- List of Boxes
- About the Authors
- Guided Tour of the Textbook Features
- Guided tour of the Online Resources
- World Map
- 1. Introduction: The Nature of Politics and Political Analysis
- 2. Politics and the State
- 3. Political Power, Authority, and the State
- 4. Democracy and Political Obligation
- 5. Freedom and Justice
- 6. Traditional Ideologies
- 7. Challenges to the Dominant Ideologies
- 8. Institutions and States
- 9. Political Culture and Non-Western Political Ideas
- 10. Law, Constitutions, and Federalism
- 11. Votes, Elections, Legislatures, and Legislators
- 12. Political Parties
- 13. Executives, Bureaucracies, Policy Studies, and Governance
- 14. Civil Society, Interest Groups, and the Media
- 15. Democracies, Democratization, and Authoritarian Regimes
- 16. Introducing Global Politics
- 17. Traditional Theories in Global Politics
- 18. Critical Approaches to Global Politics
- 19. Security and Insecurity
- 20. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
- 21. International Organizations in Global Politics
- 22. Global Political Economy
- 23. Conclusion: Towards a Globalizing, Post- Western-Dominated World
- Glossary
- References
- Index
(p. 1) 1. Introduction: The Nature of Politics and Political Analysis
- Chapter:
- (p. 1) 1. Introduction: The Nature of Politics and Political Analysis
- Author(s):
Robert Garner
- DOI:
- 10.1093/hepl/9780198820611.003.0001
This introductory chapter examines the nature of politics and the political, and more specifically whether politics is an inevitable feature of all human societies. It begins by addressing questions useful when asking about ‘who gets what, when, how?’; for example, why those taking decisions are able to enforce them. The discussion proceeds by focusing on the boundary problems inherent in an analysis of the nature of the political. One such problem is whether politics is equivalent to consensus and cooperation, so that it does not exist in the event of conflict and war. The chapter then explores different forms of political analysis — the empirical, the normative, and the semantic—as well as deductive and inductive methods of studying politics. Finally, it asks whether politics can ever be a science to rival subjects in the natural sciences.
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- List of Boxes
- About the Authors
- Guided Tour of the Textbook Features
- Guided tour of the Online Resources
- World Map
- 1. Introduction: The Nature of Politics and Political Analysis
- 2. Politics and the State
- 3. Political Power, Authority, and the State
- 4. Democracy and Political Obligation
- 5. Freedom and Justice
- 6. Traditional Ideologies
- 7. Challenges to the Dominant Ideologies
- 8. Institutions and States
- 9. Political Culture and Non-Western Political Ideas
- 10. Law, Constitutions, and Federalism
- 11. Votes, Elections, Legislatures, and Legislators
- 12. Political Parties
- 13. Executives, Bureaucracies, Policy Studies, and Governance
- 14. Civil Society, Interest Groups, and the Media
- 15. Democracies, Democratization, and Authoritarian Regimes
- 16. Introducing Global Politics
- 17. Traditional Theories in Global Politics
- 18. Critical Approaches to Global Politics
- 19. Security and Insecurity
- 20. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
- 21. International Organizations in Global Politics
- 22. Global Political Economy
- 23. Conclusion: Towards a Globalizing, Post- Western-Dominated World
- Glossary
- References
- Index