POL 1000 - Lecture 1: Intro to Political Science

1. POL 1000 - Lecture 1: Intro to Political Science Sean Clark Lecturer, Memorial University Doctoral Fellow, CFPS Fall Session, 2011

2. Lecture Arc • 1. What is political science? • 2. The roots of political science. • 3. Political science as a modern discipline.

3. Epigrams • “Man is by nature a political animal.” Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics. • “Politics is the art of the possible.” Otto Von Bismarck (1815-98), remark, Aug 11, 1867 • “Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.” Author Unknown.

4. Practicing & Studying Politics • Lasswell: politics is the battle over who gets to decide who gets what, and how. • Easton: “authoritative allocation of values. • Shively ‘95 p11: “political action may be interpreted as a way to work out rationally the best common solution to a common problem—or at least a way to work out a reasonable common solution. That is, politics consists of public choice.” • Laver ‘83 p 1: “Pure conflict is war. Pure cooperation is true love. Politics is a mixture of both.” • Found from soccer teams to nations, churches to the UN (though focus is generally on state-level entities). • Inherent characteristics of politics: • Conflict (from either scarce resources or differing values/goals). • No society faces complete uniformity of thought. • Power (ability to force a particular outcome—that is, to win the conflict & impose binding decisions; get you want). • The strong, legitimate, or persuasive allocate scarce resources in a world of infinite wants. • Dahl ‘57: power is getting people to do what they otherwise wouldn’t have done. • Lukes 74: more than just “. Power can blind people to their real interests. Is thus about A achieving ends contrary to B’s interest, even if B isn’ aware what those interests are. • Manipulating peoples’ knowledge & attitudes is most efficient way to control them.

5. Practicing & Studying Politics, II • Is a matter of both practice (or ‘art’) & study (or ‘theory’). • Proper understanding of the latter improves the efficacy of the former & its products. • Leaders jockey for levers of power (winning elections & gaining positions of authority takes talent & practice). • Takes real artistry to excel at practical politics. Is not an easy business. • Poli scis use ‘sci methods’ to study their moves & then use this knowledge of causal relxns to (a la Machiavelli:) ‘advise the Prince’. • Hope is that better understanding = better & less harmful policies. • Danger: assume that bc advice is ‘scientific’ means that is it necessarily right (as uncontested morals & fact).

6. The Roots of Political Science • Is steeped in the Western philosophical tradition, each a reflection of political concerns of the era. • Each historical epoch faced its own challenges & political innovations were offered in return. • Greeks: Plato (427-347 BC) & Aristotle (384-322 BC): search for understanding not only how politics is, but how ought to be. • Brought us the difference btn empirical & normative. • Peaked in Athens w Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle. • Plato: Athenian democ is flawed (lived thru Pelop Wars). Better is elements of Spartan stability. Ergo ‘philosopher-king’, who is both wise & powerful. • Aristotle: (1st great empiricist) sought to categorize diff constitutions of Greece. • Romans (i.e. Cicero, 106-43 BC): citizens & nations should be bound by law. Are benefits & obligation to membership of our community. • Ie ‘Civis Romanus sum’, fasces, ‘pacta sunt servanda,’ etc. • Medieval. I.e. St. Augustine’s ‘city’ (354-430 AD) & St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74): relationship btn politics & God. • World is falling apart, so how get into heaven? Answer w list of rights & wrongs. • Machiavelli (1469-1527), Hobbes (1588-1679): rulers require supreme authority to keep order. • Locke (1632-1704), J.S. Mill (1806-1873): citizens deserve liberties from the state as well. • Confucius (551-479 BC), Kautilya (321-296 BC) typify Eastern interest in moral unity (harmony) & political realism.

7. Political Science as Discipline • Politics is old as philosophy, but new as science (search for causal explanations w ‘sci method’). • Early ‘political economists’ also looked at philosophy & law, but emph moving from logical ideals to practical cases. • I.e. Adam Smith’s 1776 pin factory: assertion of specialization’s gains backed by evidence. • Alfred Marshal: frequently visited factories & firms (unlike Marx). • Further evidence: 1st N Amer poli sci dept at Columbia in 1880. Founded PSQ in 1886. • Trauma of Great War (1914-18) = growth in research btn wars (i.e. Carr 1st IR, at Aberystwyth in ‘36). • Must base our predictions on systematic collection of evidence & testing of predictive theories. • Politics is too serious to lack rigour (must not rely solely on description). ‘Art’ of diplomats wasn’t enough to save us. • US schools boosted by pre-war flight of refugees from Europe. • Further postwar growth. Diffuses past US & UK. • By 1960s, economics is separate field (follow math of Marshall, Samuelson—though polis still emulate). • In poli sci, movt from just institutions & law to behaviour, interests, power, culture, & development. • Shape of the field has followed needs of the present. • I.e. US wanted Cold War victory, so studied democratization. • UK PM Macmillan: “the great issue int the second half of the twentieth century is whether the uncommitted peoples of Asin and Africa will swing to the East or the West.” • Pres Kennedy ‘62: “We see Africa as probably the greatest open field of manoeuvre in the worldwide competition between the [communist] bloc and the non-communist”.

8. Political Definitions • Ideology: how politics should be structured (i.e. balance btn order & freedom; equality). • Is battle over ‘ought’, not ‘is.’ • Power: able to achieve that which otherwise would not be done? • Influence: persuade (but requires voluntary obedience). • Coercion: use force (or other such punishments) to ensure compliance (though erodes in LR—i.e. USSR). • Authority: upon what basis is there a right to rule? • Weber (1864-1920): the right to act can rely on: • Tradition (respect for sanctity of past practices; as reflection of a natural order). • Charisma (qualities & mission of leader). • Legal-rational (authority legitimized thru legal processes). Assume obedience is owed to principles rather than individs. • Look to position, not person. • Legitimacy: to what extent is this authority accepted? • Does the vast majority accept the basis for these rulers? Or is there a rebellion waiting in the wings? • Legality: to what extent does the authority match w the laws of the land? • Possible that authority is legal, but still seen as illegitimate. • I.e. Apartheid: clearly legal under law, yet generally seen as resting on unacceptable grounds. • Meanwhile, civil rights protests often seen as illegal, yet also legitimate.

9. Sub-Fields of Political Science • Poli Sci is a wide-ranging affair. • Political Theory: normative (continued concern with what ought to be). • Look to classics, but also new issues of racism, gender, etc. What is ‘fair’? • Comparative Politics: gain understanding of politics thru contrasting different polities. • Focus on area studies (specific regions), but also specific topics such as culture, ideology, & instxns. • Some work with ‘large-n’ (many cases), others w ‘small-n’, (few cases). • International Relations: look at transnational relations, i.e. war, peace, trade, globalization. • Dominated by realism (power), liberalism (wealth) constructivism (ideas), & critical (social justice) streams of thought.

10. Sub-Fields of Political Science, II • Domestic Politics: (i.e. Canada, US): focus on political processes & politics of own country. • Approaches essentially same as Comp Pol, though with >er focus on local matters (i.e. cities). • Public Policy & Public Admin: the making & implementation of public policy. • What does govt do? Why do they do it? And how well do they do it? • Political Economy: looks at nexus of economics & politics (reversal of ’60s split). • How do power & conflict shape economic systems?