Politics Expands Beyond Elections and Supreme Court Nominations
Politics is the way people agree about how to share resources and make decisions in groups of people, such as tribes, cities, or countries. People who spend much of their time making these agreements are called politicians, and the study of politics is referred to as political science.
When a person thinks about the word “politics,” they might first think about the process of elections, or they might think about the manoeuvring of political parties to assert their own interests. But the truth is that politics is much more complex than that. Politics is about how to manage a group of people with different beliefs and preferences while allocating scarce resources. Politics is about how to do the right thing – even when that “right” thing may be difficult, or even impossible, in the short term.
It is also about how to resolve conflicting demands in a democratic society. It is about how to balance competing values like liberty and equality, and it is about how to deal with unforeseen circumstances that arise in the course of the political process, such as natural disasters or war. It is about how to choose leaders who can effectively manage the public good, and it is about how to ensure that the political process itself is fair and transparent.
In a modern democracy, citizens are expected to be fully engaged in the political life, and this engagement takes place in many different ways, beyond queuing at polling stations on Election Day. They are using social media to select, sanction, and pressure the leaders who wield power within government, and they are using their local communities to advocate for and against policy issues that are of personal interest to them. This participatory political environment makes it more challenging to define the scope of what is considered part of politics, but it has also created a space for political engagement that goes beyond traditional legislative votes and Supreme Court nominations.
How does one understand this complex phenomenon, and what are the implications of this expansion? This textbook addresses these questions by introducing students to political theory, philosophy, and method. It provides succinct overviews of a wide range of perspectives and theoretical traditions, including liberalism, Marxism, feminist approaches to politics, and environmental politics.
The book argues that a central theme in politics is the distribution of power, and that this is a consequence of the way in which political institutions are structured and the processes through which they operate. It suggests that the most successful individuals are those who know how to play the game, and that the key is in understanding what is at stake – whether it is individual rights, the environment, or international security. In doing so, the text introduces a new generation of students to the study and practice of politics. They will be able to see the world of politics for what it is: a complicated, multifaceted, and ever-changing activity.
Politics is the way people agree about how to share resources and make decisions in groups of people, such as tribes, cities, or countries. People who spend much of their time making these agreements are called politicians, and the study of politics is referred to as political science. When a person thinks about the word “politics,” they might first think about the process of elections, or they might think about the manoeuvring of political parties to assert their own interests. But the truth is that politics is much more complex than that. Politics is about how to manage a group of people with different beliefs and preferences while allocating scarce resources. Politics is about how to do the right thing – even when that “right” thing may be difficult, or even impossible, in the short term. It is also about how to resolve conflicting demands in a democratic society. It is about how to balance competing values like liberty and equality, and it is about how to deal with unforeseen circumstances that arise in the course of the political process, such as natural disasters or war. It is about how to choose leaders who can effectively manage the public good, and it is about how to ensure that the political process itself is fair and transparent. In a modern democracy, citizens are expected to be fully engaged in the political life, and this engagement takes place in many different ways, beyond queuing at polling stations on Election Day. They are using social media to select, sanction, and pressure the leaders who wield power within government, and they are using their local communities to advocate for and against policy issues that are of personal interest to them. This participatory political environment makes it more challenging to define the scope of what is considered part of politics, but it has also created a space for political engagement that goes beyond traditional legislative votes and Supreme Court nominations. How does one understand this complex phenomenon, and what are the implications of this expansion? This textbook addresses these questions by introducing students to political theory, philosophy, and method. It provides succinct overviews of a wide range of perspectives and theoretical traditions, including liberalism, Marxism, feminist approaches to politics, and environmental politics. The book argues that a central theme in politics is the distribution of power, and that this is a consequence of the way in which political institutions are structured and the processes through which they operate. It suggests that the most successful individuals are those who know how to play the game, and that the key is in understanding what is at stake – whether it is individual rights, the environment, or international security. In doing so, the text introduces a new generation of students to the study and practice of politics. They will be able to see the world of politics for what it is: a complicated, multifaceted, and ever-changing activity.