Introduction To Political Theory:: Distinction/ Comparison

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INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL THEORY:

Politics- the academic study of government and the state

Philosophy- the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when
considered as an academic discipline. Wisdom is an important consideration in its application.

Ideology- a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political
theory and policy

Theory- a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on
general principles independent of the thing to be explained

DISTINCTION/ COMPARISON:

POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Political philosophy can be defined as philosophical reflection on how best to arrange our collective life -
our political institutions and our social practices, such as our economic system and our pattern of family
life. (Sometimes a distinction is made between political and social philosophy, but I shall use ‘political
philosophy’ in a broad sense to include both.) Political philosophers seek to establish basic principles
that will, for instance, justify a particular form of state, show that individuals have certain inalienable
rights, or tell us how a society’s material resources should be shared among its members. This usually
involves analyzing and interpreting ideas like freedom, justice, authority and democracy and then
applying them in a critical way to the social and political institutions that currently exist. Some political
philosophers have tried primarily to justify the prevailing arrangements of their society; others have
painted pictures of an ideal state or an ideal social world that is very different from anything we have so
far experienced.

Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty,
justice and the enforcement of a legal code by authority. It is Ethics applied to a group of people, and
discusses how a society should be set up and how one should act within a society.

Political philosophy, is the study of topics such as politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the
enforcement of laws by authority: what they are, if they are needed and why, what makes a
government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take
and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it
may be legitimately overthrown, if ever.

In a vernacular sense, the term "political philosophy" often refers to a general view, or specific ethic,
political belief or attitude, about politics.

Political philosophy is a branch of philosophy.[1] Within political science, a strong focus has historically
been placed on the role of political philosophy (also known as normative theory), moral philosophy and
the humanities, although in recent years there has been increased focus to political theory based on
quantitative methodological approaches as well as economic theory, the natural sciences and
behavioralist.
POLITICAL THEORY

A political theory is an explanation or account of politics that aspires to be comprehensive and


definitive. The idea is not merely to observe and describe various kinds of political regimes and
situations, but to articulate the very essence and meaning of the political. Very often there’s a normative
dimension to political theory: political theorists try to establish standards and values according to which
the legitimacy of a political order can be measured. Aristotle, for example, holds that the political regime
exists for the sake of the good life, which requires him to offer a theory of the best way of life for human
beings, hence a theory of human nature. So political theory overlaps with ethics, morality, anthropology,
history, biology, etc.

One example of a political theory in this sense is Aristotle’s Politics. Another is Plato’s Republic, which
presents a picture of an ideal state in which justice and harmony prevail and where everyone lives as
fully as possible. Others are Machiavelli’s The Prince and Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan. Closer to our time
are John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice and Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia.

However, the idea of political theory as an account of politics that aspires to be comprehensive and
definitive isn’t the only definition of political theory. For political theorists inspired by Nietzsche, political
theory is diagnostic. The theorist begins by identifying a political pathology in his own society. He then
tries to discover the causes of this pathology, relying on every intellectual tool he can get his hands on to
do so: history, sociology, psychology, etc. The diagnostic political theorist doesn’t want to be
comprehensive; he wants to contribute to the political conversation that matters to him by identifying
important problems that then become objects of political debate.

The definition of a political theory is a political thought that someone has made and published based off
of economic, social and political conditions at the time.

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

A political ideology is a set of ideas, beliefs, values, and opinions, exhibiting a recurring pattern, that
competes deliberately as well as unintentionally over providing plans of action for public policy making
in an attempt to justify, explain, contest, or change the social and political arrangements and processes
of a political community.

Socialism: The belief that the workers own in some way and manage the means of production in society
and that income should not matter for not starving.

Characteristics of Political Theory:

On the basis of the above discussion some common specialties of political theory can be clarified.

1. Political Theory is mainly an individual’s intellect and political creation. Usually, these are the thoughts
of an individual which try to give theoretical description of the political reality i.e., the State. Every
theory is a hypothesis in its own which can be either right or wrong and can be criticized. Thus, in these
theories we find the efforts of various thinkers which unveil the mysteries of life. These thinkers have
presented various explanations which may not affect us, but about these we cannot establish any
concluding opening right or wrong. Political theory explains that specific truth of political life which is
seen or experienced by that particular thinker.
Manifestation of such political truths is, found in Plato’s ‘Republic’, Aristotle’s ‘Politics’ etc.

2. Secondly, Political Theory explain the individual, society and history. They test the nature of individual
and society—How a society is formed and how does it work, what are its main elements, which are the
main sources of conflicts and how they can be sorted out.

3. Thirdly, Political Theory are based on a specific subject. This means that the objective of an
investigator is to describe the nature of the state.

*This investigator can be a philosopher, historian, economist, archbishop or socialist. Thus, we find
various types of political theory in which differentiation can be done on the basis of the incomparability
of these subjects.

4. Fourthly, the objective of the political theory is not only to understand and explain the political reality
and to come up with goals for political arrangement.

As Harold Laski (1893-1950, Manchester, England, Political theorist and economist) has written

“The work of political theory is not only to describe the facts but also to finalize what should be.” Thus,
on the social level political theory advocates the resources for the positive work and betterment in its
enactment, revolution and guardianship. This is related to both resources and their users. They play a
double role: “To understand the society and to collect the means to rectify its faults.”

5. Fifthly, Political Theory is an expresiin of ideology. In day- to- day language, ideology means an
arrangement of faith, values and ideas which governs the people. In modern world we have various
ideologies like liberalization, Marxism, socialism, etc. Since Plato to till this time tells that every political
theory is a reflection of an ideology. In the form of the political ideology, Political Theory describes those
political values, institution and behaviors which are accepted by the society as an ideal. For example, in
the political theory of Western Europe and U.S.A., liberalization ideology had been the major one. On
the contrary, in China and USSR, Marxism had been the most important. In this context one thing is very
evident that each and every ideology presents itself in the ultimate and omnipresent truth and compels
the others to accept it. As a result, conflict of the ideas has been a special part of pol. theory.

Scopes of POLITICAL THEORY:

1. Describe the political incidents

2. provide philosophical and scientific basis for these incidents,

3. help in the selection of political objectives and works and

4. provide moral basis for political arrangement.

As clarified above, fundamental problem of human society is to live together in community. In this
context politics is such an activity which arranges the collective activities of the society. The significance
of theory is to discover those view points and methods which can develop the nature of state and
society, the best form of Govt, relation between individual and state and to develop the concepts of
freedom, equality, property and justice, etc. The development of those concept is equally as important
as the peace, arrangement, stability, fitness and unity of the society. Actually, on the social level, peace
and arrangement, depends upon the fact that how we describe and practice the concept of freedom,
equality and justice.

In the contemporary society, we are facing lots of problems like poverty, population, corruption,
casteism, pollution and conflict in individual society and state. The important work of political theory is
to deeply study and analyze these problems and to provide alternative means to the political leaders.

CAUTION:

According to David Held, Born August 27, 1951, United Kingdom Died: March 2, 2019 Nationality: British

Main interests: Politics and International Relations

• To note, political theory is evident from the fact that in the deficiency of a sequential study;

Politics will merely become a toy in the hands of those selfish and ignorant political leaders who
consider politics nothing more than a tool to attain power. In short, significance of political theory can
be understood on the following basis:

Significance:

1. Political theory can be understood on the basis of the work done by it and its underlying
objectives. Political theory is such an arrangement of the political values which are accepted by any
society in order to understand its political reality and if required to bring necessary changes in it. This is
a higher study of the nature of good life, possible institutions to attain this, objectives of the state and
the state arrangements to obtain these objectives. The importance of political theory lies in the fact that
it established such moral scales that can check the moral ability of the state. If required, they even
provide the alternate structure of political theory arrangement and behavior. Thus, political theory
collectively, contains;

2. These help to establish the relation between the social and political reality and ideals and objectives
of any society.

3. They make an individual aware about the right, duty, freedom, equality, property and justice, etc. on
social level.

4. They provide alternative to understand the social and economic arrangements and to fight with the
related problems like poverty,

violence, corruption, casteism, etc.

5. They also present theories about social amendments and revolutionary ways to bring changes.

Whenever the political theories are able to fulfill their role properly in a society, then they become an
important source for human development.

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