Foundation course in

Humanities
(Development of Societies )

.-3rd sem.
 Political Development
• Broadly the development of the institutions,
attitudes, and values that form the political
power system of a society.
• Political development has been defined in
many ways that reflect the passage of
societies, and analysts pre-occupations.
• The origin of PD can be traced to 1950’s.
 Political Development
• Political development enhances the state capacity
to mobilize and allocate resources, to process
policy inputs into implementable outputs.
• This assists with the problem-solving and
adaptation to environmental changes and goal
realization.
• The contemporary notion of good governance
also dwells on efficient, effective, and non-
corrupt public administration.
 Political Development
• PD touches not just on formal constitutional
and organizational arrangements but also on
such informal institutions as actual political
relationships.
• Thus changes in attitudes and the political
culture are relevant too.
• Finally, PD can be defined as an increase in
national political unity and increase in political
participation.
 Political Development
• Huntington( American pol. Scientist 1927-2007)
identifies a few characteristics of political
development.
• For him Pol. Development are with
Rationalization (particular-ism to universalism ),
• Nationalism & National integration (national
building),
• Democratization(competition & equalization of
power),
• Mobilization (political participation).
• Firstly he mention, that development is
synonymous with modernization, thus
political development can be defined as
political modernization.
• Second is that there are many criteria to
measure political development because
modernization and development are such
broad topics, covering many areas.
 PD
• So we can say, that PD, is seen in the
perspective of having a self-reliant, rule of law,
free and fair periodic elections and respect for
human rights among the tenets (various
beliefs).
• In that regard citizens are given full
opportunities to participate in the political
affairs of the country.
 Ideas of Political System.
• Political system is a set of formal-legal institutions
that constitute a government or a state.
• Political system is seen a set of processes of
interaction or as a subsystem of the social system
interacting with other non-political subsystems.
• According to D. Easton, A political System can be
designated as the interaction through which
values are authoritatively allocated for a society.
 Political system
• It is a coordinated set of principles, laws, ideas
and producers relating to a particular form of
government or the form of government itself.
• Like, Democracy is a political system in which
citizens govern themselves.
• The purpose of political systems is to address
any conflicts that may arise, in a relatively
peaceful manner.
 Types of
Political System
• Historically prevalent forms of government
include; Monarchy, Aristocracy, oligarch,
theocracy and tyranny.
• The major types of political systems are;
Democracy, Monarchies, and Totalitarian/
Authoritarian.
• The main aspect of any philosophy of govt. is
how political power is obtained, is by electoral
process, hereditary succession or by power.
• Various stats and governments obviously exist around
the world. In this context, state means the political unit
within which power and authority reside.
• This unit can be a whole nation or a subdivision within
a nation.
• Government means the group of persons who direct
the political affairs of a state. It also can mean type of
rule by which a state is run.
• Another term for this second meaning of government
is political system, which will be use here along with
govt.
• The type of govt. under which people lives has
fundamental implications for their freedom, their
welfare.
 STATE

Sovereignty

Government STATE
Population

Territory
 DEMOCRACY
• It is that type of govt. with which we are most
familiar in modern world, or a political system in
which citizens govern themselves either directly
or indirectly. Democracy is a very old word but its
meanings have been complex. It came into use in
the English language in 16th century, from a
translation of Demokratia.
• The term democracy comes from Greek and
means rule of the people. ( demos mean people
& kratos -rule).
 DEMOCRACY
• The history of political science suggests that
democracy was until the 19th century, an
unfavourable term, and it is only since the late
19th century and early 20-th century that a
majority of political parties and tendencies have
united in declaring their belief in it.
• In Ibharam Lincoln’s stirring words from the
Gettysburg Address, Democracy is , “government
of the people, by the people, for the people”.
• In direct or pure democracies, people make their
own decisions about the policies and distribution
of resources that affect them directly.
• An example, of such a democracy in action is the
new England town meeting, where the residents
of a town meet once a year and vote on
budgetary and other matters.
• However this type democracy was exist in
Switzerland also, but due to large population it is
very difficult in practices.
 DEMOCRACY
• Indirect or representative democracy is more practical
than direct democracy in a society of any significant
size or population.
• but political scientists cite another advantages of
representative democracy.
• In this theory, it ensures that the individuals who
govern a society functions are the individuals who have
the appropriate talents, skills and knowledge to do so.
• In this way of thinking the masses of people are overall
too uninformed, too uneducated and too uninterested
to run a society themselves.
 DEMOCRACY
• Representative democracy thus allows for the
cream to rise to the top, so that people who
actually govern a society are the most qualified to
perform this essential task.
• The defining feature of RD is voting in elections.
• The example of the American Revolution( 1765-
1783) and stirring words of its declaration of
independence, helped inspire the French
Revolution of 1789 and other revolutions since,
as people around the world have died in order to
win the right to vote and have political freedom.
 DEMOCRACY
• We never say that the democracy are certainly perfect.
• There decision-making process can be quite slow and
inefficient, as just mentioned, decisions may be made
for special interests and not for the people general;
• More over in not all democracies have all people
enjoyed right to vote.
• In United States, for example, African Americans could
not vote until after civil war, with the passage of the
15th Amendment in 1870 and women did not win the
right to vote until 1920, with the passage of 19th
Amendment.
 DEMOCRACY
• In addition to generally enjoying the right to
vote, people in democracies also have more
freedom than those in other forms or types of
government.
• Finally we can conclude with, democracy in
political aspects emphases everyone’s share in
the govt., Economics aspects it demands
abolition of exploitation, and in social aspects
seeks to elimination of all distinctions.
 Some definitions of Democracy
. According to Professor Dicey, “Democracy is a
form of govt in which the governing body is
comparatively a large fraction of the entire
nation”.
• Lord Bryce, says, “Democracy is that form of
government in which ruling power of the state is
vested not in a particular class or classes but in
the members of the community as a whole”.
• Jefferson, says, “Democracy is nothing more that
mob rule, where fifty-one 51%of the people may
take the rights of the other Forty-nine 49%.”
 Democracy Index
• The democracy index is an index compiled by
the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a UK
based company.
• It intends to measure the state of democracy
in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign
states, in which 164 are UN member states.
 Democracy Index
• Like NORWAY, ICELAND, SWEDEN, NEW
ZEALAND, FINLAND, IRELAND, CANADA,
AUSTRRALIA, SWITZERLAND, UK(14), USA(25)
INDIA(51),
• The index was first published in 2006, with
updates for 2008, 2010 & so on.
• The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in
five different categories, measuring pluralism,
civil liberties, and political culture.
 MONARCHY
• Monarch is a political system in which power
resides in a single family that rules from
generation to the next generation.
• The power the family enjoys is traditional
authority, and many monarchs command respect
because their subjects bestow this type of
authority on them.
• And some monarchs, however have ensured
respect through arbitrary power and even terror.
 MONARCHY
• Royal families still rule today, but their power
has declined from centuries ago.
• Today the queen of England holds a large
ceremonial position, but her predecessors on
the throne wielded much more power.
• This example reflects a historical change in
types of monarchies from absolute
monarchies to constitutional monarchies.
 MONARCHY
• In absolute monarchies, the royal family claims a
divine right to rule and exercises considerable
power over their kingdom.
• Absolute monarchies were common in both
ancient (Egypt) and medieval ( England & china)
times.
• In reality, the power of many absolute monarchs
was not totally absolute, as king and queens had
to keep in mind the needs and desires of other
powerful parties, including the clergy and
nobility.
 MONARCHY
• Over time, absolute monarchies gave way to
constitutional monarchies.
• In these monarchies, the royal family serves a
symbolic and ceremonial role and enjoys little, if
any, real power.
• Instead the executive and legislative branches of
govt. the PM and parliament in several nations
runs the government.
• Constitutional monarchies exist today in a few
nations, like Denmark, Britain, Norway, Spain &
Sweden.
 Authoritarianism & Totalitarianism
• Authoritarianism and totalitarianism are general
terms for nondemocratic political systems ruled
by an individuals who are not freely elected by
their populations and who often exercise
arbitrary power.
• To be more specific, authoritarianism refers to
political system in which an individual or groups
of individual holds power, restricts or prohibits
popular participation in governance and
represses dissent.
 Authoritarianism & Totalitarianism
• Totalitarianism refers to political system that
includes all the features of authoritarianism
but are even more repressive as they try to
regulate and control all aspects of citizens
lives and fortunes.
• People can be imprisoned for deviating from
acceptable practices or may even be killed if
they dissent in the mildest of ways.
 Authoritarianism & Totalitarianism
• Compared to democracy & monarchies, the
authoritarian and totalitarian govt. are more
unstable politically. The major reason for this is
that these governments enjoy no legitimate
authority. Instead their power rests on fear and
repression.
• The populations or citizens of these governments
do not willingly lend their obedience to their
leaders and realize that their leaders are treating
them very poorly.
 Authoritarianism & Totalitarianism
• For both these reasons they are more likely
than populations in democratic states to want
to rebel.
• Some times they do rebel and if the rebellion
becomes sufficiently massive and widespread,
a revolution occurs.
 Aristocracy
• It is that form government that places
strength in the hands of a small, privileged
ruling class.
• Govt by upper-class.
• As Greek political thinker Aristotle 384-
322BCE , mentioned that aristocracy is the
rule of the few, the morally and intellectually
superior persons governing in the interest of
all.
 Aristocracy
• The term derives from Greek aristokratia,
meaning rule of the best.
• The term was first used by such ancient Greeks as
Plato & Aristotle, who used it to describe a
system where only the best of the citizens,
chosen through a careful process of selection.
• In modern times, aristocracy was usually seen as
rule by a privileged group, the aristocratic class.
 Theocracy
• Theocracy is a form of government in which a
deity(GOD) of some type is recognized as the
supreme ruling authority, giving divine
guidance to human intermediaries that
manage the day-to-day affairs of the
government.
• Govt by divine guidance or by officials who are
regarded as divinely guided.
 Theocracy
• In which state’s legal system is based on
religious laws.
• Theocratic rule was typical of early
civilizations.
• The enlightenment marked the end of
theocracy in most of western countries.
• Like, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Vatican.
 Summary
• No doubt the various governing systems have
their own merits and demerits.
• the governing system is a coordination of various
laws, rules, Principe and producers by which a
particular government runs its nation or state
accordingly.
• But in present scenario the worlds most of the
countries follow the democracy. Because of, in
that type of government there are the ways
where, more peoples participation is possible.