Introduction to political science
As opined by Simon (2015), political science is a social science which deals with systems of administration, and scrutinizes political activities, political thoughts and political behaviour. It revolves around the theory and practice of political system which is commonly thought of as determining of the distribution of power and resources. Political Science examines closely the functioning of the governmental body. It is the study which deals with the amendment of policies, enactment of laws and everything related to rules and regulations of legislation.
According to Aristotle who is one of the well known scholars of Political Science, it is the most advanced of all the social sciences. According to Etzioni-Halevy (2013), the main advantage of studying Political Science is that it boosts the knowledge of an individual regarding state policies and the individual will be aware of all the legislature of his respective state. Political Science closely examines how the government is running by going through a detailed analysis of every policy of the government. It also encompasses the basic rights to human of giving them justice, equality and liberty. Political science discusses some of the most burning topics in the global scenario, which are taking place from the political viewpoint. Political Science provides the basic framework to people by the help of which they are able to analyze the different political systems in the global context.
Political Science can act as an extremely important ground to the students, thereby, providing them with the perfect base to let their career opportunities spread to a variety of fields. The knowledge of Politics to students who are also acquiring a degree serves as a basic source of social endeavor to them. Students pursuing courses in Political Science have their job opportunities in various fields in several governmental jobs. The knowledge on political science serves as the perfect base for students aiming to get governmental jobs. Moreover, for law students, the study of political science is extremely important as they come up with the different aspects of politics which is essential for the completion of their studies. A Political science student can also explore his possible career options in the fields of public relations, advertisements which are evolving much in the present era. Political Science aids journalism students as well. Journalism is largely associated with keeping the latest updates on every happening. Political Science can be a useful guide to the students wanting to opt for the profession of journalists by keeping them well versed with the political issues in the global context.
Key terms of Political science
In the application of politics, and in the course of continuing with the study it is important to have good knowledge with some of the most important aspects of political science which are the crux of the study and also includes some of the basic elements of the subject. According to Schmitter (2016), some of the most important concepts of political science that are closely linked with the subject constitute the central theme of the subject and as such, the study of those elements completes the study of the subject itself. As stated by Abadie, Diamond and Hainmueller (2015), the key terms of the subject are Abdication, Absolute Monarchy, Bureaucracy, Citizen, Constitution, Imperialism, Separation of Power, Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, and Republic. In the discussion of the subject, a brief idea shall be given about the mentioned concepts of Political Science which are furthermore help in the understanding of the subject.
The term abdication can be defined as one of the core ideas that influence the power relation. According to Etzioni-Halevy (2013), abdication refers to the process of giving up the power or withdrawal from the throne before the period of time. Abdication, sometimes also termed as voluntary retirement, mainly occurs owing to the fact that the concerned person is incapable of continuing in the seat and makes way for other to succeed. Abdication is taking the right and power of an official with his/her sole consent. After a person has abandoned his throne of power and position he shall claim no right to bear the power and position back.
Absolute Monarchy refers to the ruling power of states being governed by one single person single-handedly. In this form of governance, there is no implementation of rules, legislature or government and no one has the power to question the authority. Monarchs usually get their position from a higher authority and are entitles to look after the various affairs of the state such as taxes, administration, foreign policy and justice. Absolute Monarchy differs from Limited Monarchy in the way that it encompasses the role right to the monarch without having to share his power with anybody. This kind of idea emerged in the earlier days when it was believed that kings and queens were incarnation of god and they were assisted with the task of looking after the state.
As opined by Woods (2015), Bureaucracy is a complicated system which defines the state when the most important decisions of a state are taken by the highly qualified officials despite the elected members of the state. The system of bureaucracy includes the system of clear hierarchy where each individual of a group is assisted with some particular set of responsibilities and are governed by some higher authorities. The subordinates are accountable to their higher authorities for their every work. The structured system of bureaucracy and the involvement of high end officials in the decision making process have constituted to it being a more organized system of politics.
As Michaels (2015) states, a citizen is a member of a state who has to be a permanent member of the state. There are several factors that are needed to be fulfilled by an individual to get his citizenship in a state. The concept of citizenship has changed in modern days as the present world consists of huge population. The whole of the citizens cannot take participation in the system of governance of the state and that is the reason why citizens take participation and elect their representatives who shall work on their behalf. A citizen has some fundamental rights that he can enjoy within the geographical extension of the state, along with fulfilling the basic duties towards the state.
In the opinion of Etzioni-Halevy (2013), a constitution is an organized planning body of a government which consists of all the set of rules and regulations within the boundaries of the state. The structuring of the rules and regulations includes rights and duties of every individual of the state and also rules that are needed to be abided by that in turn results in the smooth running of politics in a state. Constitution differs in every state. The most amazing feature of UK politics is its non written constitution. There is no single written code in the constitution however; they are embodied in different documents. The Constitution of Australia is the supreme authority under which the government of the Commonwealth of Australia operates, including its relationship to the States of Australia which consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution was approved in a series of referendums held over 1898–1900 by the people of the Australian colonies, and the approved draft was enacted as a section of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900. The US Constitution, on the other hand is written. Till the time of its starting it consisted of seven articles which had been revised twenty seven times (nationalarchives.gov, 2017).
Imperialism is an act of extending the jurisdiction of a state and its territories by colonization. It gives the supreme power to govern a large territory single handedly. In the process of imperialism the use of militant force is very common Etzioni-Halevy (2013). Imperialism has played a huge role in the shaping of the modern world by constituting factors that has led to technological advancements to a great extent.
Separation of Powers is concerned with the functioning of the three wings of government which are Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. According to Dunleavy (2014), Separation of powers was initiated in order to avoid conflict that might arise between the three wings of government. In political system, usually separation of power takes place with the assistance of distinctive responsibilities given to each of the groups and it is also checked that there is no conflict between the three wings which would help in the smooth running of the government. Legislature is an authority which rests with the unique responsibility of amending laws for a state. They are one of the significant wings of the judiciary. As opined by Simon (2015), legislative Assembly often takes part in the process of budgeting and has the power to influence that. Executive is the second branch of the government which deals with the proper execution of the legislator amended by judiciary. In politics separation of power takes place so that the power is not divided to small group of people. Executive does not have the right to amend legislator and it does not take part in that process Johnson (2015). However, the principle task of executive is to see that the rules are followed enough in compliance with the legislature and are put into effect by the judiciary. Judiciary is the third wing of the government which is associated with the task of application of laws. The judiciary also works as a mechanism to settle disputes. As stated by Gilens and Page (2014.), the power to amend legislator also lies in the hands of the judicial system which is done with the help of a process called judicial review.
According to Etzioni-Halevy (2013), republic is a kind of state which puts more emphasis on the welfare of its people rather than the government. In a republican state, it is closely seen that there is enough benefit enjoyed by the people. The concept of Republican state has emerged from the constitution of the United States where there was no parameter to check the interest of the weaker section which caused a resentment among them. Therefore, in a republic state there is a balanced constitution by means of which the government pays attention to all. In this kind of government, the representatives are chosen by the people and they enjoy their tenure for a good period of time depending on their “good behavior” (expatica.com, 2017).
Sub disciplines of political science
The study of Political Science has several sub disciplinary studies and most of the Political Scientists work mostly on five sub disciplinary field which are: Comparative Politics, International Political Economy, International Relations, Political Economy and Public Administration. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as determining of the distribution of power and resources. As stated by Michaels (2015), comparative Politics is the study of comparison which deals with the critical study of the political system of different states. It includes the study of political institutions, domestic politics and the disputes among countries. In this method, the scenarios that exist in different nations re read in details and then are analyzed in terms of its differences and similarities. In other words, it can be said that comparative politics does not define the object of study but the approached method by which the scenario of political system is evaluated.
As stated by Adler (2013), international Political Economy is the combined study of international relations and economy. This approach is an interdisciplinary field which deals with the combined study of four social sciences namely history, sociology, cultural studies and economics. However, there exist different concepts among theorists regarding the concept and they have stated different theories on the idea of International Political Economy. The liberal theorists believe that there should be enough freedom of the private powers without having to think about the government and hindrance caused to them. The Realist theorists believe the concept of freedom of the private power however, there should be regulatory control of the government on the people. The Marxist theories on the other hand, believe that there should be proper exercise of power on the private powers for the betterment of a large sect of people. The Constructive View theorists are of the opinion that the economy of a state is not free of value and that the political system of a state has a large role to play on the economy of a nation (nationalarchives.gov, 2017).
As opined by Porter (2014), international Relation is the branch of Political Science which deals with the study of different international focused fields. It includes the interrelated study of different states. It has become a popular field of study among the students. According to Schmitter (2016), international Relation involves a scope of the study of wide range in the field of humanity and social sciences. The source of the studies has its roots in technology, engineering, demography, international law, psychology and other aspects.
As stated by Schmitter (2016), political philosophy is the study of politics in respect to subjects like property, justice, law, liberty. It consists of an ethical approach to the study of politics and is synonymous to the concept of political ideology. Political Philosophy is often considered as a sub branch of Political Science.
As stated by Love and Mattern (2013), Public Administration deals with the study of formulation of governmental policies and also sees that there is implementation of the formulated policies. This branch of Politics also deals with the fact on guiding the individuals aiming to pursue Civil Service and work as Public Service Employees. It is primarily concerned with the organization of governmental policies and the conduct of behavior of the officials entrusted with the concerned responsibilities and their code of conduct of their behavior during their official tenure (boundless.com, 2017).
In the opinion of Woods (2015), Public Law is the component of law which deals with the relationship between the public and the government and the relationship which can influence the members of the society. This branch includes the study of constitutional law, administrative law, procedural law, tax law as well as criminal law. This section makes its mandatory for the government to follow the law.
As per Michaels (2015), Political Methodology is a quantitative method which is applied to get a quantitative data. The application of different mathematical dimensions like percentage and statistics is used in this kind of study. Unlike normative approach, this branch of political science is used to get a positive result. As stated by Austin (2015), Political Methodology is synonymous to econometrics.
The concept of nation, country, government and state
In Political Science, the terms state, country, nation and government hold important value. These are the key tools that centers on the study of politics and hold very important aspects in the course of the study. However, unlike other social sciences, in Political Science there are different meanings of the terms. As stated by Simon (2015), in Political Entity, a state is defined as a single unit of land where there is sovereignty of the territory and all the citizens belonging to that unit. A state is a comparatively smaller unit of land with comparatively less population. A combination of many states constitutes a country or a nation. As opined by Woods (2015), a state includes a politically organized community and is governed by a single government. However, in the modern e\day the definition of state has changed and it can be used in a broader concept defining the concept of a country as well. In the 21st Century, a state is the term given to a politically organized region which bears the main elements which is population, territory, sovereignty and most importantly government.
In the context of Political Science, country is synonymous to state and as such, the point of difference between state and country cannot be stretched too far (boundless.com, 2017). A country is another word for a state and thus it should bear all the characteristics of a state. In the opinion of Love and Mattern (2013), the term state and country can be used interchangeably, depending on the type of people using the terms. There are four essential elements of a state which are population, territory, government and sovereignty. In Political Science, the term state is preferred to the term country while defining a sovereign territory owing to the reason that state is a less ambiguous term. On the other hand, the usage of the term country can refer to several other things.
Nation is another important term that holds a distinctive aspect in Politics. According to de Ville 2015), the term Nation is applied to the land consisting of population and territory. However, in a nation the population comprises of different population who are unified by a common idea of sharing the same culture and tradition and therefore, share the same geographical location. A nation is more impersonal, abstract, and overtly political than an ethnic group. As opined by Gilens and Page 2014.), it is a cultural-political community that has become conscious of its autonomy, unity, and particular interests. However, while defining the concept it should be kept in mind that every nation does not comprise of states.
Government is the most important aspect of politics and in a state. No state can flourish or work without government and as such, government is the infrastructure which formulates the foundation of a state. As opined by Simon (2015), government is defined as the structured framework that runs a state. The responsibilities of the government are much and as such they are concerned with the formulation of rules and regulations needed for the smooth running of a state. The three most important tools of the government are administrators, arbitrators and legislators. The government amends the policies of the state and defines the rules on the basis of which the state will operate. It also implements legislator and right to the people to enjoy and punish those who break them. The government also works as an administrative authority in some states (expatica.com, 2017). The rules and regulations formulated and executed by the government can also influence human activities to a great extent. The type of government can be different in different states and as such, it is dependent on the structure of a state that the type of government can be identified. The example of United States of America can be sited here in this context which follows a republican form of government (usa.gov, 2017).
USA political system
The constitution of US emerged in the year 1787. The government is the United States of America emerged as a result of the opinion that developed within the people who wanted there exist equal power among everyone without the influence of monarchy or absolutism of the state authority (usa.gov, 2017). Therefore, as a result of this government emerged which is of federal republic type. At present the United States of America consists of fifty states. According to Gilens and Page 2014), the governmental system in the US operates in a three tier system which is namely national, state and local. Every distinctive branch of the government is elected by the people. In similarity to any other state in the world, the US constitution works with the help of its independent branches: executive, judiciary and legislature. There exist separation of power and the groups work for checks and balances.
As stated by Adler (2013), section I of the US Constitution states the legislative section of the government. In his section there is mentioning of the formulation of legislator and the enactment of those. There might be also modification of the previous legislators in this section. These decisions are taken by the Congress. As opined by Dunleavy (2014), the governing house is divided into the lower house and upper house which are the Senate and House of Representatives respectively.
In the opinion of Michaels (2015), the main controlling body that is vested with different powers is Congress. As such, in US the congress has several rights and powers which it executes with the control over federal taxation system, the right to mint money and the right to declare war. Congress enjoys a unique right by means of which it can check and pass new bills even before it reaches the President.
At the present scenario, there are huge responsibilities embodied by the Congress. According to Boddewyn (2015), in order to give more precision to the system and ensure everything is being done properly various agencies have been developed to give more emphasis on each of the departments. Various agencies have been developed to look into the economy, statistics, law, and various other affairs of the state. An instance can be given of the Budget office here which deals with the economic and statistical aspects of the state and provides laws and proposals on those (usa.gov, 2017).
As stated by Simon (2015), the position of executive holds a very important role in the US Federal system. The executive is entrusted with the task of looking after the legilator and see that they are executed properly and are put into effect in accordance to the judiciary. The executive in the US comprises of the President, Vice-President, and the Cabinet and no of independent agencies. The US President is also the head of the Executive system and bears the responsibility of protecting, preserving and defending the constitution (usa.gov, 2017).
In USA, the President holds a very important position and is the real head in the political system of USA. As opined by Dunleavy (2014), the President is the head of the executive and also the Commander-in-chief of the US Military system. The roles and responsibilities of the President include signing of treaties, amendment of codes, appointment of cabinet ministers and also ambassadors of the state and members of the jury. The President has significant power in the running of the state politics and his powers are limited through the system of checks and balances (Love and Mattern 2013).
The cabinet of USA consists of the President and 15 members from the fields of commerce, defense, executive, energy, education, human and health services, urban and housing development, etc. within the cabinet there should be good working relation between the members and the committee of Congress and are responsible for controlling budget and execute laws implemented by the Cabinet.
In US the judiciary has the power to interpret legislator and make sure that those are passed by the Congress. The Judiciary also holds the power to declare a law unconstitutional in case it is found to be violating the constitution. The Judiciary consists of the Supreme Court at the top which branches into several federal and subordinates courts.
As stated by Boddewyn (2015.), the Supreme Court is the highest court in the US. It is to be noted here in this context that the verdicts passed out by Supreme Court are regarded to be the ultimate and cannot be altered all influenced by other courts or constitutional amendment. The judges of the Supreme Court are elected by the President and continue to be in their office till the time they decide to resign. The basic principle of the Supreme Court is to check that there is no violation of law. As stated in Article III of the US Constitution, there are recommendations of a number of federal courts which are necessary for the application of federal laws of the state (usa.gov, 2017).
Political System of UK
The main characteristic of UK Politics is its monarchical form of government where most of the powers are vested in the hands of the Queen who is the ceremonial head of the country. The royal family is consulted in every important decision. There is a notion in UK that prevails among all that the royals must be consulted in every decision as they are regarded as the incarnation of God. As opined by Porter (2014), the government in UK is synonymous to Parliament and as such, the Parliament or the Westminster holds the responsibility of making or dismissing law and no individual holds the right to overhear the laws of the parliament.
In UK, the real head of the government is the Prime Minister whose basic responsibility includes checking that the government is working properly. According to Gilens and Page (2014), he also selects members of the Parliament. In the House of Commons he is the highest authority. As stated by Adler (2013), the House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament and constitutes members elected by representative constituencies. Each constituency is represented by an MP and there is different name for each constituency. The members constituting the House of Commons are elected by the people of the state and enjoy their place for the period of five years with good behavior. Each member of the house is a representative of a specific geographical constituency. As opined by Gilens and Page (2014), every citizen who shall attain the age of 18 years has the right to vote and the members elected are resultant from the number of votes casted. The example of the Isle of Wight can be cited here which is a geographical constituency and consists of one lack twelve thousand electors.
As opined by Johnson (2015), the House of Lords is the upper house of the government. The basic responsibilities of this house include the interpretation of the laws and see that the government is working smoothly. It also holds the right to reject money bills which had already been passed in the House of Commons. As per Johnson (2015), a total of 825 members constitute this house, who are elected by the Queen. The members can enjoy their position for as long as they want however, no family member can reside within the house after the expiration of their family member.
Political System of Australia
The political system of Australia consists of the executive, judiciary and the legislature which are often known as the three wings of the Australian political system. The legislature is vested with the power to amend laws, the executive sees that the laws are executed properly and are put into force and the judiciary puts the legislators into effect and applies those. According to Dunleavy (2014), in Australia, there exists Separation of Powers between the three wings to avoid friction while working.
The Parliament of Australia has the power to amend laws and comprises of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Parliament passes legislative bills which are needed to be approved by both the houses in order to make the law. There is equal distribution of powers between the two houses. However, the Senate cannot amend new codes. The head of the Parliament is the Prime Minister. On the other hand, the Governor-general is a ceremonial head who enjoys power on behalf of the Queen only with proper consultation with the Prime Minister (expatica.com, 2017). He holds the responsibility to appoint and dismiss the executive councilor and also decides the meeting and dissolution of the Parliament. As opined by Adler (2013), the Queen is the formal head of Australian political system owing to the fact that her responsibilities are carried out by the governor-general.
As opined by Gilens and Page (2014), the judicial system of Australia has the power to amend constitution. It comprises of the High Court and several Federal Courts. The High Court had been established by the constitution whereas; the federal courts had been established by the legislature. The judges of the Courts are appointed by the Governor-general in consultation with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
Importance of DMG Solution
Political Science is a subject which needs clear knowledge of the students in the subject. Moreover, the study includes various detailed information of legislation and constitution of every state which will be only possible with the help of relevant data and information. It is extremely important to make the students well available to information regarding the subject and its various aspects.
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Sources:
Books
Dunleavy, P., 2014. Democracy, bureaucracy and public choice: Economic approaches in political science. Abingdon: Routledge.
Etzioni-Halevy, E., 2013. Bureaucracy and Democracy (Routledge Library Editions: Political Science Volume 7) (Vol. 7). Abingdon: Routledge.
Johnson, J.B., 2015. Political science research methods. Cq Press.
Simon, R., 2015. Gramsci’s political thought: An introduction. Lawrence & Wishart.
Journals
Abadie, A., Diamond, A. and Hainmueller, J., 2015. Comparative politics and the synthetic control method. American Journal of Political Science, 59(2), pp.495-510.
Adler, E., 2013. Constructivism in international relations: sources, contributions, and debates. Handbook of international relations, 2, pp.112-144.
Austin, G., 2015. Imperialism, Economic Development and Social Change in West Africa by Raymond E. Dumett. African Studies Review, 58(2), pp.242-244.
Boddewyn, J.J., 2015. Political aspects of MNE theory. In The Eclectic Paradigm (pp. 85-110). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
de Ville, J., 2015. The Foreign Body Within the Body Politic: Derrida, Schmitt and the Concept of the Political. Law and Critique, 26(1), p.45.
Gilens, M. and Page, B.I., 2014. Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups, and average citizens. Perspectives on politics, 12(3), pp.564-581.
Michaels, J.D., 2015. An Enduring, Evolving Separation of Powers. Colum. L. Rev., 115, p.515.
Porter, J., 2014. State parliaments’ departure from the practice of standing orders: The evolution of Australian parliamentary practice. Australian Journal of Political Science, 49(1), pp.111-121.
Schmitter, P., 2016. Comparative politics: Its past, present and future. Chinese Political Science Review, 1(3), pp.397-411.
Woods, J.E., 2015. On the political economy of UK pension scheme regulation. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 41(1), pp.147-180.
Woods, N.D., 2015. Separation of Powers and the Politics of Administrative Rule Review. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 15(3), pp.345-365.
Websites
nationalarchives.gov (2017) Power Politics and Protest, available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/politics/
usa.gov (2017) Political Affairs, available at: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/political-affairs
Love, N.S. and Mattern, M., 2013. Introduction: Studying Politics Today: Critical Approaches to Political Science. New Political Science, 35(3), pp.335-338.
Online Articles
expatica.com (2017) The political system of United Kingdom, available at: http://www.expatica.com/uk/about/The-political-system-of-the-United-Kingdom_103179.html