What Is Politics

Introduction to basic concepts in the study of politics

1. What is politics?
Prof. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza, PhD
Department of Political Science
AteneoDe Manila University

4. “The word „politics‟ is derived
from the word „poly‟, meaning
„many‟, and the word „ticks‟,
meaning „bloodsucking
parasites‟”.
(Larry Hardiman in Planet
Dexter’s This Book Really
Sucks, 1999)

5. “a study of the authoritative
allocation of public values or
resources for a society”
(David Easton)
Well, seriously ---‘politics’ is…

6. “a study of who gets what, when,
and how”
(Harold Lasswell)
or is…

7. “any persistent patterns of human
relationship that involve to a
significant extent control, power,
influence and authority”
(Robert Dahl)
or about…

9. 4 Core Concepts in the Study of
Politics

10. (1) Power...
relational
intentional

11. “the ability of person Ato make
person Bdo something minus
the probability that person B
would do it on her/his own
accord”

12. For non-compliance...
•There is a threat of sanction;
•as Niccolo Machiavelli said, “it is
better to be feared than loved...

13. (2) Influence...
•An informal form
of power
•No threat of sanction
•No severe
deprivation for
non-conformity
•Opposite of Machiavellian
thought, “it is better to be
loved than feared”

14. (3) Authority...
•Right to exercise power
and influence because of
a particular position
•Placed in the position
through a widely
accepted procedure
•e.g. elections

15. (4) Legitimacy...
•Being considered to be
correctly placed in a
particular position
•Carrying out the
functions of that role
correctly
•has moral acceptability

16. Political legitimacy...
•Government‟s rule is valid
•government should generally be obeyed
•legitimacy is not automatic for it is created
over a long period of time

18. Conceptual Bounds of the
„Political‟
‘Political’‘Extra-Political’
Public Private
GovernmentalExtra-governmental
State Society
institutional personal

19. Political Puzzles: Approaches
•Studying political behavior
•Studying political structures and functions
•Studying political phenomena
•Studying political ideas
•Studying political documents
•Studying the political future