POLITICS

What is politics?Politics is….

“who does what to whom” – Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870 – 1924)

“bloodless war” – Mao Zedong (1873-1976)

“who gets what, when, and how much in a society” – Harold Lasswell (1902-1978)

“the doctrine of the possible, the attainable” – Otto von Bismark (1815-1898)

Politics is the social act, which attempts to resolve

the conflict between human needs and the

realities of human society

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Dimensions of Politics (brainstorm session)

What are the realities of human societies?

What are we in conflict about?What causes us to disagree?

The Dimensions of Politics1) Politics as Behaviour2) Politics as Culture3) Politics as Values4) Politics as Ideology (to be covered

in Chapter 2 tomorrow)5) Politics as Nation-Building (to be

covered in Units 3 and 4)

Politics as Behaviour

Political behaviour is a function of the relations humans have with their environment

Psychology

• Personality, expectations and motivations help explain individual and group responses to environmental stimuli

Social Relations• Humans are bound by fundamental relations

in families, businesses, churches, professional and leisure associations, etc.

Politics as Culture

Every political culture is unique!

Beliefs

• Convictions / assertions that we each maintain that are based on fundamental assumptions about human behaviour

Customs

• Conventional and accepted practices, ideas of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour

Expectations

• Standard assertions about what people believe ought to happen in the political world

Institutions

• Complex structures organized around a central decision-making activity or social need

Laws

• norms sanctioned by government decree or legislation

Symbols• Things that represent something else

Politics as Values

• Shared beliefs that provide standards for judging human thought and action

• Lasswell lists several values that generate politics and are sought after by people in all societies

Power

“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac” – Henry Kissinger

Power is the ability to do, act, or accomplish something

Wealth

• The level of economic status, purchasing power of the individual

• How to divide the economic resources of a society

Health

Enlightenment

• Education is a primary value in all societies

Employment

• Work or employment is the basis of all cultures

Justice

• People want a system that is fair and impartial

• Concept of “right” and “wrong”

Respect

• Domestically, respect for achievement and freedoms

• Internationally, territorial integrity and the principle of non-intervention

Security

• The ability of a society to satisfy basic human needs

• The ability of a country to maintain it’s independence and the non-interference of other countries

Essentially, politics is an activity through which contending interests and differences may be reconciled for the supposed advantage of society.

An example of political activity

The debate surrounding an issue such as abortion.There are two main positions regarding abortion:1) The life of the child (against)2) The autonomy of women (for)Laws, beliefs, values, opinions, etc. are generated,

and there is conflict between those who agree with a position and those who don’t.

Political activity brings about:

CONSERVATIONor

CHANGE

The evaluation of this is the basis of our judgement, and the foundation of all future political activity.