Politics & Political Science

Textbook: Political Science: An Introduction- Roskin, Cord,

Medeiros, Jones, Chapter 01

Ahnaf Ashiqur Rahman

Lecturer, Dept. of Political Science & Sociology
North South University
 Looking Back

• What do you understand by Politics?

• What is Political Science?
  Political Power
• Niccolò Machiavelli emphasized, politics is about power, power to shape
other’s behavior.
• Some speakers denounced “power politics” as that brings coercion, brutality.
• However, a community based on only love and sharing do not last, even if they
do so, it is just mere conventional structure, followed by ‘obedience patterns’
that too looks like a ‘power bubble’.
• Why do some people hold political power over others?
1. Biological
• Man is by nature a political animal- Aristotle
• He meant, humans live naturally in herds, like elephants or bison.
• Also naturally, they array themselves in ranks of leaders and followers.
• Hence, forming a political system and obeying its leaders are innate in genes!
• Politicians tend to be ‘alpha males’ or think they are.
• But, how do you explain when political groups fall apart and people disobey
authority?
• Let’s modify the theory: humans are imperfectly political (or social) animals.
• So, what makes them imperfect?
 2. Psychological
• In a famous Milgram study, subjects/participants were instructed by a
professor to administer larger electric shocks to a ‘victim’.
• The victim, strapped in a chair, actually an actor to pretend sufferings, which
the participants are unaware of.
• Most of the subjects agreed to administer potentially lethal doses of electric
shocks simply because ‘professor’ – an authority instructed.
• Most of the subjects disliked doing it, but rationalized that ‘they were just
following orders, and any harm to victim, was really professor’s
responsibility’.
• Psychologists suggest: most people are naturally conformists.
• Psychologist Irving Janis found many foreign policy mistakes were made in a
climate of ‘groupthink’, as people tend to fit-in group norms (obeying orders).
• Milgram Shock Study/Experiment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YOox59J0Bk&ab_channel=Practic
alPsychology
3. Cultural
• Cultural theorists believe: behavior is learned.
• Cooperative and peaceful societies raise their children that way.
• Similarly, there’s specific political cultures that follow political rules and
norms.
• Culture contributes a lot to political behaviors, but it raises some questions.
• Where does culture come from, who shapes it?
• If all behavior is cultural, various political systems should be as different as
their cultures.
• But in politics, we see similar political attitudes in very different cultures.
• Can you think of any example?
4. Rational
• Another thought school approaches politics as a rational thing.
• Classic political theorists like Hobbes and Locke expressed: humans form ‘civil
societies’ as their power of reason tell them it is better than anarchy.
• To safeguard life and property, people form governments.
• Biological, psychological, and cultural schools downplay human reasoning,
but it is the rational choice, by which people break away from political
communities and shifts their choice when needed.
• If rulers fear that people are rational, they will respect public opinions and
their ability to discern wrongdoings.
5. Irrational
• Late in 19th century, a group of thinkers expounded the view that people are
basically irrational, especially when it comes to politics.
• They are emotional, dominated by myths and stereotypes.
• What people regard as rational, is really myth, keep feeding them myths to
control them.
• Example: Mussolini, founder of Fascism in Italy; Hitler in Germany; Bin Laden-
who fed the myth: America was the enemy of Islam and controlled fanatic
followers for years.
• Leaders who believe in irrationalist techniques lead their nations to war,
economic ruins, or tyranny.