Class Notes 4 You

The concept of the state comprises of the core of the political thought in political science. The liberal theory, one of the earliest vies on state, postulated a mechanistic view of the state, post the Organic theory. Social Contract tradition proposed by exponents like Hobbes, Locke, etc formed the basis of liberal theory of state. Liberal theory of State • It developed in two main directions  a) individualism and b) utilitarianism. • John Locke and Adam Smith are the early exponents of individualism. On the other hand, utilitarianism stands for ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’ where the interest of the few may be sacrificed in the interest of majority, as proposed by Bentham and Mill. • As per Rousseau, a liberal state is an instrument for the protection of liberty. • Locke considers that a liberal state will bring peace and goodwill in the society under the social contract.  However, in the era of contemporary politics, the notion of liberal theory of state h...

The idea of democracy in political theory is considered to a contested one. One of such contestations is seen in the Elitist Theory of Democracy proposed by scholars like- Michels, Pareto, etc. in the twentieth century. They claimed that in every culture, a tiny group of elites govern over a particular political society.  This small clique of elites has complete control over all power and influence. Elitist theory is considered as the critique to the traditional republican theory of democracy postulated earlier by Mill, Macpherson, etc who defined rule of the people as representative form of democracy in true sense where the people was in ultimate control of their ruling class, as to be inherent unequal democratic rule, as suggested by scholars like Michels, Pareto, etc. Elitist Theory critique to rule of people: • At a broader level, the elitist theories hold that every society consists two categories of men: The elite or the minority within a social collectivity which exercises ...

The Age of Enlightenment in the world history pertaining to Europe brought various changes in the society. Relating to the time of French Revolution, we saw the emergence of idea of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity which changed the power-liberty-polity equations regarding the functioning of estates as well as their governing citizenry. This made the society saw interlining of concepts like Equality, Power, Liberty, which impacted the public as well as their ruling authority or estates. As per the Social Contract Theory, we saw the rise of state in link with the end of authoritarian natural law based societies. As a result, people came in contract with each other to pool their powers to a lot representative state devised with the responsibility of bringing equality and liberty in the society. Equality of estates leading to equality of power in this sense is understood as: • Decline of authoritarian state brought the democratic liberal principles like freedom of speech, right to vote, ...

Neoliberalism or neoclassical liberalism, refers to a revival of economic liberalism during 1970s. based on the concept of “night-watchman state” and reduced state intervention. However, in the 21st century, especially after 2008 Global financial crisis, there has been a debate regarding the decline of neoliberalism. The hegemony of neoliberalism has been seen in the countries like USA, UK in the form of Reaganism and Thatcherism respectively. Even the advent of globalization and its transfer to other nations has been an overwhelming factor to bring the notion of night watchman state. But, various factors have started its decline due to community, culture and nation: Decline due to community:  As per the communitarian view, the liberal policies have their limits as they target the individualistic aspect and not the community as a whole. Due to import of such policies and ideas to the Non-Western world, we are experiencing a retreat to tribalism and identity groups, based on religio...

 

Social contract theory symbolises the view that any person’s moral or political obligations are largely dependent on an agreement or contract among them to form a society to live in. It is the feature of capitalist way of life. Along with other things, state also is an outcome of the contract. Contract symbolises the freedom of choice. In any society, the people come together and form a constitution- which represents their will. It shows that the law and rules are not enforced on them by some super-natural authority but decided by themselves. The constitution of modern states is considered as the outcome of this process of social contract. Social contract theory was first proposed by Thomas Hobbes. After him, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau is known as the best proponents of this theory. For Locke, state of nature was the state of peace, goodwill and mutual assistance. This was opposite tot hat of Hobbes, who called the man in state of nature to be utilitarian, individualistic and...

According to WB Gallie, power is an essentially contested concept. Although, various scholars have given varied concepts of ‘power’, no one view can summarise the whole idea completely. One of the most important concepts in this regard was given by Steven Lukes. He identified three dimensions of power in his book, “Power- A radical view”. He stressed on the fact that power is exercised in three ways- decision making power, non-decision making power and ideological power. Similarly, other scholars have also given their views on ‘power’. Karl Marx calls “economy” as the primary base for power. For him, power was not just any religious or philosophical concept; rather it was a ‘resource’. And like any other resource, power is always in a “limited supply”. So it is found to be concentrated among certain actors- like the state and the ruling class. Hobbes believed “law” to be the main base of power in his book “leviathan”. According to him, without a ‘lawful common power’, each person will ...