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Political Theory: Nature, Scope, and Major Approaches

Defining Political • According to Laski “study of politics concerns itself with the life of man
Science in relation to organized states.”
• According to James Garner, “Political science begins and ends with state.”
Nature and Scope • Harold Lasswell: "Political science is the science of who gets what, when,
of Political Science and how."
• Andrew Heywood: "Political science deals with the theoretical and
practical aspects of governance."
• Garner: "Political science is the systematic study of the state,
government, and politics."
• Michael Roskin: "Political science encompasses the study of power,
authority, justice, order, liberty, and the relationship between individuals
and society."
Defining Political • Sabine: political theory is simply man’s attempt to consciously
Theory understand and solve the problems of his group life and organization.
• George Catlin: Political theory includes political science and political
philosophy, where science is concerned with means while philosophy is
concerned with the end.
• David Held: Political theory is not only concerned about the behavioural
study of the political phenomena from empirical point of view but also
about prescribing the goals which states, governments, societies and
citizens ought to pursue.
Decline of Political • Supporters of Decline:
Theory o Seymour Lipset argues that the value of the contemporary society
has already been decided. There is no relevance to the contemporary
political theory.
o Dante Germino in his work “beyond ideology the revival of Political
Theory” argues that political Theory is going through decline and
there are two causes for it. The craze of science and the prevalence of
political ideologies culminating in Marxism.
o Leo Strauss in his famous paper “What is Political Philosophy?”
considered the science of politics as the symptom of the decline of
Political Theory. The adaptation of the positivist approach led to the
ignoring of normative issues.
• Defendants of Political Theory: Michael Oakeshott, John Rawls, CB
Macpherson, Herbert Marcuse, and Michael Walzer
Resurgence of • Isaiah Berlin says that political theory is neither dead nor in the state of
Political Theory decline. He says that there cannot be an age without political philosophy.
• George H. Sabine also opined that “if political theory is systematic,
disciplined investigation of political problems, then it is difficult to say
that political theory was dead in the 1950s and 1960s.”
• In the latter half of 19th century political thinkers like John Rawls, C B
Macpherson, Robert Nozick, Habermas, Alasdair Macintyre, Michael
Walzer and Herbert Marcuse revived the great tradition of political
philosophy.
Approaches to Political Theory

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Normative • Isaiah Berlin defines the normative approach as the discovery and
Approach application of moral notions in the sphere of political relations and
practice.
Philosophical • "Philosophy is the source of the most noble and admirable qualities of
Approach human nature."
• According to Stephen Wasby, the philosophical approach takes in all the
aspects of man's political activities and as its goal a statement of
underlying principle concerning those activities.
• John Rawls is widely credited with bringing back the philosophical
approach to political science.
• Leo Strauss argued that philosophical approach to political science
focused on the interpretation of political texts, the relationship between
politics and philosophy.
Historical • “Politics is present history; history is past politics. Politics is root,
Approach history is fruit.”
• Laski argued that “every thinker is a child of his times.”
• Machiavelli’s famous work, "The Prince," is a classic example of historical
analysis of political phenomena.
• Sabine's approach is grounded in his belief that political processes and
institutions are shaped by historical events and traditions.
• Critics like Ernst Baker, David Easton criticizes historical approaches as
inadequate to guide or resolve the problem.
• Karl Popper has criticized Marx for exploiting history to further his ideas
and engaging in the guilt of historicism.
Legal Institutional • Cicero, Jean Bodin, Austin, Grotius, Bentham and A.V. Dicey (Law of
Approach the Constitution) are the chief propagators of this approach.
• Ivor Jennings in "The Law and the Constitution" emphasized the
importance of legal institutions, particularly the judiciary and
administrative agencies, in shaping legal outcomes and upholding the
rule of law.
• Other major thinkers who adopted this approach include Polybius, Finer,
James Brice, H.J. Laski, Maurice Duverger, and G.A. Almond.
Neo Institutional • James March and Johan Olsen: Neo-institutionalists suggest that
Approach behaviour shaped the institution but institutions also limit human
behaviour. Humans are not free to shape the institution.
• Institutional rules, culture etc constrain individual choices. Hence, we
cannot overlook formal institutional completely.
Empirical • John Locke supports Empiricism. According to him, experience is the
Approach source of knowledge. Nothing is imprinted on the soul. In his words,
mind is “tabula rasa.”
Behaviouralism in Political Science
Behaviouralism • The works of Robert Dahl, Phillip Converse, and David Easton shifted
the focus on studying political behavior rather than the institution or
interpretation of the legal text.
• Charles Merriam (Father of Behaviouralism) believed that by studying
the behavior of individuals and groups, political scientists could develop
more accurate and reliable theories about politics.
• Graham Wallas (Human Nature in Politics) argued that only by
examining how people really behaved in political settings, as opposed to

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 merely speculating on how they ought to behave, could the political
process be understood.
• David Easton: Traditionalists produced arm chair theories, reducing
political theory to opinionated ideology. Hence, need to convert Political
Science into pure science and give value free analysis.
Critics • Leo Strauss argued that the rise of Behaviouralism was symptomatic of a
crisis in political theory because of its inability to deal with normative
issues.
• Alfred Cobban called it a technique which became an end in itself.
• Dante Germino criticized Behaviouralism for “over quantification and
under theorizing.”
Post- • David Easton: He proposed twin slogans of post Behaviouralism, a "credo
Behaviouralism of relevance and action". It was not a full break with behaviourism, but
rather it stood for enhancing behaviourism’s benefits, and applying it in
problem-solving.
• Thomas Kuhn: Kuhn's ideas about paradigm shifts had a significant
impact on the development of post-Behaviouralism, which sought to
move beyond the limitations of Behaviouralism by embracing a more
interdisciplinary and critical approach to understanding human behavior
and society.
Conclusion
Michael Oakeshott: Politics is like a borderless and bottomless sea. We cannot make sense of the political
phenomena only by one approach so multiple approaches and combination is needed.

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Theories of State

Defining State • Garner: “Political science begins and ends with the state.” Hence, it shows
that the state remains the core under investigation in political science.
• TH Green: "A group of persons, acknowledged by each other as having
rights, and possessing some institutions for the maintenance of those
rights.”
• Locke: “Political association or commonwealth set up as a result of social
contract to protect and further natural rights.”
Origin of State • RG Gettel: the process of the evolution of the state has not been uniform,
regular, and continuous. It encompasses various stages.
Ancient Greek • State evolved naturally due to political nature of humans as long and
Thought gradual socio-natural evolutionary process.
• Proponents: Garner, Gettel, J. W. Burgess, MacIver
Diving Origin • The state was established and governed by God; the King is the
Theory representative of God. King has divine right to rule and he is accountable
only to God, none other.
• Proponents: Manu, St. Thomas, James-1, Bossuet, Robert
Social Contract • State is the result of a social contract among individuals who surrendered
Theory their individual rights and power into a commonwealth to form a
political community and came out of the state of nature
• Proponents: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau
Evolutionary • Gettel: “State arose from many sources and under various conditions and
Theory it emerged almost imperceptibly.”
• MacIver: State originated out of multiple previous institutions like
kinship, village, common religion.
• Garner: State is neither the handiwork of God, nor the result of superior
physical force, nor the creation of the compact, or a mere expansion of the
families. It is the product of a gradual process of social development out
of grossly imperfect beginnings.
Marxist Theory • Instrumentalist view: State as the instrument to protect and further the
interest of the whole Bourgeoisie class.
o Proponents: Engels, Ralph Miliband
o Karl Marx: “Political power, properly called, is merely the organized
power of one class oppressing the other.”
• Structuralist view: State is a social mechanism through which capitalist
social structure and relation of productions.
o Proponents: Louis Althusser, Nicos Poulantzas
Pluralist Theory • State is associations of associations. State like a neutral referee managing
interests of many associations/groups.
• R.M. MacIver: “State is one among many associations.”
• Proponents: Robert Dahl, David Truman, Seymour Martin Lipset
Liberal Theories of State stands for freedom, modernity, and progress.
Liberal theory of State is also classified under 3 different schools in continuity with each other.
Classical Liberal • Herbert Spencer: “Government is essentially immoral.”
• Edmund Burke: “It is the positive power of the State to prevent much
evil; it can do very little positive good.”

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 • Thomas Paine claimed that "government, even in its best state, is but a
necessary evil" in his common sense.
Modern Liberal • Harold Laski: “state is the keystone of social architecture.”
• TH Green sought to revise liberal theory of the state under the influence
of idealist theory, derived from teachings of Rousseau, Kant, and Hegel.
Neoliberal • Hayek: Left's advocacy of social engineering and other forms of state
involvement would upset the "spontaneous natural order" that already
existed in society and "which was the product not of a plan or of a design,
but of human behaviour."
• Milton Freidman shares Thomas Jefferson’s view that the government
which governs the least is the best.
Feminist Theory • Catharine MacKinnon saw patriarchy as inscribed into the very
structures of the liberal state. “State appears male in feminist sense.”
• Carol Pateman argues that a "sexual contract" is the basis of traditional
political theory.
• Radical feminist argue that state is also an institution of patriarchy.
Post Colonial • Frantz Fannon: The structures of colonialism have created psychological
Theory states of dependence, passivity, and apathy, which are the most effective
instruments for perpetuating colonialism.
• Marxist Instrumentalist view:
o Proponents: Immanuel Wallerstein, Samir Ameen, and AG Frank.
o As per Lenin, expansionism as inherent in capitalism and calls
colonies "dependency."
o AG Frank gave the concept of development of underdevelopment, to
describe the impact of the west on post-colonial states.
o Immanuel Wallerstein: Economic exchange between the core and
periphery is on unequal terms.
• Marxist Structuralist view:
o Hamza Alavi: Post-colonial state is an entity that stands outside and
above society, an autonomous agency that is invested with an
independent source of rationality, and the capability to initiate and
pursue programmes of development for the benefit of the whole
society.’

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Justice

Defining Justice • Justice is considered as the architectonic idea of Political theory from
Plato to Amartya Sen. Even the subtitle of the Republic by Plato was
‘Concerning Justice’.
• Ernest Barker: “Justice represents the synthesis of principles of liberty,
equality and fraternity. Justice is like thread that runs through all these
values and makes them an integrated part.”
• Rawls: “Justice in the first virtue of social intuitions as truth is of system
of thought”. Justice is related to the social institutions which guide and
mould the actions and ideas of social beings.
• C.E. Merriam: “Justice protects the rights of the individual as well as the
order of society.”
• Raphael: “Justice consists in a system of understandings and a procedure
through which each is accorded what is agreed upon as fair.”
• Amartya Sen’s justice by practical reasoning; justice as fair procedure
(Niti) vs. justice realized (Nyaya).
• Robert Nozick’s entitlement theory of justice: “Distribution of holdings
in a society is just if everyone in that society is entitled to what he has.”
Origin of Justice
Ancient Greek • Plato, the father of political philosophy, in his “The Republic”, defined
Thought justice as one of functional specialization.
• Aristotle: Justice is about treating the equals equally and unequal
unequally.
Justice in • According to Saint Augustine, the cardinal virtue of justice requires that
Medieval Thought we try to give all people their due.
• According to Thomas Aquinas, justice is that rational mean between
opposite sorts of injustice, involving proportional distributions and
reciprocal transactions.
Justice in Modern • Hobbes believed justice is an artificial virtue, necessary for civil society, a
Thought function of the voluntary agreements of the social contract.
• David Hume believed justice essentially serves public utility by
protecting property.
• Immanuel Kant believed justice is a virtue whereby we respect others’
freedom, autonomy, and dignity by not interfering with their voluntary
actions, so long as those do not violate others’ rights.
• JS Mill said justice is a collective name for the most important social
utilities, which are conducive to fostering and protecting human liberty.
• Rawls analysed justice in terms of maximum equal liberty regarding
basic rights and duties for all members of society, with socio-economic
inequalities requiring moral justification in terms of equal opportunity
and beneficial results for all.
John Rawls’ • Rawls made an attempt to work out a theory of justice that would be
Theory of Justice appropriate for a ‘well-ordered society’.
• Each person possesses inviolability founded on principle of justice that
even welfare of the society as a whole cannot override.

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 • Rawls on Human Nature: Man is rational i.e.; the man knows his self-
interest. However, man is also moral.
• Rawls on Natural Distribution: “Natural distribution is neither just nor
unjust”. Rawls talks about luck like Machiavelli did about fortune.
• Rawls and Social Contract: Rawls’ theory of justice is largely influenced
by the social contract theory as interpreted by Immanuel Kant, another
political philosopher.
Rawls’ • Distribution of resources, awards, honours and political offices.
Methodology • Rawls’ contended that most rational choices made from behind such a
“veil of ignorance” would result in equal rights and liberties for all;
equality of educational and employment opportunities; and a guaranteed
minimum of means.
• Rawl’s theory of justice: end-state theory, pattern distribution, welfare
state, based on the difference principle, distributive justice, positive or
modern liberalism, normative theory, but based on rationalism and core
thoughts of liberalism, revived the social contract tradition.
Critical Appraisal • F.A. Hayek: The search for social justice is to chase after a mirage.
of Rawls • Robert Nozick: The quest for distributive justice requires more than a
minimalist state.
• C.B. Macpherson: It is a fundamental mistake to separate distribution
from production in the consideration of justice.
• Sandel and McIntyre: It is impossible to affirm rights and liberties
without the moral doctrines or ideas of good society.
• P.H. Nowell Smith and B. Williams: It is a fundamental mistake to expect
a greater degree of precision than a subject matter will allow. Politics is
not and cannot be an exact science.
• H.L.A. Hart: Precise meaning of Rawls's argument is unclear, there is
clearly no direct deduction of the two principles of justice from the
'original position', neither is there a definitive accounting for the 'primacy
of liberty'
Communitarian • Michael Sandel, in his book “Liberalism and Limits of Justice” questions
Scholars Rawls on many points like self, good society and Justice.
• Michael Walzer in his book “Spheres of Justice” has given the concept of
complex equality.
• Alasdair Macintyre: Liberal notion of justice is inconsistent.
Relevance of John • Rawls made a radical departure from his predecessors in the field by not
Rawls getting concerned with mere conceptual analysis, but by constructing a
theory of justice to face real political problems and issues.
• Robert Nozick described it as “powerful, deep, subtle, wide-ranging,
systematic work”. Political philosophers must now “either work within
Rawls’s theory or explain why not.”
• Amartya Sen also recognized it as “…the most influential and in many
ways the most important of contemporary theories of justice.”

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Equality

Relationship • Herbert A. Dean: Liberty and equality aren’t in conflict; they are just
between Equality different facts of the same ideal.
and Liberty • Nozick has regarded it as injustice to meddle in individual’s liberty in
attempts to create socio-economic equality.
Theories of Equality
Aristotle’s Theory • Justice is the very essence of the state and that no polity can endure for a
of Equality long time unless it is founded on a right scheme of justice.
• Inequality is also a cause of concern for the state. If there is inequality in
the society, real or imagined, there is a possibility of revolution.
• Equality should be based on merit and individuals should be rewarded
according to their abilities and contributions to society, rather than on
arbitrary factors such as birth or wealth.
Utilitarian Theory • According to the utilitarian idea of equality of welfare, resources and
of Equality goods should be distributed within a society in a way that maximizes the
general welfare or happiness of its constituents.
• Jeremy Bentham, considered the founder of the utilitarian school of
thought, believed that the goal of social policy should be to maximize the
overall happiness or pleasure of society.
• John Stuart Mill advocated for the utilitarian approach to equality of
welfare. He argued that social policies should be evaluated based on their
ability to maximize the happiness or pleasure of society as a whole.
Criticism of • Amartya Sen criticized the utilitarian approach to welfare for its narrow
Utilitarianism focus on happiness or utility, arguing that it fails to account for the
complex and diverse ways in which individual’s value and prioritize
different aspects of their lives.
• Rawls argued that utilitarianism fails to adequately account for the equal
worth and dignity of all individuals, and may lead to policies that violate
individual rights and freedoms.
• Dworkin: Equality of welfare would entail constant compensation to a
person every time he “messes ups” at the cost of everyone else.
Dworkin’s Theory • According to Dworkin, the aim of social policy should be to guarantee
of Equality that everyone has equal access to the opportunities and resources needed
to live happy and meaningful lives.
• Criticism
o Amartya Sen: Simply giving initial equal resources is not enough. If
people are not capable enough to use their resources, then it would
eventually lead to inequality.
o Martha Nussbaum: Argues that Dworkin's theory is too demanding
in its requirements for equal resource distribution and neglects the
importance of individual variation in preferences and values.
o Michael Walzer: Argues that different societies have different ideas
about what constitutes a just distribution of resources, and that these
ideas cannot be reduced to a single set of abstract principles.
Amartya Sen’s • Amartya Sen gives important concepts in his theory:
Theory of Equality o Capability: people have a variety of capabilities or potential ways of
functioning that can be realized.

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 o Diversity: individuals have different capabilities, and equality should
focus on enhancing the capabilities of the disadvantaged.
• Multidimensional approach: Sen argues that equality should be assessed
on multiple dimensions, such as health, education, social status, and
political freedom.
• Importance of agency: Sen's theory emphasizes the importance of
individual agency, i.e., the ability of individuals to make choices and
pursue their goals.
Communitarian • According to Walzer, equality is complex value and no one size fit all
Equality policy exists. According to him, “different goods ought to be distributed
differently”.

Conclusion
While the different theories of equality may offer different solutions to the problem of inequality, they all
emphasize the importance of promoting justice, fairness, and equal opportunities for all members of society.

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Rights

Defining Rights • Harold Laski: “Rights are those conditions of social life without which no
man can seek in general, to be himself at his best.”
• T. H. Green: “Right is a power claimed and recognized as contributory to
common good”. “We are entitled to rights because this enables us to fulfil
our moral agency, and thus, to contribute to the common good. “
• Hobhouse: “Genuine rights are some conditions of social welfare, and the
various rights owe their validity to the functions they perform in the
harmonious development of the society”.
• Bernard Bosanquet: “Right is a claim which society accepts and the state
imposes.”
Theories of Rights
Natural Rights • John Locke: “An individual is born with certain rights and they are not
dependent on or given by the state or society. They are intrinsic to man’s
own self. Man can’t alienate right to life, liberty and property.”
• Two traditions
o Social contract tradition:
 According to Locke, people had access to some inherent
rights, including as the right to life, the right to liberty, and
the right to property, in this "state of nature."
o Teleological tradition
 T.H. Green contended that rights derive from a person's moral
character and opposed transcendental foundation of rights.
 Thomas Paine believed that freedom, property and security
are proud belongings of man in civil society and are backed by
inherent rights that each person is born with.

• Criticism
o Thomas Hobbes: Man, merely possessed power and insecurity in the
natural world, not rights.
o Harold J. Laski held that natural rights are founded on the fallacious
notion that humans can have obligations and rights apart from
society.
Utilitarian Rights • Bentham defines the principle of utility as that which commands a state
to maximize the utility of the community.
Legal Rights • Among the advocates of such theories, the names of Bentham, Hegel and
Austin can be mentioned.
Historical Rights • Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Rousseau contributed to the historical theory of
rights through his idea of the "general will."
• Hegel: Hegel's philosophy of right focused on the development of
individual rights within the context of historical progress.
Marxist Rights • Marx and Engels have not allotted an exclusive place for the detailed
analysis of rights, but they were quite conscious of the condition of
various rights as it prevailed in bourgeois society.
Social Democratic • Laski: “Every state is known by the rights it maintains.”
Perspective

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 • According to Laski, “rights are those circumstances of social life,
without which a person cannot attain his best.” The state helps in doing
good for both individuals and society by securing these rights
Social Welfare • According to L.T Hobhouse, “real rights are the conditions of the social
Perspective welfare and the reason of the various rights is one the fact that what role
they play for the coordinated development of the society.
• According to Rawls, “each person is to have an equal right to the most
extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others.”
Libertarian • According to Nozick, the main source of rights is the rule of natural right
Theory of Rights of self-ownership which means that every individual should be
considered as an end in itself.
• Criticism
o Rawls and Amartya Sen have emphasized the society’s role in man’s
achievements and holding that proper redistribution of property is
the basis of a just society.
o J S Mill and T.H. Green, while agreeing to the importance of the right
to property, held that the absolute right to property will create
hindrances to the exercise of freedom in society.
Dworkin’s Rights • Ronald Dworkin argued about the significance or inalienability of rights
as Trumps in the sense, he wants those scholars to take rights seriously, as the name
suggests.
• “Rights are trumps” meant that the basic rights must take precedence
over other norms, including, the interests or welfare of the whole
community or society.
Human Rights • Nelson Mandela: “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their
very humanity.”
• S. Ramphal: “Human rights were not born of men but they were born
with them.”
Value Pluralism • According to Isaiah Berlin, there can be difference and conflicting values
yet each value is equally correct and necessary for the followers believes.
Multiculturalism • Herder gave importance to culture and culture as a foundation for social
system. He holds that, human beings are culturally defined.
• Charles Taylor has challenged the liberal conception of the “self”. As per
him, culture is a way of life and an important component of self.
• According to Bhikhu Parekh, there is arrogance in liberalism about the
superiority of liberal values.
• Iris Marion Young argues commitment to universality will require a
conception of differentiated citizenship both with respect to deliberation
about the common good and with respect to the allocation of rights.
Criticism of • Feminist scholar Susan Moller Okin in her book “Is Multiculturalism Bad
Multiculturalism for Women”: Multiculturalism is bad for women because in general all
cultures are giving subordinate status to women.
• Amartya Sen said that it leads to ghettoization. It also leads to the
miniaturization of humanity.
• Jeremy Waldron: Multiculturalism undermines the capacity of people to
adapt different cultures and thus weakens the policy of emergence of the
possibility of cosmopolitan cultures.

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Democracy

Defining • Bryce: “Democracy is that form of government in which the ruling power
Democracy of state is legally, vested not in any particular class or classes like in
aristocracy but in the members of the community as a whole.”
• Anthony Arbalester: “Situation where power and authority ultimately
rest with the people.
• Winston Churchill: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except
all the others.”
Classical • Athenian Model: Aristotle considered it as a perverted form of
perspectives of government. He regarded polity or rule of few as an ideal form of
Democracy government.
Modern • AV Dicey treated democracy as a form of government under which
perspectives of majority opinion determines legislation.
Democracy • According to James Bryce, “democracy is rule of the people expressing
the sovereign will through the votes.”
Waves of • Samuel P. Huntington explains the expansion of democracy around the
Democracy world in the form of waves & reverse waves:
o 1st wave: oldest democracies emerged like Britain, USA and France.
Suffered reversal during the Inter War period.
o 2nd wave: post-WWII decolonisation and adoption of democracy by
third world. Suffered reversal with rise of 3rd world authoritarianism
and dictatorial systems.
o 3rd wave: disintegration of USSR and democratic wave in Eastern
Europe.
Elitist Theory • Major proponents: Vilfredo Pareto, Gaetano Mosca and Robert Michels
• Robert Michel in his book “Political Parties” has given the iron law of
oligarchy. It means that power always has a characteristic that it gets
concentrated in the hands of few.
• C Wright Mills gave the concept of power elites. He held that in every
society, there are certain institutions which are key institutions. People
holding top positions in these institutions are power elites.
Pluralist Theory • Robert Dahl describes polyarchy as a model of political process where
there is a decentralized process of bargaining among relatively
autonomous groups.
• He says the reality of any democracy is polyarchy. Polyarchy is
approximate democracy rather than 100% democracy.
• Robert Dahl later revised his theory along with neo-pluralists like Charles
Lindblom and JK Galbraith.
Marxist • John Plamenatz calls bourgeois democracy as sham.
Perspective • Henri Lefebvre: Dictatorship of proletariat is the concrete form of
democracy.
• Lenin and Mao: Democracy can be brought in practice through
communist party based on democratic centralism and mass line
respectively.
Developmental • Macpherson analysed the real world of democracy as well as focused on
Perspective the ideals of democracy.

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 • Genuinely democratic society should not only ensure equal political
rights but also work to develop the capacities and capabilities of
individuals.
Cosmopolitan • David Held has given the “cosmopolitan model of democracy” to address
Perspective the democratic deficit of globalization.
• He argues that democracy is essential on a worldwide scale.
Representative • Locke believed in representative government that functioned as per the
Democracy mandate and consent of the people.
• Mill believed it is the most practical and effective form of government for
large and diverse societies.
• Two models
o Delegate Model (Bentham and John Locke)
 Locke: Our representatives do not have any original powers,
they’ve only delegated powers.
 Bernard Manin: Representatives should act as responsive
agents, closely reflecting the preferences of their constituents.
o Enlightened Representative Model (Mill and Edmund Burke)
 Mill: Our representative has more experience and so they
should enjoy more flexibility.
 Burke: Assembly of the nation rather than the platform for
narrow constituents’ interests.
Models of Democracy
Participative  Major exponents: Rousseau, Gandhi, M.N. Roy, and J.P. Narayan
Democracy  Rousseau was critical of electoral democracy and representative mechanisms
which were emerging in various European states. For Rousseau, democracy
was the way by which citizens could achieve freedom.
 Carole Pateman and Benjamin Barber have argued in favour of participatory
or "strong" democracy, in which the ordinary citizen is more fully involved in
decision-making processes than is possible within the limits of
representative democracy.
 Habermas has also given the concept of public space where people can
discuss common issues. He has given 3 conditions for ensuring the
legitimacy of the governance.
o Public sphere as a discussion space or a theatre of peoples’
participation.
o Communicative action or the action of deliberation and cooperation.
o Ideal speech situation or presence of non-coercive environment and
people possessing capacities of rational debate.
Deliberative  Major exponents: Michael Walzer, J. Cohen and J. Rogers
Democracy  Joshua Cohen presents deliberative democracy as more than a theory of
legitimacy, and forms a body of substantive rights around it based on
achieving "ideal deliberation".
 Amartya Sen has also acknowledged the necessity of deliberative democracy.
Democracy and  Lee Kuan Yew argues that the ultimate test of the political system is whether
Development it improves the standard of living for majority of people or not. Democracy
leads into populist policies, lack of discipline and anarchy.
 Amartya Sen argues that not only democracy is required for development
but development needs to be democratized.

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Criticism/  JS Mill for all his defence of democracy and political participation considered
Assessment of majoritarianism and mediocre government as the biggest weakness of
Democracy democracy.
 While Plato and Mill draw attention to the dangers of majority rule, elite
theorists consider a functioning democracy impossible because of the
inevitability of concentration of power.
 Noam Chomsky: “Everybody's for democracy in principle. It's only in
practice that the thing gives rise to stiff objections.”

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 PSIR Scholars Compendium | Prep Booster IAS

Power

Defining Power • Steven Lucas: It is an influence to get a particular action or work done
against the wish of particular people.
• Karl Deutsch: Power means the ability to be involved in conflict, to
resolve it and to remove the obstacles.
• Robert Dahl: Power is a type of relationship in respect of capability and
control.
• Harold Laswell: "Concept of power is perhaps the most fundamental in
the whole of Political Science, the political process is the shaping,
distribution and exercise of power
• Erich Kaufman: Politics is inseparable from power. States and
Governments exist to exert power.
• H. Morgenthau: “Power politics is rooted in lust for power which is
common to all men and for this reason was inseparable from social life.”
• Herbert Shills: Power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others in
accordance with one's own ends.
Scholar’s Views • Hannah Arendt: “Power is constructive and resides with the people and
not with the State. It forms when people come together and dissipates
when they are not.”
• Max Weber: “Power as the ability to exert influence over others, which
could be achieved through legitimate or illegitimate means.”
• Michel Foucault: "Power is everywhere, power flows throughout the
society like capillaries, lie in the network of social relations.”
Elitist Theory of • Introduced by Vilfredo Pareto, who argued masses are incapable of
Power holding power and invariably it is held by members of the elite class.
• Gaetano Mosca in book “The Ruling Class”, believed that societies are
inevitably divided into ruling and subordinate classes, with power
concentrated in the hands of a small, dominant elite.
o "The whole history of the world is nothing but the development of the
idea of the ruling class."
• Robert Michels in book “Political Parties” argued that all organizations,
including those within democratic societies, tend to become oligarchies.
o With power increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small elite
that he regarded as the “iron law of oligarchy”.
o "Masses themselves have never been, and never will be, the makers of
their own destiny."
• Joseph Schumpeter believed that power tends to be concentrated in the
hands of a small, dominant elite, but he also saw democratic societies as
offering opportunities for political entrepreneurs to challenge the
established elite and bring about change.

• Criticism
o Dahl and Lindblom argued that the power of the elite is limited by
pluralism, which refers to the presence of multiple centres of power
and the competition among them.

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 o Domhoff argued that the power elite is not a unified, coherent group,
but rather a loose coalition of different groups and individuals with
varying interests and priorities.
Pluralist Theory • According to Robert Dahl, unlike what Robert Michel contends as
of Power oligarchy, societies are “polyarchies”, where power is shared between all
the groups within the democratic system.
• Seymour Martin Lipset argued that pluralism was essential for the
stability and legitimacy of democratic societies, as it allowed for the
representation of diverse interests and prevented the domination of any
one group.

• Criticism
o Parenti, a political scientist, has argued that pluralist model is naive
in its assumption that power is evenly distributed among groups.
o Nancy Fraser: "Pluralist model tends to normalize existing power
structures and frames certain groups as 'legitimate' participants in
political processes, while marginalizing others.
Foucault’s Theory • According to him, each historical time period is dominated by a particular
of Power discourse or a “reality”.
• Foucault states that truth is invented through the dominant discourse,
and there is no ultimate truth but rather multiple “regimes of truth”.
• Discipline as Power: Power is most effective when it operates through
discipline, which involves regulation and control of bodies and behaviors.
• Biopower: Refers to the ways in which power operates through the
management and control of bodies and populations.
• Panopticon Prison: theoretical prison architecture that Foucault used to
illustrate ways in which power operates through institutional structures.

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