COURSE CODE: POL 214

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ANALYSIS

CREDIT UNIT: 3
COURSE DURATION: 3 HOURS PER WEEK

LECTURE ONE
TOPIC: CONCEPTION OF POLITICS
Expected outcome
At the end of the topic, students should be able to explain the various conceptions of
politics as;
1. The art of government
2. Public affairs;
3. Operation of the state;
4. Power;
5. Collective decision and action;
6. Determination and execution of public policy
7. Peaceful resolution of societal struggles;
8. Relations and conflicts among classes.

Politics is an essentially contested concept because the term has a number of

acceptable meanings and definitions. It has been defined in such different ways as
the exercise of power, the exercise of author, the making of collective decisions, the
allocation of scare resources, the practice of deception and manipulation amongst
others (Heywood 2004:4).
Conception of politics means the process of forming an idea of what politics is all
about. There are different conceptions of politics because scholars tend to define
politics base on their perceptions or field of study.

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How politics has been conceptualized and understand by different scholars and
traditions
Politics as the art of government
Politics has been conceptualized as the art of government. Chancellor Bismarck is
reputed to have conceive politics as the art of government, the exercise of control
within society through the making and enforcement of collective decision.
According to Heywood (2004:5) this is a classical definition of politics, developed
from the original meaning of the term in Ancient Greece. This is the traditional view
of the discipline which focus on the personnel and machinery of government. This
conception of politics offers a highly restricted view of politics. It centered on the
machinery of government and engaged in by limited and specific group of people.
Politics as Public affairs
The earliest conception of politics belonged to the Greeks, who viewed politics as
matters in the public realm as against the private realm. This conception moves
beyond the narrow realm of government to what is thought of as public affairs. In
other words the distinction between an essentially public and private sphere of life
.The public realm was view as morally superior to the private realm. Their primary
interest was in the moral purposes that decision makers ought to pursue to realize
the public or common good of all members of the state i.e. the conformity of ideas
and actions with perfect goodness. This view of politics is often traced back to the
work of Aristotle. According to Aristotle man by nature is a political animal by
which he meant that, it is only within a political community that human beings can
live the good life (Heywood 2004:8). Therefore what the statesman is most anxious
to produce as a moral character in his follow citizens is a disposition of virtue and
performance of virtuous attribute. The institutions of the states are regarded as public
in the sense that they are responsible for the collective organization of community
life. While civil society which consist of the institutions such as the family, church,
private business, trade unions amongst others are private in the sense that they are
set up and funded by individual citizens to satisfy their own interest rather than those
of the larger society (Heywood 2004:8).
Criticism
Politics cannot be restricted to only the public realm. Decisions that occur in the
private realm largely affect the public realm. Politics as public affairs has been
portrayed as a form of unwanted interference.

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Politics as the operation of the state
Weber defined politics as the operation of the state. This conception is concerned
with politics been associated with the activities of the state because traditionally, the
state has been the centre of political analysis. Weber argued that the modern state
can only be defined in terms of the means peculiar to it, namely the use of physical
force. A human community that claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of force
within a given territory. Weber posited that politics should be equated with activities
of the state because it is an administrative structure which use force to compel
obedience and the monopoly of force is embodied in the military and police force to
the extent that the state exercise sovereignty over its territory
Politics as power
This conception is rather than confining politics to a particular sphere, view politics
at work in all social activities. This conception was summed up in Harold Laswell
book “Politics” when he defined politics as who get what, when and how. From this
perspective, politics is about diversity and conflict, but the essential ingredient is the
existence of scarcity. Politics can therefore been seen as the means through which
struggle is conducted.
Politics as collective decision and action
This conception of politics viewed politics as a matter of reaching collective
decisions and taking collective actions. Miller (2002) defined politics as the process
whereby a group of people, whose opinions or interest are initially divergent, reach
collective decisions which are generally, regarded as binding on the group, and
enforced as common policy. Assumptions from this conception is that all societies
must contain diversity and scarcity is also inevitable characteristics of all societies.
Politics as the determination and execution of public policy
David Easton and Laswell are the proponent of this conception of politics. Politics
can be seen as struggle among varied interest or people and decision makers decide
the allocation of valves among the people and also decide who gets what and how.
Emphasis is on how decisions are made and carried out for the society rather than
on the state structures as the sole center of political life. Proponents of this
conception are also concerned with the implementation of public policies once they
are made because a policy not implemented or cannot be implemented is a non
policy. The assumption of this conception are; Political decision affect the vast

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number of members of the society; Politics deals with acceptable decisions which
do not require force. And Political activities take place outside state structures
Politics as relation and conflict among different classes in the society
According to Marx, every society is interlocked in a struggle between two broad
classes in the society. These classes are differentiated in terms of their relations to
mode of production in society. Those who own and control the means of production
constitute the class of oppressors (Bourgeoisies) and the “have not” belonged to the
class of the oppressed. Political activity centers on the struggle between these two
classes for supremacy. Marx believed the oppressed class will be victorious and will
establish a socialist society where all men will be equal.
Criticism
Marx’s predictions has not materialized. Socialist state such as USSR collapsed
because it could not sustain itself. China has also opened its window to the market
economy.
Politics as compromise and consensus
This conception view politics as a particular means finding and resolving conflict
through compromise, negotiation, conciliation and building of consensus rather than
through force. However, if this fails and military conflict or any kind of violence
erupts as a consequence, then politics can be said to have been rejected or failed.
Bernard Crick (2002:21) is an advocate of this position. He defined politics as the
only possible solution to the problem of order. This conception of politics limits
politics to a particular kind of politics, rather than politics per se. if we talk about
politics when agreements are reached and compromise made then it would seem to
be very limited activity.
Readings/References
Cricks, B (2000) In Defenece of Politics. Harmondsworth and New York: Penguin.

Heywood, A. (2004) Politics. New York: Palgrave Foundations.

Miller, D. (1987). “Politics.” In: The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought.

Miller, D. (Ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. 430-431.

Osaghae, E. (1988). Political Analysis. Ibadan: University of Ibadan External

Studies Programme.
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LECTURE TWO
TOPIC: DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS
Topic outline;
1. What is political analysis
2. Historical development of political analysis
3. Traditional political analysis
4. Modern political analysis.
Expected outcome
At the end of the topic, students should be able to;
1. Define political analysis;
2. Explain the development of political analysis;
3. Explain traditional method of political analysis and their short comings and;
4. Explain modern political analysis and identify its strength and challenges.
Readings:
Osaghae, E. (1988). Political Analysis. Ibadan: University of Ibadan External
Studies Programme.
Charlesworth, J. (1968) (ed) Contemporary political Analysis, New York, free Press.

What is Political Analysis?

Political analysis can be defined as the various methods, theories, concept and
approaches employed by a political scientist to summarise and explain various
themes, political experience, events, political issues and phenomena.
Political analysis entails the process of investigating issues or events, decisions and
challenges by systematically organizing this information into categories and then
establishing a relationship between these data for the basic objective of explanation
and subsequently prediction (Osaghae,1988).

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In political science, the state is the main focus of analysis because it is the highest
form of human organization and the center of power.it is from the state that citizens
and non-citizens derive their political and social existence.
Development of political analysis
The dating of political analysis can be traced back to the works of Greeks and other
western philosophers. In the 19th century, political analysis relied on the historical,
descriptive and philosophical narrations. The work of Aristotle also revealed
primitive empirical analysis especially his classification of authority. However, in
the 20th century new development emerged such as (1) the emergence of several new
states especially those resulting from the fall of empires and kingdoms as well as the
independence of new states in Asia and Africa. (2) The spread of social sciences
outside the western hemisphere. Therefore, the available tools of analysis could no
longer explain the problem confronting societies. It for this reason that the
behaviouralist mounted attack on the old traditional way of analysis based on the
following critique.
1. Traditional method of analysis were static and non-explanatory
2. Traditional analysis was conservative and concerned with how to maintain
loyalty to the rulers.
3. Traditional analysis were culture bound
4. The need to shift emphasis from government institution to man as the object
of political power.
From the 20th century modern political analysis dominated the mode of political
analysis. It places emphasis on man /human behavior. Modern political analysis
embodies the behavioural school. Behaviouralism sees man as a social being. It
analyses political behavior using the canons of science by observing patterns and
regularities in human behavior with a view to predict them. Behaviouralism as an
approach has a number of strength;
1. It is able to shift emphasis away from institution of government to man
2. It is able to place emphasis on human behavior
3. It is able to develop medium and long range theories
4. It enhances some degree of predictability.
The behavioural school in spite of the above strength has also have challenges
1. It is accused of ahistorical
2. There is the absence of generally acceptable laws, theories and concept
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 3. Lack accurate measurement tools
4. Replication is difficult to achieve.

Refernces
Charlesworth, J. (1968) (ed) Contemporary political Analysis. New York: Free
Press.
Osaghae, E. (1988). Political Analysis. Ibadan: University of Ibadan External
Studies Programme.

LECTURE THREE
IMPOTANCE AND FORMS OF POLITICAL ANALYSIS
Topic outline;
5. Importance of political analysis
6. Types or forms of political analysis
7. Relationship between the types of political analysis.
Expected outcome
At the end of the topic, students should be able to;
5. Explain the importance of studying political analysis;
6. Identify the types of political analysis and;
7. Determine the relationship between the types of political analysis.
Readings:
Osaghae, E. (1988). Political Analysis. Ibadan: University of Ibadan External
Studies Programme.

Charlesworth, J. (1968) (ed) Contemporary political Analysis, New York, free Press.

Apter, D. (1977) Introduction to political analysis. Cambridge: Winthrop Publishers,

Inc.

Importance of political analysis in the study of political science

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According to Osaghea (1988) political analysis has three main goals;
1. To know what is important in politics
2. To know what is valuable
3. To know what is real or true by systematically subjecting our guesses,
impressions, popular belief, even rumors to verification.
Types of political analysis
There are four forms of political analysis. These are;
1. Normative
2. Semantic
3. Empirical and
4. Policy analysis
Normative analysis
The normative analysis deals with the application of reason to human ends (Apter,
1977: 50). The normative type of political analysis ask questions of values and Seeks
to identify what is good or better with a view of recommends what we ought to value.
Criteria for evaluating normative analysis
According to Osaghae (1988), the viewpoints which provide the criteria for
evaluating the quality of normative analysis are;
1. Naturalism
2. Intuition and
3. Subjectivism
Empirical analysis
Empirical analysis seeks to identify observable phenomena in the real world with a
view to establishing what is rather than what ought to be. The key element of
empirical approach to the study of politics is comparative analysis.
Types of empirical analysis
1. Deductive reasoning: theories are first deduced from principles before being
tested.

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 2. Inductive approach starts with empirical observation from which explanatory
generalization are generated.

Semantic analysis
Semantic analysis is also called conceptual analysis. It is concerned with clarifying
the meaning of concepts.
Ways of carrying out semantic analysis
First, appealing to an authority whose definitions is widely accepted. This is called
nominal definition.
Second, in the case of concepts coloured by ideological consideration, one can
devise certain indices according to which it can be defined. This is called
operationalisation of concept
Policy analysis
Policy analysis involves the search for policies or course of action which will take
us from the present state to that which will bring desired and satisfactory results.
Relationship among the four types of political analysis
The four forms of political analysis are not used independently of each other.
Normative claims are based on empirical knowledge. Conversely, a great deal of
empirical analysis presupposes some normative assumptions. Policy analysis makes
use of both normative and empirical analysis. Underlying all analysis is semantic
analysis.
Summary
One basic responsibilities of political scientists is to be able to analyse events as they
occur in polity. Political analysis help us to know what is important, valuable, and
real or true in politics. Types of political analysis are; Normative, empirical,
semantic and policy analysis. The four types of political analysis are not used
independently of each other.
References
Osaghae, E. (1988). Political Analysis. Ibadan: University of Ibadan External
Studies Programme.
Charlesworth, J. (1968) (ed) Contemporary political Analysis, New York, free Press.
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Apter, D. (1977) Introduction to political analysis. Cambridge: Winthrop Publishers,
Inc.

LECTURE FOUR
TOPIC: THE LANGUAGE OF INQUIRY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
Expected outcome
At the end of the topic, students should be able to explain the following concept
necessary in political analysis;
Generalization, Hypotheses, Variables, Theories, Scientific laws, Classification,
Verifiability, Models, Methods, positivism, Research design, Explanations,
Prediction, Falsification, Induction, Deduction, Techniques and paradigms.
Understanding concept in political science
Concepts are generally accepted ideas, meaning or characteristics associated with
certain events, processes, conditions, behaviour, action and situation. In political
science, there is the lack of agreement among scholars on the basic concepts of
political science. Political scientist operationalise key concepts that are important to
their analysis.
Concepts necessary in political analysis
1. Generalisation: these are statements which describes general conditions or
properties of the things we are interested in. Generalisation in natural sciences
is usually stated in law like terms. In social sciences, it is stated as probability
rather than law like because human behaviour, societies and events differ in
their essentials across time and place.
2. Hypotheses: hypotheses is a statement of the relationships between two or
more variables when at least one is independent and one is dependent. These
are tentative explanations, statement or assertions that are formulated to be
tested and when tested and confirmed, takes on the views of the world (Apter,
1977:39).
3. Variables: a variable is a property that takes on different valves or assumes
different characteristics. Types of variables; the first is the dependent variable,

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 which is what is to be explained by another variable. Second, there is the
independent variable which explains the dependent variable. Third
intervening variables which link the independent to dependent variable.
Parameters represent the conditions within which the independent variable
operate (Apter, 1977:31).
4. Theories: theories are generalized statements summarizing the actions of one
set of variables. These are explanations of uniformities that involve two or
more variables, i.e. those whose action the theory seeks to explain and the
causal or operating variable which effect changes in others; but which, even
though widely held, require empirical validation for confirmation. The role of
theory in political analysis is to give direction to political inquiry (Apter,
1977:31).
5. Scientific laws: these are statements of universal uniformity used as
explanatory characters and as predictive statements.
6. Methods: methods are ways of organizing theories for application to data.
Some types of method are comparative, configurational, historical, and
simulatic (Apter, 1977:31).
7. Classification: is considered as the activity of grouping objects with perceived
similarities or attributes into two or more named classes.
8. Techniques: techniques link methods to the relevant data. They represent
various modes of observation and ways of recording empirical information
(Apter, 1977:31).
9. Verifiability: a proposition is said to be verified when it has been checked or
tested by many specialist in the relevant field of study.
10. Systematic: knowledge is said to be systematic when it is organized into
intelligible pattern, or structure with significant relationships made clear.
11. Models: are simplified ways of describing relationships. Model can be
constructed from a paradigm, a theory, a method, or a technique (Apter,
1977:32).
12. Positivism: this refers to an approach that seeks to apply the scientific method
of the natural science to social phenomena.

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 13.Explanations: is the reduction of the unfamiliar to the familiar. In other words,
we explain an event by deducing from one or more statement.
14.Prediction: prediction basically has the same logical form as explanation but,
unlike explanation, it involves inferring future unknown occurrence from
particular facts and laws that are already known.
15.Research design: a research design convert strategy into an operational plan
for fieldwork or an experiment. It is a prospectus or outline from which a
research is carried forward (Apter, 1977:32).
16.Falsification: this is a doctrine of science that claims that there is no way we
can know what is true among competing explanations of the world. Rather we
can know what is false. The process of science therefore is the progressive
elimination of what is false.
17.Induction: this is the practice of inferring from generalisation from past
occurrences which then shape expectations for the future. Induction starts with
empirical observation from which explanatory generalisation are generated.
18.Deduction: starts with deducing theory first from principles before being
tested.
19.Paradigm: a paradigm is a framework of ideas that establishes the general
context of analysis. It is a concept for understanding the framing and
structuring of knowledge production in the natural sciences. It combines a
mixture of philosophical assumptions and criteria of valid knowledge.

References
Apter, D. (1977) Introduction to Political Analysis. Cambridge: Winthrop
Publishers, Inc.

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