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POL101 - Lecture 1 - KNHH

This document provides an overview of an introductory political science course. It defines key concepts like politics, political power, and the study of political science. It evaluates different explanations of political power, justifies considering political science a science, contrasts normative theories with political science, and outlines major subfields like US politics, political theory, public administration, and public policy. The goal is for students to understand political concepts and analyze politics objectively using evidence-based reasoning.

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Samin hyder
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252 views17 pages

POL101 - Lecture 1 - KNHH

This document provides an overview of an introductory political science course. It defines key concepts like politics, political power, and the study of political science. It evaluates different explanations of political power, justifies considering political science a science, contrasts normative theories with political science, and outlines major subfields like US politics, political theory, public administration, and public policy. The goal is for students to understand political concepts and analyze politics objectively using evidence-based reasoning.

Uploaded by

Samin hyder
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Department of Political Science & Sociology

POL101: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

DR. KAZI N.H. HAQUE


Asst Professor (Part-time)
PSS, NSU

Lecture 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

➢ Evaluate the several explanations of political power


➢ Justify the claim that political science may be considered a
science
➢ Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of several
theoretical approaches to political science
➢ Contrast normative theories of politics to political science
DEFINITION OF POLITICS

Politics is "who gets what, when, how.”


- Harold Dwight Lasswell

Harold Lasswell (1902 -1978)


American Political Scientist
DEFINITION OF POLITICS

➢ Politics is the ongoing competition between people, usually


in groups, to shape policy in their favor.
➢ Politics is more fundamental than governments but occurs
wherever human competitions play out.
➢ To guide policy indirectly by shaping the beliefs and values
of members of their society.
➢ Behavior is shaped by the politics.
Political Power: Evaluate the several explanations of
political power

➢ Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) emphasized, ultimately politics


is about power, specifically the power to shape others’
behavior.
➢ Biological: Aristotle said it first and perhaps best: “Man is
by nature a political animal.”
Political Power: Evaluate the several explanations of
political power

➢ Psychological: Psychologists have refined their views with


empirical research.
➢ Psychological explanations of politics and obedience are
closely allied with biological theories.
➢ Both posit needs derived from centuries of evolution in the
formation of political groups.
Political Power: Evaluate the several explanations of
political power

➢ Cultural: the cultural theorists—those who believe behavior


is learned—dominated. Anthropologists concluded that all
differences in behavior were cultural.
➢ If all human behavior is learned, bad behavior can be
unlearned and society improved.
➢ Human behavior that is learned as opposed to inherited.
Political Power: Evaluate the several explanations of
political power

➢ Rational: Based on the ability to reason.


➢ Irrational: Based on the power to use fear and myth to
cloud reason
POWER AS A COMPOSITE

➢ Power is a connection among people, the ability of


one person to get others to do his or her bidding.
➢ Revolutionaries in some lands speak of “seizing
power,” as if power was kept in the national treasury
and they could sneak in and grab it at night.
➢ Legitimacy: Mass feeling that the government’s
rule is rightful and should be obeyed.
WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE: JUSTIFY THE CLAIM THAT
POLITICAL SCIENCE MAY BE CONSIDERED A SCIENCE

➢ Political science is a method of how to study politics.


➢ Political science is training in the calm, objective analysis of
politics, which may or may not aid working politicians.
WHAT IS POLITICAL SCIENCE: JUSTIFY THE CLAIM THAT
POLITICAL SCIENCE MAY BE CONSIDERED A SCIENCE

➢ Politicians love power, seek popularity, think practically, hold firm


views, offer single causes, see short-term payoff, plan for next
election, respond to groups and seek name recognition.
➢ Political Scientists are skeptical of power, seek accuracy, think
abstractly, reach tentative conclusions, offer many causes, see
long-term consequences, plan for next publication, seek the good
of the whole.
CAN POLITICS BE STUDIED AS A SCIENCE?

➢ Quantify: To measure with numbers.


➢ Hypothesis: An initial theory a researcher starts with, to be proved
by evidence.
➢ Empirical: Based on observable evidence.
THE STRUGGLE TO SEE CLEARLY

➢ Scholarship: Intellectual arguments supported by reason and


evidence.
➢ Reasoned
➢ Balanced
➢ Supported with evidence
➢ Theoretical
WHAT GOOD IS POLITICAL SCIENCE?

➢ Political science can contribute to good government, often by


warning those in office that all is not well, “speaking Truth to
Power,” as the Quakers say.
➢ Political science is training in objective and often complex analysis,
whereas the practice of politics requires fixed, popular, and
simplified opinions.
➢ Political science is not necessarily training to become a practicing
THE SUBFIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

➢ U.S. Politics focuses on institutions and processes, mostly at the


federal level but some at state and local levels. It includes parties,
elections, public opinion, and executive and legislative behavior.
➢ Political Theory, both classic and modern, attempts to define the
good polity, often focused on major thinkers.
➢ Political science is not necessarily training to become a practicing
politician.
THE SUBFIELDS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

➢ Public Administration studies how bureaucracies work and how


they can be improved.
➢ Public Policy studies the interface of politics and economics with an
eye to developing effective programs
Acknowledgements

◼ Raju Ahmed, Research Assistant


◼ Nazia Tabassum Toma, Teaching Assistant

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