Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
STUDY UNIT 2 THE POLITICAL ARENA AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR Based on…
STUDY UNIT 2
THE POLITICAL ARENA AND
POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR
Based on Learning objective
Provide a definition of the state, explain its purpose and various functions, and identify several of its components.
What is a State
The state is defined as a
sovereign entity
capable of
carrying out political decisions
and
enforcing the laws and rules of its own independent government
a state has the right to resist and reject any aggression, invasion, or intervention within its territorial borders
Function that must be performed in every state
The classic version of Almond’s structural–functional approach identifies
eight functions
that must be performed in every state
Interest articulation
is the low-level communication by individuals and groups of what they need or want from the state
Interest aggregation
is the transformation of all these political needs and wants into a smaller number of coherent alternatives.
Political communication
is the mechanisms by which political
information flows
through society.
Policy making
is the process by which the state establishes laws, policy decisions, and
value allocations
Political recruitment
is the processes through which people are drawn into roles
as political actors
Policy implementation
is the actual application of such laws and policy decisions
Political socialization
is the processes through which individuals
acquire
their cognitive, affective, and evaluative
orientations toward the political world
Policy adjudication
is the interpretation and resolution of disagreements regarding what the policies mean and how they should be implemented.
Major Goals/Purpose of the state
There are three major goals of the state:
security,
stability, and
prosperity
2. Stability
Political development
Political development refers to the concentration of political authority in a state that has strong
capabilities to make and enforce effective policies
and to gain support from its citizens.
Democratization
Democratization is the process of
institutionalizing a democratic system
of governance, which is achieved by
allowing free elections
, limiting the actions of the rulers, and guaranteeing civil and political rights.
Order maintenance
Order maintenance is the capacity of the state to ensure social peace for its citizens through the
prevention of individual and group violation of societal norms
, especially those involving violence.
(Dont rock the boat)
3 Prosperity
Economic growth
Economic growth refers to the
increasing scale, complexity, and specialization
of the productive
system and of the goods
produced.
Welfare distribution
Welfare distribution refers to the private or public
allocation of adequate and increasing levels of valued goods
to enhance the quality of life of the citizenry.
Economic development
Economic development is the capacity of the political economy to
obtain, manage, and transform resources
into valued goods
1. Security
Influence
Influence involves the state’s
ability to alter the actions
of external actors in desired ways
by means of persuasion
or inducements.
Dominance
Dominance is the use of power or violence to enable the state to
impose direct control over external actors.
Autonomy
Autonomy refers to the capacity of the state to
act within its own boundaries without intervention
in or control of its affairs by external actors.
Prestige
Prestige is the desirable
situation
wherein external actors
admire and respect the state
.
Survival
Survival is the fundamental element of security. It entails the very existence of the state,
such that other states do not conquer it
and that
internal forces do not destroy it
Policy trade-off
A state must
make difficult trade-offs when pursuing multiple goals
.
For example, when a state makes a costly increase in the welfare goods and services allocated to its citizens, it uses resources that it might otherwise have reinvested in its economic system to facilitate economic growth
State sovereignty
According to Weber, state sovereignty can be understood as the following:
state’s ability to
control the people and territories it claims
to rule
Ability to defend itself
against interference from other states
monopoly on the
legitimate use of force
/coercion in society
State and the Institutions
The state requires a set of institutional bodies which have the
responsibility of protecting its territorial borders
and
ensuring no challenge to authority
over matters which fall under its territorial jurisdiction.
sometimes referred to as
the
coercive apparatus
of the state (i.e. police, military)
Function and purpose
state institutions are designed for the purposes of:
creating laws
- whether for the purposes of social order or different conceptions of justice
reviewing laws
enforcing laws
(parliaments, executives, judiciaries, police, and prisons).
economic and infrastructure
development
, welfare distribution, and the provision of
public services
(various ministries, hospitals, and schools)
Explain how states and governments provide the arena in which political actors do politics and participate.
Political system
A political system
comprises of a series of components that operate together
and are interrelated, such that change in any one component can affect other components.
at its core, it can be conceptualised as a system of human behavior with multiple components.
The political system sets the tone for which politcal actors operate
Unpacking the definition of a political system
This means that the political system sets the direction for policy decisions
(allocations)
that are binding (based on its
authority
- i.e. constitiitional) with regard to things that have importance (
values
) to the people it serves (
the collective
).
2. Allocation
Allocation refers to the
process
by which
decisions
and actions are taken to
grant values to some and deny values
to others.
Value allocations occur at every moment when decisions are made to alter or even to sustain the existing distribution of values.
Making these decisions and actions in the face of competition and conflict over values is a central aspect of politics.
3. Authoritative
Value allocations are authoritative when the decisions are accepted as binding by those people affected by the decisions.
1. Values
Values are those things that have great significance and importance to people
Political values
Political value concerns things that are deemed as significant to the public domain. It may take several forms, i.e.:
Material goods (roads, infrastructures)
Symbolic goods (Status)
Services (Education, healthcare)
Conditions (Environment, security)
4.The collective.
The domain of activity for the political system is all those areas in which it makes authoritative decisions that affect people’s lives.
In Easton’s classic definition, a political system functions “for a society.”
A more generalized definition of the political system is “the authoritative allocation of values for a collectivity.”
Conceptualization of the Political System: Inputs and Outputs
The political system exists within a larger environment that includes other systems, the economic system, the cultural system.
The
environment of the political system
refers to all those
activities that are not part of the political system’s activity domain
. These are activities that occur around the political system and provide both opportunities and constraints on its functioning
.
Inputs, Conversions and Outputs
This broader
environment generates
many
inputs
, called demands and supports, which the actors in the political system consider.
The
political actors, through conversion, then produce outputs
, the decisions and actions that allocate values
If these outputs have an effect on the environment, this might produce new demands and supports. This processing system becomes a continuing cycle.
Inputs
Demands
Demands are wants or
desires for particular value allocations
. Demands might come from individuals, groups, or systems either within or outside the society.
For example, when a citizen or interest group expresses a preference for lower taxes, more expenditure on health care, or greater regulation of corporations, this becomes a demand on the political system.
Supports
Supports
are actions
by individuals or groups that indicate either favourable or unfavourable orientations toward the political system.
These actions can be
directed toward any actor
in the political system,
from a major figure like the president
to a low-level bureaucrat
to a governmental body like the legislature
to a political symbol like the country’s flag
Conversion
Conversion is the
process
by which political actors
assess demands and supports
within the context of the relevant environmental forces and then
determine what values will be allocated to whom
Policy decisions
There are three general explanations of how the political system makes policy decisions:
the class approach
the elite approach
the pluralist approach
Outputs
Once
policy decisions
have been made and implemented, they become outputs of the political system.
Some outputs are visible and obvious,
i.e. the political system authorizes the building of a new nuclear power plant, spends the money to build it, and then puts it online producing energy.
But it is sometimes difficult to identify the decisions (outputs) because they might involve subtle actions, secret policies, or even “nondecisions”
For example, if some people demand new government subsidies for small farmers and the government does nothing, there has been an allocation decision—even though no visible policy action can be identified
Outcome
Outcomes refer to
the impacts
of the decisions taken and implemented by the political system.
Ultimately, it is the impacts of the political system’s policy choices that really affect people’s lives.
The essential question is: What difference did that policy choice (that value allocation) make
Differentiate the concept of the state from those of government and nation.
What is a government
The government can be understood as a
legitimate authority
that lead and direct the state
Sub-groups of the government
Most governments can be divided into three branches, namely
executive
legislative
judicial
the executive is most important due to its function of approving laws and then seeing to their implementation once passed
Authority
Governments, particularly the executive branch, receive their power through a process of political legitimation.
The
legitimate use of power recognised by society
is referred to as authority.
Types of Authority
Traditional Authority
power is
legitimized by heritage and traditions
.
Reasons for the subscription to such authority includes a
worldview based on legacy, history and monarchy rule
.
Such authority is
strong in countries with long histories
, as time is required to solidify traditional authority.
For example, obedience to elders, respect for offices or titles, etc.
Charismatic Authority
Charismatic authority is
based on charm and leadership
of a specific leader and his or her ability to
move and motivate people
, provide direction and leadership, have people place trust and confidence in him or her. Charismatic leaders
touch the feelings of people.
For Example:Lee Kuan Yew, Winston Churchill, some pop and rock stars, famous celebrities, etc. It is very common for competent leaders not to be charismatic. Such leaders would depend more on legal-rational authority – that is, the authority vested in their office by law.
Legal-Rational Authority
Where there is
respect for law out of reason rather than tradition
and personal relationships, there is legal- rational authority.
Legal-rational authority is based in the
obedience to an impersonal rule of law
that is
accepted as reasonable and legitimate by the population
, instead of obedience to any one person, group, or tradition.
For example: why there is relatively less corruption in Singapore as compared to other countries regionally is because the general respect for law has been inculcated in most Singaporeans.
Power, Legitimacy and authority
Though different, most countries’ executives receive their power
through a process of political legitimation
. In the language of political science, when such legitimacy is granted or, in other words, power is acceded to or accepted by those in the society that it will affect,
power is translated into authority.
Difference between state and government
The government is:
the
legitimate authorities
that
lead
and direct
this institutional
machinery
Important to note:
Governments can come and go
(based on which political parties who form the government, win and lose the elections)
but the state remains
unchanged (i.e, the military, civil service/administration, police etc remain in place)
The state is:
the organised
institutional
machinery for making and carrying out the political decisions and for enforcing the rules of the government
Importance of distinguishing between government and state
In
some cases, the government does not actually have control over the various state institutions
and apparatuses
As a result of this, some forms of political activity occur between different state institutions and sometimes see other state institutions take direct action against the government
This can result in divided states/state fracture
State fracture
Occurs when different state institutions or bodies are acting against each other outside of what is constitutionally designed
I.e. Military coup
Police vs military
Fragile states
Fragile states are unable to guarantee even a minimum level of security and subsequent provisions are often referred to as fragile states (i.e. Syria, Afghanistan)
Contrasting between the concept of a nation from that of the state
Nation
A nation is defined as a set of
people with a deeply shared fundamental identification
Different factors might be the basis of such identification: shared descent (belief in a common kinship or history), shared culture, shared geographic space, shared religion, shared language, or shared economic order.
In the political world, the concept of the nation has a
psychological and emotional basis rather than a legal
or functional basis (as the concept of the state does)
Identity politics
Identity politics is a concept wherein certain shared trait(s) (i.e. culture) lead a significant group of people to see themselves as being distinctive, with a shared political agenda that might shape their political beliefs or motivate their actions
Nation based identity
The strength of a person’s primary nation-based identity
depends on
the relative
importance he places on various identities
and
the
extent
to which the most important identities
reinforce the basic conception of “us” versus “them
Nationalism
nationalism—a powerful commitment to the advancement of the interests and welfare of an individual’s own nation, usually with minimal concern about benefitting the conditions of those outside the nation
Nation-state and multinational state
Nation-state
a nation-state is an area that has
both the territorial borders of a single state and a citizenry
who all share the same
primary national identity.
Example: Japan
Multinational state
multinational states, include significant groups whose fundamental identities are associated with different nations
For example USSR
Identify, distinguish and explain various forms of political violence.
Political violence, State Fracture and State Fragility
State fracture
Refers to a situation in which
different state institutions
or bodies are
acting against each other
outside of what is constitutionally designed
coups d’état
Refers to a situation whereby members the state’s coercive apparatus including the military or the police overthrow or help to overthrow the elected government
Intra/inter conflic
t
Rather, not only is it possible for different state bodies and institutions to be in conflict with each other, but it is also
possible for there to be conflict within such bodies themselves
, for example, within the military, the police, or the civil service
Political violence
Types of Political Violence
There are several types of violent political activities.
These various actions can typically be distinguished from each other according to:
the actors carrying out the act,
the number of actors involved, and
the action’s end goal or objective
Riots
Riots are
spontaneous and relatively disorganised
group violence against property, agents of the political system, perceived opponents in the society, or random targets
Riots are often
triggered by specific incidents
such as police shooting
Rebellion
Violent protests or riots “turn into rebellion when there is more
frequent, premeditated, and widespread violence
involving more people.
At this point, many of those engaged in violence
no longer believe the system will respond to their problems
Example: Arab Spring
Revolution
A revolution is a
rapid and fundamental transformation
of the state organisation and the class structure.
In contrast to the other forms of political violence against the state, the
explicit objective of the revolution is to destroy the existing political system and establish a new one
with fundamentally different distribution of power and value allocations.
Example: Iranian Revolution
Terrorism
Premeditated violence serving an
underlying political objective
, in which the target of violence is a ‘non-combatant’.
Those engaged in terrorism can have a variety of political objectives, such as the promotion of a cause, revenge, or extraction of resources.
As a revolutionary strategy, terrorism
involves selective acts of violence, usually by small, organised cells of political activists
.
Distinguish between state and civil society political actors.
Identify, distinguish, and classify several forms of political participation or activity according to their actors, goals, and level of conventionality.
Civil society, Interest Groups and Political Parties
Interest group
A group that directly attempts to
influence the allocation of public values
or other actions of those in the political system.
It may undertake political action, provide goods or services to political actors, or provide data and information to those within the political system in its attempts to achieve its political objectives.
Types of interest groups
There are four main types, with one sub-type
Institutional Interest Groups
A group that has been formed
to achieve goals other than political
ones
but who attempts to influence government for the direct benefit of its members.
For example, an organisation of legal professionals might lobby the government to ensure that the government budget includes a commitment to a new law school.
Nonassociational Interest Groups
A fluid group of individuals who are
not associated with
any formal or
permanent organisation but who share a common interest
in promoting or opposing a certain issue.
Once the interest group has achieved its goal or once the issue has been resolved, the group generally dissolves itself.
When the activities of such a nonassociational group become
more sustained and more organised, they can be classified as a social movement
.
Social Movements
Social movements consist of
people from outside the main-stream
who come together to seek
a common objective
through an unorthodox challenge to the existing political order.
They also “espouse a political style which distances them from established channels, thereby questioning the legitimacy as well as the decisions of the government. The members of social movements adopt nonconformist forms of participation such as demonstrations, sit-ins, boycotts and political strikes.”
One reason
why social movements take such unconventional forms of engagement is due to their commonly held belief that the
issue which is driving them into action has been left unaddressed through normal political channels
, including through elected representatives.
Some famous social movements in history that were successful in bringing about change from outside of conventional channels were the American civil rights movement in the 1960s and the People Power movement in the Philippines in the 1980s
Associational Interest Groups
A type of political interest group
organised specifically
to
further the political objectives of its members
.
A Singaporean example of an associational interest group is We Believe in Second Chances, a group of citizens that advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in Singapore.
Anomic Interest Groups
A “flash in the pan” interest group that, though sharing common political interests or grievances, is
fairly spontaneous and involves little or no long-term planning
.
A series of
short-lived political demonstrations
, such as the Population White Paper protests in 2013 at Hong Lim Park, is an example of such an interest group
Activities of an interest group
Provision of Material resources
Political interest groups can also
provide goods or services to political actors.
Such a strategy assumes that providing goods and services will influence decision-makers to be more favourably disposed toward the interests of a group or that providing goods and services to policymakers who share the values of the group makes it more likely those values will be taken into account as policy is made.
Legality
The line between legal and illegal provision of money and goods
varies dramatically across political cultures
.
What might be judged as an improper act of bribery in one political system might be an expected and perfectly acceptable payment in others.
Exchange of information
Providing data and information to those within the government is another activity performed by some interest groups.
The interest group
may have specialized or expert information that policymakers would find difficult
or impossible
to collect
themselves or obtain from other sources.
These
private groups are stakeholders with a vested interest
in the public policies that emerge
(i.e. mandating airbags in the 80s)
Political Action
The most direct methods to achieve political objectives involve some form of political action.
Depending on the political system, this might entail voting and campaign activities to influence the selection and action of political authorities (i.e. vaires on conventionality).
Or the group might attempt to communicate its interest to political actors by techniques such as letters, personal contacts, petitions, rallies, or political violence.
Groups often raise money from their members or provide other resources, like volunteers, to help politicians who support their causes.
Cooperation
Major interest groups can also
exert influence through their compliance or noncompliance with the government policy process.
In many countries, government actors understand that policy is implemented more successfully when it is acceptable to the affected interest groups.
There are many countries (especially industrial democracies such as France, Japan, South Korea, and Sweden) in which government cultivates a special relationship with the interest group representatives of major economic organizations such as business, labor, and farmers.
Political parties
The key difference between an interest group and a political party is that the political parties attempt to win political power, usually through the formal political process and elections.
• For
political parties, the ultimate goal is
not to simply influence government but
to become the government
making use of the state apparatus for its own objectives and interests.
Functions of a political party
Coordinating the actions of the government.
Leaders of several parties might
form a coalition to secure majority support for certain policies
. Such coalitions are especially important in legislatures in which no single party commands a majority.
Political parties can also establish forms of
power-sharing
in the conduct of government business.
For example, the parties can agree to formulate executive or legislative committees in a manner that reflects the political strength of the various parties.
Agents of Political socialization
A related activity of political parties is their socialization of people into the political culture.
The person’s political beliefs and actions are
influenced by information that a political party provides
or by the person’s perceptions of what the party supports.
Even if a person does not have a strong party identification,
political parties can be an important source of his political knowledge
because they provide easily understood reference points regarding politically relevant information.
Mobilization and recruitment of political activist
In many political systems,
involvement with a political party is the primary mechanism
through which individuals are
drawn into roles
, ultimately,
as political leaders.
Often, political parties select the candidates for political positions or have the power to place people directly in positions within the political system.
most individuals in key executive and legislative positions have achieved these positions through recruitment and selection by a political party
Link between the individual and the political system
In its role as a linkage institution, a political party connects individuals and the political system.
-
Most individuals rely on political groups to represent their interests
within the political system.
Political parties function to formulate, aggregate, and communicate a coherent package of demands and supports.
If the party gains political power, it can attempt to implement those demands on behalf of the individuals
whose interests it serves. Thus political parties greatly facilitate the individual’s sense of integration into the political process.
Broker policies
A crucial function of political parties is to aggregate and
simplify social demands into clear policies
.
To the extent that political parties are effective in this activity, they dramatically
reduce the complexity
and scale of the political process
for the decision-maker
, who must perceive and respond to the individual and group demands,
and for the voter,
who must select political leaders whose overall policy preferences are closest to his own.
Two kinds categories
Ideological parties
Ideological parties hold major
programmatic/ ideologically driven goals
(e.g., egalitarianism, ethnic solidarity, Islamic fundamentalism) and are deeply committed to the full implementation of these goals.
Ideological parties are usually extreme within the context of their particular political culture.
The German Green Party, described is an example of an ideological party.
Pragmatic parties
pragmatic parties hold more
flexible goals
and are oriented toward moderate or
incremental policy change.
To achieve electoral success, pragmatic parties might shift their position or expand the range of viewpoints they encompass.
Organised sources of opposition
Non-ruling parties serves as checks and balances which opposes but not obstruct the ruling party.
Civil Society and Types of Political Participation
Civil Society
Refers to the totality of institutions, organisations, and associations
operating
in the public sphere with relative
autonomy from the state,
established at the grassroots level, and usually characterised by voluntary member participation.
i.e
Non Governmental Organisation
Levels of Political participation
Political participation occurs when these
non-state actors engage in political activity
, usually for the purposes of influencing the government’s decisions.
we can list several forms of political participation conducted by civil society actors,
from a level of high conventionality to high unconventionality
:
Voting
An activity wherein citizens cast a vote for a political leader or party in an election or with regard to one issue (in a referendum vote).
Contacting
a Civil Servant or
Politician
A citizen contacts his or her government representative or one government ministry directly to speak to them about an issue of importance
Donating
Money
to a Politician
, Party, Issue, or Movement
A citizen provides monetary support to a person or group of people, either to support an election campaign, a political organisation’s daily operations, or a single-issue campaign
Attending
a Political Meeting,
Rally, or Election Campaign
A citizen publically shows his or her support for a party, issue, or movement by physically attending a rally or discussing and planning the group’s direction in meetings.
Taking Part in a Demonstration
A citizen publically shows his or her opposition to a policy or other government action by standing in solidarity with others in a public place, including the street, a square, or a park.
Taking Part in an Occupation, Sit-in, or Political Strike
A citizen publically shows his or her opposition to a government policy or action conducted by a state authority by interrupting the usual flow of socio-economic or political life in an effort to force the government or relevant authority to negotiate and potentially back down from their original policy or action.
Discuss several reasons why levels of political activity and participation differ across different states and societies.
Factors affecting levels of Political participation/ Engagement
not every country is the same when it comes to the political participation of its citizens. This is due to several reasons.
Apathy
Being politically apathetic means
not caring about politics
.
Scholars have often attributed political apathy to such factors as:
a gradual
loss of interest in public
life
the rise of individualism
the
lack of faith in the political system
, its institutions, and its leaders.
Culture
Political culture has often been one reason given for a lack of political participation in politics.
For example, in societies that have, in their recent history, experienced authoritarian or dictatorial government, there is often the existence of a civil society vacuum. With the citizenry being used to relying on the authorities for political decisions, there is less familiarity with civil society to direct political participation.
Repression/De-participation
Repression
Most countries that do not have democratic credentials prevent their citizens from lawful political participation. Even in countries with democratic credentials, there have been cases in which the authorities used
establishment violence
.
Sometimes, the difficult job in such instances is to establish what instances are those of establishment violence and which instances are those of order maintenance.
De-participation .
In other cases, there is another grey area due to instances of what can be called de-participation.
In such instances, though not conducted through outright violence, certain mechanisms or avenues for
participation in politics have been taken away or highly limited
by the authorities, once again through the justification of
order maintenance.
Establishment violence
Refers to violent repression upon participants who were opposing them.
This could include the police arresting the leaders of an opposition party before a major election or a military crackdown on a lawful protest