1 Watch the video and put the words into the gaps in the text.
Thank you, it’s really a great honor to be here and to have this
wonderful (1)___ and I’m very grateful that you’re all here for politics in
prose. One of the really nice things
about being able to speak about a new book is to go to real brick and mortar (2)____
and to realize that there are still people that really like real books and
come out for events like this because of the intellectual (3)____ and
interest. So thank you all for coming.
So I’m going to get straight into it. I wrote this book for a number
of reasons. Samuel Huntington, a political (4)___, was my teacher when I was
a graduate student at Harvard. He
wrote a very important book in 1968 called “Political (5)___ in Changing
Societies” which I think rereading it now in light of the Arab spring
actually is probably one of the best guides to what is going on in the Middle East at the present moment. But it’s a book that
needed to be (6)____, and I thought of a project of, you know, doing a
revision of this book. Among other things that open on the very first page it
says: “The Soviet Union and the United States
are equally developed political orders” and that didn’t seem quite right
after the fall of the Berlin
(7)___. But the other, you know, major issue is the one that was just
referred to, I’ve been thinking about
nation building, failed states, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, here are all of
these (8)____ challenges that we’ve faced and we have this illusion which I
would call ‘the problem of getting to ‘Denmark’ and “Denmark” is in quotation
marks ‘cause Denmark is actually not a real country, it’s this mythical place
that has low (9)___, democracy, stable government, good services delivered
very efficiently, and so forth. We have this vision of ‘Denmark’ in the back of our heads, and then we
go to a place like Afghanistan
and we say: “Well, how we’re going to get Afghanistan
to look like Denmark?”
And it doesn’t work very well. And part of the reason I began to realize was
that we don’t (10)____ how Denmark
got to be Denmark.
I actually have had a Visiting Professorship in Aarhus
University in Denmark, so I’ve been going to Denmark
for the last few years. And I’ll tell you that most Danes actually have no
idea how Denmark got to be
Denmark.
And so it struck me as a political scientist that there ought to be a basic
book you can go to say where political (11)___ come from. I didn’t see one,
and so I decided to write and so that’s why we get this book that I’ve
produced. So I also did not want to write a book on the (12)____ of politics
that holds this traditional Eurocentric or Anglocentric story not because I
am opposed to England
or the West, but I think it’s a distortion. And it’s one that’s been, you
know, taught still in a lot of the discourse that really begins with
Karl Marx that sees England
as the model for modernization. “England’s present is everybody’s
future”, - this is something actually that Karl Marx said. And what do you
realize, when you actually learn something about the history of England,
is that it is a very peculiar country in a number of ways that I will explain
to you. And to expect other countries to replicate the England’s (13)____ path, I think,
is highly unrealistic. And in fact, in my view, it was China, not that China,
it did not establish the first state, that happened in a lot of places: in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in the valley of Mexico. But in my view the Chinese (14)____
the first modern state, modern meaning, not based on hiring your cousins and
your friends to (15)____ the government, but based on (16)___ examinations, a
rational (17)____, centralized administration. And they did this in the third
century BC. And it’s a historical (18)____ that I think a lot of people have
not adequately recognized. And so
instead of starting with England or, you know, Greece and Rome and then going
for the Magna Carta and the rise of democracy in England it seemed to me it
made more sense to start with China. China
created the first modern state, why are other societies different from China? So
that’s the basic background.
Now there are three important baskets of political (19)___ that we
need to think about. The first is a state itself. The state is all about
power, the state is the ability to concentrate power in a hierarchy and to
use it to (20)___ rules over a particular territory, right. In the developing world, and this again is
why I think we sometimes take politics for granted. We assume that things
will happen like, you know, long time I lived in Fairfax County
for twenty years and the potholes always get filled every spring. Why do
those potholes get filled there but not in Papua New Guinea? Well, it turns
out there’s a hidden social (21)____ that provides these services and it does
it pretty efficiently, at least in a rich county like Fairfax, not in the only district. But, you
know, it’s interesting, you know, why those differences happen and I think
that all of the anti-government activists of which there are many in
especially in our society don’t understand that if you want a country that
doesn’t have a strong (22)____ that is able to enforce rules we are to move
to Somalia or Afghanistan or, you know, any less-developed country that
actually cannot enforce rules on its own territory. In Somalia if you want to own not
just an assault rifle but an RPJ or a shoulder- fired anti-aircraft weapon
you are free to do it. But it’s not a very happy (23)____ because it doesn’t
have institutions. Now that’s the state.
Second is the rule of law. The rule of law is all about
community rules of (24)___ that are regarded as superior to the will of
whoever happens to be running the government whether that is a President, a
Prime Minister, a king, (25)___,
whatever. The executive in the society doesn’t feel that he or she can just
make up the (26)____ on the fly whatever they want, but they actually have to
implement a law that someone else makes, all right. So that’s the second set of
important institutions.
And then the third is institutions of accountability. Today we associate those with (27)___, with
elections, but that’s not the only form of accountability. In any of them
when accountability institutions were first put into place in 17th
century England
the king was accountable to Parliament that only represented ten percent of
the English (28)____, richest ten percent. And so you can have accountability
without having democracy. And I believe as in China you can also have moral
accountability that is to say a government can feel obligated to take the
interest of its citizens into account even in the absence of election. So the
question is: “Where do these come from: the state is all about the
concentration of (29)____, the rule of law and accountability are by all means
limiting power?” And the miracle of modern politics is that you get the
President of the United States, who is the most powerful individual in human
history, who can nuke the rest of the world if he wants to, but he doesn’t
because it’s all (30)____ by law and by accountable political
institutions. It’s a kind of miracle
of modern politics, right.
So I’m going to tell you if you a few stories from
the book in each of these baskets. Let’s begin with the state. The state, in
some sense, in my view, is a big (31)____ against the family. Human nature
tells you a couple of things, there’s a universal (32)____. And there are a
couple of biological principles that govern human sociability. We sometimes
get this incorrect notion from Thomas Hobbes that before the rise of the
state you had just people clubbing each other over the head, you know, in
anomic (33)___ of all against all. But
that was actually never true, human (34)____ never went through that period.
They were always social and they’re social because they’re born with certain
characteristics that allow them to (35)____.
So one of them is a principal called ‘kin selection or inclusive
fitness’ by the biologists which simply means you’re going to be altruistic
to people in proportion to the number of genes you share with them. In other
words nepotism, you’re going to favor relatives. The second principal is reciprocal
altruism: you scratch my back - I’ll (36)____
yours, on a face- to- face basis. No
human child growing up anywhere has to be taught these (37)____, these are
inbuilt forms of sociability. They are the default ways that we relate to
each other, (38)____ and family. And in the absence of a modern institution
that forces you to hire somebody with qualifications rather than your cousin
or your brother-in-law, that’s the way you’re going to do it, that’s the kind
of normal politics that will insert itself. And so in a sense the, you know,
states and roles in the societies that were organized tribally meaning the
people were in large kin groups, they all believe that their descended from a
common (39)____, that they’re basically third and fourth and fifth cousins.
And how do you get from a state that is based on
kinship as a form of social organization to one that’s based on (40)____, in
which it’s not a matter of who you are related it’s the fact that I am a
citizen of the state of France
or Japan,
or whatever? And so that’s why there’s
a struggle, constant struggle against especially this biological urge to
protect your (41)___. Now how did this happen in China? It unfortunately happened
as a result of century’s long military conflict. There’s a famous political (42)____
Charles Chile who was famous for arguing in the case of Europe that the state
makes war and war makes the state, that it’s really military (43)____ that
drove people out of tribal societies into these more organized hierarchical
units. And if you look at Chinese history, that is exactly the story that
unfolds.
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challenge
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audience
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run
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understand
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scientist
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origins
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civil service
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institutions
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bureaucracy
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established
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foreign policy
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modernization
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corruption
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updated
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wall
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Order
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achievement
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structure
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society
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government
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enforce
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institutions
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monarch
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rules
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justice
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population
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limited
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democracy
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power
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scratch
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friends
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struggle
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mechanisms
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human nature
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war
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ancestor
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2 Vocabulary focus. Sudy the words and word combinations, practise
their translation, spelling. Check your knowledge
in the test. Play vocabulary game and set your own vocabulary game record.
3 Mark the following statements as True or False.
1.
The book “Political Order in Changing Society” can be
a guide to what is going on in Africa and Latin America.
2.
People want to create the state with low corruption,
democracy and stable government but it doesn’t work in all countries.
3.
Danes have the recipe of ‘getting to Denmark’, they teach it at
universities to all citizens.
4.
Traditionally political scientists are Eurocentric and
Anglocentric when they write about the origins of the state.
5.
China was the first to
establish state.
6.
Chinese state was modern because it was not based on
hiring your cousins and your friends to run the government, but was based on
civil service examinations.
7.
There are four important baskets of political
institutions that political scientists think about.
8.
Many people take politics for granted and believe that
the services their state gives to them are the same all over the world, e.g.
potholes are filled every spring in Fairfax
County and in Papua New Guinea.
9.
If people want a country that doesn’t have a strong government
that is able to enforce rules, they soon find themselves in a less-developed
country.
10. In Somalia
you can own any weapon you want but it doesn’t make people happy.
11. In a country ruled
by law presidents, kings and prime ministers cannot make the laws they want
when they want to.
12. In a country ruled
by law presidents, prime ministers, kings implement laws that were created by
other politicians.
13. In 17th
century England
we can find examples of democracy and accountability.
14. In China
moral accountability existed.
15. Accountability is
not always connected with elections.
16. State is a struggle
against the family because rulers and kings want their friends and cousins to
rule too.
17. In human history
people never were in the state of war against all other people, human beings
had special mechanisms that helped them to cooperate.
18. People tend to like
their relatives more that other people in the group.
19. In tribal societies
all people believe that they are relatives and have common ancestor.
20. Tribal societies
are based on citizenship but modern state is based on kinship.
4 Answer the Questions.
1.
Why do scientists need to update and revise books like
“Political Order in Changing Society”? What important events took place in
history since the book was written?
2.
What does the speaker mean when he mentions ‘the
problem of getting to Denmark?
Why is Denmark
a model country for some people?
3.
Why was Chinese state different from other states?
4.
What countries are traditionally seen as models of
modernization? Why are those countries seen as models of modernization? Is it
still relevant today?
5.
What is state? Does the speaker support a weak or a
strong government?
6.
What can people living in a country with weak government
have? Will their society be happy?
7.
What is the rule of law? How does the rule of law
influence kings, monarchs, presidents and prime ministers?
8.
What is accountability? What forms or types of
accountability can political scientists name?
9.
What is human sociability? Why is it important in
political science?
10. How did political
scientists of the past (e.g. Thomas Hobbes) see human nature? Were they right?
11. What types of
altruism are important for political science? How does each type influence
development of the state?
12. How was modern form of state developed in China?
What influenced its development?Research Methods in Political Science
Watch the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpuepU69vqM
and put the words into the gaps in the text
There are many things that (1)____ good social scientists from bad
ones. First, they understand the (2)_____ of what they do, like we’ve talked
about in every video in the class so far. Second, they understand the value
of their (3)____. In your case we're talking about the collected (4)____ of
those social scientists that wrote about the topic before. In this video we
will talk about how to (5)_____ this, why it is so important, and also how to
put it to use in your own work.
As we saw last time the (6)____ method when applied to political and
social science looks like this diagram.
We begin this video by discussing the first step in this process: (7)____
a research question. In the next
module you will move on to developing explanations and driving (8)____.
Before we get there we will discuss the literature review which is the (9)____
we use to begin to answer our questions.
The first step in the scientific method is to (10)____ research
question. The source of such a question is very open: it can come from
personal experience or observation, experience with a (11)____ debate or
insight, or it can come from more academic study, perhaps a (12)____ course like judicial
politics or (13)______. Any source that holds the spark of interest for the
individual researcher is appropriate.
The only limit on the general choice of topic is that it is
significant, observable, and political. Significant in this sense means that
it is important or will in some way (14)____ our understanding of politics
and government. Observable means the question is (15)_____. Political means
that it has to do with questions of ‘who gets what, when, and how’. It is
important to know that this is a subjective term and can (16)____ a wide
range of phenomena that some would perhaps not considered to be overtly
political. But it may still be appropriate. Also recall that research may
focus on the political behavior of individuals, groups, (17)____, such as
states and non-state entities, as well as political jurisdictions like the
interstate system. The point is there are few limits on what a research
question can be. There are, however, limits on what makes a good research
question, the point to which we will now turn.
In most cases research questions focus on (18)___. In other words they
ask a question about the specific association between some (19)____ or
phenomenon and another. For example:
“Why do some rebel groups use child soldiers and others do not?” Concept -
rebel groups, relationship - use or not use, concept - child soldiers. In other cases research questions may
be (20)____ or factual, that is they
ask discrete or easily answerable questions such as: “How many (21)____ are
Republicans?” This is not an appropriate research question because it is
simply account; it does not explain or require (22)_____. To be sure such
questions are valuable but their value was a precursor to good research
questions such as: “Why are so many Republican legislators from districts
with high numbers of registered Democrats?”
Once we have established our research question we move on to answer
it. To do so we must first explore our topic more thoroughly by seeing what information
exists on it. A literature review or lit review in political science (23)____
is a body of work related by topic. It offers a systematic examination of how
(24)____ authors explored an (25)_____ or phenomenon, and serves as a way to
inform and introduce your contribution to the issue. The Lit Review does more
than that though. It teaches the
researcher by (26)____ what scholars have uncovered. When you do a Lit Review
for the first time you learn where the discipline is on a given issue, in other
words if you're interested in the effects of education on voting you need
to know what the most recent conclusions are as well as where they came
from. A Lit Review also helps you
identify important questions that have not been answered or answered fully to
your (27)____. Identifying how previous scholars empirically explored a
research topic in the past offers a third purpose for the Lit Review. Finally it can help you narrow down your
topic and motivate more specific research questions.
While you must have a research question in mind before starting your
investigation a Lit Review might help, might force you to modify it based on
what else has been done. This step in the process can also serve as a new
source of inspiration for research.
Generally speaking there are
two ways to gather sources. One involves starting a wide search with the aid
of electronic (28)____ and narrowing it down to about ten articles. As you
have these ten you should (29)____ their contents including abstracts,
introductions and (30)____ and see which ideas are most prominent and which
ideas (idea or ideas) that you want to focus on. After you have these you can look at the
Lit Reviews in these articles for more guides for the most (31)____ sources
or important authors for you here.
Another method involves researching the author of a particularly
important article on your study. You can then search for other work by that
same author and see who they are citing or who was citing them. From this focus you can build your new Lit
Review.
After gathering your sources need to compile the information into a
coherent whole. One common way to do this is what is known as the ‘boxcar
method’. In it writers will take the
information from one piece of literature, (32)____ it in a paragraph form and
follow it with another summary of a second article, then the third and so
on. This resembles a train where each
car is of similar size, shape, and the content is presented in a similar way.
It is also the most (33)______ way to conduct a literature review. You should
avoid the ‘boxcar method’ at all cost. It is sloppy writing at best and (34)_____
at worst. It does not show how scholarship fits together and does not
identify what your research is contributing.
The better way is to focus on the ideas, concepts, and possibly the
methods chosen. Though, I personally
don't like this final approach. You should be able to identify commonalities
and (35)____, what the authors tend to agree on, what is still inconclusive.
Remember: the goal is to bring previous work together conceptually. This serves as the purpose of identifying
why your research is important. In other words from your Lit Review your
readers should be able to anticipate what you're going to do that makes it an
original contribution: “Does (36)____ tell us
this, but looking at it from other important ways it should be wrong?
Does common sense tell us something, researchers tell us something else, or
we should actually (37)____ common sense more?” It is difficult to offer a set of examples
on how to construct a Literature Review because there’s a wide variety of (38)___
to follow. One thing that they all have in common, though, is that they focus
on an overview of what has been done on your chosen topic. Focus is an idea
and serves as (39)____ information to your theory or answer to the research
question. Also it does not follow ‘boxcar method’. Again, avoid the ‘boxcar
method’.
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separate
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tool
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hypothesis
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developing
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scientific
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encompass
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answerable
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international relations
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identify
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expand
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institutions
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nonscholarly
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subsidiary
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concept
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descriptive
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legislators
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relationships
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exploration
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previous
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issue
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lingo
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satisfaction
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revealing
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browse
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databases
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appropriate
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conclusions
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inefficient
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counterproductive
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summarize
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background
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common sense
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1 Vocabulary focus. Sudy the words and word combinations, practise
their translation, spelling. Check your knowledge
in the test. Play vocabulary game and set your own vocabulary game record.
2 Answer the Questions
1.
What are the differences between good and bad social
scientists?
2.
How
can people identify research questions? When should people develop their
research question: at the beginning, in the middle, at the end of their
research?
3.
What
sources can scholars use to identify their research question? What sources are
appropriate?
4.
Why should research questions be answerable,
observable and political? Can all people define term ‘political’ in the same
way?
5.
How does the speaker define term ‘political’ in the
video?
6.
What
can research questions focus on? What kind of relationships can be studied by
political scientists?
7.
Are
all questions good research questions?
8.
What
is Literature review? What is its main role?
9.
Why
are research question and Literature Review connected?
10. How can people start working on their Lit
Review? What sources can they use?
11. How can
scholars gather sources for Lit Review?
12. What methods of compiling information in Lit
Review do you know? Which method is efficient and which is counterproductive?
Defining Politics
The world ‘politics’ is derived from
polis (Greek), literally meaning city-state. (Ancient Greek society was divided
into a collection of independent city-states, each of which possessed its own
system of government). The modern form of this definition is therefore ‘what
concerns the state’. To study politics is in essence to study government, or
more broadly, the exercise of authority.
Politics is what takes place within a
polity, a system of social organizations centered upon the machinery of
government. Politics is therefore practiced in cabinet rooms, legislative
chambers, government departments and the like and it is engaged in by a limited
and specific group of people. Businesses, schools and other educational
institutions, community groups, families and so on are in this sense
‘nonpolitical’ because they are not engaged in ‘running the country’.
The definition can be narrowed still
further. This is evident in tendency to treat politics as equivalent of party
politics. In other words, the realm of ‘the political’ is restricted to those
state actors who are consciously motivated by organization such as a political
party.
The link between politics and the
affairs of the state also helps to explain why negative images have so often
been attached to politics. This is because in the popular mind, politics is
closely associated with the activities of politicians. But brutally, the
politicians are often seen as power-seeking hypocrites who conceal personal
ambitions behind the rhetoric of public service and ideological conviction.
This rejection of the personnel and machinery of conventional political life is
clearly evident in the use of derogatory phrases such as ‘office politics’ and
‘politicking’. But without some kind of mechanism for allocating authoritative
values, society would simply disintegrate into a civil war of each against all.
The task is therefore not to abolish politicians and to bring politics to an
end, but rather to ensure that politics is conducted within a framework of
checks and constraints that ensure that government power is not abused.
Thus, politics is the activity
through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which
they live. Politics is also an academic subject, it is clearly concerned which
the study of this activity.
Politics is also linked to the
phenomena of conflict and cooperation (the existence of rival opinions,
different wants, competing needs and opposing interests guarantees disagreement
about the rules under which people live). This is why the heart of politics is
often portrayed as a process of conflict resolution, in which rival views or
competing interests are reconciled with one another.
1 Give
Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
To be derived
from, city-state, government, authority, machinery, department, politician,
derogatory, to amend, rival.
2 Translate words and word combinations from
Ukrainian into English and use them in your own sentences.
Суспільство, визначення, керівництво,
законодавчий, навчальний заклад, управляти країною, державна служба,
громадянська війна, розподіл,
ліквідувати, гарантувати, система стримувань і противаг, зловживати, вносити поправки, співпраця, усунути
розбіжності.
3 Complete
the sentences with words or phrases from the list.
Legislative chambers, party politics,
government, polity, city-state, politicians, departments.
1.
_______, or
ancient Greek city-state, represents the largest of all city-state cultures.
2.
Estonia is the first country to develop a policy document for cooperation in
the region and is currently developing a new mechanism for ______
funding.
3.
For almost
seven centuries, the Thai _______ was
under the rule of absolute monarchy.
4.
Federation's
upper ______
_________ is designed to give federal
subjects - their governments or citizens - direct representation in the center.
5.
In addition
to the 11 government ________,
there exists in Northern
Ireland a substantial number of other organizations
within the public sector.
6.
______ ________
refers to actions or political behaviors motivated by what is best or right for
the political party.
7.
The public
tends to be too passive or indifferent when the ________
decide to send soldiers into battle.
4 Complete the
sentences.
1.
The task is therefore not to abolish
politicians ....
2.
Politics is therefore practiced
.......
3.
This is why the heart of politics
.....
4.
The modern form of this definition
.......
5.
In other words, the realm of ‘the
political’ .....
6.
The link between politics .....
7.
But without some kind .....
8.
Politics is also linked to .....
5 Comprehension questions.
1. What is the origin of the term “politics”?
2. Where is politics practiced? What does it include?
3. How can politics be defined?
4. What is the connection between politics and
politicians, politics of the state and political parties?
5. What image
do politicians have in public mind?
6. How are politics and conflicts connected?
6 Say if the following statements are true according to the text.
1. Ancient Greek society was divided into national
states.
2. Term ‘politics’ means ‘what concerns the state’.
3. ‘Polity’ is the same as ‘political party’.
4. Not all members of society and not all institutions
are included in politics.
5. Politics has no negative images.
6. In popular mind politicians are the models of
honesty and truthfulness.
7. Politicians should not be abolished because it would
lead to civil war.
8. Checks and constraints are never used in politics.
9. Cooperation is not important in politics.
10. The heart of politics is resolution of conflicts.
Different
Views of Politics
Politics as the art of government.
‘Politics is not a science … but an art’ as Chancellor Bismarck told the German
Reichstag. The art Bismarck
had in mind was the art of government, the exercise of control within society
through the making and enforcement of collective decisions. This is perhaps the
classical definition of politics, developed from the original meaning of the
term in Ancient Greece.
Politics as public affairs. The
second and broader conception of politics moves it beyond the narrow realm of
government to what is thought of as ‘public affairs’. On the basis of
‘public/private’ division, politics is restricted to the activities of the
state itself and the responsibilities which are properly exercised by public
bodies (the apparatus of government, the courts, the police, the army, the
society-security system and so forth).
Politics as compromise and consensus.
The third conception of politics relates not so much to the arena within which
politics is conducted as to the way in which decisions are made. Specifically,
politics is seen as a particular means of resolving conflict, that is by
compromise, conciliation and negotiation, rather than through force and power.
This is implied when politics is portrayed as ‘the art of the possible’. Such is
the definition in the everyday use of the term. For instance, the description
of a solution to a problem as a ‘political’ solution implies peaceful debate
and arbitration, as opposed to what is often called a ‘military’ solution.
Politics as power. The fourth
definition of politics is both the broadest and the most radical. This view
sees politics at work in all social activities and in every corner of human
existence. At its broadest, politics concerns the production, distribution and
use of resources in the course of social existence, but the essential
ingredient is the existence of scarcity. The simple fact that, while human
needs and desires are infinite, the resources available to satisfy them are
always limited, politics can therefore be seen as a struggle over scarce
resources, and power can be seen as the means through which this struggle is
conducted.
1 Give
Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Exercise, public affairs, realm, consensus,
arbitration, infinite, struggle, scarcity.
2 Translate words and word combinations from
Ukrainian into English and use them in your own sentences.
Реалізація, суд, компроміс, вирішувати,
примирення, переговори, обговорення.
3 Match the notions on the left with
the definitions on the right.
1. Cooperation a. competition between opposing
forces, reflecting diversity of
opinions,
preferences, needs
or interest.
2. State
b. disillusionment with formal
and
established political
processes, reflected in non-
participation, support for anti-
system parties or the use of
direct actions
3. Power
c. working together, achieving
goals through collective
actions
4. Authority d. a political association that
establishes sovereign
jurisdiction within defined
territorial borders and
exercises authority through a
set of permanent institutions
5. Conflict
e. ability to influence the
behavior of others.
6. Anti-polities f. legitimate power, rightfulness.
7. General will g. the genuine interests of a
collective body, equivalent to
the common good.
4 Complete
the sentences
1.
On the basis of ‘public/private’ ...
2.
At its broadest, politics...
3.
The art Bismarck had ...
4.
The simple fact that ...
5.
For instance, the description ...
6.
Specifically, politics is seen...
5 Comprehension questions.
1. Which of the definitions is the closest to the
meaning of the term ‘politics’ in Ancient Greece?
2. How are broad and narrow definitions of politics
different?
3. What kind of compromise does politics involve? How
can politics help to resolve conflicts?
4. What is the role of politics in the distribution of
resources in society?
5. What kind of struggle is conducted in human society?
6 Say if the following statements are true according to the text.
1. Bismarck thought that politics was an academic subject.
2.
Politics
helps to enforce collective decisions in society.
3.
Politics
can be seen as the activities of the state, not as part of public affairs.
4.
Courts are
not included into politics.
5.
Political
solution to a conflict is peaceful solution through negotiations.
6.
Human
needs are not limited, but resources are scarce.
7. Politics cannot regulate the allocation of
resources in society.
Vocabulary Focus. Put the correct words from a–d
below in the text.
Politics as the Art of Government
Politics is not a science … but an
art, Chancellor Bismarck is reputed to have told the German Reichstag. The art Bismarck had in mind was
the art of (1)________, the exercise of control within society through the
making and (2)________ of collective decisions. This is perhaps the classical definition of politics,
developed from the original meaning of the term in Ancient Greece.
The word ‘politics’ is derived from polis, literally meaning city-state.
Ancient Greek society was (3)_______ into a collection of independent
city-states, each of which possessed its own system of government. The largest
and most influential of these city-states was Athens, often portrayed as the (4)_______ of
democratic government. In this light, politics can be understood to refer to
the affairs of the polis, in effect,
‘what concerns the polis’. The modern
form of this (5)______ is therefore ‘what concerns the state’. This view of
politics is clearly evident in the everyday use of the term: people are said to
be ‘in politics’ when they hold public office, or to be ‘entering politics’
when they seek to do so. It is also a definition which academic political
science has helped to perpetuate.
However, what is striking about this
definition is that it offers a highly restricted view of politics. Politics is
what takes place within a polity, a system of social organization centered upon
the machinery of government departments and the like, and it is cabinet rooms,
(6)_______ chambers, government departments and the like, and it is engaged in
by a limited and specific group of people, notably politicians, civil servants
and lobbyists. This means that most people, most institutions and other
educations and most social activities can be regarded as being ‘outside’
politics. Businesses, schools and other educational institutions, community
groups, families and so on are in this sense ‘nonpolitical’, because they are
not engaged in ‘running the country’. By the same token, to portray politics as
an essentially state-bound activity is to ignore the increasingly important
international or (7)______ influences upon modern life, such as the impact of
transnational technology and multinational corporations. In this sense, this
definition of politics is a hangover from the days when the nation-state could
still be regarded as an independent actor in world affairs.
This definition can, however, be
narrowed still further. This is evident in the tendency to treat politics as
the equivalent of party politics. In other words, the realm of ‘the political’
is restricted to those state actors who are consciously motivated by
ideological beliefs, and who seek to advance them through membership of a
formal organization such as a political party. This is sense in which
politicians are described as ‘political’, whereas civil (8)______ are seen as
‘nonpolitical’, as long as, of course, they act in neutral and professional
fashion.
The link between politics and the
affairs of the state also helps to explain why negative or pejorative images
have so often been attached to politics. This is because, in the popular mind,
politics is closely associated with the activities of politicians. Put
brutally, politicians are often seen as power-seeking hypocrites who conceal
personal ambition behind the rhetoric of public service and ideological
conviction. Indeed, this perception has become more common in the modern period
as intensified media exposure has more effectively brought to light examples of
(9)______ and dishonesty, giving rise to the phenomenon of anti-politics. This
rejection of the personnel and machinery of conventional political life is
rooted in a view of politics as self-serving, two-faced and unprincipled
activity, clearly evident in the use of derogatory phrases such as ‘office
politics’ and ‘politicking’. Such an image of politics is sometimes traced back
to the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli, who, in The Prince ([1531] 1961), developed a strictly realistic account of
politics which drew attention to the use by political leaders of cunning
cruelty and (10)_____.
Such a negative view of politics
reflects the essentially liberal perception that, as individuals are
self-interested, political power is (11)_______. However, there is a general
acceptance that politicians are always with us. Without some kind of mechanism
for allocating authoritative values, society would simply disintegrate into a
(12)_______ war of each against all, as the early social-contract theorists
argued. The task is therefore not to abolish politicians and bring politics to
an end, but rather to ensure that politics is conducted within a framework of
checks and constraints that ensure that governmental power is not abused.
1
|
(a)
|
governed
|
(b)
|
government
|
(c)
|
governing
|
(d)
|
controlled
|
2
|
(a)
|
agreeing
|
(b)
|
implemented
|
(c)
|
forcing
|
(d)
|
enforcement
|
3
|
(a)
|
divided
|
(b)
|
separated
|
(c)
|
split
|
(d)
|
broken
|
4
|
(a)
|
birth
|
(b)
|
motherland
|
(c)
|
cradle
|
(d)
|
basic
|
5
|
(a)
|
theoretic
|
(b)
|
word
|
(c)
|
definition
|
(d)
|
meaning
|
6
|
(a)
|
legislative
|
(b)
|
legally
|
(c)
|
legislature
|
(d)
|
law
|
7
|
(a)
|
local
|
(b)
|
internationally
|
(c)
|
global
|
(d)
|
world
|
8
|
(a)
|
servants
|
(b)
|
serving
|
(c)
|
service
|
(d)
|
offices
|
9
|
(a)
|
bribe
|
(b)
|
greed
|
(c)
|
corruptive
|
(d)
|
corruption
|
10
|
(a)
|
violent
|
(b)
|
manipulation
|
(c)
|
terrify
|
(d)
|
manipulate
|
11
|
(a)
|
disappoint
|
(b)
|
unrewarding
|
(c)
|
corrupting
|
(d)
|
dangerous
|
12
|
(a)
|
civil
|
(b)
|
state
|
(c)
|
citizen
|
(d)
|
civilian
|
What Is Politics?
If we try to define ‘politics’ more formally and precisely, we run into
the problems. One of the problems is associated with whether we are talking
about politics as a human activity or politics as an academic activity – or, in
American terminology, politics or political science. The search for truth about
how human beings exercise power might be thought to be completely separate from
exercising that power. But in practice political ideas are some of the most
important weapons in the politician’s armoury. Attempts to ignore this are
either naive or a deliberate attempt to present a controversial political
ideology as an indisputable political fact. In this light it is worth
considering rather critically the standard academic definitions of politics and
of power.
politics
|
is
|
the
science and art of government; the science dealing with the form, organization
and administration of a state or a part of one, and with the regulation of
its relations with other states.
(Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)
|
who
gets what, when, how.
(H.
Lasswell, 1936)
|
||
man
moving man.
(Bertrand
de Jouvenal, 1963)
|
||
the
authoritative allocation of value.
(David
Easton, 1979)
|
||
a
way of ruling divided societies by a process of free discussion and without
undue violence.
(Bernard
Crick, 2000)
|
||
power
|
is
|
the
production of intended effects.
(Bertrand
Russell, 1938)
|
the
probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position
to carry out his own will despite resistance regardless of the basis on which
the probability arises.
(Max
Weber, in Gerth and Mills, 1948)
|
||
the
capacity to mobilize the resources of society for the attainment of goals for
which a general public commitment . . . may be made.
(Talcott
Parsons, 1957)
|
||
the
capacity of a social class to realize its specific objective
interests.
(Nicos
Poulantzas, 1973)
|
The definitions of politics and power show very considerable
differences, reflecting the viewpoint of the author. Most political scientists’
definitions of politics are much broader in scope than the first, dictionary,
definition which focuses on the state. In effect they support the view
suggested above: that politics is about the social exercise of power, rather
than just the state. However, this may reflect the natural ‘imperialism’ of academics
on behalf of their own discipline. Sociologists might argue that ‘man moving
man’ would be more appropriate as a definition of their concerns.
Consider also, though, the unit of analysis, in terms of which these
definitions are couched. Weber, Lasswell and de Jouvenal appear to be thinking
primarily in terms of individuals exercising power, Crick and Parsons focus
upon whole societies, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary talks about
governments, whilst Poulantzas views classes as the primary political ‘actor’.
This reflects a split between individualistic and collectivist theories.
Another contrast in these definitions is that between what has been
described as ‘zero-sum’ and ‘non-zero-sum’ theories of politics. This
terminology is derived from the mathematical theory of games. A zero-sum game
is the usual sort of game, such as chess, in which a win by one player is, by
definition, a loss on the part of the opposing player or players. There is a
fixed amount of ‘winnings’ which means that the gains of one side are, by
definition, losses to the other. Obviously many politicians, and political
scientists, see politics this way. Thus Weber and Lasswell both seem to suggest
that the political success of one individual may well be at the expense of others
who oppose them. It is also a feature of Marxist theories, like that of
Poulantzas, that the interests of classes are opposed and are gained at the
expense of each other.
However, not all games are of this sort – for instance in collective
make-believe children’s games, new themes introduced by one player can enrich
the enjoyment of the game for everyone. There is not a fixed amount of
‘winnings’, but by cooperation both sides can achieve more. In a similar way,
Parsons explicitly argues that, by cooperation, different groups in society can
each obtain greater benefits than would be the case if they work in
competition. This view seems to fit well with contemporary emphasis in many
parts of the Western world on the practice of mainstream politicians seeking to
build coalitions, which involves compromise. Thus different theories place
radically different emphasis on consensus (agreement) and conflict in their
theories of politics.
Today ‘politics’ encompasses a broad range of situations in which
people’s objectives vary, but in which they work together to achieve those aims
they have in common as well as competing where aims conflict. Both cooperation
and competition may involve bargaining, argument and coercion. Politics may
often be more an art than a science, and the art of politics may often be to
see the potential for alliances rather than antagonisms amongst differing
groups.
1 Give
Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Weapon, armoury, controversial,
indisputable, scope, on behalf of, gain, antagonism.
2 Translate words and word combinations from
Ukrainian into English and use them in your own sentences.
Застосовувати силу, одностайність
(консенсус), коаліція, прагнення,
ведення переговорів, стримування.
3 Complete
the sentences with words or phrases from the list.
Consensus, objectives, exercise of power, coercion, political scientists
1. Different _____ ______
have different views on the best way to define
politics.
2.
For
sociologists who study conflict and power,
the important question is who benefits from the _____
__ ______.
3. In order to keep the rulers accountable for their actions and to build
__________, the civil society must play an
active political role.
4. Different nations may have different social and
economic ________.
5. In human-centered systems, the exercise
of control by one person or entity over another person (natural or legal) is
usually based on a combination of incentives and _______.
4 Complete
the sentences.
1. Sociologists
might ...
2. Today
‘politics’ encompasses ...
3. Both
cooperation and competition ...
4. But
in practice political ...
5. Most
political scientists’ definitions ...
6. This
view seems to fit ...
7. A
zero-sum game ...
5 Comprehension questions.
1.
What problem
does definition of the term ‘politics’ create?
2.
How do
authors’ viewpoints influence the definition of politics?
3.
How do
definitions of political scientists differ from those of sociologists?
4.
What
situations does politics include?
5.
How are
cooperation and competition related to politics?
6 Say if the
following statements are true according to the text.
1. In
American terminology politics and political science mean the same.
2. Exercising
the power and analysis of this process are separate disciplines.
3. Political
science is concerned with the study of power and politics.
4. Politics
can be seen as a type of game.
5. People
should work together to achieve aims in politics.
6. Competition
is not part of politics.
Project Work. Work individually or in
pairs. Use the table in the text to
define ‘politics’ and ‘power’. What definition do you agree with? Explain your
point of view. Create your own definition of terms ‘politics’ and ‘power’. Prepare
a 3-5 minutes talk to present your definitions to the class.
Approaches to the Study of Politics
One of the joys, and also one of the frustrations, of the study of
politics lies in the variety of approaches adopted by academic writers to the
subject. This is a joy because within one course of study you will be
introduced to a rich spectrum of writing ranging from classic philosophers like
Plato and Aristotle, through radical sociologists such as C. Wright Mills and Pareto,
to modern social scientists such as Robert Dahl. It is frustrating because the
conclusions of such writers cannot be simply accumulated to form political
scientist’s view of politics.
The three main academic approaches to the study of politics can be
described as ‘traditional scholarship’, ‘social science’ and ‘radical
criticism’. They might also be thought of as the British, the American and the
French approaches.
‘Traditional scholars’ often look at one specific country, political
institution, theoretical concept or writer in depth, often with the tools of
another academic discipline – especially history or philosophy. Thus the core
of the politics curriculum in Britain,
at least until recently, has been the study of individual British political institutions
in their historical context; the great political philosophers; and ‘comparative
government’. The latter was the study of American, French and Soviet government
and politics separately. In continental Europe
politics has often been a subsidiary part of departments of faculties of law,
sociology or history.
‘Social scientists’ have generalizing approach in which scholars of
politics try to derive general theories or laws about the nature of political
behaviour. For example, a typical American-style curriculum presents political
science as one of a group of related social science disciplines, including
sociology and economics, all using modern quantitative/computer oriented
methods of ‘analyzing data’ scientifically.
‘Radical critics’ do not deny the need to produce useful generalizations
from the study of politics. They focus not on academic discipline but on a
general doctrine calling for the radical change of existing (Western) societies
– most frequently some variety of Marxism, ecological, theological or feminist
perspective.
The bases of the distinction are: a) what writers see their task, b) the
methods they use, c) the level and type of their analysis, d) the values they share and support.
1 Give
Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and expressions.
Frustration, approach, concept, in depth, curriculum, subsidiary, generalization.
2 Translate
words and word combinations from Ukrainian into English and use them in your own sentences.
Підхід, філософ, соціолог, факультет, доктрина, теологічний.
3 Complete
the sentences with words or phrases from the list.
Generalizing
approach, political institution, approach, classic philosophers, approach,
social sciences.
1. The oldest ______
to the study of politics is philosophical that is also
known by the name of ethical ______.
2. The following ______ political
_______ and texts should be added to the
list: Aristotle, The Politics; Machiavelli, The Prince; G.
Hegel, The Philosophy of Right.
3. The discussion and description of
______ ______ established by the constitution
and their functions, and how they compare in
different countries have been the main focus of this book.
4. The formal ______ ______
should be applied in the study of social phenomena which are characteristic of
all societies.
5. The ______ _______
include sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, public administration and history.
4 Complete
the sentences.
1. In
continental Europe ...
2. ‘Traditional
scholars’ often look ...
3. ‘Radical
critics’ do not ...
4. The
bases of the distinction ...
5. Thus
the core of the politics ...
6. The
three main academic approaches ...
7. For
example ...
5 Comprehension questions.
1. What
approaches can be adopted by academic writers on politics?
2. How
many approaches to the study of politics can be singled out? What are their
characteristic features?
3. What
do students of political science learn in British universities?
4. What
approach focuses on the nature of political behaviour?
5. What
kind of change do ‘radical critics’ want to see in the society? Give example
of ‘radical critics’.
6 Say if the
following statements are true according to the text.
1. Variety
of approaches to the study of politics is a positive trait of the subject.
2. Plato
and Aristotle are radical sociologists.
3. Conclusions
of different writes cannot be accumulated by political scientists.
4. There
are four main approaches to the study of politics.
5. ‘Traditional
scholarship’ is an American approach.
6. ‘Traditional
scholarship’ means studying American, French and Soviet government and politics
separately.
7. In
American universities students learn political science among other social
science disciplines like sociology.
‘Radical critics’ want to see change in Western
societies.
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