POLS 101

1. Are human beings selfish, good, or neutral?

 THE FIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

o International Relations: Between countries
 Study between states. Downright free trade agreement or you have
European Union you'll have nowadays where people are talking about
bricks right Brazil Russia India China South Africa. Point to highlight
pension nobody's on the same team always will see a shifting of alliances
but that being that relationship studying how the international system
works and those other factors too. For example, transnational
organisations and the system as a whole right cause they're operating in a
system international system all of that is important for international
relations.
o Comparative: Institutions and processes within states
 Separation of power, democracy is different per country
o Political Theory/Philosophy: Discussing Values
 What kind of state, what kind of community, people coming together as
community affair.
o Political Economy: Economic Systems
 Who creates the rule? The guy with the money. Money trail. Nature of
the modern economic order. Allows for an explanation of why certain
countries have affluence or

 DEFINING POLITICS: CONFLICT OR COOPERATION?

- Martin Heywood definition:
a. Politics is the activi
- Harvey Mansfield’s characterization
a. do you prefer the environment over the economy? You will not have an
economy without the environment. It’s about choices.
- Hans Morgenthau:
a. Politics is ‘Animus Domandi’
b. We are all animals fighting for dominance.
- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
a. Merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another
- Dahl:
 a. Any persistent pattern of human relationships that involves to a significant
extent, control, influence, power and authority.
- Harold Lasswell
a. Who gets what, when and how
b. Who is running the affairs for that political affair, how the people around
influence the person representing the group.

ARISTOTLE (MASTER SCIENCE – IN EXAM)

- Alone no one to talk to no one to share the time with even your own personality we
develop through dialogical process process that is engaging with others interactions
is how the human being formed our ideas are values around us even other forms of
input television social media all kinds of inputs were getting but this process
necessitates another individual or a group of individuals we don't form isolated inbox
so the idea that Aristotle and I think this is what they talk about the normative
framework of understanding politics talks about as well let's discuss then what are
those best ways two collectively live and what does it mean then to have that good
life for not just the one right but the greatest good for the greatest amount of people
right which is something that is very intrinsic towards the democratic ideal that the
greatest good for the greatest number with protection for minority rights so and
politics is what he referred to as the master science Rangers right we're going to get
it but first I wanted to kind of give you that thought different definition from politics
and then how did Aristotle how to Socrates or Plato

AL-FARABI

- Side accomplished by something he referred to as ‘insaan kamil’ which means the

perfect human being and sand means human being camel means perfection in
reality nobody can get professional but the idea is to create a society to create those
institutions that will facilitate the that type of person that will then struggle with like-
minded people to create that just snatches for now because remember it in in let's
say in the Middle East and that time the focus was not just on here and now but it
was also what happens after but you see that's also how different societies and
civilizations have understood politics is not just about here it may be about their
politics some for some people is only about here many been here it's only about let's
say Rutherford or Oxford it could be different people have different ideas about it I
think there's something important for us to kind of understand how different
scholars in the past approach this whole conceptualization of it

POLITICS VS STATEMANSHIP
CONFICIUS

- Basically seeing your character possessing virtue will give you people possessing
people will give you territory possessing territory will give you wealth possessing
wealth will give you resources so you can spend virtue is the root wealth is the
branches if you make wealth the primary concern or be condamine the primary
concern and the branches if you mix the root is secondary and the branches first so
meaning of course making virtue secondary and wealth the first hill anger people
and teach them dishonesty the interesting parallel right societies affluent society this
is an interesting fact the most affluent societies in some of the most depressed
society and here are some of the societies that have the most negative perception of
their own societies and the future of exercise their own community in the future the
only country in the future isn't that a really fascinating insight more you have less
painful so this is an example of how Confucius has been emphasizing this quality of
course we're not talking about what virtue actually means right now but what we're
doing is just sharing different ideas coming from someone born in Central Asia alpha
Robbie considered to be several countries claim ownership will have that a lot too
several people claim to own but nonetheless born in area called fat off of Robbie and
then you have word Plato and Aristotle more from you know Confucius and then you
have are very old and you can talk more about John rawls again we're going to talk
about he would one of my favourites Hadley bold talk about him too and all would
you
-
- realize that in many ways they do come to a similar point in their analysis no matter
how far they are from each other no matter on what side of the world they are there
are certain commonality's that they come the closer leadership is to people the
more stable is that leadership does have a responsibility two let's say almost take
care of society after last word therefore

TYPES OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS (In exam)

- The three types do not operate mutually exclusively of the others and are instead
often implies in each other. Interdependency, how diff theories working together in
their own ways.

1. NORMATIVE: Asks value question (What is the good life? What ought we to want?
How ought we to live together)
- Central focus of the discipline prior to the mid 20th century
 - Should we value freedom. privacy, equality?
- Normative judgements are not resolvable by an appeal to empirical facts (the
is/ought problem), so how are we to decide between them?
2. EMPIRICAL: observation, understand what’s happening around you
- Seeks to identify observable phenomena in order to establish what is rather than
what ought to be.
- Emerges in the 1950s with the rise of behaviourism
- They want to look at politics as science
- Envisions itself as value-neutral or “objective”
- Modelled largely on the “hard” or natural sciences
- Deductive vs Inductive (science method of understanding politics) (can mislead us)
3. SEMANTIC: the word itself, concerned with meaning
- Focuses on meaning and origin of the concepts used in the discipline
- Asks why and how they are used the way they are: what is the meaning of freedom?
Equality? Justice?
- Many of the concepts have no commonly accepted definition and are “essentially
contested”

CAN POLITICS BE A SCIENCE?

- Others note the unpredictability of human beings who are “reflective subjects,
capable of acting differently under the same stimuli” (Hay, 2002).
- The study of politics is not value free and to leave out questions of values is to leave
out much of what the discipline is and does.
09/12/24
LECTURE:

1. The Ones Who Walk Away – Ursula LeGuin

2. Political Importance of the State: Sovereignty
3. Types of States:
a. Night-Watchman
b. Welfare or Socialist State
c. Neoliberal/New Right State
d. Developmental State
4. Functions of the State:
a. Executive
b. Legislative
c. Judicial
d. Administrative

Political Importance of the State: Sovereignty

- Central concept in the study of politics:

a. The Sovereign state is the highest form of authority in a particular territory
and is, in theory, above any challenge.
b. Theoretically above challenge both internally (domestically) and externally
(internationally)
c. Sovereign state model emerges in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries (1648
Treaty of Westphalia)
d. Replaces feudal structures in which authority is divided between the
aristocracy (including kings, princes, and lords) the guilds and the Roman
Catholic Church.
e. Decolonial movement – people want their own state
- Failed State
a. Government can’t control its own territory
b. Corruption

Types of States:

1. Night-Watchman State
 Marx said that the “state” is nothing more than ‘an executive
committee of the whole bourgeoise’. He was arguing that the state
operated only in the interests of ‘capital’.
  participation in elections and the holding of the public office were
limited to property owners, who had little compulsion to consider the
interests of the majority of the population.
 Allows the market to do business as it pleased without any checks
and balances to safeguard the interests of the people.
 There was very little state intervention into managing the market and
the economy.
 Rich divide of the rich and poor
2. Welfare or Socialist State – care for people/ provide for them
 Result of a major economic crash in the United States in 1929.
 Welfare state decided to be responsible of people and intervene in
the effective governing of society.
 They want to provide health services, education. The country will
support; the state has a responsibility to provide services for its
citizen.
3. Neoliberal/New Right State – people don’t go to work because they’re lazy. We
want to support business. (not new and not liberal, nightwatchman in steroids)
 Doesn’t want any government involvement in any state of form.
 Central concern is to expand free market and cutback health services,
education, social spending, deregulation of industry and privatization
of public services.
 Rolls back welfare state
4. Developmental State – business partner with politics for rapid development
 Government and private business partner together to concentrate on
rapid economic growth, or on greater social and economic equality
through growth.
- Globalization
a. Argues that national boundaries are increasingly irrelevant.
b. The national state is hollowed out and has lost capacity to deal with
transitional issues.
c. National states also have lost power to international institutions such as the
World Bank, IMF, and other such transnational entities.
09/17/24
By-elections
Pretext, subtext, context
Critical thinker: challenging the information at the age of information and disinformation.
1. Chapter 2 – Political Power, Authority, and the State
a. Roll-Back vs. Roll-Out
b. What Modern States Do?
c. Functions of the state
i. Executive
ii. Legislative
iii. Judicial
iv. Administrative
2. Typology of the State: Liberal, Illiberal, Totalitarian, and Authoritarian
3. Theories of the State: Pluralism, Elitism, Socialism, New Right/Neoliberalism,
Intuitionalism, Classes
4. Weber on Authority and Power
5. Lukes: Radical Power – 3 dimensions of Power
LECTURE:
1. Chapter 2 – Political Power, Authority, and the State
a. Roll-Back vs. Roll-Out (EXAM)
 ROLLBACK – Neoliberalism of globalization appear to diminish the national state.
 ROLLOUT – Creation of new national state powers, especially in the areas of security,
surveillance, policing, and militarization.
b. What Modern States Do?
 Institutions - defined as ‘deliberate, formalized, and expected patterns of behaviour
that are written down and clearly explained to all those who are a part of it.’
 Political Institutions - are the embodiment of a state’s history, culture and religion.
This includes how they organize their politics, their constitutions and the formalizing
of rules and procedures.
- Every different arm of the state is responsible for a different
- if something deliberate it's formalized it's expected patterns of behavior so there is a
clear policy guideline
- how this institution should function it's written down in community explained to all
those who are participating in this institution
 - you could say in many ways the syllabus is the type of institution for both of us to
kind of go towards the guides us right through the institution so the clinical
institution aren’t embodiment of the state’s history their culture their religion it's
their ethics right how do they collectively come together and decide hey how are we
going to manage our fares I might talk to you about this was something very
important in history of canada's political maturation and I would say awaken it but
you had two you actually free strong communities first the indigenous community
then you had a large French speaking population then you had an English speaking
population and how these at that time in the beginning too but even after work
more and more different communities have come up how we manage all of this is to
everyone's best right so it's formalizing the rules of procedures what happens when
we don't have institutions is when then then it's just OK you know what whatever
she wants however she may want it to be or whoever else is in charge here I'm
saying that it is and then for myself I'm not going to give examples they don't inverse
people with the institution or whatever but I have been in situations in which
students from giving service inherently unfair it is just at the whim of the professor
or workers teaching was in that situation of power and they can do whatever they
want hey listen I just wanted to how I got this great I can fall back on that's it you
know I'm the problem I decided right and it happens even happens with rules

 State VS Government
a. Analogy: State is the taxi, government is the driver, people are the
passengers.
 Max Weber’s definition: (Exam)
o A modern state can be distinguished from other organized status
c. Functions of the state
i. Executive – Responsible for implementing the laws passed by legislators.
The Head of Government is the Chief Executive. Different systems, either
Presidential or Parliamentary, implement laws differently. ‘Steering’ the
car. Ex. police, universities
a. Defense minister – Enforce the law in the army
b. Interior minister – Enforce law in police and public safety
c. Justice Minister -
d. Foreign minister -
ii. Legislative – making of laws. This includes who makes those laws, what
areas of social life are open to law-making and how the process of law
making happens.
iii. Judicial – Laws are not always precise, and they may be differing views as
to whether and how they should be enforced. It is the responsibility of
the judges to decide what is acceptable or not.
iv. Administrative – Responsible for ‘putting gas’ so the car moves. The
administration is really talking out something work towards specific laws.
 Administration is made even more complex with demands of
accountability.
a. whole idea of freedom was also kind of checked by something that
Milford mill called the harm for support but if it goes beyond or starts
to infringe on someone elses rights and responsibilities none of us
have the freedom to do right over shouldn't happen
b. if you had education that is targeting one group insulting or ridiculing
one segment of society help in that institution be free but if their
privatized when there's no checks and balances from the government
like some on the right of the newer right
2. Typology of the State:
 Liberal democracy – promote free and fair elections, universal suffrage, personal
liberty, and the protection of individual rights.
 Illiberal democracy – elections are held, but little protection for rights or
liberties. Opposition parties are at distinct disadvantage due to state control or
media outlets.
 Totalitarian state – absence of fair elections; rulers generally unaccountable to
the citizens; can be centred on an individual, family, military, or ruling party.
 Authoritarian state – Extreme form of interventionist state. Absence of
public/private distinction; repression of civil society. Total control exercised
through police and other forms of state violence.
3. Theories of the State: Pluralism, Elitism, Socialism, New Right/Neoliberalism,
Intuitionalism, Classes
4. Weber on Authority and Power
5. Lukes: Radical Power – 3 dimensions of Power

SEPT 29 ASSESSMENT – CHAPTER 1, 2, 3 AND HUMAN NATURE

1. Theories of the State: Pluralism, Elitism, Socialism, New Right/Neoliberalism,
Intuitionalism, Classes:
- Perspective on how politics works
- Neither true or false
- Highlight one part of political life to the exclusion of others
 Pluralism – Belief that our society is made up of many groups. These groups have
collaboration and competition and it’s affecting our politics. Some these groups
who get together and try to influence the policies. Our government is a neutral
arbiter.
 Elitism – They belief that there are the top dogs, and they are controlling the
behind the societies. All societies will eventually have smaller groups that
controls others. Argues that all societies are led by unifies, self-conscious elite
 “Iron Law of Oligarchy” (remember). Single group on top dominating those who
belief in this
 Socialism – State should provide.
 New Right/Neoliberalism – leave business alone, extreme is taking away rights
and pushing stricter measures for social control
 Class analysis - Recognition that you have the owner and the order. How does
someone’s work affect where they are in the society and does that impact the
political system. How does classes cooperate and contest one another. All of us
have different identities.
o Major flaw of Intuitionalism: looking at processes, looking at how things
are structures but not focusing on ignores the people bring to laws, rules,
and regulations. Theory vs practice

Max Weber’s Typology of Authority:

- Argues that societies have been governs kinds of authority: traditional, charismatic,
and legal-rational. (Who have the power, who have the money)
a. Traditional – kings, empires. Power was vested in certain individuals because
of custom of family. Divine right of kings- God give them the right to rule.
Personal and intertestable.
b. Charismatic – authority rests on an individual. Grounded on personal
qualities of an individual. Individual is a threat to the traditional and legal-
rational authority.
c. Legal-rational – whoever has power because of their seat. It is the position
that gives you the power. The position makes it legitimate.

Radical Power

- Think power broadly rather than narrowly in three dimentions rather than one or
two. We need to look at power not just by we see but by we don’t see.
- Three Dimentions of Power:
a. Unseen Power
a. Behaviour
b. Decision-making
c. (key) issues
d. Observable (overt) conflict
e. (subjective) interests, seen as policy preferences revealed by
political participation.
b. Controlling what is talked about. Media. Exercise of Power.
a. Decision-making and non-decision making
 b. Issues and potential issues
c. Observable (overt or covert) conflict
d. (subjective) interests, seen as policy preferences or grievances
c. You don’t even know why you’re being controlled or why is your behaviour
like that. Shaping you to think of one way. Difficulties are translated away
from what would be your best interest. You don’t realize you’re being
controlled.
a. Decision-making and control over political agenda (not
necessarily through decisions)
b. Issues and potential issues
c. Observable (overt or covert), latent conflict
d. Subjective and real interests

08/24/24

LECTURE:

1. Aristotle – ‘The State Exists in Nature’

- That what uses intellect is by nature master/ruler. You need a master and a slave
(he refers as working class).
- The organization of society is ‘natural.’ Natural means that we – as human beings,
cannot do without it, we cannot resist it.
- beginning that when Aristotle says the state exists in nature that's one of the
translations right the original text
- remember this thousands of years ago where you might read you might think well I
don't agree with this at all but that's OK what we're here to do is trying to just to
decipher what is it that the author is saying so when he says the state is any kind of
saying it's natural the state is a natural kind of phenomenon
- natural for people living together that eventually try to organize and kind of you
know manage their joint affairs so that's what it means by natural
- state it is so natural that we shouldn’t live on an island in ourselves
- first you have the men remember this is written thousands of years ago so it's not
don't let's not consider it for now but he stayed you have a man but will a man have
a man will have his home will have his wife that you know for a long time people
considered property then you will have your slave the man will have his end of his ox
so it's entering the man figure and then he's talking about order of possessions
ascension but what does this do for Aristotle well this creates the household and
that household then creates the village that village then create the community of
villages and that community of villages is what creates quote UN quote that state or
we can say that wholeness that mega society or that country but I want you to be
 able to use these words interchangeably right try to really get away he's trying to say
well how do you create this big these people this is how it grows it grows from one
household and then to a neighborhood and then to a collective itean neighborhoods
and then you have the polis or now the state
- Beginning of how a certain scholar is thinking or how he or she is organizing their
writing so and the first point he makes is if two things are incapable of existing each
other not entirely a set that is a very unique perspective he's putting out So what
does that mean well neither male nor female can exist without the other this is what
Aristotle is saying so since they cannot exist without the other biological male
biological female cannot exist without each other naturally procreate and leave leave
their progeny onwards we have to look at male and female as a unity so the unity of
male and female for Aristotle is the most natural indication of the unity of a society if
that is whole societies that is not society this is his theory he also says this he says
there are those that are naturally born to rule and there are those naturally born to
be ruled right I remember the Greeks at that time in human history had among the
most advanced civilizations at least that they knew so the naturally they felt this
sense of superiority around what they saw
- Tonight rules is chosen by nature of his intellect therefore female and slave are not
the same nature does not create anything without a specific design and purpose
everything has been created with one specific aim and purpose not many every tool
we BS to use for one purpose not many so non Greeks however make this mistake in
judgment this is because they do not have intellect therefore the ports are correct in
saying it's proper that the Greeks rule over non groups on the assumption that non
Greeks are by slave by nature so of course today we will look at some of those
comments and say well hold on a second here right this pretty big stick is to say that
you deserve to rule the whole world because would you believe that God is giving
you something intellect nobody else really has to be you see it but aside from those
kind of let's say prickly or controversial statements the other ways that he's trying to
understand the need and the formation of society that's what I want you to focus on
the way that he's doing it right after all you have to remember that this is thousands
of years and you also want to acknowledge that Aristotle is one of the most
profound and fickle writers who in history is pillars we could save western civilization
but not only that I want to kind of add this to her but I said in the beginning of the
class that the first translator was up to Greek works for in Arabic and so the oldest
texts that you have Cortana work is not in this original language
- The article discusses Aristotle’s viewpoint that the ‘State’ exists in Nature. What I
would
2. Aristotle: The State Exists in Nature
- How he justifies states, ethos, female and male are seen as a unit/one and not
separate but he also categorizes female as part of male.
- The article discusses Aristotle’s viewpoint that the ‘State’ exists in Nature. Essentially,
what Aristotle really means is that the organization of society is ‘natural.’ Natural
means that we – as human beings, cannot do without it, we cannot resist it. If we
resist something natural, many wrongs happen. For instance, food is natural, if we
decide to not eat, our mind and body are damaged and negatively affected.
- Now, in this, as in other fields, we shall get the best view of things if we look at their
natural growth from their beginnings. First, those which are incapable of existing
without one another must be understood and united as a pair. For example:
a. Male/Female: they cannot exist without the other and naturally, therefore,
they wish to leave behind their own progeny.
b. That which naturally rules and that which is ruled: For that which can use its
intellect is ruler and by nature master and that which uses its bodily strength
to labor is by nature slave.
- It is by nature that Male/Female are required to unite and that what rules, is chosen
by nature by his intellect. Therefore, female and slave are not the same, instead they
are different. Nature does not create anything without a specific design and purpose.
Everything has been created with one specific aim and purpose, not many. Every tool
will be best if it used for one purpose, not many. Non-Greeks, however, make this
mistake in judgment. This is because they do not have intellect. Therefore, the poets
are correct in saying: It is proper that Greeks rule over non-Greeks on the assumption
that non-Greeks and slave are by nature identical.
- Is this racist? Does time affect knowledge and understanding? Has it always been this
way? That which naturally rules and that which is ruled for the purposes of
preservation. He divides people between those that naturally rule and those that are
naturally ruled. In other words, he thinks Greeks are rulers and others are non-rulers
and need to be ruled and both benefit from this. This idea of racial superiority is not
something new.
- Aristotle says: For that which can use its intellect to look ahead is by nature a ruler
and by nature master, while that which has the bodily strength to labor is ruled and
is by nature a slave. Hence, master and slave benefit from the same thing.
- Thus, it was from these two associations: male/female and ruler/ruled, that a
household first arose, and Hesiod was right in his poetry when he said: ‘First of all a
house, and a wife, and an ox to draw the plough. This association that is formed is
called a household. Then, many households lead to a village. Then, the complete
association of several villages is the state, which at once reaches the limit of total
self-sufficiency.
 - Where it comes into existence for the sake of life, it exists for the sake of good life.
- Therefore, every state exists in nature, since the first associations did too. For this
association is their end, and nature is an end; for whatever each thing is in character
when its coming into existence is completed, that is what we call the nature of each
thing, of a man, or a horse or a house. Moreover, the aim i.e. the end, is the best;
and self-sufficiency is both the best and the end.
- Aristotle believes the state exists in nature and uses these two arguments to justify
his position. This means that a ‘state’ or country is as natural as male/female unity
and requires both rulers and ruled.
- We all need a community.
3. Thomas Hobbes: ‘The Misery of the Natural Condition of Mankind.’
- He grew up in a time where there was a plague and time of riot.
4. Thomas Hobbes: ‘The Misery of the
5. Baron De Montesquieu:
6. Rousseau:
7. Locke:
8. Darwin:

1. Aristotle- ’The State Exists in Nature.’

2. Thomas Hobbes – ‘The Misery of the Natural Condition of Mankind.’

3. Baron De Montesquieu: Fear and Peace

 4. Rousseau: Noble Savage

5. Locke: State of Nature and the State of Law

6. Darwin: “Natural Selection” and “Survival of the Fittest”