Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Harold Lasswell, David Easton, Bernard Crick
1 Jan 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
How should politics be defined? (politics essentially contested concept) Politics- is it an inevitable feature of human existence, or can it be transcended? (politics is about conflict) Politics as: that which concerns the state or government (place politics takes place within) Not just: who gets what, when, and how (harold lasswell)- politics distribution of the things of value (how) But also: the authoritative allocation of values (david easton) . How can involve political actors in affecting distribution of goods in society- attempt to authoritatively allocate goods- authority: max. Weber- domination= naked exercise of power vs authority: legitimate power one has a right to exercise. (legitimate power players/institutions allocate value across society) Politics happens within legitimate institutions therefore ability separate a political realm from society. Just those who make decisions, not the civil servants (seen as impartial of implementation of legislature) who implement them- administration seen as non-political.
