{"id":36,"date":"2021-09-28T18:02:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T18:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/intro-to-political-science\/chapter\/chapter-1-2\/"},"modified":"2022-08-23T22:32:03","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T22:32:03","slug":"chapter-1-2","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/intro-to-political-science\/chapter\/chapter-1-2\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 1: Politics","rendered":"Chapter 1: Politics"},"content":{"raw":"

Chapter 1: What is Politics?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\u201cPeople are fickle by nature; and it is simple to convince them of something but difficult to hold them in that conviction; and, therefore, affairs should be managed in such a way that when they no longer believe, they can be made to believe by force.\u201d[1]\r\n
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n\r\nStudents should be able to:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Understand what politics is<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Understand the nature of competing interests in politics<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Identify how politics intersects various aspects of an individual\u2019s life<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIntroduction<\/strong>\r\n\r\nPolitics is treated in this chapter as different from political science.\u00a0 The world of politics is complicated.\u00a0 Human interaction has implications for what counts as political.\u00a0 Politics is a contested space where the art of compromise is exercised to achieve an objective.\u00a0 This is a simple definition of politics.\u00a0 It is designed to set up a conversation based on a common thread of what politics is.\u00a0 However, the chapter will continue to broaden the definition as well as provide for contextualization.\r\n\r\nIndividuals are skeptical about politics.\u00a0 In general, most individuals do not like politics.\u00a0 Why is it that most people do not like politics?\u00a0 Why is politics important?\u00a0 What do we gain by having a better understanding of what politics is?\u00a0 Why does skepticism surround politics?\u00a0 Why do individuals associate politics with government and not their personal life?\u00a0 Why is politics a contested space?\r\n\r\nBefore reading the chapter think about politics.\u00a0 Write down the first three words that come to mind that describe what is politics.\r\n\r\nWhat is politics?<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[embed]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k5lbURZOMN4[\/embed]\r\n\r\nOr click here to watch the video!<\/a>\r\n\r\nHow do your three words compare with those provided by English respondents to the same question?\r\n\r\nA Theoretical Perspective: In Search of a definition\r\n\r\nPolitical theorists have worked on defining politics for millennia.\u00a0 Yet some theorists have directed their efforts into the discipline of political science not necessarily into pragmatic \u2018real life\u2019 politics.\u00a0 But there are glimpses of how to understand and define politics by the theorists.\u00a0 This chapter focuses on politics, not political science (chapter 2).\u00a0 Politics is treated as a high-level interaction among decision makers.\u00a0 In this section, politics is being viewed through the lens of historical figures, in this case political theorists to be precise.\u00a0 Keep in mind that politics is a factor of their reality, both of their theorizing and of their experiences.\u00a0 The following are important historical characters that have theorized various concepts like equality, leadership, and participation that intersect with politics.\u00a0 Machiavelli, Rousseau, Lasswell, Arendt, and de Gouges have made important contributions to politics.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"150\"]\"Portrait Figure 1.1 Portrait of Niccolo Machiavelli[\/caption]\r\n\r\nNiccol\u00f2 Machiavelli (1469-1527) put moralistic politics aside and pursued a politics based on power and protection of the state.\u00a0 For some theorists, Machiavelli is a realist.\u00a0 For Machiavelli, the sheer exercise of power is not the solution.\u00a0 Virt\u00fa is required to exercise power to maintain the state. Virt\u00fa, in the prince, is a process to acquire and exercise skills of leadership like \u201chow to use the masks of the fox and the lion, whose natures, as I say above, a prince must imitate.\u201d[2]\u00a0 The prince, or the leader, must have virt\u00fa as a personal characteristic, because the prince\u2019s need for power is not personal but is used to maintain (even protect) the state.\u00a0 Machiavelli argues that: \u201ca wise prince should think of a method by which his citizens, at all times and in every circumstance, will need the assistance of the state and of himself.\u201d[3] \u00a0Machiavelli offers a pragmatic theory of power and the state.\u00a0 Machiavelli lived in an era of tense politics and conspiracies; therefore, his goal as a diplomat was to secure Italian borders and create a strong government.\u00a0 In this case, politics is governing and given the power struggle, politics was certainly contested.\u00a0 The formal unification of Italy was Machiavelli\u2019s goal, a necessary step for Italy so that the principalities would not fall prey to foreign interference and to the whims of princes.[4]\u00a0 In this context, Machiavelli is pragmatic both as a diplomat and as a philosopher.\u00a0 Italy did not unify for another 400 years, however.\u00a0 It was a long process with a number of conflicts for independence that ended in 1871 with the full unification of Italy.\r\n\r\nWhy is it important for citizens to be dependent on the state?\u00a0 How did the situation in the principalities of Italy influence Machiavelli\u2019s ideas?\u00a0 Why did Machiavelli pick the lion and the fox as qualities for the prince?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"150\"]\"Portrait Figure 1.2 Portrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau[\/caption]\r\n\r\nJean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) describes political affairs as follows: \u201cIf our politicians were less blinded by their ambition, they would see how impossible it is or any establishment whatever to act in the spirit of its institution, unless it is guided in accordance with the law of duty.\u201d[5]\u00a0 This description of politics is as equally applicable today.\u00a0 Perhaps politics is not a new phenomenon, because politicians continue to aggrandize their power.\u00a0 Rousseau identified a process to manage politics, and it is about a compromise between the individual\u2019s will and a legitimate source of authority.\u00a0 Politics is the compromise of all individuals\u2019 wills to form the general will (a concept unique to Rousseau) to create a legitimate government \u201cof the sum of the differences.\u201d[6]\u00a0 In regards to the general will, Rousseau states that: \u201cIt is therefore essential, if the general will is to be able to make itself known, that there should be no partial society in the state and that each citizen should express only his own opinion \u2026 the general will shall always be enlightened, and that the people shall in no way deceive itself.\u201d[7]\u00a0 Rousseau finds that in order to participate in political life it is essential that one is honest with one\u2019s opinion.\u00a0 The compromise of the differences of opinion form the general will.\u00a0 Today, this could result in avoiding politization of ideas in order to create effective politics via compromise.\r\n\r\nHow does the Rousseau\u2019s general will compare to today\u2019s public opinion?\u00a0 How can an individual identify the general will in political life?\u00a0 Provide examples of compromises in politics.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"150\"]\"Picture Figure 1.3: Image of Harold Lasswell[\/caption]\r\n\r\nHarold Lasswell (1902-1978) authored the book Politics: Who Gets What, When, and How<\/em> (1936).\u00a0 Lasswell is a well-known political scientist who theorized about resource distribution and provided for a historically important definition of what politics is.\u00a0 The idea is to have a political community where the political system decides on the allocation of resources.\u00a0 Governance includes the process of resource allocation.\u00a0 Politics as suggested by Lasswell is the pragmatic distribution of resources and the controversial decision-making process of who gets what.\u00a0 Lasswell introduces political economy to the conversation of what is politics.\u00a0 In Lasswell\u2019s argument politics is contested, because it does not account for equal or equitable distribution of resources.\u00a0 The government allocates resources when it deems necessary not at the whim of individuals.\r\n\r\nAre Lasswell\u2019s ideas applicable to politics today?\u00a0 How accurate are his ideas?\u00a0 What lessons can individuals draw from Lasswell?\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"223\"]\"Young Figure 1.4 Image of a young Hannah Arendt[\/caption]\r\n\r\nHannah Arendt (1906-1975) makes one raise the following question: What is the nature of politics and political life?\u00a0 If politics involves action, for Arendt, action is a\u00a0public<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>category.\u00a0 Politics is part of our experiences and interactions with others. As Arendt puts it:\r\n\r\nAction, the only activity that goes on directly between men...corresponds to the human condition of plurality, to the fact that men, not Man, live on the earth and inhabit the world. While all aspects of the human condition are somehow related to politics, this plurality is specifically\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0condition - not only the conditio sine qua non<\/em>, but the\u00a0conditio per quam<\/em>\u00a0- of all political life.[8]\r\n\r\nArendt proceeds to theorize that such political action necessitates a public space, like the Athenian polis where political discourses were an ongoing activity of citizens.\u00a0 It is in this space that politics takes place with all the contestations brought forth by those able to participate in this political space.\u00a0 Individuals participating in political action through conversation and speech create a political community\u2014such action is politics.\r\n\r\nArendt suggests that human actions are related to politics.\u00a0 Do individuals today think that one\u2019s actions are political?\u00a0 Are students\u2019 actions on campus political when they speak against tuition hikes?\u00a0 Based on Arendt\u2019s argument can non-citizens participate in political action?\u00a0 Is Arendt\u2019s theory too exclusionary?\r\n\r\nFailure to understand the historical nature of politics and the struggle to find a definition is important for the study of politics today.\u00a0 What politics is all about, what counts as politics, what is legitimate politics, and what is a reasonable public concern are issues contested by feminist theorists. \u00a0Feminist critiques insert the possibility of what is a legitimate space and speech for public concern.\u00a0 Politics is therefore more inclusive.\u00a0 Politics is about contesting speech and space about what counts as a legitimate public concern.\u00a0 A critical question must be asked: while politics is a well-accepted aspect of public life, what happens to the private life of individuals?\u00a0 Are women\u2019s lives political?\r\n\r\nFeminist Critique<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"150\"]\"A Figure 1.5: Portrait of Olympe de Gouges[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn order to contextualize feminist theoretical approach of what is politics, Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) is useful, because her feminist critique of politics starts with how the public\/private divide is problematic as well as the associations fostered in each sphere.\u00a0 Olympe de Gouges\u2019 critique of the French Revolution led her to write the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen<\/em> (1791).\u00a0 The title identifies the public\/private divide and the politics therein contained are discussed in the text:\r\n\r\nThe mothers, daughters, and sisters, representatives of the nation, demand to be constituted a national assembly \u2026 Consequently, the sex that is superior in beauty as well as in courage of maternal suffering, recognizes and declares, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of woman and citizen. \u2026 The goal of every political association is the preservation of the natural and irrevocable rights of Woman and Man. \u2026 Guarantee of the rights of woman and female citizens requires the existence of public services. \u2026 Do not fear that our French legislators, who are correcting this morality, which was for such a long time appended to the realm of politics but is no longer fashionable, will again say to you, \u201cWomen, what do we have in common with you?\u201d You must answer, \u201cEverything!\u201d[9]\r\n\r\nThe importance of de Gouges for the discussion of what is politics is how she bridges the public\/private divide.\u00a0 She includes women as private: \u2018mothers, daughters, and sisters\u2019 \u2018courage of maternal suffering;\u2019 as public: \u2018woman and citizen;\u2019 and finally, as equal to man: \u2018irrevocable rights of Woman and Man.\u2019 The multilayered argument proposed by de Gouges obligates the reader to recognize that women are active in both the private and the public sphere, that women challenged what politics is even in 1790s France, and that women participated and demanded that their actions and their speech be political.\u00a0 Arendt\u2019s human action is feminized by de Gouges.\r\n\r\nDefinitions and critiques have limited practicality for everyday political dialogue, however; for political scientists, they are essential to understand that politics derives from epistemological, normative, and scientific perspectives.\u00a0 The complexities of politics are intriguing to political scientists.\u00a0 Yet politics must be understood by everyone, because it has implications for everyday life.\u00a0 Much like what de Gouges suggested during her era, today what women do, what they say, what counts as political and legitimate, falls under politics.\u00a0 The private is political.\u00a0 To move beyond the private realm, one identifies political issues in everyday life.\u00a0 It is important to recognize that everyday life produces politics.\u00a0 This is particularly true in times of natural disasters.\r\n\r\nComplexities of Politicization<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhile everyday life is political, as it has been suggested, politicizing it takes a negative twist on politics.\u00a0 Politicizing events like hurricanes has direct consequences on the lives of individuals.\u00a0 In times of distress, like in a hurricane, the mundane lives of individuals became national news, and thus political.\u00a0 One must question what are the consequences of \u2018making it\u2019 on national news?\u00a0 Does this create a space for political empathy?\u00a0 Does this mean that human suffering is now being used as a space of contestation for others to gain political power? \u00a0\u00a0In order to be an effective contested space, politics must adapt to the circumstances of everyday life.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"225\"]\"A Figure 1.6: Picture of the morning after hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico[\/caption]\r\n\r\nPoliticizing is to bring attention to issues while using values and ideology to distort the true meaning of events or issues.\u00a0 The idea is to politicize everyday events, or even, extraordinary events for political gain.\u00a0 Politicizing issues like hurricanes and tragedies leads to a divisive national dialogue with partisan overtones.\u00a0 Politicizing issues is a means of controlling the public dialogue and message.\u00a0 For example, by politicizing drinkable water, the public loses the opportunity to create meaningful change.\u00a0 Drinkable water should be a human right, and it should not be used to express political ideological views.\u00a0 Politicizing does not necessarily mean that change of status quo will occur.\u00a0 However, to make politics means to put the issue in the hearts and minds of individuals so that the issue becomes political, contested, and ready for change.\u00a0 The headlines make a difference on how individuals process the information.\u00a0 Politicizing the condition of Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria in 2017 provided for attention to the situation on the ground, which rallied Congress to release more funding for the island\u2019s recovery.\u00a0 However, did the conditions associated with this congressional aid make an impact on the everyday life of Puerto Ricans?\u00a0 Coronavirus made it to President Trump\u2019s State of the Union address in 2020, but will it translate into action that promotes the well-being and the safety of Americans?[10]\u00a0 In this event, President Trump was making politics; however, when President Trump called the coronavirus \u201ca hoax\u201d he was politicizing it.[11]\u00a0 A simple question remains, what are the political consequences of politicizing issues for the everyday life of individuals?\u00a0 What are the effects of politicizing issues on the ability of the government to make decisions and to create effective public policy?\r\n\r\nPolitics and Government Decisions<\/strong>\r\n\r\nGovernment provides for security.\u00a0 For some individuals, this means that government maintains legitimacy by promoting the rule of law and by the electoral process.\u00a0 Governments must create conditions for the people to achieve their goals.\u00a0 This is achieved by politics of compromise.\u00a0 This approach to politics allows for people to participate in politics by having \u201cskin in the game.\u201d\u00a0 This means that this government is also \u201cyour\u201d government.\u00a0 Therefore, those invested in politics perceive the government as legitimate and responsive to their needs. The democratic process of governing opens a space for individuals to contest government action. \u00a0Another approach that government uses is the \u201ccarrot and stick\u201d approach which promotes politics of satisfaction.\u00a0 This means that when the government provides for goods and services, the recipients must meet criteria and perform mandatory requirements in exchange.\u00a0 In the United States, participation in welfare programs have mandated criteria, and its recipients must not only meet the criteria, but also do the required activities in order to maintain their benefits.\u00a0 How the \u201ccarrot and stick\u201d are defined and implemented is by politics.\u00a0 It is the process of negotiating; which eventually evolves into public policy.\r\n\r\nPublic and Private Politics<\/strong>\r\n
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    Student Activity: What is political about...<\/h3>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
    \r\n\r\nMake a list of 10 daily activities you do.\u00a0 Then think about how much government is involved in each one of those activities.\u00a0 Then try to identify what level of government is involved (local, state, national, and\/or international).\u00a0 Finally, identify if these activities are politics or political science.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe suggestion to include mundane daily activities as political is contested.\u00a0 In part because, proponents of narrow definitions and concepts of politics think that such broadening of \u2018the political\u2019 takes away the meaning of politics and devalues politics.\u00a0 By processing daily activities and critically thinking about what individuals do, one can identify the role of government as well as how political decisions affect personal spaces.\u00a0 It is imperative to have a voice in transforming the individual into a political being.\u00a0 What gets to count as legitimate politics and whose voices are heard plays a role in (re)shaping the public\/private divide. \u00a0History has taught that the dichotomy of public\/private divide is not sustainable.\u00a0 From the ancient Agora to the protests of 2020, what counts as political has implications for the well-being of individuals.\r\n\r\n[gallery columns=\"2\" link=\"none\" ids=\"56,55\"]\r\n\r\nThe Aristotelian divide of oikos (private realm of the household) and polis (the public realm, political community, and political activity) provides for a nice start to the conversation of space in relation to where politics is taking place.\r\n\r\nThe Aristotelian model continues to be a point of reference for political science students.\u00a0 Nevertheless, this dichotomy of public\/private divide is systematically challenged.\u00a0 Generally, what is accepted as public is the traditional Athenian polis.\u00a0 The participants were Athenian citizens, or white men with property, an elite section of men who participated in public life.\u00a0 The Athenian polis left out women, servants, slaves, most merchants and traders. \u00a0This model changed little in history.\u00a0 An important element of public politics is not only who counts, but what counts as legitimate politics.\u00a0 Public politics takes place in public spaces, and therefore, counts as legitimate politics.\u00a0 What happens when one complicates public politics by adding different actors and different issues that have been historically relegated to the private sphere?\r\n\r\nThe private sphere is important, because of the types of politics and economic relations it affects.\u00a0 Social relations are best described by a system of patriarchy that displaced women.\u00a0 Racial relations are also key to this dichotomy.\u00a0 What happens to black and brown bodies matters for a healthy political life.\u00a0 Legitimate political life must address the disparities in racial politics that disproportionately affect black, brown, and immigrant neighborhoods.\u00a0 These spaces while public were considered semi-private\u2014these are marginalized communities.\u00a0 The death of Mr. George Floyd in 2020 made clear how politics has marginalized these communities.\u00a0 Race and gender offer voices that have been historically marginalized.\u00a0 In politics, this public\/private divide has silenced women\u2019s political participation and displaced their voices.\u00a0 Historically, the state has created laws that have discriminated against women.\u00a0 The various feminist movements have bridged the public\/private divide.\u00a0 Today\u2019s public sphere has been enriched, because what women do in the private sphere not only has been expanded but \u00a0has implications for the public sphere.\u00a0 These spheres are subject to political, social, and economic contestations.\u00a0 For example, the unpaid labor that women perform in the home, like childrearing or caring for elderly parents, reduces women\u2019s ability to participate in public sphere, in the economic system, and in political affairs.\u00a0 The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) estimated that 60 percent of caregivers are women.\u00a0 The impact of this unpaid work is that women will receive less in social security and in employer contributions.\u00a0 Because women live longer than men on average, having a smaller pension has long-term implications for their well-being and ability to participate in the public sphere in their older age.[12]\r\n\r\nState discrimination against people of color has deep historical roots.\u00a0 Social and economic discrimination are continued realities in communities of color as well as in immigrant communities.\r\n\r\nIntersectionality theory helps to assert the necessity to move beyond the public\/private divide.\u00a0 Individuals have various identities that help them construct perceptions about politics.\u00a0 To articulate an inclusive politics, one must recognize the various identities one individual possesses.\u00a0 A college student may be homeless, white, a parent, and female.\u00a0 A police officer may identify as transgender, Latino, middle class, and living in the suburbs with children.\u00a0 These individuals have different needs, wants, and put different demands on government.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"225\"]\"A Figure 1.9: Picture of Kimberle Crenshaw[\/caption]\r\n\r\nListen to the Ted Talk by Kimberle Crenshaw who explains intersectionality:\r\n\r\n[embed]https:\/\/embed.ted.com\/talks\/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality[\/embed]\r\n
    <\/div>\r\nOr click here to watch the TED Talk by Kimberle Crenshaw<\/a>\r\n\r\nLast accessed on 9\/25\/2020\r\n\r\nAn interesting view of intersectionality from a non-academic perspective:\r\n\r\nBlog: What is intersectionality, and what does it have to do with me?<\/a>\r\n\r\nLast accessed on 09\/25\/2020\r\n\r\nIntersectionality theory broadens one\u2019s view of politics and the \u2018real world\u2019 by adding identity to the mix.\u00a0 It also sheds light on sensitive issues that affect individuals, and therefore, their community disproportionately.\u00a0 An interesting, and possibly surprising way to use intersectionality is to apply it to some service, such as garbage collection. How can intersectionality theory be used in studying garbage?\u00a0 Garbage pick-up produces awareness to who receives the service and who is collecting rubbish.\u00a0 Who produces rubbish? Is garbage pick-up an essential job?\u00a0 What is the impact of garbage collection on the economy?\u00a0 Where does the garbage go?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_35\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"221\"]\"A Figure 1.10: Image of a Staten Island landfill[\/caption]\r\n\r\nImagine not having garbage pick-up in a city with 1 million people.\u00a0 While in the United States garbage pick-up is a private, commercial activity, in other countries it is the state that collects garbage.\u00a0 In either case, if all of a sudden garbage started to accumulate in one\u2019s house, then in the neighborhood, and finally, in the city what would an individual do?\u00a0 How would one person solve the situation?\u00a0 Who would be held accountable?\u00a0 Are garbage collectors respected in the community?\u00a0 Are they paid well?\u00a0 Do beneficiaries of this service appreciate the service as well as the workers? \u00a0While most garbage is produced in private, the implications for the lack of this service have public consequences.\u00a0 Garbage accumulation has enormous implications for public health, for the environment, and for the economy.\r\n
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    Student Activity<\/h3>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
    \r\n\r\nPlease read the article and learn how complex the politics of garbage can be.\u00a0 Read the article and take notes.\u00a0 Reflect on the issues studied thus far in the chapter.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nArticle: Trash Fight: The long voyage of New York's unwanted garbage barge <\/a>By Dick Sheridan<\/a>\r\n\r\nLast accessed on 09\/25\/2020\r\n\r\nWhat are the lessons from the article?\u00a0 What are the implications for public life?\u00a0 What can an individual do to minimize such a difficult situation? From this article, identify, at least the following:\r\n