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Title: Political Theory


1
Political Theory
  • AP Government
  • Unit One

2
Defining Politics and Political Science
  • At its most basic level, politics is the struggle
    of "who gets what, when, how."
  • Political scientists study such struggles, both
    small and large, in an effort to develop general
    principles or theories about the way the world of
    politics works.

3
Political Theory
  • Political Theory analyzes fundamental political
    concepts such as power and democracy and
    fundamental questions such as, "How should the
    individual and the state relate?
  • Differing political theories have developed as a
    result of conflicting answers to this question

4
Most political scientists agree that these
criteria should include the following rights and
freedoms for citizens
  • Freedom to form and join organizations
  • Freedom of expression
  • Right to vote
  • Eligibility for public office
  • Right of political leaders to compete for support
  • Right of political leaders to compete for votes
  • Alternative sources of information
  • Free and fair elections
  • Institutions for making government policies
    depend on votes and other expressions of
    preference

5
Political Efficacy
  • Political efficacy The extent to which people
    feel they have an impact or exert some influence
    on public affairs.
  • Internal efficacy beliefs about ones own
    competence to understand and participate in
    politics
  • External efficacy beliefs about the
    responsiveness of governmental authorities and
    institutions to citizen demands

6
Important Political Philosophers
  • Plato
  • Aristotle
  • Machiavelli
  • Hobbes
  • Hume
  • Locke
  • Montesquieu
  • Rousseau
  • DeTocqueville
  • Mill
  • Marx
  • Weber
  • Mills

7
Plato
  • Ancient Greek philosopher
  • Platos The Republic is one of the single most
    influential works in Western philosophy.
  • It is an analogy of harmony in the State AND
    harmony in the individual
  • Essentially, it deals with the central problem of
    how to live a good life this inquiry is shaped
    into the these questions
  • what is justice in the State?
  • what would an ideal State be like?
  • what is a just individual?

8
Platos Ideal State was an Aristocracy the rule
of the best
  • However, he believed that aristocracies would
    eventually fall to a timocracy (ruled by the
    military)
  • Military rule will eventually fall because
    society will drive them out.
  • The next step was the "oligarchy"
  • The rule of the few or of the wealthy
  • According to Plato, people will also tire of
    oligarchies and toss them out.
  • The resulting government will then be a democracy
    (rule of the people).
  • But this will eventually fall to a tyranny
    (tyrannis, "tyranny," from tyrannos, "tyrant").

9
Aristotle
  • Aristotle (b. 384 - d. 322 BC), was a Greek
    philosopher, logician, and scientist.
  • Along with his teacher Plato, Aristotle is
    generally regarded as one of the most influential
    ancient thinkers in a number of philosophical
    fields, including political theory.
  • Aristotle saw politics as a science, and just as
    a physician would study the body, Aristotle
    sought to study the state.
  • Once the nature of the state can be understood,
    the politician can begin to frame the
    constitution of the state in its laws, customs
    and institutions, and then to protect it through
    education and legislation.

10
Machiavelli1469- 1527
  • Webster's New World Dictionary defines the
    adjective Machiavellian as
  • Of Machiavelli.
  • Of, like, or characterized by his political
    principles and proposed methods of craftiness and
    duplicity crafty, deceitful, etc." the
    adjective is generally applied pejoratively

11
The Prince
  • Machiavelli's The Prince was written to serve as
    a guide to creating and holding on to a
    principality
  • In ways that often benefited the people but
    sometimes only the prince himself
  • The Prince was dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici
  • "il Maginifico"
  • It is considered a political primer for
    princes- anywhereanytimeany place.

12
Important Ideas from The Prince
  • The end justifies the means
  • It is better to Be feared than loved.
  • Rivers and men can be controlled, but cannot be
    trusted.
  • Before all else, be armed.
  • Hatred is gained as much by good works as by
    evil.
  • He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to
    command.
  • Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey
    immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack
    victims for his deceptions.

13
Montesquieu, 1689-1755 (Baron de Montesquieu,
Charles-Louis de Secondat)
  • Montesquieu was one of the great political
    philosophers of the Enlightenment (French)
  • Montesquieu's most radical work divided French
    society into three classes the monarchy, the
    aristocracy, and the commons.
  • This was radical because it completely eliminated
    the Three Estates structure of the French
    Monarchy the clergy, the aristocracy, and the
    people at large represented by the
    Estates-General, thereby erasing the last vestige
    of a feudalistic structure.

14
Montesquieus Theory of The Separation of Powers
  • Montesquieu was curious about how governments
    might be preserved from corruption.
  • He saw despotism as a danger and argued that it
    could best be prevented by a system in which
    different branches had legislative, executive,
    and judicial power, and in which all those bodies
    were bound by the rule of law.
  • This theory of the separation of powers had an
    enormous impact on liberal political theory, and
    on the framers of the constitution of the United
    States of America

15
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712-1778
  • Rousseau believed that in the state of nature,
    man is prone to be in frequent competition with
    his fellow men.
  • Rousseau claimed that the state of nature is
    violent and without law or morality, and that
    there are good men only a result of society's
    presence.
  • Only by joining together through the Social
    Contract and abandoning their claims of natural
    right, individuals can both preserve themselves
    and remain free.
  • Only then can we form the collective human
    presence known as "society."
  • Rule by all - a complete democracy

Never exceed your rights, and  they will soon
become unlimited.
16
Direct Democracies are Best
  • Rousseau was bitterly opposed to the idea that
    the people should exercise sovereignty via a
    representative assembly.
  • Rather, he believed that citizens should make the
    laws directly.
  • He also argued that the goal of government should
    be to secure freedom, equality, and justice for
    all within the state, regardless of the will of
    the majority

17
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
  • British political philosopher
  • Hobbes believed that society was obligated to an
    authority figure (King)
  • Man is weak and self-centeredmust be looked
    after by a powerful leader
  • Man is wicked at heartgovernment must be used to
    control him
  • Hobbes Social Contract
  • We should give our obedience to an unaccountable
    sovereign in exchange for being allowed to be
    part of society and the safety a sovereign brings
    to our lives.

18
Leviathan
  • The frontispiece to the first edition of
    Leviathan, which Hobbes helped design, portrays
    the commonwealth as a gigantic human form built
    out of the bodies of its citizens, the sovereign
    as its head.
  • Hobbes calls this figure the "Leviathan," a word
    derived from the Hebrew for "sea monster" and the
    name of a monstrous sea creature appearing in the
    Bible the image constitutes the definitive
    metaphor for Hobbes's perfect government.
  • His text attempts to prove the necessity of the
    Leviathan for preserving peace and preventing
    civil war.

19
John Locke
1632, d. 1704
  • British political philosopher
  • Locke wrote and developed the philosophy that
    there was no legitimate government under the
    divine right of kings theory.
  • His ideas were greatly admired by the Founding
    Fathers

20
Natural Rights
  • Locke thought that the purpose of government was
    to protect the natural rights of its citizens.
  • He said that natural rights were life, liberty
    and property, and that all people automatically
    earned these simply by being born.
  • Lockes Contract
  • When a government did not protect those rights,
    the citizens had the right and maybe even the
    obligation of overthrowing the government.

21
Coincidence, I think not!
(Do you know of an another island with a Locke, a
Rousseau, and a Hume?)
Terry OQuinn as John Locke on Lost
22
David Hume 1711-1776
  • One of the greatest philosophers in Western
    history, as well as an accomplished historian,
    economist, perennial skeptic and delightful
    fellow. 
  • David Hume was one of the most prominent figures
    of the Scottish Enlightenment and a close friend
    of Adam Smith.
  • Hume was NOT a believer of the "natural law" or
    "social contract" theories popular with other
    philosophers.

23
David Hume 1711-1776
  • Many regard David Hume as a political
    conservative, sometimes calling him the first
    conservative philosopher
  • He was a thorough empiricist (belief that
    knowledge comes from experience) in both his
    political and philosophical work. 
  • His central concern was the importance of the
    rule of law, and moderation in politics
  • Believed that human nature was evil without
    society making us peaceful and sociable
  • The result would be a happy citizenry
  • He promoted the idea of a unions and republics.

24
Hobbes Hume Locke
Rousseau
Where on the Classic Spectrum? Left--------------
-------Center-----------------------Right
Number of Rulers? All..Many..Fe
wOne
Level of Power/Ruler? Hyperpluralism...Pluralis
m.. Elite/class. Absolute
25
Where on the Classic Spectrum? Rousseau
Hume Locke Hobbes Left--------------
-------Center----------------------Right
Number of Rulers? Rousseau Hume
Locke Hobbes All..Many..Few
One
Level of Power/Ruler? Rousseau Hume
Locke Hobbes Hyperpluralism.Pluralism..
Elite/class. Absolute ruler
26
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)
  • French Historian and Political Philosopher
  • Born in Paris into aristocracy.
  • Tocqueville deepest commitment was to human
    freedom
  • Spent two years (1831-1832) roaming about the
    newly formed United States and wrote about our
    form of democracy.
  • He analyzed the American attempt to have both
    liberty and equality in terms of what lessons
    Europe could learn from American successes and
    failures
  • He believed that political democracy and social
    equality would, inevitably, replace the
    aristocratic institutions of Europe.

27
  • Alexis De Tocquevilles
  • American Visit

28
De Tocquevilles Theory
  • Democracy Worked Well in America Because
  • Lots of land!! (Fertile land)
  • No feudal aristocracy here
  • Small, independent farmers make up a great deal
    of the population (No great number of landless
    peasants like in Europe.)
  • American culture and ideals- He called them,
    Moral and intellectual characteristics

29
John Stuart Mill
  • American political philosopher- On Liberty
  • We should have freedom of thought and discussion
    (listen to other viewpoints)
  • His ideas were uplifting and noble
  • The purpose of morality is to make the world a
    better place.
  • Morality is about producing good consequences,
    not having good intentions
  • We should do whatever will bring the most benefit
    (i.e., intrinsic value) to all of humanity.
  • He believed that one of our responsibilities as
    humans was to maximize utility, not to do the
    minimum
  • In other words, set aside our personal interests
    for humanity.

30
How is Political Power Distributed in a
Democracy??
  • Majoritarian theory
  • Leaders follow the wishes of the people closely
  • Does anyone believe this???
  • Applies when issues are clear
  • When is THIS???
  • Elitism theories
  • Marx
  • Mills
  • Weber
  • Pluralism

31
Karl Marx1818-1883
  • German Author
  • Wrote The Communist Manifesto with partner,
    Frederick Engels
  • Believed government is controlled by one dominant
    social class
  • Theory that power is a reflection of underlying
    economic forces

32
Max Weber1864-1920
  • German political theorist
  • The political process is controlled by political
    elites in the bureaucracy
  • Expert knowledge and competence will (and should)
    dominate
  • Weber theorized about why some people work hard
    and some dont in his essay The Protestant Ethic
    and the Spirit of Capitalism
  • Work, save money, and you will be successful
  • Similar to Puritan work ethic

33
C. Wright Mills1916-1962
  • The Power Elite Theory
  • The power elite control politics
  • They include
  • Military leaders
  • Key corporate leaders
  • Political leaders in and out of office

34
The Pluralist Theory of Power
  • The pluralist theory of power is that no one
    elite person or group dominates politics
  • No monopoly of power
  • The different players must bargain and compromise
    and be responsive to followers
  • (i.e. voters)

35
(No Transcript)
36
Step out of the cave and be a philosopher!Seek
meaning and knowledge!
Are you a prisoner or a philosopher??
37
Know these political theorists and these
theories for the test
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