Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Karahöyük: Mustafakarahoyuk@beykent - Edu.tr

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INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

CHAPTER I: POLITICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Karahöyük

mustafakarahoyuk@beykent.edu.tr
Introduction to Political Science
Chapter 2
Theories
(Himawan/epa/Corbis)
Copyright @ 2012, 2010, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ Why Do We Have Theories?
 Theories help us avoid being inundated with vast amounts of

meaningless data and data that do not relate together
 Theories help us organize our thinking to seek explanations
 We collect data relevant to the theory we are testing; if data contradict a
theory, then we revise the theory
 Often social science theories provide only partial explanations
+
Bottom Up and Top Down Theories
Focusing on Society and Political
Institutions
+Classic Theories
 Aristotle was both descriptive and normative: he sought to prescribe

the most desirable political institutions
 Machiavelli begins the modern era of political philosophy with his

great work, The Prince
 Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau – key principle was the social contract, a

conceptual notion that all members of a society agreed to be bound by a
particular form of government
 Marx focused on class struggle and contradictions in capitalist

production.
+ Classic Theories: Aristotle
Aristotle was not shy about defining what was politically “best,” as in
this passage from Politics :
 [T]he best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class,
and those states are likely to be well administered in which the middle
class is large … in which the citizens have moderate and sufficient
property; for where some possess much and others nothing there may
arise an extreme democracy or a pure oligarchy, or a tyranny may
develop out of either extreme. …
 [D]emocracies are safer and more permanent than oligarchies, because
they have a middle class which is more numerous and has a greater share
in government, for when there is no middle class, and the poor greatly
exceed in number, troubles arise, and the state soon comes to an end
 Some say Plato founded political science. His Republic , among other
things, described an ideal polis, but his reasoning was largely speculative,
and his ideal system ended up looking a bit like modern fascism or
communism.
 Plato’s student, Aristotle, on the other hand, was the first empirical political
scientist. As noted in the previous chapter, he regarded politics as the
“master science” and sent out his students to gather data from the dozens of
Greek city-states. With these data, he constructed his great work Politics.
 Both Plato and Aristotle saw Athens in decline; they attempted to
understand why and to suggest how it could be avoided. They thus began a
tradition that is still at the heart of political science: a search for the
sources of the good, stable political system.
 Even though Politics was written in the fourth century b.c. ,

Aristotle could be describing why democracy succeeds or fails
today: Much depends on the size of the middle class, a point
confirmed by modern research.
 Aristotle was both descriptive and normative : He used the
facts he and his students had collected to prescribe the most
desirable political institutions. Political scientists have been
doing the same ever since, both describing and prescribing.
+ Classic Theories: Machiavelli
The Prince
Machiavelli believed:
“One can make this
generalization about men: they
are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and
deceivers, they shun danger and
are greedy for profit”
Machiavelli observed city-state
rulers of his day and produced
guidelines for the acquisition and
maintenance of power by
absolute rule.
He felt that a ruler should be
willing to do anything to maintain
control without worrying about
conscience.
+ Classic Theories: Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli in the early sixteenth century introduced what
some believe to be the crux of modern political science: the focus on
power.
His great work The Prince was about the getting and using of political
power. Many philosophers peg Machiavelli as the first modern
philosopher because his motivations and explanations had nothing to
do with religion.
He was a realist who argued that to accomplish anything good—such

as the unification of Italy and expulsion of the foreigners who
ruined it—the Prince had to be rational and tough in the exercise of
power.
HOBBES, LOCKE, ROUSSEAU
The Contractualists
The Contractualists
 Not long after Machiavelli, the “contractualists”—Hobbes, Locke,

and Rousseau— analyzed why political systems should exist at all.
 State of nature
 They differed in many points but agreed that humans, at least in

principle, had joined in what Rousseau called a social contract that
everyone now had to observe.
 Social contract: Theory that individuals join and stay in civil society
as if they had signed a contract.
 Hobbes imagined that life in “the state of
nature, ” before civil society was founded,
must have been terrible. Every man would
have been the enemy of every other man, a
“war of each against all.” “HOMO HOMINI
LUPUS”
 Humans would live in savage squalor with

“no arts; no letters; no society; and which is
worst of all, continual fear, and danger of
violent death; and the life of man, solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
 To get out of this horror, people would—out

of their profound self-interest—rationally join
together to form civil society. Society thus
arises naturally out of fear. People would also
gladly submit to a king, even a bad one, for a
monarch prevents anarchy.
 Notice how Hobbes’s theory, that society is

based on rational self-interest, is at odds with
Aristotle’s theory that humans are born
“political animals.”
 Another Englishman, John Locke, also saw the seventeenth-century
upheavals but came to less harsh conclusions.
 Locke theorized that the original state of nature was not so bad;
people lived in equality and tolerance with one another. But they
could not secure their property. There was no money, title deeds, or
courts of law, so ownership was uncertain.
 To remedy this, they contractually formed civil society and thus

secured “life, liberty, and property.” Locke is to property rights as
Hobbes is to fear of violent death. Some philosophers argue that
Americans are the children of Locke. Notice the American emphasis
on “the natural right to property.”
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived in eighteenth-century France and,
some say, laid the philosophical groundwork for the French
Revolution. He accepted the theories of Hobbes and Locke but gave
them a twist.
 Life in the state of nature, Rousseau theorized, was downright good;

people lived as “noble savages” without artifice or jealousy.
 What corrupted humans, said Rousseau, was society itself. The

famous words at the beginning of his Social Contract : “Man is born
free but everywhere is in chains.”
 But society can be drastically improved, argued Rousseau, leading
to human freedom.
 A just society would be a voluntary community with a will of its

own, the general will —what everyone wants over and above the
“particular wills” of individuals and interest groups.
 In such communities, humans gain dignity and freedom. Societies

make people, not the other way around. If people are bad, it is
because society made them that way (a view held by many today).
 A good society, on the other hand, can “force men to be free” if they
misbehave.
 Many see the roots of totalitarianism in Rousseau: the imagined

perfect society; the general will, which the dictator claims to
know; and the breaking of those who do not cooperate.
Social Contract Theories
Thomas Hobbes John Locke

•Humans are naturally cruel, •Humans are naturally
greedy and selfish. reasonable, moral and good
•To escape this “brutish” life •Humans have natural rights:
people entered into a social life liberty and property
contract. •People form governments to
•Only a powerful government protect natural rights
could ensure an orderly •Best government was one
society. with limited power
•Believed only an absolute •If a government violates
monarchy could keep a people’s natural rights, people
society completely orderly. have the right to overthrow
 State of Nature:
Hobbes (-)
Locke (-/+)
Rousseau (+)
 Social Contract
Hobbes (delegation of authority to a supreme leader/being, he called

“Leviathan”)
Locke (delegation of authority to a limited government that would

preserve natural rights of citizen (state of nature was not so bad after
all)
Rousseau (delegation of authority to a good society, consisting of

general will)
+ Classic Theories: Karl Marx
A German living in London, Karl Marx, who was trained in

Hegelian philosophy, produced an exceedingly complex theory
consisting of at least three interrelated elements:
a theory of economics,
a theory of social class, and
a theory of history.
Like Hegel, Marx argued that things do not happen by accident;

everything has a cause. Hegel posited the underlying cause that
moves history forward as spiritual, specifically the Zeitgeist , the
spirit of the times. Marx found the great underlying cause in
economics.
+ Classic Theories: Karl Marx
 Economics: Marx concentrated on the “surplus value”—what we call profit.

Workers produce things but get paid only a fraction of the value of what they
produce. The capitalist owners skim off the rest, the surplus value.
 The working class—what Marx called the proletariat —is paid too little to
buy all the products the workers have made, resulting in repeated
overproduction, which leads to depressions. Eventually, argued Marx, there
will be a depression so big the capitalist system will collapse.
Classic Theories: Karl Marx
 Social Class: Every society divides into two classes: a small class of those who
own the means of production and a large class of those who work for the
small class. Society is run according to the dictates of the upper class, which sets
up the laws, arts, and styles needed to maintain itself in power.
 Most laws concern property rights, noted Marx, because the bourgeoisie (the
capitalists) are obsessed with hanging on to their property, which, according to
Marx, is nothing but skimmed-off surplus value anyway.
 If the country goes to war, said Marx, it is not because the common people
wish it but because the ruling bourgeoisie needs a war for economic gain.
The proletariat, in fact, has no country; proletarians are international, all
suffering under the heel of the capitalists.
 History: It is a story of class struggle, antagonisms of the rulers and the ruled.
Marx’s enduring contributions are
(1) his understanding that societies are never fully unified and peaceful but
always riven with conflict and
(2) that we must ask “Who benefits?” in any political controversy.
One of the enduring problems and weaknesses of Marx is that

capitalism, contrary to his prediction, has not collapsed.
He had two mistakes:
 First, Marx failed to understand the flexible, adaptive nature of

capitalism. Old industries fade, and new ones rise.
 Second, Marx failed to understand that capitalism is not just one system;
it is many. U.S., French, Singaporean, and Japanese capitalisms are
distinct from each other.
+Contemporary Theories
 Behavioralism
 Systems Theory
 Institutionalism
 Modernization Theory
 Rational-Choice Theory
 Institutionalism
+Contemporary Theories - Behavioralism
 Behavioralists concentrate on actual behavior, not on thoughts or feelings
 Built upon Auguste Comte’s doctrine of positivism, that social

phenomena can be scientifically studied like physical phenomena
 Behavioralists built empirical basis for political science with numerous

quantitative studies, especially on voting.
 Viewed as dealing with minor phenomena, not with more complex

qualitative questions, such as decision-making
+Contemporary Theories – Systems Theory
 Systems theory views the political world as a complex and interconnected

system; an impact on one part affects the other parts.
 A country’s politics acts as a feedback loop, e.g., citizens’ demands (inputs)

generate government responses (outputs), which then impact the citizens in
various ways, creating new demands (feedback)
 But political environments do not always behave as good systems; model too
static, and does not explain well much of decision-making process inside
government
+
A Model of a Political System
+Contemporary Theories – Modernization
Theory
 Rooted in Hegel, that all facets of society – economic, cultural, political –

are a package
 Industrialization critical: as a country develops, its political character

develops
 Stability and form of government is determine by economic development
 When states modernize just one facet, they face turmoil; traditional
sectors oppose modernity
+ Contemporary Theories – Rational-Choice
Theory
 Invented by mathematicians, especially popular with economists
 Assumes people are rational actors who maximize their interests,

consciously
 This theory tends to ignore impact of culture, religion
 Assumes people always act rationally
+Contemporary Theories –Institutionalism
 Believes that institutions, such as agencies, parties, legislatures, develop

their own internal culture
 This culture shapes the behavior and attitudes of participants in those

institutions
 Preservation of the institution is key for members who control it
 Unlikely that this will be last model in political science

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INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Karahöyük

 Theories help us avoid being inundated with vast amounts of

 Aristotle was both descriptive and normative: he sought to prescribe

 Machiavelli begins the modern era of political philosophy with his

 Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau – key principle was the social contract, a

 Marx focused on class struggle and contradictions in capitalist

 Even though Politics was written in the fourth century b.c. ,

He was a realist who argued that to accomplish anything good—such

 Not long after Machiavelli, the “contractualists”—Hobbes, Locke,

 They differed in many points but agreed that humans, at least in

 Humans would live in savage squalor with

 To get out of this horror, people would—out

 Notice how Hobbes’s theory, that society is

 To remedy this, they contractually formed civil society and thus

 Life in the state of nature, Rousseau theorized, was downright good;

 What corrupted humans, said Rousseau, was society itself. The

 A just society would be a voluntary community with a will of its

 In such communities, humans gain dignity and freedom. Societies

 Many see the roots of totalitarianism in Rousseau: the imagined

Thomas Hobbes John Locke

Hobbes (delegation of authority to a supreme leader/being, he called

Locke (delegation of authority to a limited government that would

Rousseau (delegation of authority to a good society, consisting of

A German living in London, Karl Marx, who was trained in

Like Hegel, Marx argued that things do not happen by accident;

 Economics: Marx concentrated on the “surplus value”—what we call profit.

(2) that we must ask “Who benefits?” in any political controversy.

One of the enduring problems and weaknesses of Marx is that

He had two mistakes:

 First, Marx failed to understand the flexible, adaptive nature of

 Behavioralists concentrate on actual behavior, not on thoughts or feelings

 Built upon Auguste Comte’s doctrine of positivism, that social

 Behavioralists built empirical basis for political science with numerous

 Viewed as dealing with minor phenomena, not with more complex

 Systems theory views the political world as a complex and interconnected

 A country’s politics acts as a feedback loop, e.g., citizens’ demands (inputs)

 Rooted in Hegel, that all facets of society – economic, cultural, political –

 Industrialization critical: as a country develops, its political character

 Stability and form of government is determine by economic development

 Invented by mathematicians, especially popular with economists

 Assumes people are rational actors who maximize their interests,

 This theory tends to ignore impact of culture, religion

 Assumes people always act rationally

 Believes that institutions, such as agencies, parties, legislatures, develop

 This culture shapes the behavior and attitudes of participants in those

 Preservation of the institution is key for members who control it

 Unlikely that this will be last model in political science

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