POLS 1000 Lecture 2: POLS 1000 LECTURE 2
25 Sep 2018
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POLS 1000 – LECTURE 2
09/18/18
Reading:
Politics, Power and the Common Good – Ch.1
Why is politics important?
Politics is important because it impacts economy, our freedoms, the quality of our environment,
and whether our country will send troops to fight in another part of the world.
Democracy: procedures for holding elections to choose from candidates.
Some would define democracy as involving direct control of governing decisions by the people.
Politics:
Political Science: making of decisions that relate to the governing of a political community.
“Allocation of values” : how the limited resources of a community are allocated.
Politics concerns all those varieties of activity that influence significantly the kind of
authoritative policy adopted for a society and the way it is put into practice.
Politics: activity related to influencing, making, or implementing collective decisions for a
political community.
Power: the ability to achieve an objective by influencing others to do something they wouldn’t
otherwise do.
Political Power can be exerted in several ways.
- Coercion: using fears or threats of harmful consequences to achieve an outcome.
- Inducement: achieving a goal by bribing or offering a reward.
- Persuasion: truthful information / misleading information to manipulate people.
- Leadership: countries that are successful can convince other countries to follow.
Political agenda: issues considered important & prioritizes in political deliberations.
If dominant ideas work against weaker groups, causing weaker to go against their beliefs, power
has been exercised in an indirect manner.
3 faces of power:
- 1. Ability to effect decisions.
- 2. Ability to ensure that issues aren’t raised.
- 3. Ability to impact dominant ideas of society.
“True interests” - the preferences of an individual are not necessarily the same as what is good
for that person.
The distribution of power:
Some tools used for political advantage are: wealth, control over important economical aspects,
social status, prestige, official position, control of information & expertise, mobilizing
supporters, control over means of force, influence over people.
Is power highly concentrated due to decisions of elites? OR dispersed, with no one group or
interest dominant?
The Positive & Negative Sides of Power
“Power over” & “Power to”
Free-rider problem: problem with voluntary collective action that results because an individual
can enjoy the benefits of group action without contributing. (ex. A community agrees to have a
road built but one person would decide not to contribute, knowing that the road would still be
built but with the contribution of others. If enough people followed this self-interested logic, the
road may never be built & everyone would suffer.)
Authority: the right to exercise power.
Legitimacy: acceptance by the members of a political community that those in positions of
authority have the right to govern.
3 types of authority: Charismatic, traditional, legal-rational.
Charismatic: based on the personal qualities of the leader, based on the perception that
the leader has supernatural or extraordinary power.
Traditional: based on customs that establish the right of certain persons to rule. (ex.
Queen Elizabeth. “The monarch reigns, but doesn’t rule”)
Legal-rational: the right to rule based on legal rules and procedures rather than on the
personal qualities or characteristics of the rulers.
Legitimacy crisis: if the policies of successive governments led to widespread poverty and
unemployment of to a collapse in the value of the currency, then the legitimacy of the system of
governing might be challenged.
Governing authorities will have a higher level of legitimacy if their actions are perceived as
being consistent with the general principles and values of the political community.
The significance of legitimate authority:
A government whose rule is considered legitimate can rely more on authority than on coercion to
get people to obey the laws it adopts.
Government not accepted as legit, devotes much of its energy & resources to persuade/coerce the
population to obey its laws & maintain order.
The Common Good:
Common Good: what is good for the entire political community.
Good functioning of governing: order & security, just settlement of disputes,
prosperous/sustainable economy, quality education, protect environment, peaceful world.
Individualist perspective: views human beings as acting primarily in accordance with their own
interests.
Someone who has an individualist perspective might say that if everyone is selfish, chasing their
own goal and objective, that is what gives the best overall result for the community.
Critics of individualist perspective argue that humans are social beings who flourish through
harmonious interaction with others. Connected to our social nature is the capability to care about
others.
Achieving the Common Good?
Plato thought the common good could be achieved by giving political authority to potential
leaders who were prevented from having a family or owning property.
Pluralist system: many groups with various interests influences the government. The
government tries to please all groups and no group has a dominant influence on the government.
Document Summary
Politics, power and the common good ch. 1. Politics is important because it impacts economy, our freedoms, the quality of our environment, and whether our country will send troops to fight in another part of the world. Democracy: procedures for holding elections to choose from candidates. Some would define democracy as involving direct control of governing decisions by the people. Political science: making of decisions that relate to the governing of a political community. Allocation of values : how the limited resources of a community are allocated. Politics concerns all those varieties of activity that influence significantly the kind of authoritative policy adopted for a society and the way it is put into practice. Politics: activity related to influencing, making, or implementing collective decisions for a political community. Power: the ability to achieve an objective by influencing others to do something they wouldn"t otherwise do. Political power can be exerted in several ways.
