• Political Science Notes

• Prepared by : Maaz Ur Rahman PSP

 Political Science
 Derived from Greek world polls
 Polis means city – state
 State– politically organized society
1. Community of people
2. Territory
3. Government
4. Sovereignty -----supreme authority of the state
5. International Recognition
6. Constitution
• Government is the agency ,machinery or the magistracy through
which the will of the state is formulated ,expressed and realized.
• Commanding and punishing body
 Politics
• All the activities and affairs of city- state

• A systematic study and a theory or philosophy of the political activities, struggles

or conflicts

• The art of governing mankind by deceiving them

“Benjamin Disraeli ”

• The struggle for and use of power

“Morgenthau”
 Science
• A systematic knowledge ,acquired by methodical
observation and experiment , which provides us
with uniform and valid laws

• Is the systematic study of the structure and

behavior of the physical and natural world
through observation, evidence and
experiment.
 Political Science
• The study of political institutions , the state or government

• The study of phenomenon of power or force in human society

• Political science begins and ends with the state

“Professor G.W.Garner”
Political Theory :
Theory is a proposal which is expressed in terms of
some data and supports some idea.
Arnold Brecht
A theory about anything is an abstracted generalization.
Thomas P . Jenkin
 political science is really a science
• Natural Sciences-deals with physical world- based on empiricism

• Empiricism –sense experience in our effort to gain knowledge

• Rationalism –knowledge obtained from mind ,reason ,

Main proponent Rene Descartes
Example of a piece of wax from the honeycomb
Cogito Ergo Sum –I think ,therefore , I am
 Scientific Method
 Raise a question
 Background knowledge
 Hypothesis
 Experiment
 Data Analyzing
 Conclusion
 Philosophy
• Love of wisdom , love of truth
• Study of knowledge and reality
• The word philosophical is the product of two factors

1. Inherited religious and ethical conceptions

2. The sort of investigation called scientific

• Philosophy –is something between theology and science ; consist of

speculations but like science appeals to human reason “Bertrand Russell”
• Two types
• Western political Philosophy
• Muslim Political Philosophy
Western Political Philosophy
1. Classical philosophers
1. Plato
2. Aristotle
2. Contractualist philosophers
1. Thomas Hobbes
2. John Lock
3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
3. Modern philosophers
1. Niccolo Machiavelli
2. Montesquieu
3. Immanuel Kant

4. Utilitarian philosophers
1. Jeremy Bentham
2. John Stuart Mill
5. Philosophers of Dialectics
1. Friedrich Hegel
2. Karl Marx
3. Vladimir Lenin
4. Moa Zedong
5. Antonio Gramsci

6. Post Modernist philosophers

1. Karl Popper
2. Pierre Bourdieu
3. John Rawls
4. Frances Fukuyama
5. Michel Foucault
6. Jacques Derrida
7. Soren Kierkegaard
8. Jean Paul Sartre
9. Rene Descartes
Muslim Philosophers
1. Al-Farabi
2. Al-Mawardi
3. Ibn Rushd
4. Imam Ghazali
5. Ibn Taymiyya
6. Nizam-ul-Mulk Tusi
7. Ibn Khaldun
8. Shah Waliullah
9. Allama Iqbal
10. Jamaluddin Afghani
11. Rashid Rida
 Structure of Government
1) Legislature –law-making body, amend and repeal ,will of the
people expressed through the laws ,their life is bound to be effected
,financial functions ,control budget ,ministry formation , judicial
function ,unicameral ,bicameral ,
2) Executive –body execute or enforce laws, will of the state ,real and
nominal ,single and plural , Federal Council of Switzerland, French
Directory ,Hereditary ,direct or indirect election
3) Judiciary– interprets and safeguards the law , justice ,rule of
law ,advisory jurisdiction ,appellate and original
 Forms of State
1. Unitary
2. Federation
3. Confederation

Unitary state----In which the supreme governmental authority is

vested by the constitution in a single central government which rules
the whole country
• Unitary form of government is that in which all the powers are
concentrated in the hands of the central government.

• Units are agents of the center for the purpose of local rule and
autonomy.
 Features of Unitary state
1) Strong foreign policy
2) Strong National defence
3) Uniformity of laws , policies
4) Single administrative system to execute laws and
policies
5) Unitary government is simple and economical-Less
expensive –saves money
6) Centrifugal tendencies are suppressed
 Federation and its Features
“ That state in which the supreme authority of the state is distributed
by the constitution between the central government and the
governments of the federating units”

A federal state is a political contrivance intended to reconcile national

unity and power with the maintenance of state rights .
Professor Dicey
An association of states to form a new state . Hamilton
• Features
1. Division of power
• Federal list
• Provincial /state list
• Concurrent list
• Residuary powers
2) Written Constitution –supreme law of the state
3) Supremacy of the constitution
4) Special judiciary
5) Rigidity of the constitution
6) Dual polity
7) Dual Citizenship
 Confederation
“ A group or association of two or more sovereign states which have
permanently given up part of their liberty for some specific aims and
objects ,such as defense .”
“An association of sovereign states and they are brought together by
means of a treaty in which are laid down the terms on which the states
agree to join”

• Example ----
• 13 states of the U.S. Swiss Confederacy
• European Union---somehow German Confederation
 Comparison of Federation and
Confederation
1) Confederation league of sovereign states while federation a single sovereign
state
Sovereignty held by member states in confederation

2) Confederation based on contract while federation on constitution

3) Confederation has no central government while federation has

Or weak central government in confederation

4) Single citizenship maintained in confederation while double citizenship in

federation
• Confederation a loose union while federation a strong union

• Confederation could be dissolved while federation remains for ever

• New states could be created in federation while confederation is of
existing states .
• In federation the government directly deals with people while in
confederation the central government deal with the state rather
people.
 Forms of Government
parliamentary and presidential
 Parliamentary Form of Government

“A parliamentary system is a system of democratic governance of a

state in which the executive branch derives its democratic legitimacy
from, and is held accountable to , the legislature ; the executive and
legislative branches are interconnected.”
• “Is the system of government in which there exist an intimate
relationship between the executive and legislative department , and
the stability and efficacy of the executive department depend on the
legislature.”

• In such a system the supremacy of the legislature has now been

replaced by the supremacy of the Cabinet . Hence , such form of
government is called Cabinet Government.
Features of Parliamentary Government
• Existence of a Titular or Constitutional Ruler---Legally vs Really
• Dual executive

Absence of Separation of Powers

• Main role of the Lower House in Ministry--formation i.e. cabinet
• Harmony and cooperation between the legislative and executive

• Responsibility to the Legislature ---of ministry

• Collective Responsibility
• Intimate Relationship between the Legislature and the Executive

• Leadership of the Prime Minister

• Existence of a Strong Opposition

• Cabinet Dictatorship
 Presidential Form Of Government
 “Is a system of government where an executive branch is led by a
president who serves as both head of state and head of government”

 “In which the Executive branch exists separately from the legislature
and the executive branch is not responsible to legislature nor the
legislature could dismiss it”
 Features of Presidential Form
1) Separation of powers
2) President head of government and state while in parliamentary not
3) Ministers are accountable to the president
4) Executive not responsible to legislature
5) Stable government
6) Suitable for emergencies
7) Experts be appointed by president without considering party
affiliation
Parliamentary Form of Government
Suitable System for Pakistan
• Harmony and cooperation between legislature and executive
• Ministerial Responsibility
• Outcome of Consensus of all political parties
• Constructive Role of Opposition
• Checks on arbitrary actions of Executive branch
• Strengthen democratic political system
• Bulwark against individual discretion
• Main authority with people's representatives
• Strong accountability and transparency
• Reflects unity in diversity
• Strengthens federation of Pakistan
• Promotes democratic norms
• Existing political system
• Bad Experience of Presidential Systems in the Past