Introduction & Unit 1: The Study of Politics
ILB 109: Politics and Government
• Hathaipun Soonthornpipit (หทัยพันธน์ สุนทรพิพิธ) • E-mail: kam51@hotmail.com / Tel: 091-009-6610 • Ph.D. (candidate) Development Administration (International Program) – National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) • MA. Political Science (International Relations) – Kansas State University, USA. • BS. Political Science – University of Central Missouri, USA.
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Grading Standard & Required Text
A = 80 - 100 B+ = 75 - 79 B = 70 - 74 C+ = 65 - 69 C = 60 - 54 D+ = 55 - 59 D = 50 - 54 F = 0 - 49
Magstadt, Thomas. 2009. Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions, and Issues. 8thed. Wadsworth Cengage Learning
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The Study of Politics
• The word “politics” originates from the Greek word “Polis” which means a city. In other words, politics is the study of a city. i.e., state. • The Oxford English Dictionary defines politics as: “the science dealing with form, organization and administration of a state, or part of one, and with the regulations of its relations with other states.” • Plato (428-427) & Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) – The Polis existed to seek its common good, civic virtue and moral perfection. They viewed politics as the moral purposes that decision-makers ought to pursue.
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The Study of Politics
• Aristotle – The ways in which officials were selected for governing the state, the manner in which their authority was determined and the nature of ends or interests pursued. • Robert Dahl – “Any persistent pattern of human relationships that involves, to a significant extent, power, rule or authority.” • David Easton – “Political acts” = “authoritative allocate values in a society.”
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Identifying Politics
1) Politics everywhere involves conflict which is inherent in the human nature itself. Conflict may arise, in part, from scarcity. It may arise because people differ in their values. What one person consider good