1. POL 1000 - Lecture 1: Intro to Political Science Sean Clark Lecturer, Memorial University Doctoral Fellow, CFPS Fall Session, 2011 Sean Clark Lecturer, Memorial University Doctoral Fellow, CFPS Fall Session, 2011

2. Lecture Arc  1. What is political science?  2. The roots of political science.  3. Political science as a modern discipline.  1. What is political science?  2. The roots of political science.  3. Political science as a modern discipline.

3. Epigrams  “Man is by nature a political animal.” Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics.  “Politics is the art of the possible.” Otto Von Bismarck (1815-98), remark, Aug 11, 1867  “Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.” Author Unknown.  “Man is by nature a political animal.” Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Politics.  “Politics is the art of the possible.” Otto Von Bismarck (1815-98), remark, Aug 11, 1867  “Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.” Author Unknown.

4. Practicing & Studying Politics  Lasswell: politics is the battle over who gets to decide who gets what, and how.  Easton: “authoritative allocation of values.  Shively ‘95 p11: “political action may be interpreted as a way to work out rationally the best common solution to a common problem—or at least a way to work out a reasonable common solution. That is, politics consists of public choice.”  Laver ‘83 p 1: “Pure conflict is war. Pure cooperation is true love. Politics is a mixture of both.”  Found from soccer teams to nations, churches to the UN (though focus is generally on state-level entities).  Inherent characteristics of politics:  Conflict (from either scarce resources or differing values/goals).  No society faces complete uniformity of thought.  Power (ability to force a particular outcome—that is, to win the conflict & impose binding decisions; get you want).  The strong, legitimate, or persuasive allocate scarce resources in a world of infinite wants.  Dahl ‘57: power is getting people to do what they otherwise wouldn’t have done.  Lukes 74: more than just “. Power can blind people to their real interests. Is thus about A achieving ends contrary to B’s interest, even if B isn’ aware what those interests are.  Manipulating peoples’ knowledge & attitudes is most efficient way to control them.  Lasswell: politics is the battle over who gets to decide who gets what, and how.  Easton: “authoritative allocation of values.  Shively ‘95 p11: “political action may be interpreted as a way to work out rationally the best common solution to a common problem—or at least a way to work out a reasonable common solution. That is, politics consists of public choice.”  Laver ‘83 p 1: “Pure conflict is war. Pure cooperation is true love. Politics is a mixture of both.”  Found from soccer teams to nations, churches to the UN (though focus is generally on state-level entities).  Inherent characteristics of politics:  Conflict (from either scarce resources or differing values/goals).  No society faces complete uniformity of thought.  Power (ability to force a particular outcome—that is, to win the conflict & impose binding decisions; get you want).  The strong, legitimate, or persuasive allocate scarce resources in a world of infinite wants.  Dahl ‘57: power is getting people to do what they otherwise wouldn’t have done.  Lukes 74: more than just “. Power can blind people to their real interests. Is thus about A achieving ends contrary to B’s interest, even if B isn’ aware what those interests are.  Manipulating peoples’ knowledge & attitudes is most efficient way to control them.

5. Practicing & Studying Politics, II  Is a matter of both practice (or ‘art’) & study (or ‘theory’).  Proper understanding of the latter improves the efficacy of the former & its products.  Leaders jockey for levers of power (winning elections & gaining positions of authority takes talent & practice).  Takes real artistry to excel at practical politics. Is not an easy business.  Poli scis use ‘sci methods’ to study their moves & then use this knowledge of causal relxns to (a la Machiavelli:) ‘advise the Prince’.  Hope is that better understanding = better & less harmful policies.  Danger: assume that bc advice is ‘scientific’ means that is it necessarily right (as uncontested morals & fact).  Is a matter of both practice (or ‘art’) & study (or ‘theory’).  Proper understanding of the latter improves the efficacy of the former & its products.  Leaders jockey for levers of power (winning elections & gaining positions of authority takes talent & practice).  Takes real artistry to excel at practical politics. Is not an easy business.  Poli scis use ‘sci methods’ to study their moves & then use this knowledge of causal relxns to (a la Machiavelli:) ‘advise the Prince’.  Hope is that better understanding = better & less harmful policies.  Danger: assume that bc advice is ‘scientific’ means that is it necessarily right (as uncontested morals & fact).

6. The Roots of Political Science  Is steeped in the Western philosophical tradition, each a reflection of political concerns of the era.  Each historical epoch faced its own challenges & political innovations were offered in return.  Greeks: Plato (427-347 BC) & Aristotle (384-322 BC): search for understanding not only how politics is, but how ought to be.  Brought us the difference btn empirical & normative.  Peaked in Athens w Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle.  Plato: Athenian democ is flawed (lived thru Pelop Wars). Better is elements of Spartan stability. Ergo ‘philosopher-king’, who is both wise & powerful.  Aristotle: (1 st great empiricist) sought to categorize diff constitutions of Greece.  Romans (i.e. Cicero, 106-43 BC): citizens & nations should be bound by law. Are benefits & obligation to membership of our community.  Ie ‘Civis Romanus sum’, fasces, ‘pacta sunt servanda,’ etc.  Medieval. I.e. St. Augustine’s ‘city’ (354-430 AD) & St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74): relationship btn politics & God.  World is falling apart, so how get into heaven? Answer w list of rights & wrongs.  Machiavelli (1469-1527), Hobbes (1588-1679): rulers require supreme authority to keep order.  Locke (1632-1704), J.S. Mill (1806-1873): citizens deserve liberties from the state as well.  Confucius (551-479 BC), Kautilya (321-296 BC) typify Eastern interest in moral unity (harmony) & political realism.  Is steeped in the Western philosophical tradition, each a reflection of political concerns of the era.  Each historical epoch faced its own challenges & political innovations were offered in return.  Greeks: Plato (427-347 BC) & Aristotle (384-322 BC): search for understanding not only how politics is, but how ought to be.  Brought us the difference btn empirical & normative.  Peaked in Athens w Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle.  Plato: Athenian democ is flawed (lived thru Pelop Wars). Better is elements of Spartan stability. Ergo ‘philosopher-king’, who is both wise & powerful.  Aristotle: (1 st great empiricist) sought to categorize diff constitutions of Greece.  Romans (i.e. Cicero, 106-43 BC): citizens & nations should be bound by law. Are benefits & obligation to membership of our community.  Ie ‘Civis Romanus sum’, fasces, ‘pacta sunt servanda,’ etc.  Medieval. I.e. St. Augustine’s ‘city’ (354-430 AD) & St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74): relationship btn politics & God.  World is falling apart, so how get into heaven? Answer w list of rights & wrongs.  Machiavelli (1469-1527), Hobbes (1588-1679): rulers require supreme authority to keep order.  Locke (1632-1704), J.S. Mill (1806-1873): citizens deserve liberties from the state as well.  Confucius (551-479 BC), Kautilya (321-296 BC) typify Eastern interest in moral unity (harmony) & political realism.

7. Political Science as Discipline  Politics is old as philosophy, but new as science (search for causal explanations w ‘sci method’).  Early ‘political economists’ also looked at philosophy & law, but emph moving from logical ideals to practical cases.  I.e. Adam Smith’s 1776 pin factory: assertion of specialization’s gains backed by evidence.  Alfred Marshal: frequently visited factories & firms (unlike Marx).  Further evidence: 1 st N Amer poli sci dept at Columbia in 1880. Founded PSQ in 1886.  Trauma of Great War (1914-18) = growth in research btn wars (i.e. Carr 1 st IR, at Aberystwyth in ‘36).  Must base our predictions on systematic collection of evidence & testing of predictive theories.  Politics is too serious to lack rigour (must not rely solely on description). ‘Art’ of diplomats wasn’t enough to save us.  US schools boosted by pre-war flight of refugees from Europe.  Further postwar growth. Diffuses past US & UK.  By 1960s, economics is separate field (follow math of Marshall, Samuelson—though polis still emulate).  In poli sci, movt from just institutions & law to behaviour, interests, power, culture, & development.  Shape of the field has followed needs of the present.  I.e. US wanted Cold War victory, so studied democratization.  UK PM Macmillan: “the great issue int the second half of the twentieth century is whether the uncommitted peoples of Asin and Africa will swing to the East or the West.”  Pres Kennedy ‘62: “We see Africa as probably the greatest open field of manoeuvre in the worldwide competition between the [communist] bloc and the non-communist”.  Politics is old as philosophy, but new as science (search for causal explanations w ‘sci method’).  Early ‘political economists’ also looked at philosophy & law, but emph moving from logical ideals to practical cases.  I.e. Adam Smith’s 1776 pin factory: assertion of specialization’s gains backed by evidence.  Alfred Marshal: frequently visited factories & firms (unlike Marx).  Further evidence: 1 st N Amer poli sci dept at Columbia in 1880. Founded PSQ in 1886.  Trauma of Great War (1914-18) = growth in research btn wars (i.e. Carr 1 st IR, at Aberystwyth in ‘36).  Must base our predictions on systematic collection of evidence & testing of predictive theories.  Politics is too serious to lack rigour (must not rely solely on description). ‘Art’ of diplomats wasn’t enough to save us.  US schools boosted by pre-war flight of refugees from Europe.  Further postwar growth. Diffuses past US & UK.  By 1960s, economics is separate field (follow math of Marshall, Samuelson—though polis still emulate).  In poli sci, movt from just institutions & law to behaviour, interests, power, culture, & development.  Shape of the field has followed needs of the present.  I.e. US wanted Cold War victory, so studied democratization.  UK PM Macmillan: “the great issue int the second half of the twentieth century is whether the uncommitted peoples of Asin and Africa will swing to the East or the West.”  Pres Kennedy ‘62: “We see Africa as probably the greatest open field of manoeuvre in the worldwide competition between the [communist] bloc and the non-communist”.

8. Political Definitions  Ideology: how politics should be structured (i.e. balance btn order & freedom; equality).  Is battle over ‘ought’, not ‘is.’  Power: able to achieve that which otherwise would not be done?  Influence: persuade (but requires voluntary obedience).  Coercion: use force (or other such punishments) to ensure compliance (though erodes in LR—i.e. USSR).  Authority: upon what basis is there a right to rule?  Weber (1864-1920): the right to act can rely on:  Tradition (respect for sanctity of past practices; as reflection of a natural order).  Charisma (qualities & mission of leader).  Legal-rational (authority legitimized thru legal processes). Assume obedience is owed to principles rather than individs.  Look to position, not person.  Legitimacy: to what extent is this authority accepted?  Does the vast majority accept the basis for these rulers? Or is there a rebellion waiting in the wings?  Legality: to what extent does the authority match w the laws of the land?  Possible that authority is legal, but still seen as illegitimate.  I.e. Apartheid: clearly legal under law, yet generally seen as resting on unacceptable grounds.  Meanwhile, civil rights protests often seen as illegal, yet also legitimate.  Ideology: how politics should be structured (i.e. balance btn order & freedom; equality).  Is battle over ‘ought’, not ‘is.’  Power: able to achieve that which otherwise would not be done?  Influence: persuade (but requires voluntary obedience).  Coercion: use force (or other such punishments) to ensure compliance (though erodes in LR—i.e. USSR).  Authority: upon what basis is there a right to rule?  Weber (1864-1920): the right to act can rely on:  Tradition (respect for sanctity of past practices; as reflection of a natural order).  Charisma (qualities & mission of leader).  Legal-rational (authority legitimized thru legal processes). Assume obedience is owed to principles rather than individs.  Look to position, not person.  Legitimacy: to what extent is this authority accepted?  Does the vast majority accept the basis for these rulers? Or is there a rebellion waiting in the wings?  Legality: to what extent does the authority match w the laws of the land?  Possible that authority is legal, but still seen as illegitimate.  I.e. Apartheid: clearly legal under law, yet generally seen as resting on unacceptable grounds.  Meanwhile, civil rights protests often seen as illegal, yet also legitimate.

9. Sub-Fields of Political Science  Poli Sci is a wide-ranging affair.  Political Theory: normative (continued concern with what ought to be).  Look to classics, but also new issues of racism, gender, etc. What is ‘fair’?  Comparative Politics: gain understanding of politics thru contrasting different polities.  Focus on area studies (specific regions), but also specific topics such as culture, ideology, & instxns.  Some work with ‘large-n’ (many cases), others w ‘small- n’, (few cases).  International Relations: look at transnational relations, i.e. war, peace, trade, globalization.  Dominated by realism (power), liberalism (wealth) constructivism (ideas), & critical (social justice) streams of thought.  Poli Sci is a wide-ranging affair.  Political Theory: normative (continued concern with what ought to be).  Look to classics, but also new issues of racism, gender, etc. What is ‘fair’?  Comparative Politics: gain understanding of politics thru contrasting different polities.  Focus on area studies (specific regions), but also specific topics such as culture, ideology, & instxns.  Some work with ‘large-n’ (many cases), others w ‘small- n’, (few cases).  International Relations: look at transnational relations, i.e. war, peace, trade, globalization.  Dominated by realism (power), liberalism (wealth) constructivism (ideas), & critical (social justice) streams of thought.

10. Sub-Fields of Political Science, II  Domestic Politics: (i.e. Canada, US): focus on political processes & politics of own country.  Approaches essentially same as Comp Pol, though with >er focus on local matters (i.e. cities).  Public Policy & Public Admin: the making & implementation of public policy.  What does govt do? Why do they do it? And how well do they do it?  Political Economy: looks at nexus of economics & politics (reversal of ’60s split).  How do power & conflict shape economic systems?  Domestic Politics: (i.e. Canada, US): focus on political processes & politics of own country.  Approaches essentially same as Comp Pol, though with >er focus on local matters (i.e. cities).  Public Policy & Public Admin: the making & implementation of public policy.  What does govt do? Why do they do it? And how well do they do it?  Political Economy: looks at nexus of economics & politics (reversal of ’60s split).  How do power & conflict shape economic systems?