Introduction to political science

October 2nd

politics - policy
politica - politicul
la politique - le politique

The language is used by all citizens, with different meanings possibly.

Why should the language of politics be available to everybody?
Why is our human nature political by definition?

politics = they way we live as a community (from the Greek root "polis"),
relationships between individuals (conflict, peace etc) which results in rules,
authority, hierarchy. Dialogue is very important.

Hannah Arendt (1906 - 1985)

- the Greek philosophy revival
- totalitarian regimes denied the human nature and politics by instating history
laws, which eradicate the meaning of politics. Communists proclaimed the
victory of the working class, while nazis sustained the supremacy of the Arian
race.
- "Politics is the inbetween people."

Freedom - different meanings throughout time:

For Greeks, freedom meant living in the polis (citizenship), which results into
duties, obligations and rights.
Today, the best regime is the one with the most freedom and which fits the
human nature.

Final answers do not exist!

The best regime: absolute power does not exist, which imposes limits and
control.

The quality of the language we use influences the quality of our regime. The
more aware we are about the words we use, the more our regime will function.
The way we understand our regime and the quality of our dialogue influences the
way it functions.

QUESTIONS!
1.What is going on? (ground level)
2.How do I understand what is going on?
3.Why am I doing this?

politics = politica = la politique = imaginary realm into which policies,

institutions etc exist and interact (confront)
policy = programme of action
politicul = le politique = the way we live together (socialul)

Raymond Aron (died in 1983) - French political thinker

-identified three ambiguities:
1.translation problem
2."la politique" designates simultaneously the reality and the conscience we
have about it (the awareness)
3.when you use the same word to designate a specific domain of society and
society as such
-politics has primacy over anything else (i.e. economy society) => organization
of authority => what makes the difference between modern communities

The relationships between individuals are the most important phenomena in a

society.
The way we organise ourselves enables us to be "political animals" (Aristotle).
There is no life without political life.