of an ideal type?
Max Weber’s ideal type is a sociological concept that creates an exaggerated theoretical model to allow comparison and analysis of phenomena for analysis.
For example, ‘bureaucracy’ emphasizes hierarchy, rules, and impersonality.
