Political Science

Political Science

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How old are you?

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Do you have faith in our leaders?

• Yes

• No

• Absolutely not

• I never thought about it

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Do you have a negative or positive view of politics?

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• Negative

Politics

• From the Greek word politike

• “relating to citizens, state and its composition as a community”. 

Politics

•Plato and Aristotle studied the political life in the city-state in Ancient Greece.

Definition of Politics

• Politics is understood as the power conceded to an individual or group to exercise strong population control over a territory, ultimately by force (De la Torre, 2006).

Understanding Politics

—Struggle for the power.

—Institutions through which power is exercised.

—Reflection on its origin, structure and basis.

What is the object of study of political science?

Is the power relation that is exercised in a society to maintain or change the direction of the State. 

Creating Political Theories

• By collecting quantitative and qualitative data to find patterns and then make generalizations to build theories

  
  

Political science develops according to the following steps:

Books about politics

The Republic

—Plato

—First systematic study of the political process and to mention the political and the ideal State. 

The Prince

—Niccolo Machiavelli

—A handbook with features that every ruler should have. 

Leviathan

—Thomas Hobbs 

—Argues for a social contract and the government of an absolute monarch. 

Books about politics

• Treatise on Civil Government

  —John Lock

  —Which states that all men are created equal by God and develops ideas of property and a constitutional monarchy. 

• Social Contract

  —Jan Jacques Rousseau.

  —His political work was and helped to inspire political reforms and revolutions in Europe, especially France. Opposed the idea that the monarch had the power to legislate for God. 

• The Spirit of Laws

  —Montesquieu

  —The treatment of separation of powers. 

Books about politics

• Perpetual Peace

  —Immanuel Kant

  —Proposes a political system of peaceful international relations through global formation of republics. 

• The Communist Manifesto

  —Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

  —They argue that all changes in the form of society, in political institutions, in History itself, is driven by a process of collective struggle to make their material or economic interests. 

• The Will to Power

  —Friedrich Nietzsche

  —He states that human motivation is the desire of power. 

Bibliographic references: 

¢Cielo, S., Castro, B. & Zaragoza, S. (2011). Introducción a las Ciencias Sociales. México: Santillana.

¢De la Torre, F. J. (2006). Introducción a las ciencias sociales: un nuevo enfoque (2a ed.). México: McGraw Hill Interamericana.