1
, 2
Table of Contents
Ch 1- What is political theory ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Ch 2- Plato ...................................................................................................................................................................11
Ch 3- Aristotle .............................................................................................................................................................. 18
Ch 4- Machiavelli........................................................................................................................................................... 28
Ch 5- Thomas Hobbes ..................................................................................................................................................41
Ch 6- John Locke .........................................................................................................................................................48
Ch 7- Jean Jacques Rousseau........................................................................................................................................ 53
Ch 8- Immanuel Kant ................................................................................................................................................... 56
Ch 9- Edmund Burke....................................................................................................................................................65
Ch 10- Jeremy Bentham ...............................................................................................................................................79
Ch 11- Mary Wollstonecraft .........................................................................................................................................82
Ch 12- Friedrich Hegel .................................................................................................................................................86
Ch 13- John Stuart Mill ................................................................................................................................................ 94
Ch 14- Karl Marx .......................................................................................................................................................101
Appendix- John Rawls ................................................................................................................................................ 112
, 3
□WHAT IS POLITICAL THEORY:
•It is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous (Keynes)
•The golden age of political theory is from Plato (428/27–347 BC) to George Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel (AD 1770–1831)
There is an intimate and ongoing relationship between political philosophy and philosophy.
The credit for it goes to Plato for whom the good of the individual was inextricably linked
with that of the community
•Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) and Michael Joseph Oakeshott (1901–1990). They saw
political life as a distinctive form of human organization with special value, a place for
freedom, honour and full human development.
• David Easton, for whom politics meant an authoritative allocation of value
•American Declaration of Independence (1776), which spoke of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness’.
Political theory is, quite simply, man’s attempts to consciously understand and solve the
problems of his group life and organization ..... It is the disciplined investigation of political
problems .... not only to show what a political practice
is, but also to show what it means. In showing what a practice means, or what it ought to
mean, political theory can alter what it is (Sabine)
• Rawls emphasizes a wellordered society, identifying justice, stability and efficiency as its
main ingredients, without any attempt to speak about the distribution of power.
□ DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLITICAL THEORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE
AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY:
Political theory, political science, and political philosophy are three distinct but closely
related fields that explore different aspects of politics and government.
1. Political Theory:
- Political theory is a branch of political studies that focuses on the study of ideas, concepts,
and principles underlying politics and government.
- It seeks to analyze and understand the normative aspects of politics, such as justice,
liberty, equality, and authority.
2. Political Science:
- Political science is a broader field that encompasses the systematic study of politics,
government institutions, political behavior, and policies.
Political science seeks to be value-neutral and focuses on understanding political
reality as it is, rather than prescribing what it should be.
, 4
3. Political Philosophy:
- Political philosophy, sometimes called normative political theory, is a subfield of political
theory that delves deeply into questions of ethics and justice in politics.
□ POLITICAL THEORY AS FORMAL MODEL BUILDING:
Antony Downs’ (1957) theory of electoral competition which viewed the voters as trying to
gain maximum utility from an election result, and parties as teams trying to maximize their
probability of winning
□ KEY THEORETICAL CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL THEORY-
•An idealist like Plato would contend that there exist some permanent immutable ideas to
which reality should approximate.
On the contrary, there are those like Locke, who believe that concepts are derived from our
observation of the material reality,
and are called materialist or realist.
•A descriptive theory is one that describes reality and constructs explanations on the facts
collected.
In contrast, an evaluative theory analyzes ideas with reference to other concepts and values.
•Deontology is ethical theory which considers certain moral duties as self-evident and
absolutely binding, irrespective of the consequences. As opposed to this is teleology or
consequentialism, which believes that the rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by
their good or bad consequences.
•Rationalism contends that the world can be known through the power of reason, and reason
can correct experiences delivered by the senses.
Another term, relativism, connotes that values and principles do not have universal or
timeless validity and that, there is no absolute criterion of truth.
• Historicism, which has two meanings. In the late nineteenth century it meant uniqueness of
all historical phenomena, and that each age should be interpreted in terms of its own ideas
and principles. The second meaning, associated with Sir Karl Popper (1902–1994) means
belief in large-scale laws of historical development.
□ POSITIVISM-
Auguste Marie Francois Comte (1798– 1857), who has been regarded as the father of
positivism.Positivism emphasized precision, constructive power and relativism. statements
are to be empirically tested by observation to assess their truth or falsity. Positivism aimed to
be “value free” or “ethically neutral”, patterning itself on the natural sciences in deciding
about the right and wrong of issues.
, 2
Table of Contents
Ch 1- What is political theory ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Ch 2- Plato ...................................................................................................................................................................11
Ch 3- Aristotle .............................................................................................................................................................. 18
Ch 4- Machiavelli........................................................................................................................................................... 28
Ch 5- Thomas Hobbes ..................................................................................................................................................41
Ch 6- John Locke .........................................................................................................................................................48
Ch 7- Jean Jacques Rousseau........................................................................................................................................ 53
Ch 8- Immanuel Kant ................................................................................................................................................... 56
Ch 9- Edmund Burke....................................................................................................................................................65
Ch 10- Jeremy Bentham ...............................................................................................................................................79
Ch 11- Mary Wollstonecraft .........................................................................................................................................82
Ch 12- Friedrich Hegel .................................................................................................................................................86
Ch 13- John Stuart Mill ................................................................................................................................................ 94
Ch 14- Karl Marx .......................................................................................................................................................101
Appendix- John Rawls ................................................................................................................................................ 112
, 3
□WHAT IS POLITICAL THEORY:
•It is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous (Keynes)
•The golden age of political theory is from Plato (428/27–347 BC) to George Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel (AD 1770–1831)
There is an intimate and ongoing relationship between political philosophy and philosophy.
The credit for it goes to Plato for whom the good of the individual was inextricably linked
with that of the community
•Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) and Michael Joseph Oakeshott (1901–1990). They saw
political life as a distinctive form of human organization with special value, a place for
freedom, honour and full human development.
• David Easton, for whom politics meant an authoritative allocation of value
•American Declaration of Independence (1776), which spoke of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness’.
Political theory is, quite simply, man’s attempts to consciously understand and solve the
problems of his group life and organization ..... It is the disciplined investigation of political
problems .... not only to show what a political practice
is, but also to show what it means. In showing what a practice means, or what it ought to
mean, political theory can alter what it is (Sabine)
• Rawls emphasizes a wellordered society, identifying justice, stability and efficiency as its
main ingredients, without any attempt to speak about the distribution of power.
□ DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POLITICAL THEORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE
AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY:
Political theory, political science, and political philosophy are three distinct but closely
related fields that explore different aspects of politics and government.
1. Political Theory:
- Political theory is a branch of political studies that focuses on the study of ideas, concepts,
and principles underlying politics and government.
- It seeks to analyze and understand the normative aspects of politics, such as justice,
liberty, equality, and authority.
2. Political Science:
- Political science is a broader field that encompasses the systematic study of politics,
government institutions, political behavior, and policies.
Political science seeks to be value-neutral and focuses on understanding political
reality as it is, rather than prescribing what it should be.
, 4
3. Political Philosophy:
- Political philosophy, sometimes called normative political theory, is a subfield of political
theory that delves deeply into questions of ethics and justice in politics.
□ POLITICAL THEORY AS FORMAL MODEL BUILDING:
Antony Downs’ (1957) theory of electoral competition which viewed the voters as trying to
gain maximum utility from an election result, and parties as teams trying to maximize their
probability of winning
□ KEY THEORETICAL CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL THEORY-
•An idealist like Plato would contend that there exist some permanent immutable ideas to
which reality should approximate.
On the contrary, there are those like Locke, who believe that concepts are derived from our
observation of the material reality,
and are called materialist or realist.
•A descriptive theory is one that describes reality and constructs explanations on the facts
collected.
In contrast, an evaluative theory analyzes ideas with reference to other concepts and values.
•Deontology is ethical theory which considers certain moral duties as self-evident and
absolutely binding, irrespective of the consequences. As opposed to this is teleology or
consequentialism, which believes that the rightness or wrongness of actions is determined by
their good or bad consequences.
•Rationalism contends that the world can be known through the power of reason, and reason
can correct experiences delivered by the senses.
Another term, relativism, connotes that values and principles do not have universal or
timeless validity and that, there is no absolute criterion of truth.
• Historicism, which has two meanings. In the late nineteenth century it meant uniqueness of
all historical phenomena, and that each age should be interpreted in terms of its own ideas
and principles. The second meaning, associated with Sir Karl Popper (1902–1994) means
belief in large-scale laws of historical development.
□ POSITIVISM-
Auguste Marie Francois Comte (1798– 1857), who has been regarded as the father of
positivism.Positivism emphasized precision, constructive power and relativism. statements
are to be empirically tested by observation to assess their truth or falsity. Positivism aimed to
be “value free” or “ethically neutral”, patterning itself on the natural sciences in deciding
about the right and wrong of issues.
