Politics: A Complete Introduction: Teach Yourself

Peter Joyce

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781473601543
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This is your go-to guide to politics As the UK gears up for a snap general election on the back of a hotly contested and divisive referendum, there has never been a better time to discover more about politics and how it works. Politics: A Complete Introduction explains everything you need to know, giving you a comprehensive and easy-to-understand introduction to a complex subject. Inside you will learn about different political ideologies and systems, referendums, elections and electoral systems, political parties and party systems, protest, the media and politics, constitutions and human rights, what the courts do, and how the machinery of government is organised. It also covers the nation state in the modern world and international terrorism. Politics: A Complete Introduction is a jargon-free guide that will get you informed, fast.

1

Key issues in the study of politics

Human relationships are crucial to the study of politics. Human beings do not live in isolation; we live in communities. These may be small (such as a family) or large (such as a country). Politics embraces the study of the behaviour of individuals within a group context. The focus of its study is broad and includes issues such as inter-group relationships, the management of groups, the operations of collective decision-making processes (especially the activities and operations of the state), and the implementation and enforcement of decisions. The regulation of conflict between individuals and groups is central to the study of the concept of power and the manner in which it is exercised and is a key focus of political analysis. In this chapter we discuss a number of key issues that relate to the study of politics. These are referred to as ‘concepts’ and provide us with an underpinning of themes and ideas that are considered in more detail throughout this book.

Political culture

Key idea (1)

The term political culture refers to an underlying set of values held by most people living in a particular country concerning political behaviour, one important aspect of which is the degree of trust which citizens have in their political leaders.

We expect to see a number of common features shared by liberal democratic political systems. These include institutions such as a chief executive, legislatures and courts, organizations such as political parties and pressure groups, processes such as elections, and a range of personal freedoms that are guaranteed to every citizen. However, the composition, conduct, powers, relationships, and operations of these common features differ from one country to another so that the workings of the political system in each liberal democracy are subject to wide variation. In France, for example, there is a high degree of tolerance for conflict as a means of settling political disputes, whereas in Sweden the spirit of compromise tends to guide the actions of key participants to the political process. In the United Kingdom there is a tradition of evolutionary rather than revolutionary change.

These differing attitudes influence the conduct of political activity by both politicians and the general public. When we refer to a country’s political culture, we are emphasizing the similarity of views held within any particular country. We are suggesting that within any one country there is a tendency for the majority of people to think, feel and act in a similar manner concerning the conduct of political affairs. However, these sentiments may be quite different from the core values espoused by citizens in other liberal democracies.

Nevertheless, the extent of a common political culture can be overstated. Within any country, differences are likely to exist concerning fundamental values related to political behaviour. The term ‘homogeneity’ denotes a wide level of similarity in these attitudes, but universal agreement is not accorded to them. Factors such as deindustrialization (which has resulted in the emergence of an ‘underclass’ in many liberal democracies) or immigration (which has led to the development of multi-ethnic societies) have fundamental significance for the existence of universally agreed sentiments underpinning political behaviour. These may give rise to a heterogeneous society (in which dominant attitudes are challenged by sub-cultural values) or result in a looser attachment to mainstream values by some sections of society.

Political Culture

This key political concept has been defined as ‘the set of attitudes, beliefs and sentiments that give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying assumptions and rules that govern behaviour in the political system’ (Pye, 1968: 218). A further definition views political culture as ‘the political system as internalised in the cognitions, feelings and evaluations of its population’ (Almond and Verba, 1965: 13–14).

Almond, G. and Verba, S. (1965) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes in Five Nations. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Pye, L. (1968) Political Culture in D. Sills, R. Merton, (1968) International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, Volume 12.

There is debate concerning the development of political cultures and their ability to inform the conduct of political affairs.

Liberal theorists suggest that a country’s political culture is fashioned by its unique historical development and is transmitted across the generations by a process termed ‘political socialization’. Agencies such as the family, schools, the media, and political parties are responsible for instructing citizens in such beliefs and values.

Marxists, however, tend to view political culture as an artificial creation rather than the product of history. They view political culture as an ideological weapon through which society is indoctrinated to accept the views that are in the interests of its dominant classes (defined as those who own the means of production).

States and governments

Key idea (2)

States and governments are key terms related to the conduct of politics: they may be used interchangeably but have precise definitions that we need to be aware of. These are considered below.

A state consists of a wide range of permanent official institutions (such as the bureaucracy, police, courts, military, parliament, and local government) which are responsible for the organization of communal life within specific geographic boundaries. These entities are usually referred to as a ‘country’ or ‘nation’ and the state exercises sovereignty within them. Decisions that are taken in the name of the state are binding on all members of that society and may, if necessary, be enforced by the legitimate use of power to prevent, restrain or punish breaches of the law.

There are a wide range of views concerning the operations of the state, in particular as to whether it displays bias towards certain sections of society. Liberal analysis suggests that the state is neutral and independent of any class interests. It arises out of the voluntary agreement of its members and serves impartially to mediate the conflicts which arise within society, seeking to promote the national interest above sectional concerns. Elite theorists, however, suggest political power is wielded by a ruling elite whose interests are maintained and advanced by the state. Marxism identifies this ruling elite as the economically powerful, the bourgeoisie, and views the state as a mechanism that will mediate between the conflict between capital and labour (which they assert to be inevitable) in order to sustain class exploitation and profit accumulation.

The term ‘state’ is often substituted for the term ‘government’. They are, however, different concepts. ‘Government’ refers to the institutions concerned with making, implementing and enforcing political decisions. In a narrower sense, government is often associated with those who wield executive power within a state who give direction to its activities. In liberal democracies, political parties compete for control of the state and, in this sense, governments have a limited and temporary existence dependent on the choices made by the public at national election contests, whereas states are permanent entities.

The role of the state

Key idea (3)

When we discuss the role of the state we are referring to the services that the state provides for its citizens. These functions are subject to variation between states, and also within one state across historical time periods, which raises the issue as to what the legitimate scope of state activity is.

There are widely differing vie...