a. politics

7/27/2019 A. Politics

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STATE AND THE SOCIETY


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POLITICS

- A Cultural universal common to allsocieties is the exercise of power

and authority- Harold Lasswell (1936 ) tersely

defined politics as who gets

what, when and how? whichinvolves the struggle for powerand authority


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POWER

Is at the heart of the Political System

According to Max Weber, power is the ability

to exercise ones will over others. Whoever can control the behaviour of others

is exercising power.


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3 Basic sources of Power

1. Force is the actual or threatened use ofcoercion to impose ones will on others.

e.g When leaders imprison or even executepolitical dissidents

2. Influence refers to the exercise of powerthrough a process of persuasion.

e.g A citizen may change his/her view of aSupreme Court nominee because of anewspaper editorial.


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3. Authority refers to the institutionalizedpower that is recognized by the people overwhom it is exercised. Sociologists commonly

use the term in connection with those whohold legitimate power through elected orpublicly acknowledged positions.

- Max Weber developed a classification systemregarding authority that has become one ofthe most useful and frequently citedcontributions of early sociology


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3 IDEAL TYPES OF AUTHORITY

1. TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY

2. LEGAL-RATIONAL AUTHORITY

3. CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY


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TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY

legitimate power is conferred by custom andaccepted practice

For the Traditional leader, authority rests incustom, not in personal characteristics,technical competence, or even written law.

People accept this authority because this is

how things have always been done Traditional authority is absolute when the

ruler has the ability to determine laws andpolitics


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CHARISMATIC

Refers to the power made legitimate by aleaders exceptional personal or emotionalappeal to his/her followers.

Charismatic leaders often become wellknown by breaking with establishedinstitutions and advocating dramatic changes

in the social structure and economic system


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Politics (from Greek:politikos,

meaning "of, for, or relating tocitizens") is the practice and theory of

influencing other people on a civic or

individual level. More narrowly, itrefers to achieving and exercising

positions of governance organized

control over a human community,particularly a state.


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Political system

is a framework which defines acceptablepolitical methods within a givensociety. History of political thought can betraced back to early antiquity, with seminalworks suchas Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Politics and

opus of Confucius.


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STATE

The origin of the state is to be found in thedevelopment of the art of warfare.Historically speaking, all politicalcommunities of the modern type owe theirexistence to successful warfare


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Kings, emperors and other types of monarchs inmany countries including China and Japan, wereconsidered divine. Of the institutions that ruled

states, that of kingship stood at the forefrontuntil the French Revolution put an end to the"divine right of kings". Nevertheless, themonarchy is among the longest-lasting political

institutions, dating as early as 2100 BC inSumeria to the 21st Century AD BritishMonarchy. Kingship becomes an institutionthrough heredity.


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The king often, even in absolute monarchies,ruled his kingdom with the aid of an elitegroup of advisors, a Council without which he

could not maintain power. As these advisors,and others outside the monarchy negotiatedfor power, constitutional , which may beconsidered the germ of constitutional

government.Long before the council becamea bulwark of democracy, it renderedinvaluable aid to the institution of kingship by


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1 Preserving the institution of kingship throughheredity.

2 Preserving the traditions of the social order.3 Being able to withstand criticism as an

impersonal authority.

4 Being able to manage a greater deal ofknowledge and action than a single individualsuch as the king.

a. politics

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