B-113(Political theory)- 23/04/18 work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding).
[2]
Sec B
Ques no 1 ans:- divine origin of the state;
The divine theory or the theocratic conception is
almost as old as the state itself, and was universally
popular in primitive society. It is a well authenticated
fact that the early forms of political authority were often
connected with unseen powers. According to MacIver,
the earliest rulers were a combination of Priest, Magic
man, and King.[1]
According to the Mahabharata, there was anarchy in
the world, and the people prayed to God for a King,
and God appointed Manu to rule over them. The
Protestant Reformation gave a new impetus to the
divine theory. It was declared in the Augsburg
Confession (1530) that all authority, government, law
and order have been created and established by God
himself. Bousset advocated the theory of divine origin
to support the despotism of Louis XIV. James I , in his
book The Law of Free Monarchies asserted this
theory, claiming that Kings derived their authority
directly from God (see theory of divine right of kings).[2]
The theory of divine origin lost its popularity by the late
18th century, although it was still popular in places
such as Czarist Russia until its collapse.
Ques no 2 ans:-
Behaviourlasim vs. Post behaviouralism:-
Behavioralism seeks to examine the behavior, actions,
and acts of individuals – rather than the characteristics
of institutions such as legislatures, executives, and
judiciaries – and groups in different social settings and
explain this behavior as it relates to the political
system.
While post behavioralism challenged the idea that
academic research had to be value neutral and argued
that values should not be neglected. Post-
behavioralism claimed that behavioralism's bias
towards observable and measurable phenomena
meant that too much emphasis was being placed on
easily studied trivial issues at the expense of more
important topics. Research should be more relevant to
society and intellectuals have a positive role to play in
society.
Ques no 3 ans:-
Public opinion consists of the desires, wants, and
thinking of the majority of the people; it is the collective
opinion of the people of a society or state on an issue
or problem.
This concept came about through the process of
urbanization and other political and social forces. For
the first time, it became important what people thought,
as forms of political contention changed.
The term public opinion dates back to the 1761 work
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Julie, or the New
Heloise.[1][2] Precursors of this phrase include William
Temple's "general opinion" (appearing in his 1672
work On the Original and Nature of Government) and
John Locke's "law of opinion" (appearing in his 1689
The term opinion was derived from the French word
l'opinion, which was first used in 1588 by Michel de
Montaigne
Ques no 8 ans:- These definitions draw attention to
the fact that the state has four essential elements.
These are: (1) population, (2) territory, (3) government,
(4) sovereignty (or independence). The first two
elements constitute the physical or material basis of
the state while the last two form its political and
spiritual basis.
Ques no 7 ans:- Justice is the legal or philosophical
theory by which fairness is administered.[2] The
concept of justice differs in every culture. An early
theory of justice was set out by the Ancient Greek
philosopher Plato in his work The Republic. Advocates
of divine command theory say that justice issues from
God. In the 17th century, theorists like John Locke
advocated natural rights as a derivative of justice.[3]
Thinkers in the social contract tradition state that
justice is derived from the mutual agreement of
everyone concerned. In the 19th century, utilitarian
thinkers including John Stuart Mill said that justice is
what has the best consequences. Theories of
distributive justice concern what is distributed, between
whom they are to be distributed, and what is the
proper distribution. Egalitarians state that justice can
only exist within the coordinates of equality.
Sec –C
Ques no 1 ans:- Jean Bodin (1530 – 1596)
A French political philosopher coined the term “Political
Science”. Political science is a branch of social
science. The study of Political science is of great
significance and importance in the present day “Global
village”.
Garner
Political Science is the study of the state Political
science begins and ends with the state. It may be
defined as the study of man in the process of
governing himself.
Catlin
Politics means either activities of political life or the
study of those activities, which are generally treated as
activities of the various organs of government.
R.N. Gilchrist
Political science deals with general problems of the
state and government.
Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C)
Aristotle was the first thinker to use the term ‘politics’.
The term “Politics” is derived from the Greek word
‘Polis’ which means city – state. Polis or city – state
was a small independent self – contained political
society. Greeks did not make any distinction between
politics and society. These Greek cities – states of
ancient times provide an ideal point for the beginning
of a systematic study of political science. Unlike, the
ancient Greeks, we live in large territorial states today.
Greek meaning of the state can be extended to the
study of the modern state. In the words of the French
scholar,
Paul Janet
Political science is that part of social science which
treats the foundations of the state and principles of
government.
Scope of political science
Scope of political science is to study the past things
that happened and use it correct the present and
determine what the future will say about.
From the various definitions, it is clear that the main
point of discussion in the subject is state.
The scope can be discussed under the following heads
 Study of the form of the State as exits at
present
 Study of the State in historical perspective
 Study of the ideal form of the State
 Behavioral concepts
Nature of political science: Political science is an
academic discipline. Its focus is the theory and
practice of politics at every level of governance. This
involves so many different facets that it is difficult to
characterize the essential nature of the discipline.
Generally, however, political science focuses on a few
key areas. One is political theory. Since the ancient
Greeks, philosophers have thought hard about the
best ways to organize societies, the nature of political
behavior, and other important.
Ques no 2 ans:-
Democracy:- 'Democracy comes from the Greek
words demos meaning 'People' and kratos meaning
'authority' or 'power.'' 'government whichis conducted
with the freely given consent of people.'- a system of
government in which supreme authority lies with the
people.'
In the dictionary definition, democracy 'is government
by the people in which the supreme power is vested in
the people and exercised directly by them or by their
elected agents under a free electoral system.'
In the words of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a
government 'of the people, by the people, and for the
people.' There is no clear - cut, universal definition of
democracy. Most definitions of democracy focus on
qualities, procedures, and institutions.
MERITS OF DEMOCRACY :
1. The participation of the individual members in the
government facilitates to enlist their sympathy and co -
operation to the success of the government.
2. It is an effective form to educate the public about
political, economic and social affairs.
3. it is helpful to promote patriotism among the
people and prevents occurrence of violent revolutions.
4. It helps to make progress and development and
enables changes to take place in a peaceful manner.
5. It ensures to the people freedom of speech,
conscience, assembly and action.
6. It guarantees liberty and equality, which are
necessary for human development.
DEMERITS OF DEMOCRACY :
1. It sometimes leads to establish the majority view
over the minority view.
2. Party leaders and political office holders in
government control the citizens and the members of
the party.
3. It does not encourage individuals to give their
opinions.
4. It is a very expensive form of government
because elections have to be conducted periodically to
various office.
6. It is difficult to prevent corruption and
malpractices.
7. It is also known as government by amateurs and
lead to domination of masses.
Ques no 4 ans;- Essay on securlarism:- One of the
dimensions of democracy can be called secularism
because it essentially implies the extension of
democratic principles of liberalism and individualism in
the realism of religion. The protestant reformers were
asking for freedom of conscience and secularism
stood for a protest against the theological hegemony of
the Pope. The democratization of ecclesiastical
institution was called secular reaction in Europe.
India had no organised Hindu or Muslim spiritual
institutions, comparable with the Christian church. On
the other hand, it had an indigenous component of
secularisation from the mediaeval times. The Sufi and
Bhakti movements in medieval India gave a
tremendous impetus to bringing the people of various
communities closer. Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, Baba
Farid, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Dadu, Tukaram, Mira Bai
and many others contributed to the development of a
composite culture, which was not possible through any
political or administrative system. Guru Nanak saw no
distinction between man and man.
The spirit of tolerance and coexistence became a
landmark of secular attitude and outlook. Ashoka’s
famous twelfth rock edict on ‘Religious Toleration’
echoes it. It triumphed in the reign of Akbar, who,
being a liberal Muslim ruler was alive to the dangers of
religious bigotry and tried to promote national solidarity
by his catholic eclecticism and secular policies.
Dr Rajendra Prasad paying a tribute to Indian
eclecticism did not allow the European concept to
enter into the Constitution because religion (dharma) in
the Indian context can never be ‘one final Book way’ of
knowing the truth. Religion in India has different
meanings to different people as individuals, as citizens
and as co-religionists. Seth Govind Das, a veteran
freedom fighter and litterateur firmly maintained that
secularism can neither be a religion, nor indifference to
religion, nor mere tolerance and coexistence of
religions.