What is Politics:

Definitions of politics
Role of power, force, influence and authority in
politics

Defining the term Politics:

According to Plato & Aristotle (premier Greek
political philosophers who theorised on the history
and evolution of political science) politics, which is
taken from the Greek word polis, speaks to the city /
ideal society wherein men can experience life at
higher quality than that dictated by his innate
nature as a political animal.
Harold Lasswell (1958), defines politics as who gets
what, when and how.
Adrian Leftwich (2004), contends that politics is
about people, resources and power.

 Andrew Heywood (2002), defines politics as a

dynamic and interactive process of making,
preserving and amending the general rules
which govern society in which we live.
Bernard Crick (1962), argues that politics is the
art of finding peaceful resolutions to conflict
through compromise and the building of
consensus.
David Easton (1971), defines politics as the
authoritative allocation of values.

 Marxists see politics as class conflict and

political power struggle; merely the organized
power of one class [the economically dominant /
bourgeoisie] for oppressing another [the proletariat /
working class].

Feminists contend that politics is an extension

of the personal realm. For instance they argue
that power is derived from the dominance of
the male / patriarchy in personal relationships
and the family and therefore the personal
realm is acutely political.

 Politics has a sharp edge as well; it is seen as a dirty, self

seeking struggle for power.
Machiavelli sees politics as the pursuit of power.
He argues that the end justifies the means (means could
include warfare). Therefore if the end is to gain and
maintain power then the means must involved both
charisma and fear.
In other words, the politician in pursuit of power must seek
to be loved and feared and where both cannot be achieved
then it is better to be feared.
In this sense politics is viewed as a potentially violent and
dirty process / activity.
Conversely; politics is not only about power it must involve morality and
therefore seek to serve the common good of society.

 Additionally, the term is used to refer to/

describe organizational / institutional politics.
In these instances, it refers to the interplay
between the exercise of authority, influence and
the outcomes/ decisions that were intended
within these institutions/ organizations.
Considering the aforementioned definitions [and the
many others you will come across in your readings],
we can observe four broad perspectives /
conceptualizations / views of politics:

 Politics is associated with the activities of government

Here politics is largely associated with the activities of the
public institutions of the state and the formal institutions of the
government.
(The State in this view is the architecture / machinery for governing a
society).The state exercises the highest form of secular authority
because it controls the use of legitimate force to impose decisions
within the territorial confines of the state.
Power is vested in governments ; considered to be the steering
mechanism of the state.

Politics focuses largely on public affairs

Here politics is largely associated with public life and activities
therein as opposed to personal or private affairs.

 Politics involves the exercise of power

Here politics is related to the seeking of power; the
exercise of such power and the distribution of power.
Politics is a process which involves consensus building and
compromise
Here politics refer to how decisions are made; political
decision making involves consensus building, compromise
and conciliation as resources are limited while demands
seem infinite and come from varied sources.

Power, force, influence, authority:

their role in politics:
Defining power:
Power is the medium, the possession and use of, which
enables the responsibilities of an office to be discharged
effectively and with authority. (Parsons ,1966)
In its most basic sense, power is the ability to achieve
ones objectives even against the wishes of others.
Elements of power: influence, force and
authority.
Types of authority: traditional, charismatic and
legal - rational

 Power is either manifest or implicit.

Manifest power speaks to a clear observable path
of authority from one action to another.
Implicit power is most clearly expressed in social
institutions such as the family where the authority
of the parents or leaders is understood and the
children or followers follow without necessarily
being dictated or instructed to each time.

 Political power is expressed in many different

forms for example the authority to govern or
make decisions on behalf of those governed,
shaping peoples public view / political ideology
through selected information presentation,
influencing what program, policy, legislative
considerations are given precedence over others
and therefore make it onto the political agenda.
This runs the spectrum from political socialization to
propaganda while the latter reflects the influence of
corporate groups, lobbying groups, think tanks, and
other social and political pressure groups (Shively, 1987).

 Political power is derived from/ comprised of the

following:
Authority: legitimate power which is derived from your
position or the position of the office occupied on the
hierarchy of the power structure .
Influence: the ability persuade, manipulate or simply to
cause people to do what you want or to accept your
argument not solely on the basis of that argument but
because of the perceived prestige of reputation,
personality, style or approach.
Force: coercion as a result of the elimination of other
options.

Three types of authority:

(Max Weber, 1968)

Traditional:
Derived from traditional norms defining the position,
for example Monarchy, feudal lordship, hereditary
chieftainships.

Charismatic:
Derived from personal qualities of the leaders, for
example leaders of political, military and religious
movements.

Rational Legal:
Defined by rational legal norms for example authority in
bureaucratic organizations. (Spencer, 1970, p.132)

 Power is essential to politics. The interplay of

power, authority, influence and force allow for
the arrival, enforcement / implementation of
political decisions.
Decisions about the allocation of resources and public
goods are accepted either because the government has
the legal authority to make such allocations;
possesses the power to enforce such decisions where
resistance might occur
or may be able to exercise influence in the person(s) of
key government official(s) who are able to persuade
opposition parliamentarians and/or disgruntled
constituencies to fall in line with a certain authoritative
allocation.

Key takeaways:

Politics means different things to different people and

therefore has multiple definitions/ conceptualizations ; to this
extent it is argued to be a contested term. There are at least
four broad perspectives/ conceptualizations of the term:

It occurs in the realm of public affairs

It is about government
It involves the exercise of power
It is a process which involves building consensus and arriving at
compromise

The latter two perspectives (on the previous slide) illustrate

that politics transcends the public arena - which involves
politicians, government, political parties, national elections
etc - and international arena to involve the social [private]
arena as well. In other words politics is played out within
states [public and private realms] and among states
[internationally].

Sources:

Axford, B. et. al. Politics an Introduction. NewYork: Routledge. 1997.

Easton, D. (ed.). Varieties of Political Theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall INC., 1966.

Garner, R., Ferdinand, P, Lawson, S. Introduction to Politics 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press
2009.

Heywood, Andrew. Political Theory: An Introduction 3rd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Heywood, Andrew. Politics. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

Leftwich, Adrian (ed.). What is Politics? The Activity and its Study. Cambridge: Polity Press Ltd.,
2004.

Parsons, Talcott. On the concept of power in The American Philosophical Society, Vol. 107, No. 3
(Jun. 19, 1963), pp. 232-262

Shively, Phillips, W. Power and Choice: an Introduction to Political Science 5th edn. New York:
McGraw Hill Publishers 1987.

Spencer, M.E. Weber on legitimate Norms and Authority in The British Journal of Sociology, Vol.
21, No. 2 (Jun. 1970), pp. 123-134.