document pols c

Upload: benedict

Post on 07-Jul-2018

223 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    1/36

    Distinguish between Politics and Political Science in terms of nature,scopeand de nition?

    Sometime past Laymen,scholars and political scientists often use the wordspolitics and political science to denote the same thing by using the two termsinterchangeably. It is believed that the term politics is derived from the word

    Polis the e!act meaning of which is city"state. the Greeks first introduced the idea ofthe ‘polis’meaning city-state. It is from ‘polis’ that we derive our modern word ' politics'. Aristotle( !"- ## $%& in his ook )*I+I%, first used the term politics to refer to the affairs of aGreek city-state. Aristotle o served that ‘man y nature is a political animal’. $y this hemeant that the essence of social e istence is politics and that two or more men interactingwith one another are invaria ly involved in a political relationship.Aristotle o served thatwhenever men seek to define their position in society or attempt to achieve personalsecurity from availa le resources and as they try to influence others to accept their pointsof view they find themselves engaged in politicsmaking every one a politician.

    In ancient #reece, polis or the city state was the most popular and generalform of political organisation. $very polis or city" state had its own form ofgovernment, administration, management etc and all these did not dependupon the si%e of the polis or city"state. &hus politics means the political a'airsor administration of polis. &hus politics is understood to denote somethingabout polis or city"state.

    (e cannot separate the term politics from the a'airs of state and thesea'airs are lin)ed with the administration and decision ma)ing issues of state.Politics in this way has been connected with state as it was in ancient #reecewith the polis. Politics, in its broadest sense, is the activity through whichpeople ma)e, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live.*lthough politics is also an academic sub+ect sometimes indicated by the useof -Politics with a capital P/,which is clearly the study of this activity. Politicsis thus ine!tricably lin)ed to the phenomena of con0ict and cooperation.

    In contrast Political science is not only the study of government and state butalso it is the application of empirical theory and scienti c methods to the

    analysis of political matters. *fter the Second (orld (ar 123"2"1245/ somepolitical scientists of 6nited States applied a number of scienti c methods forthe investigation and analysis of political matters incidents and issues andthereafter they built models and concepts and all these have constituted thebody of political science.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    2/36

    (e earlier de ned one meaning of the term politics but there are othermeanings,politics is the activities aimed at improving someone s status withinan organisation. 7ere it means a type of instrument or channel to achievede nite purpose.&his purpose may be of a particular person or group ofpersons which may be good or bad. 8oreso, politics acts as an instrument

    that carries with it pe+orative sense s/ or connotation s/. Politics therefore ishas an academic features which is associated with the administration ormanagement of state and the other is non"academic which is generallype+orative.

    It is the former meaning which has introduced a di'erence between politicsand political science. * general and numerously accepted de nition ofpolitical science is9 &he study of state, government and politics and this studymust be based on scienti c principles and reasons. Political science is anacademic discipline but politics is fully not.

    In the past,some academicians has conceded to the concept that9 Politicalscience is not only the study of government and state but also it is theapplication of empirical theory and scienti c methods to the analysis ofpolitical matters. *fter the Second (orld (ar 1232"1245/ a very goodnumber of political scientists of 6nited States applied number of scienti cmethods for the investigation and analysis of political matters incidents andissues and after that they framed models and concepts and all these have

    nally constituted body of political science.

    It is therefore observed that while in non"academic function the politics isused pe+oratively, political science is blessed with academic and broadermeaning. * large section of common men is familiar to using the non"academic connotation of the term politics. (e generally say that abaft theseactivities there is politics.

    &he meaning of which is that persons concerned use their o:cial position orother means to achieve perculiar ob+ectives to which they are not legally andcommonly entitled. Politics in this function is irrational in itself. &herefore, thenon"academic meaning of politics has nothing to do with rationality. In bothnational and international politics this meaning of politics has gained front.

    In international politics big powers use politics as a weapon to establish theirauthority in ; international system and to reinforce their image and in0uence.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    3/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    4/36

    be an inevitability. &his de nition of politics views the sub+ect from the angleof cooperation, negotiation and con0ict.

    (hy the =uestion of cooperation, con0ict and negotiation? It is no secret thatin any society there are persons and groups who hold di'erent opinions onthe same issues and in a democratic society none can impose his ownviewsAdecision upon other. Baturally con0ict of opinion is the chiefcharacteristic of such a society and in order to arrive at a decision thesettlement of the con0ict is a must.

    &he practical situation teaches that no society can survive and thrive whichhas made itself a cauldron of animosity. Cooperation and negotiation ta)eplace under the stewardship of political organisations or government@nominated agencies. * de nition of politics includes all these becausepolitical science is not simply an academic sub+ect but also a potential andnecessary provider of guidelines for policy ma)ers and researchers.

    &his aspect of political science can be overloo)ed only at the detriment of theimportance of sub+ect. (e, therefore, conclude that political science as astudy of cooperation, negotiation and con0ict holds good for any liberal orpluralist society.

    7arold Lasswell has de ned political science in the following words. 7e callspolitical science an empirical science, as an empirical displine, as the study of the shaping and sharing of power, and a political act as one performed inpower perspectives.

    &he central idea of this de nition is Lasswell calls political science anempirical science. If so according to Lasswell the sub+ect is chie0y concernedwith the shaping and sharing of power. &his de nition of Lasswell reminds usabout an aspect of the de nition. Political science as a social science dealswith cooperation and con0ict and the latter also means that whenever therearises a con0ict the authority ta)es steps for its settlement and no settlementof any con0ict is possible without power.

    7ence we can de ne political science as an empirical discipline dealing with

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    5/36

    shaping and sharing of power. Lasswell believes that political science is thestudy of power e!ercised by the state or agencies authorised by state.

    In any modern civilised society individuals do not live alone, they live ingroups and behave as members of group. Baturally the behavior of individualis considerably in0uenced by the members of the group to which he belongs.

    iewed in this light Eaphael de nes politics in the following manner9

    Politics deals with the behaviour of groups and individuals in matters that areli)ely to a'ect the course of government. Eaphael has clari ed his stand. 7e

    says that the functions and policies, voting behaviour of persons, relationbetween the government and the people etc. are generally the sub+ectmatters of political science.

    &he interesting fact is that in strictest sense there is no di'erence betweenLasswell s de nition and Eaphael s de nition. Political science is primarily anempirical science and in that sense it comes to be associated with sharingand application of power and this power is applied by the government.

    Li)e Lasswell, (. F. 8. 8ac)en%ie has de ned politics in the light of power. Letus =uote some relevant portions from 8achen%ie s noted wor) Politics andSocial Science 12GH/. 7e says9 >Politics is about power . aboutlegitimate authority . about the reconciliation of interests. Politics is alsoconcerned with the legitimate use of violence and also the monopolyauthority over the power and the use of violence.

    &oday a large number of thin)ers have started to view the sub+ect speci cally

    in the light of power, violence and their use9 (hat 8ac)en%ie has added tothis de nition is" he has emphasised on legitimate used of power andviolence. &his does not of course mean that illegitimate use of power andviolence is totally banished from the arena of politics.

    Jur practical e!perience teaches us that power illegitimately used also nds

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    6/36

    a place in political science. Politics has to do with human decisionsand political science is the study of such decisions. *re all sorts of decisionsincluded into the sub+ect of political science? Jur answer is9 >Bot all decisionsare political. Political science brings under its purview only politicaldecisions.

    $aston s De nition9

    (e have analysed a number of de nitions of political science and we shallnow turn to David $aston s famous de nition which he has given in his noted

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    7/36

    wor) &he Political System 12H1/. 7e says9 Political Science is described asthe study of the authoritative allocation of values for a society.

    &he point to note is that this particular de nition is =uite di'erent from allother de nitions. &he meanings of the three concepts are to be en=uired andthey are9 policy, authority and society. Jnly the authority allocates or canallocate values and for that purpose it adopts policy9 alues are allocated forsociety.

    De ning policy $aston says9

    >* policy whether for a society, for a narrow association or for any othergroup, consists of a web of decisions and actions that allocates values.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    8/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    9/36

    and widely accepted one. *lmond s suggestion, it is claimed, is based on theempirical studies of political systems of di'erent parts of the globe.

    Boted #erman sociologist 8a! (eber 1 G4@12MN/ also thought that withoutlegitimate physical compulsion it would be impossible for the governmentAauthority to implement any policyAdecision. (e nd *lmond to observe thatlegitimate physical force is the most crucial aspect of any political systemand if any political system is deprived of it, it will be away from the properplatform of political system and political science.

    Concept, 8odel and &heory9

    In the second half of the twentieth century analysis of political science passedthrough sea changes so far as method of analysis, preparing of modes andbuilding up of theory are concerned and the changes have been occasionedby the inability of the traditional political science to meet the challenge of thenew situation and the determination of a number of political scientists of boththe hemispheres to in+ect new thought and line of analysis into the sub+ect.

    *s a result of this venture and new outloo) certain terms which were

    generally used by other sciences and are being increasingly used by themhave conveniently found their places in politics. Kor proper understanding ofpolitical science it is necessary to throw light on these terms because withoutit a clear understanding of the sub+ect will never be achieved.

    Kirst of all we shall deal with Concept. *ccording to 7eywood concept is ageneral idea about something usually e!pressed in a single word or shortphrase. &here is a di'erence between idea and thing. &hing is a proper nounand it discusses various aspects of the particular article or thing or animal.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    10/36

    Concept is a very important part of today s political analysis because with thehelp of concept we analyse di'erent general principles of political science.(ith the help of concept we generally impose an idea upon something or a

    principle of politics.

    * concept generally highlights the ideal or principle of political science andthis enables the reader to grasp )nowledge about the sub+ect. (hen we saythat e=uality or +ustice is an ideal or principle we rst of all build up apreliminary conception about it and after that we try to enter into the depthof the concept. 7eywood says9 >Concepts are general . &hey are buildingbloc)s of human )nowledge.

    In recent years it has been found that political scientist and researchers areincreasingly resorting to concepts because they are more inclined to using itfor analysis of the sub+ect. Political scientists and researchers are involved incontroversies and it is due to the fact that while one political scientist viewsthe concept in one way another political scientist focuses light on otheraspect.

    * model is usuallythought of as a representation of something usually on a smaller scale .7ence model resembles something which is =uite big or large. In thepreparation of the model the original thing is faithfully remembered.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    11/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    12/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    13/36

    *ccording to an Dy)e political theory also includes suggestion,recommendations and advices given by political scientists. (e thus see thatpolitical theory can never 0ourish and spread its manifold aspects in vacuumO

    it has not fallen from heaven. Political theory is generally based on theconclusions analyses, opinions, propositions made by the philosophers andpolitical scientists.

    (e have brie0y discussed political theory. (e shall now focus our attention topolitical philosophy. Stated brie0y it means >the systematic elaboration of theconse=uences for politics of suggested resolutions of philosophicaldilemmas.

    In political philosophy politics and philosophy are both combined. Politicalissues and a'airs related to politics are e!plained elaborately andphilosophically. $ven in a limited way political philosophy endeavours toe!plore various political implications of political matters, issues and disputes.

    Jne important feature of political philosophy is while it analyses politicalissues and matters, it not only goes into the depth of the sub+ect but also ittries to analyse in the light of >what is ? and >what ought to be ? &his is

    purely a normative procedure to analyse politics. Since ought has a specialplace in political philosophy we can easily nd out a close relation betweenpolitical philosophy and moral philosophy. alue +udgment cannot beseparated from political theory.

    In fact what we call today political theory or political science it was in earliercenturies political philosophy because the general principles of politicaltheory issued from the brain and pen of renowned philosophers such as Plato,*ristotle, Eousseau, 7egel, 8ar! etc. &oday we ma)e serious attempts to

    divorce political theory from political philosophy but the tas) is not so easy.

    If we go through the various stages of the development of political theory weshall nd that political theory has sometimes been overshadowed by politicalphilosophy. &he sub+ect matters of earlier political theory were description,e!planation and evaluation and the latter opened the way of normative

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    14/36

    character of political theory.

    *ll these, however, were elaborately analysed by great philosophers andnaturally it was very di:cult for political theory to free itself from theshac)les of philosophy. $arlier political theory was not only normative andevaluative it was also prescriptive. Political philosophers generally prescribedwhat ought to be followed. &he political philosophers did not give anyimportance to scienti c models and application of scienti c techni=ues to thestudy of political science.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    15/36

    subsidiary part of philosophy.

    &his made political science as subservient to philosophy. David $aston in his &he Political System has drawn our attention to this >ignoble position ofpolitical science in general and political theory in particular. &he application of scienti c methods to the analysis of political science, the emergence ofbehaviouralism and emergence of empiricism have been able at leastpartially, to free political science from the clutches of philosophy, logic andtheory of )nowledge.

    Bature of Politics9

    If we study the various de nitions given above we shall come across severalfeatures or various aspects of the nature of politics and some are statedbelow9

    Jne, the de nition or idea of politics is 0e!ible or changing. &o the traditionalthin)ers politics was the study of state and government. &oday the de nitionis not con ned within a limited sphere or few notions.

    &he sub+ect is variously de ned and includes many notions. &he idea ofpolitics encompasses numerous aspects of political behaviour of individuals,groups, associations, agents etc. $ven the elements of international relationhave found their place in the de nition or analysis of politics. &o sum up,politics is a broad concept and changes its contents with the change of time.

    &wo, Controversy is a very important element of politics. Let us elaborate it.Politics means the e!istence of issues and again it means the e!istence of

    controversy. It is argued that where there are issues and, politics cannot bethought of sans issues/ there must be controversy.

    Issues are never homogeneous and the heterogeneity of issues creates anatmosphere of debate and in this way politics cannot be separated fromcontroversy. Let us =uote (asby, >(here no controversy e!ists, where no

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    16/36

    issues are being debated, politics does not e!ist . &he controversy pervadesto all sections of society as well as to all sorts of groups, institutions,individuals, organisations etc.

    &hree, F. D.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    17/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    18/36

    the state of nature for the settlement of disputes. &he state of nature was astate of war. Some people wanted to do things and by dint of muscle powerthey did it.

    7ardly there is any place of politics in monolithic society because such asociety is characterised by complete agreement among the members ofsociety on various issues which crop up from time to time. iewed from thisangle one can conclude that the three great contractualists 7obbe, Loc)eand Eousseau/ may be called the introducers of the concept of politicsbecause all these three thin)ers started their political analysis with the stateof nature. &his view, however, is contested by many.

    Is Political Science a Science?

    &he controversy whether political science is science or not is as old as thesub+ect itself. $ven today the controversy has not died down. &here are alarge number of people, many of whom are prominent in their own elds, whobelieve that to call political science a science is simply a travesty of the wordscience.

    &he central idea of science is the e!perimentation and after that correctprediction and it is unfortunate that these two have hardly any scope inpolitical science and because of this political science cannot be placed in thesame ran) of physics or chemistry.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    19/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    20/36

    &oday attempts are being made to ma)e the sub+ect scienti c and for thispurpose researchers, students and scholars are trying hard to ma)e thesub+ect ob+ective as well as value"free. &hey are also endeavouring to e!plain

    and analyse the events systematically. &echni=ues of data collection and data processinghave developed enormously . 8ore emphasis is being given to the training inthe sub+ect and it is gradually intensi ed.

    8ac)en%ie also points out that a large number of natural scientists are ta)ingmore and more interests in political science. Kor e!ample, physical scientistsare interested in war and peace as well as disarmament treaties.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    21/36

    terms and concepts of mathematics, physics and other branches of purescience.

    Bot only is this, the interchange between political science and other branchesof social science gradually increasing. 8ac)en%ie says that today s politicalscience is not what it was several decades ago. It is not simply politicalscience it is >8eta"politics . If this is the position there is no reason to refuseto call it a science sub+ect. &he methods of analysing political science aregradually re ned and perfected and this process will continue in future. So weconclude that political science is a science though a science of di'erentcategory.

    Political Science is a Social Science9

    In the last section of our analysis we mentioned that though political scienceis not pure science li)e physics and chemistry it is undoubtedly a prominentbranch of social science. &his observation is laconic in nature and thereforere=uires elaboration. (e have already noted 8orgenthau s de nition ofpolitical science.

    Kor the sa)e of relevance we =uote him again, >Political science grew not byvirtue of an intellectual principle germane to the eld, but in response topressures from the outside. (hat could not be de ned in terms of traditionalacademic disciplines was de ned as political science . (asby says that thisde nition of political science is true with respect to both content and methodof political science.

    Krom the above observation we again conclude that what we declare as thecontent of political science is, in fact, derived from many other sub+ects whichare )nown as branches of social science. 7ence there is hardly anything li)epure political science, various aspects and matters of political science arederived from a number of social sciences. $ven political science borrows itsmethod of analysis from other sub+ects.

    (ith the passing away of time and the development of man s )nowledge andinterest the dependence of political science upon other social sciences is

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    22/36

    increasing. It is also to be noted here that this dependence is never a oneway tra:c. Jther disciplines of social science are in one way or otherdependent on political science. &o sum up, political science and otherdisciplines of social science are interdependent.

    It is to be noted here that no science physical or social can claim purity and itis due to the interdependence of sub+ects. &oday we are ac=uainted with theterms such as bio"physics, bio"chemistry, ethical economics, welfare politicsetc.

    Political Science is Dependent on Society9

    &he materials which build up the structure of political science, it is asserted,are derived from society.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    23/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    24/36

    &he author of these signi cant lines wants to point out that in ultimateanalysis all the branches of social science are very closely related. &hevarious disciplines of social science draw their sustenance from the society,they deal with the problems of society and they invest their energy andintellect to the solution of manifold problems from which the society su'ers.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    25/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    26/36

    &he policy ma)ers of the"state are heavily preoccupied with the economicproblems and nding out their solutions. Planning, industrialisationliberalisation, globalisation all are involved with economic problems. &hegovernments of both developed and developing countries are profoundlypressed by the problems created by these Bo administration in any part of

    the world can ignore economic issues. $conomists always play the crucial rolein state administration.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    27/36

    social science in general and preparing a general theory in particular cannotbe overloo)ed &here are several branches of geography such as economicgeography, cultural geography, human geography etc.

    &hese separate branches of geography guide and control human behaviourand are also concerned with social progress. Political science also is notcompletely unrelated with geography. &he authority of the state adoptsvarious schemes to utilise geography for the development of humanresources.

    &here are also other disciplines of social science and all are directly relatedwith human behaviour and general theory and by virtue of that they are alsoconnected with political science. Kor e!ample, history is an important branchof social science and its relation with political science is as old as politicaltheory.

    * ma+or part of the materials used in political science is derived from history.Political science, on the other hand, also helps in various ways the study ofhistory. *gain both are the study of society and also mould the progress ofsociety.

    In the light of the above analysis we can observe that alt the disciplines ofsocial science help in accordance with their own ability to the study of societyand contribute to the formation of general theory.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    28/36

    In the bac)ground of above analysis one can reasonably as) what is the e!actposition of political science in the whole gamut of social science? (e are ofopinion that the role or contribution of politics or its position cannot be

    assertively stated. It is mainly because political science deals with socialissues and problems which are volatile.

    Botwithstanding this primary di:culty one can say that the importance ofpolitical science as a guide to social policy and in the eld of decision"ma)ingis increasing day after day. $ven a few decades bac) political scientists wereneglected.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    29/36

    Political science of the second half of the twentieth century or even at thebeginning of the twenty rst century is remar)ably di'erent from what it wasat the beginning of the twentieth century. &he large scale application ofscienti c methods and sophisticated tools has brought about sea change inthe study of the sub+ect.

    (asby says, >Bow an increasing number of political scientists are borrowers.Perhaps one important factor in this change was the war time e!perience ofmany political scientists as government employees wor)ing on in the midst of manifold complicated problems. &hey recognised that they needed to be acombination of political economist, political geographer and politicalpsychologist because as administrators they did not nd problems neatlydivided into political science, economics, sociology et at, the problems, had tobe handled in their totality.

    Scope of Political Science9

    Political science is the most important branch of social science and its chiefconcern is with the political behaviour of individuals, groups of individuals,agencies, institutions, organisation et al. Since all these are sub+ect to changeand they are changing continuously the sub+ect matter of political science isbound to change, so also the scope of Political Science.

    Bow the interesting fact is that various scholars and political scientists havemade sincere attempts to view its scope from their respective angles andperspective resulting in wide variations in the treatment of scope.

    * renowned author has analysed the scope of Political Science from fourdi'erent angles and these are9 Politics as the art of government, politics aspublic a'airs, politics as compromise and consensus, politics as power anddistribution of resources.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    30/36

    Bo serious thin)er can neglect all >these issue whilst analysing politics. &woor three decades ago even a well"versed political scientist paid little thoughtand attention to globali%ation and neo"liberalism.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    31/36

    necessitated by the growing comple! character of society. Baturally thescope of politics as an art of government has to a considerable e!tentenhanced. Bot only this, into the scope of politics is included certain negativeaspects of society.

    Kor e!ample in many parts of the world particularly in the states of &hird(orld the criminali%ation of politics, is assuming alarming dimension and inthis arena no government can sit idly. * government worthy of its name mustdevise means to tac)le this development and ultimately this comes to be apart of art of government.

    It may be noted that Italian philosopher 8achiavelli lamented that corruption,degradation of politics and internecine war among the di'erent provinces ofItaly were the chief factors of the bac)wardness of Italy and failure of Italy tobe in0uenced by renaissance which had overwhelmingly in0uenced otherparts of $urope.

    So his advice to the prince ultimately came to be a part of politics and as anart of government. 7is advice to the prince has produced a plethora of=uestions and created an atmosphere of heated controversy.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    32/36

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    33/36

    restricted to politics, commerce, security and foreign a'airs. (hereas thefunctions of civil society relate to family and di'erent private a'airs.

    &he division between political organisation which is called state and civilsociety is never water tight. Kor the sa)e of general interest and greaterwelfare of the community the authority of the state very often interferes withthe functions and management of civil society.

    &his has come to be an important aspect that falls within the +urisdictions ofstate. &hus politics deals with matters of civil society. 8ar! and his followershave speci cally dealt with the relation between civil society and state. It isfound in 8ar!ist literature that capitalist ruler of state always tries to controlthe agencies of civil society by means of in0uencing art, literature, history,law and other things which generally belong to civil society. &hus in 8ar!istconception politics is a much broader idea.

    Beo"liberals of the eighties of the last century have strongly argued in favourof the curtailment of the functions and powers of state and enhance the sameof civil society with the sole purpose of giving more freedom to individuals.

    iewed from this angle it may be observed that according to neo"liberalspolitics comes to be a restricted conception.

    Politics as Compromise and Consensus9

    &his particular aspect of politics is seen as very important because in anystate there inhabit di'erent individuals. (ithin the geographical area of thestate there are many institutions, agencies and organisations. Sometimes thepurposes of these run counter to those of these state and this gives rise tocon0ict. In every state there are organisations whose functions is to resolveany con0ict.

    *pparently it should not be the concern of state but in ultimate analysissettlement of all sorts of disputes forms crucial part of political sciencebecause for this purpose the state is to frame laws, it ta)es steps for theirimplementation. *ny political analysis e'ectively deals with the con0icts andtheir resolution. In this way the state plays the role of a compromiser.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    34/36

    Disputes and their settlement do not form the core of any political analysisbecause to view politics as simply the manifestation of con0icts is wrong. It isalso the bounden duty of any authority to see that cooperation among

    individuals and institution comes to be a salient feature. &o arrive at it thepolitical organisation must create a congenial atmosphere.

    &his is no doubt an uphill tas) but the state cannot deny its responsibility.7owever, when the state adopts its scheme ensures an atmosphere ofcooperation that becomes a part of political science. Cooperation among theciti%ens may create a peaceful situation and con0ict may not be fre=uent.$ven after that disputes may e!ist and it is the duty of state authority to ndout compromise formula or to help the parties to the dispute to arrive atconsensus.

    Politics $mbraces all Social *ctivities9

    Jne very interesting feature of modern day politics is two =uite oppositeforces have engulfed the study of this sub+ect. Jne group believes that stateis the true custodian of its citi%ens interests and welfare and hence the stateshould perform those activities which will ensure the above ob+ective.

    &he opinion of the other group is the role of the state should be minimal.Performing the essential services the state should leave all other activities tothe responsibility of the individuals. >*drian Leftwich in his (hat Is Politics?

    &he *ctivity and Its study 12 4/ has said that if we scrutinise variouspolitical activities and the role of the state we shall nd that everywhere thepositive and even crucial role of political organisation will be found.

    In other words state is at the centre of all activities which are termed political. &hese activities may be private or public, formal or informal. *ll thesecategories do not matter at all. (hat matters most is the state is presenteverywhere. 7e says, >Politics is at the heart of all collective social activities .

    &oday if we too) at all the aspects of state we shall come across the fact that

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    35/36

    state is present everywhere. &he opposite picture is neo"liberals want torestrict the state activity to minimum function. 7owever, such an attitude hasnot been universally acclaimed and as a result state practically embraces allsorts of social activities.

    Politics is iewed in &erms of Power9

    Power is always at the heart of whatever the state performs. (e have earliernoted that the importance lies in ensuring cooperation among man,institutions, organisations etc. It also settles disputes and tries to arrive atconsensus. Beedless to say that power remains at the very centre of all theseactivities.

    &here are number of e!ponents of this concept and most renowned of themare 7arold Lasswell and aplan.

  • 8/19/2019 Document Pols c

    36/36

    the sa)e of debate, disagree with Lasswell or aplan, but we cannot deny theimportance of power.