POLS 110 Lecture 1: Introduction to Politics
29 Oct 2014
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Definitions of the political: emphasis on institutions: the state, the government, political parties, interest groups, emphasis on power in its various forms: control, influence, authority, coercion (robert dahl, emphasis on distribution of resources or of values: who gets what, when, and how or allocation of, emphasis on conflicts and differences, emphasis on process of conciliation groups get the influence equivalent to their importance values (bernard crick) Things to consider: the definition of politics, is, itself, political, what or whom you include or exclude has political effects i. e. narrow or broad definitions of politics have political consequences, the study of politics is usually motivated politically, what we see as political" is constantly changing. Normative: how should we live together, what should democracy look like, how should justice work, should we be equal? this is how political theory generally was written the great thinkers tried to figure out how best to live, to organize society, etc.
