Intro to Political Theory/ CIA-1 Yousuf Ramiuzzamah 25213237

“Politeia”

Abstract

All of humanity holds a stake in the future of politics. No matter one’s country of origin,
economic circumstance, racial or cultural identity, or beliefs, the reality of political decisions,
public policies and laws drastically influence the day to day lives of all people. Even in the
most intimate details of one’s life, including your reproductive rights, marriage rights, and
even how your body will be treated after you die. Politics is everywhere. Whether or not you
care about politics, politics has an interest in you.

Introduction

Throughout history, numerous academics, political theorists and philosophers have debated
and laid claims as to the purpose of politics and political power. Many such individuals,
including Thomas Hobbes and Max Weber, have identified the true meaning of politics as
obedience and domination over others. For Hobbes (Leviathan, 1651), politics is
fundamentally about imposing order to prevent chaos. Power & control over it, remains a
central theme regarding politics among a lot of thinkers.

Body

For some, politics is the contest over and exercise of power. Usually, people associate politics
with aspects of government, such as elections, politicians, and policies, but politics occurs in
any situation where there is competition over power. For example, the phrase “office politics”
is commonly used to refer to the contest over power in the workplace, such as when
employees compete for promotions or complain about incompetent bosses.

Politics can occur outside of government because power can exist outside of
government. Power is the ability to cause someone to do something he or she would not
otherwise do. Politics exists because power is scarce. There is not enough power for everyone
to have as much as he or she wants, because power is relative. Whenever one person becomes
more powerful, everyone else becomes less powerful relative to that person.
Harold Lasswell defined politics as “who gets what, when, and how.” Whenever people,
groups, or countries compete over territory, wealth, privileges, or status, they are competing
overpower. According to Dowse & Hughes (1972) politics is about power too. They say
politics occurs when there are differentials in power. This suggests that: Any social
relationship which involves power differentials is political. Whatever form it takes, the
contest over power is, by definition, political.

However, such an interpretation is incredibly dangerous, closely aligning with the historical
values of authoritarian and totalitarian governments. Someone who saw the rise & fall of
Nazi-Germany & fascism in Europe, Hannah Arendt changed the way we look at politics, her
thought emerging from her critical engagement with both classical philosophy (especially
Aristotle’s polis) and the political catastrophes of the 20th century (Nazism,
Stalinism). Politics, in her view, is a way of being together, based on principles of equality
and nonviolence, in which people decide what to do and how to live together through open
debate and common deliberation on matters of public concern. We discover that truly good
politics can be achieved only through the realization and actualization of equality.

For Aristotle, the central aim of the polis was the human good, and the study of politics was
practical, making decisions about what forms of government and legislation would most
promote the human good. Thus, for Aristotle, the political ideal was therefore an integrated
affair among citizens and political official, where each was to maintain the health and
happiness of the other. In classical Greece, the term ‘political’ also had to do with
fundamental decision making about the affairs of the community. To make decisions,
however, one must first have the power to do so. If the entire community is involved in
decision making, then decision making presupposes the collective power of the entire
community. The term ‘political’ then may also refer to this collective power, to the use of this
power to make decisions, and political science or philosophy may be viewed as the study of
this collective power.

In the present times, every community comprises of conflicting interests & values. The
‘political’ may then refer to the arena of this fundamental conflict over which conception of
the ‘good’ would or should prevail. Political situations arise out of disagreement. In other
words, the disagreement provides the basis for politics. The disagreement might also arise
from differences of condition, status, power, opinion, and aim. People have different
opinions, viewpoints and make different judgments. They differ from each other in such a
variety of ways that it would be impossible to achieve agreement about everything. People
disagree how the limited resources which are available to the society should be distributed.
Should political power be concentrated in the hands of a few leaders, or should it be widely
dispersed among the members of a society? Should everything be shared equally, for
example, or do some people deserve a bigger share than others? Since there is not a single
correct answer to such questions, different people have different ideas about what the best
action is to take. Politics is the art of finding peaceful resolutions to conflict, through
compromise and the building of consensus. (Garner). The conflict which arises from the
expression of different views is at the heart of politics. Politics is the study of conflict
resolution.

Conclusion

Politics is difficult to define because of the contradiction between the broad and the narrow
conceptions of politics. In the broader concept, Politics is an activity universal to all societies,
at all levels and all times—past, present and perhaps even the future. It is not only unique to
the state, groups, institutions, political parties and trade unions but also exists in the family,
schools, colleges, religious organisations, international organisations, and the workplace. In
other words, it is not confined merely to the public sphere but also exists in the private
domain. Not only is politics inevitable but even consequences are inescapable. Therefore, it
becomes necessary to understand the meaning of politics. (Sushila Ramaswamy). Politics has
been understood differently historically, by different thinkers and within different traditions.