IPOL Part 1.
Lecture 1: What is politics?
1) has a binding element
2) social phenomenon
3) involves power and power relations in the management of conflicts, the allocation of values
for the system and for making decisions
4) something at stake in political processes and interactions
→ politics is all these things but its definition is vague, there is no one answer; “essentially contested
concepts”
→ so we (political scientists) focus on the questions people ask about society
● Domain perspective: politics is related to the state, government and public administration
○ Limits:
■ fails to define and demarcate the concepts of state and government
■ distinction between public and private spheres are vague
■ show itself from a comparative viewpoint
■ its in-applicability to some phenomena which clearly seem like a political
issue
● Aspect perspective: not everything is politics but politics is everywhere
○ but this fails to indicate which of these processes are more important
● Government: focus on the institution
○ Institution
■ group that governs
■ the specific administration
■ form of system of rule
■ nature and direction of the administration of a country
→ the core features of politics are identifiable but boundaries are not
● Core questions we ask
○ How are decisions made: government try to represent a majority → law
○ Who gets what → economics
■ State of nature
○ Will there be conflict or cooperation → sociology
○ How and why are people coerced: in which conditions could those decisions be
backed up with coercion
■ State is the actor that possess a monopoly on the legitimate use of force
Lecture 2: What is Political Science?
● Political science belongs to the family of social science
● Political science is not the most influential social science
● it makes the greatest use of theoretical insights and empirical findings from other disciplines
● limits: it has largely meant an openness to economics and not other disciplines
● Political Scientists’ interest in general questions compels them to…
Lecture 1: What is politics?
1) has a binding element
2) social phenomenon
3) involves power and power relations in the management of conflicts, the allocation of values
for the system and for making decisions
4) something at stake in political processes and interactions
→ politics is all these things but its definition is vague, there is no one answer; “essentially contested
concepts”
→ so we (political scientists) focus on the questions people ask about society
● Domain perspective: politics is related to the state, government and public administration
○ Limits:
■ fails to define and demarcate the concepts of state and government
■ distinction between public and private spheres are vague
■ show itself from a comparative viewpoint
■ its in-applicability to some phenomena which clearly seem like a political
issue
● Aspect perspective: not everything is politics but politics is everywhere
○ but this fails to indicate which of these processes are more important
● Government: focus on the institution
○ Institution
■ group that governs
■ the specific administration
■ form of system of rule
■ nature and direction of the administration of a country
→ the core features of politics are identifiable but boundaries are not
● Core questions we ask
○ How are decisions made: government try to represent a majority → law
○ Who gets what → economics
■ State of nature
○ Will there be conflict or cooperation → sociology
○ How and why are people coerced: in which conditions could those decisions be
backed up with coercion
■ State is the actor that possess a monopoly on the legitimate use of force
Lecture 2: What is Political Science?
● Political science belongs to the family of social science
● Political science is not the most influential social science
● it makes the greatest use of theoretical insights and empirical findings from other disciplines
● limits: it has largely meant an openness to economics and not other disciplines
● Political Scientists’ interest in general questions compels them to…
