Aims and Scope, Relationship between Politics, Society & Law, Western and Indian school of thought Politics and legitimate power
What is politics Politics originated from Greek word which means, "of, for, or relating to citizens", is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The word politics comes from the Greek word politika, modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of the city", the name of his book on governing and governments The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs. It also refers to behavior within civil governments. However, politics can be observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power
and refers to the regulation of public affairs within a political unit. Nature of Politics Politics is how governments are run and political science is the study of that. The word "politics" in this case is not negative, but it is often used as such. The nature of politics can be defined by Geoffrey Roberts as: "A nation or a society characterized by a political culture, into which its children are inducted, and by learning which they participate and preserve values and institution's
To rule over society and on particular person is a part of art. In pol. science we find that everywhere is discussing about a practical life. Means how to rule?, whom to rule?, what are the factors of rule?, and so on. So these are the factors due to which we can say that it is matter of practical life and it is an art to perform these all things. In pol. science we study about political theory and we come to know different aspects of our life. Aim Analysis of the past. the study of the past events is indispensable for an effective analysis of the present day situation. In order to have the to have a correct appraisal of the working of different political institution, it is necessary to keep into consideration their working in historical perspective, It is only with the help of the study of the past that we can construct a better future
Study of the present. political science is mainly concerned with the working of the State`s machinery and its major aim is to improve efficiency and eradicate road blocks. The study of political science is useful only it incorporates with its fold, a discussion of the working of different political institutions on comparative basis. The field of comparison ought to be vast enough to consider within its purview, all modes of behavior and other factors that shape the output of a political system.
Aim Understanding the future course.
The study of political science is not merely confined to fact-finding or political analysis of the past ,it presents, on the other hand, such guiding principles which can be helpful in the solution of political problems. It is necessary that the future course of action suggested by political scientists, should be based on a good deal of profound research and through investigation. Moreover, in the fild of political enquiry, the most scientific techniques should be employed.More the field of comparision is vast, more the results and compiled facts will be valid and universal.Diffrent areas of study and variables of social life are given below as are directly or indirectly engulfed within the scope of political science.
Scope of Politics Scope of political sci. is to study the past things that happened and use it correct the present and determine what the future will say about. It includes a detailed discussion on State , in respect of its nature, organization, institution and purpose along with the sphere of its activity. A theoretical discussion on the function of the State through phases and in the contemporary environment, form an important part of political theory. In like manner, rights of the individuals and sovereignty of the State and their co relationship. is another aspect of such discussion. The Scope also includes principles regarding grounds of political obligations. What would be the attitude of the citizens, for instance in case a government deviates from its true path ? Such intricate issue and problem can be better appraised and solved through an application of political values provided be political theory.
Relationship between Politics, Society and Law, Politics is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs. It also refers to behavior within civil governments Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. THE SOCIETY THROUGH POLITICAL MEANS FORMULATE LAWS
Society A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members. In social sciences, a society invariably entails social stratification and/or dominance hierarchy. THUS. THE SOCIETY THROUGH POLITICAL MEANS FORMULATE LAWS
Western Political Thought Socrates: Widely considered the founder of Western political philosophy, via his spoken influence on Athenian contemporaries; since Socrates never wrote anything, much of what we know about him and his teachings comes through his most famous student, Plato. Aristotle: Wrote his Politics as an extension of his Nicomachean Ethics. Notable for the theories that humans are social animals, and that the polis (Ancient Greek city state) existed to bring about the good life appropriate to such animals. His political theory is based upon an ethics of perfectionism.
Western Political Thought Niccol Machiavelli One of the most influential works during this burgeoning period was Niccol Machiavelli's The Prince, written between 151112 and published in 1532, after Machiavelli's death. That work, as well as The Discourses, a rigorous analysis of the classical period, did much to influence modern political thought in the West. Though the work was written for the di Medici family in order to perhaps influence them to free him from exile, Machiavelli supported the Republic of Florence rather than the oligarchy of the di Medici family. At any rate, Machiavelli presents a pragmatic view of politics, whereby good and evil are mere means used to bring about an end, i.e. the secure and powerful state. Thomas Hobbes, well known for his theory of the social contract, goes on to expand this view at the start of the 17th century during the English Renaissance. Although neither Machiavelli nor Hobbes believed in the divine right of kings, they both believed in the inherent selfishness of the individual. It was necessarily this belief that led them to adopt a strong central power as the only means of preventing the disintegration of the social order. John Locke John Locke in particular exemplified this new age of political theory with his work Two Treatises of Government. In it Locke proposes a state of nature theory that directly complements his conception of how political development occurs and how it can be founded through contractual obligation. Thomas Jefferson: Politician and political theorist during the American Enlightenment. Expanded on the philosophy of Thomas Paine by instrumenting republicanism in the United States. Most famous for the United States Declaration of Independence. Immanuel Kant: Argued that participation in civil society is undertaken not for self- preservation, as per Thomas Hobbes, but as a moral duty. First modern thinker who fully analyzed structure and meaning of obligation. Argued that an international organization was needed to preserve world peace. Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Analyzed the social contract as an expression of the general will, and controversially argued in favor of absolute democracy where the people at large would act as sovereign.
Thomas Aquinas: In synthesizing Christian theology and Peripatetic (aristotelian) teaching, Aquinas contends that God's gift of higher reasonmanifest in human law by way of the divine virtuesgives way to the assembly of righteous government. Jeremy Bentham: The first thinker to analyze social justice in terms of maximization of aggregate individual benefits. Founded the philosophical/ethical school of thought known as utilitarianism. Isaiah Berlin: Developed the distinction between positive and negative liberty Edmund Burke: Irish member of the British parliament, Burke is credited with the creation of conservative thought. Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France is the most popular of his writings where he denounced the French revolution. Burke was one of the biggest supporters of the American Revolution. Confucius: The first thinker to relate ethics to the political order. John Rawls: Revitalised the study of normative political philosophy in Anglo-American universities with his 1971 book A Theory of Justice, which uses a version of social contract theory to answer fundamental questions about justice and to criticise utilitarianism. Indian Political Thought Manusmti (written also as Manusmriti or Manusmruti) (Sanskrit:
), also known as Mnava-Dharmastra
(Sanskrit: ), is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmastra textual tradition of Hinduism. Generally known in English as the Laws of Manu, it was first translated into English in 1794 by Sir William Jones, an English Orientalist and judge of the British Supreme Court of Judicature in Calcutta. The text presents itself as a discourse given by Manu, the progenitor of mankind to a group of seers, or rishis, who beseech him to tell them the "law of all the social classes" Indian Political Thought Chnakya (Sanskrit: Cakya) was a teacher to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and generally considered to be the architect of his rise to power. Traditionally, Chanakya is also identified by the names Kauilya and Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise called Arthastra.
It is important to identify Chanakya as a great Indian because his cultural significance has reached far and wide, and his words are just as internalised in other parts of South Asia. Chanakya has been considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science. Indian Political Thought In the Western world, he has been referred to as The Indian Machiavelli, although Chanakya's works predate Machiavelli's by about 1,800 years. Chanakya was a teacher in Takaila, an ancient centre of learning, and was responsible for the creation of Mauryan empire, the first of its kind on the Indian subcontinent. The Arthashastra : Arthastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and Vihugupta, who are traditionally identified with Chaky (c. 350283 BC), who was a scholar at Takshashila and later the prime minister of the Maurya Empire.
(Thinking in Extremes) Filippo Del Lucchese, Fabio Frosini, Vittorio Morfino - The Radical Machiavelli - Politics, Philosophy, and Language (2015, Brill) PDF
Benjamin Straumann - Crisis and Constitutionalism - Roman Political Thought From The Fall of The Republic To The Age of Revolution-Oxford University Press (2016)