Nature of Political Theory

What is Political

• Human beings live in society, which includes various institutions like family, school, religious organizations, and polity, each serving a specific purpose.
• Every institution involves organization and the use of authority, which implies a relationship of command and obedience, where the command is generally regarded as reasonable.
• Mild protests do not upset the authority in most cases.
• When an organization regulates the whole community, it takes the character of polity.
• Polity refers to an organization where rules are made and decisions are taken for the whole community, and authority is exercised over each member.
• The term ‘political’ refers to something related to a polity, focusing on what is public, as distinguished from private or something limited to a few people.
• Sheldon S. Wolin in Politics and Vision (1960) described the ‘political’ as uniquely concerned with what is common to the whole community.
• Certain functions, like national defense, internal order, dispensing justice, and economic regulation, are the primary responsibility of political institutions, as these functions benefit the entire community.
• State is an essential component of polity, enjoying a unique position among social institutions.
• Aristotle described humans as ‘political animals’, stating that living in a state is natural, and those who live outside the state are either beasts or angels.
• The terms ‘polity’, ‘politics’, and ‘political’ are derived from the Greek word ‘polis’, meaning city-state.
• Greek city-states were small communities separated by geographical barriers like forests, mountains, and seas.
• Each city-state had a compact social life and culture where all institutions and activities aimed at securing the ‘good life for the community’ were part of politics.
• In present-day society, the scope of politics is not as comprehensive as in ancient times.
• Today, there is a distinction between public and private spheres of human life, with the term ‘politics’ referring to the public domain.
• Decisions made by cabinet, parliament, election campaigns, political parties, and people’s movements seeking change in law and policy belong to politics.
• Religion, education, art, and culture do not fall under the sphere of politics unless their regulation is required to maintain public order and safety.

Scope of Political Theory

• Political theory refers to a systematic knowledge of political phenomena.
• Political theory involves three types of statements: (1) Empirical statement, based on observation through sense-experience, (2) Logical statement, based on reasoning, (3) Evaluative statement, based on value-judgment.
• Political science relies on empirical and logical statements, while political philosophy deals with evaluative statements.
• Positivism aims to build political science using the methodology of natural sciences, emphasizing a value-freeapproach.
• Logical Positivism claims that evaluative statements have no empirical or logical content, being subjective and emotional.
• Political theory is not confined to scientific knowledge; it must also address values, which are central to political philosophy.
• Values should not be based on individual preferences; they have a logical structure and can be discussed in dialogue to agree on universal principles for judging their validity.
• Determining values is crucial for sound public policy or decision-making to avoid irresponsible outcomes.
• George Catlin divides political theory into political science (dealing with facts) and political philosophy(concerned with values).
• Catlin stresses the importance of combining political science with sociology to understand the phenomena of controlin society.
• Political philosophy is concerned with the kingdom of ends or final values, focusing on questions like the national good and the good society.
• Andrew Hacker emphasizes that political scientists play a double role as both scientists and philosophers, and contributions to political theory require both realms.
• The role of political science is to describe and explain the realities of political behavior and power dynamics between states and citizens.
• Political philosophy prescribes the goals societies should pursue, focusing on right conduct and legitimate uses of power.
• Adequate knowledge of political science is essential for developing a sound political philosophy.
• Political philosophers must be aware of the existing realities and systematically study human needs and society’s capabilities.
• Political theory focuses on the study of political concepts and ideas using the normative-philosophical method, and the study of political institutions and behavior using the descriptive-scientific method.
• Each problem in political theory requires the use of the proper method for study.