Polity and society

What is Politics- definition,

Aims and Scope,
Relationship between Politics, Society & Law,
Western and Indian school of thought
Politics and legitimate power

What is politics
Politics originated from Greek word which means, "of,
for, or relating to citizens", is a process by which
groups of people make collective decisions.
The word politics comes from the Greek word politika,
modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of the city", the name
of his book on governing and governments
The term is generally applied to the art or science of
running governmental or state affairs. It also refers to
behavior within civil governments.
However, politics can be observed in other group
interactions, including corporate, academic, and
religious institutions. It consists of "social relations
involving authority or power

and refers to the
regulation of public affairs within a political unit.
Nature of Politics
Politics is how governments are run and political science is the
study of that. The word "politics" in this case is not negative, but it
is often used as such.
The nature of politics can be defined by Geoffrey Roberts as:
"A nation or a society characterized by a political culture, into which
its children are inducted, and by learning which they participate and
preserve values and institution's

To rule over society and on particular person is a part of art. In pol.
science we find that
everywhere is discussing about a practical life. Means how to rule?,
whom to rule?, what are the factors of rule?, and so on. So these
are the factors due to which we can say that it is matter of practical
life and it is an art to perform these all things. In pol. science we
study about political theory and we come to know different aspects
of our life.
Aim
Analysis of the past.
the study of the past events is indispensable for an effective analysis of
the present day situation. In order to have the to have a correct appraisal
of the working of different political institution, it is necessary to keep into
consideration their working in historical perspective, It is only with the
help of the study of the past that we can construct a better future

Study of the present.
political science is mainly concerned with the working of the State`s
machinery and its major aim is to improve efficiency and eradicate road
blocks. The study of political science is useful only it incorporates with its
fold, a discussion of the working of different political institutions on
comparative basis. The field of comparison ought to be vast enough to
consider within its purview, all modes of behavior and other factors that
shape the output of a political system.

Aim
Understanding the future course.

The study of political science is not merely confined to fact-finding
or political analysis of the past ,it presents, on the other hand, such
guiding principles which can be helpful in the solution of political
problems. It is necessary that the future course of action suggested
by political scientists, should be based on a good deal of profound
research and through investigation. Moreover, in the fild of political
enquiry, the most scientific techniques should be employed.More
the field of comparision is vast, more the results and compiled facts
will be valid and universal.Diffrent areas of study and variables of
social life are given below as are directly or indirectly engulfed
within the scope of political science.


Scope of Politics
Scope of political sci. is to study the past things that happened and
use it correct the present and determine what the future will say
about.
It includes a detailed discussion on State , in respect of its nature,
organization, institution and purpose along with the sphere of its
activity. A theoretical discussion on the function of the State
through phases and in the contemporary environment, form an
important part of political theory. In like manner, rights of the
individuals and sovereignty of the State and their co relationship. is
another aspect of such discussion.
The Scope also includes principles regarding grounds of political
obligations. What would be the attitude of the citizens, for instance
in case a government deviates from its true path ? Such intricate
issue and problem can be better appraised and solved through an
application of political values provided be political theory.

Relationship between Politics, Society
and Law,
Politics is generally applied to the art or science
of running governmental or state affairs. It also
refers to behavior within civil governments
Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually
enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes
politics, economics and society in numerous ways
and serves as a social mediator of relations
between people.
THE SOCIETY THROUGH POLITICAL MEANS
FORMULATE LAWS


Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people
related to each other through persistent relations, or a
large social grouping sharing the same geographical or
virtual territory, subject to the same political authority
and dominant cultural expectations.
Human societies are characterized by patterns of
relationships (social relations) between individuals who
share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given
society may be described as the sum total of such
relationships among its constituent members. In social
sciences, a society invariably entails social stratification
and/or dominance hierarchy.
THUS.
THE SOCIETY THROUGH POLITICAL MEANS
FORMULATE LAWS

Western Political Thought
Socrates:
Widely considered the founder of Western political
philosophy, via his spoken influence on Athenian
contemporaries; since Socrates never wrote anything,
much of what we know about him and his teachings
comes through his most famous student, Plato.
Aristotle: Wrote his Politics as an extension of his
Nicomachean Ethics. Notable for the theories that
humans are social animals, and that the polis (Ancient
Greek city state) existed to bring about the good life
appropriate to such animals. His political theory is
based upon an ethics of perfectionism.

Western Political Thought
Niccol Machiavelli
One of the most influential works during this burgeoning period was
Niccol Machiavelli's The Prince, written between 151112 and published
in 1532, after Machiavelli's death. That work, as well as The Discourses, a
rigorous analysis of the classical period, did much to influence modern
political thought in the West. Though the work was written for the di
Medici family in order to perhaps influence them to free him from exile,
Machiavelli supported the Republic of Florence rather than the oligarchy
of the di Medici family. At any rate, Machiavelli presents a pragmatic view
of politics, whereby good and evil are mere means used to bring about an
end, i.e. the secure and powerful state.
Thomas Hobbes,
well known for his theory of the social contract, goes on to expand this
view at the start of the 17th century during the English Renaissance.
Although neither Machiavelli nor Hobbes believed in the divine right of
kings, they both believed in the inherent selfishness of the individual. It
was necessarily this belief that led them to adopt a strong central power
as the only means of preventing the disintegration of the social order.
John Locke
John Locke in particular exemplified this new age of political theory
with his work Two Treatises of Government. In it Locke proposes a
state of nature theory that directly complements his conception of
how political development occurs and how it can be founded through
contractual obligation.
Thomas Jefferson:
Politician and political theorist during the American Enlightenment.
Expanded on the philosophy of Thomas Paine by instrumenting
republicanism in the United States. Most famous for the United States
Declaration of Independence.
Immanuel Kant:
Argued that participation in civil society is undertaken not for self-
preservation, as per Thomas Hobbes, but as a moral duty. First
modern thinker who fully analyzed structure and meaning of
obligation. Argued that an international organization was needed to
preserve world peace.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau:
Analyzed the social contract as an expression of the general will, and
controversially argued in favor of absolute democracy where the
people at large would act as sovereign.

Thomas Aquinas: In synthesizing Christian theology and Peripatetic
(aristotelian) teaching, Aquinas contends that God's gift of higher
reasonmanifest in human law by way of the divine virtuesgives
way to the assembly of righteous government.
Jeremy Bentham: The first thinker to analyze social justice in terms
of maximization of aggregate individual benefits. Founded the
philosophical/ethical school of thought known as utilitarianism.
Isaiah Berlin: Developed the distinction between positive and
negative liberty
Edmund Burke: Irish member of the British parliament, Burke is
credited with the creation of conservative thought. Burke's
Reflections on the Revolution in France is the most popular of his
writings where he denounced the French revolution. Burke was one
of the biggest supporters of the American Revolution.
Confucius: The first thinker to relate ethics to the political order.
John Rawls: Revitalised the study of normative political philosophy
in Anglo-American universities with his 1971 book A Theory of
Justice, which uses a version of social contract theory to answer
fundamental questions about justice and to criticise utilitarianism.
Indian Political Thought
Manusmti
(written also as Manusmriti or Manusmruti) (Sanskrit:

), also known as Mnava-Dharmastra

(Sanskrit: ), is the most important and
earliest metrical work of the Dharmastra textual
tradition of Hinduism. Generally known in English as
the Laws of Manu, it was first translated into English in
1794 by Sir William Jones, an English Orientalist and
judge of the British Supreme Court of Judicature in
Calcutta. The text presents itself as a discourse given by
Manu, the progenitor of mankind to a group of seers,
or rishis, who beseech him to tell them the "law of all
the social classes"
Indian Political Thought
Chnakya
(Sanskrit: Cakya) was a teacher to the first
Maurya Emperor Chandragupta and generally
considered to be the architect of his rise to power.
Traditionally, Chanakya is also identified by the names
Kauilya and Vishnugupta, who authored the ancient
Indian political treatise called Arthastra.

It is
important to identify Chanakya as a great Indian
because his cultural significance has reached far and
wide, and his words are just as internalised in other
parts of South Asia. Chanakya has been considered as
the pioneer of the field of economics and political
science.
Indian Political Thought
In the Western world, he has been referred to as The
Indian Machiavelli, although Chanakya's works predate
Machiavelli's by about 1,800 years. Chanakya was a
teacher in Takaila, an ancient centre of learning, and
was responsible for the creation of Mauryan empire,
the first of its kind on the Indian subcontinent.
The Arthashastra : Arthastra is an ancient Indian
treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military
strategy which identifies its author by the names
Kautilya and Vihugupta, who are traditionally
identified with Chaky (c. 350283 BC), who was a
scholar at Takshashila and later the prime minister of
the Maurya Empire.