Holy Cross High School

Faculty of Social Subjects

Higher Politics

UNIT 1: POLITICAL THEORY

Introduction to Higher Politics

You will study three units:

Political Theory

Political Systems

Political Parties and Elections

Following the study of each unit, you will be required to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the content through detailed analysis and explanation. You must also demonstrate the ability to use a wide range of sources in order to draw conclusions, compare and contrast and evaluate political information. Following each unit, you will complete a Unit Assessment to demonstrate that you have met the appropriate outcomes for that unit.

Assessment

Question Paper:

This will be worth 60 marks overall, and you have 2 hrs 15 mins.

There will be three sections of your question paper:

Section 1: Political Theory (20 marks)

Section 2: Political Systems (20 marks)

Section 3: Political Parties and Elections (20 marks)

You will answer one question worth 20 marks (from a choice of two), which will come from section 1 or 2 of the paper. This question will assess analysis and evaluation.

You will answer two questions worth 12 marks (you will have a choice of two from each question). This question will assess analysis or evaluation.

You will answer two source based, questions each worth 8 marks. You will not have a choice for these questions. Each question will involve between two and three sources. Source questions in section 1 or 2 will assess your ability to compare and contrast. Source questions in section 3 will assess your ability to interpret, synthesise and evaluate electoral data.

Assignment:

Your assignment is worth 30 marks overall, and you will have 1hr 30 mins to complete the write up. You will have to do the following:

identify a political issue that invites discussion and debate

research a political issue using a range of sources of information

show detailed factual and theoretical knowledge and understanding of a political issue

refer to political sources

analyse and synthesise information in a structured manner

draw a detailed and reasoned conclusion, showing an awareness of different points of view

communicate information

Engaging with Higher Politics

The media: newspapers, journals and television

As politics is constantly changing, it is very important that you keep yourself informed about what is going on, particularly in relation to the countries and political systems they are studying. For example, there are constant and often dramatic changes going on in Russia (and other countries from the former Soviet Union); the Scottish Parliaments role will continue to evolve; and changes to the UK political system overall are likely to continue (eg. The scrapping of hereditary peers in the House of Lords).

You will no doubt find that by the time they begin the three Politics Units, some of the material in these study sections will be history, and something will have replaced it. Even the recently published textbooks that you might read will suffer from the same problems.

The best source for up-to-date information, therefore, is the media! That is why you should be aware of broadsheet newspapers (the tabloids do not contain the same level and quality of news content as the broadsheets) such as The Herald, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times (as well as their Sunday editions). Additionally, weekly/monthly journals such as Time, Newsweek, New Statesman, The Economist and Living Marxism are packed with information about the changes in politics and government policies (as well as the alternative policies of opposition parties) across the UK and the rest of the world. They also contain valuable criticisms. Television news programmes will give valuable insights into the constantly changing political scene throughout the world. Current affairs and documentary programmes such as Newsnight, Question Time, Panorama, On the Record, The Marr Show and Sunday Politics etc., will provide students with a good background in politics as events unfold.

The radio also broadcasts good news and current affairs, most particularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live. The frequencies will be found beside the TV listings in the newspapers.

Finally, and increasingly importantly, the Internet is potentially a rich source of information, with a range of websites for government bodies, interest groups and newspapers and journals. Information can often be found by the use of keywords, such as Scottish Parliament. E-mail addresses and websites for such organisations can often be found on TV and in the press. Also, politics.co.uk is a useful site

Social Media

Try to follow as many of the above media outlets on twitter, as well as blogs independent of the mainstream media

@WingsScotland @ggreenwald @bellacaledonia @OwenJones @GuidoFawkes @LabourList

Political Theory

Lesson 1: Definitions of Power

Pupils will be able to understand the conflict theory of Power

Pupils will be able to summarise Machiavellis ideas in relation to Power

What do you understand by the word power?

Think: What are the circumstances when people or groups gain or lose power?

The Conflict View of Power

One theory used by many political scientists to explain the way political societies work is the conflict view. The conflict view is the belief that society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. According to conflict theory, those with wealth and power try to hold on to it by any means possible, chiefly by suppressing the poor and powerless. When the powerful give some of their power to the powerless (such as democracy and civil rights), this is because they have to in order to control the people.

Task

1. Summarise the conflict view in one sentence, in your own words.

2. Is power more likely to be held by the minority or majority in society? Explain your answer.

3. In the UK today, would you say that the minority or the majority hold the power? Explain your answer.

4. What do you think is meant by limited resources?

5. Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. What do you think is meant by this sentence?

6. How could democracy and civil rights be used to control the people?

7. As a class, try to come up with one example in history that fits the conflict view. Describe the event, and explain how it fits the conflict view of power.

Niccol Machiavelli (1469-1527)

In the essay The Prince (1532), the Italian statesman and political philosopher Machiavelli examined the subject of the mechanics of power. He rejected the accepted ideas about political authority. The prevalent medieval notion was that leaders were bound by a body of natural law and Christian ethics. Machiavelli argued that the conventional advice to rulers to be merciful, liberal and loved was ideal in a world in which people were virtuous, but the problem was that the world was not like that. He argued that a ruler could only survive by being mean, cruel and by keeping his word only when it was to his advantage to do so. In this sense, then, a definition of authority being the exercise of power with the will of the people, seems to be absent from Machiavellian thought.

In a chapter of The Prince entitled Of Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved or Feared, Machiavelli wrote:

The question [is] whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. . . . For love is held by the tie of obligation, which, because men are a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of private interest; but fear is bound by the apprehension of punishment which never relaxes its grasp.

Clearly, from this statement, we can see that Machiavelli, although not dismissing the idea of the people feeling love for whoever was in power, believed that in order to rule effectively, it would be far more advantageous for the people to live in some kind of fear of what might happen if they failed to obey the will of those in power. People, Machiavelli suggests, would betray a ruler who loved them if it suited their own best interests, as there might be little chance of being punished. However, if the ruler (or rulers) exercised his or her power through fear, the people would be too afraid to pursue their own interests at the expense of those in power. Modern political theorists, known as modern realists, see politics as the pursuit of power, and social order (ie. an orderly society) existing entirely because of threats about what would happen if people didnt follow orders. They are sometimes described as the heirs of the Machiavellian tradition.

Task

Complete the following diagram summarising Machiavellis ideas on power:

Summarise in your own words what Machiavelli believed about what was required in order to gain and hold on to power.

Explain why this was thought to be necessary.

Give quote from Machiavelli that demonstrates this.

1. Who are the heirs of the Machiavellian tradition, and what is their view of politics, power and authority?

2. Would you say you are Machiavellian? Explain your answer.

3.