Lecture Notes in Political Analysis and Research

Module 1
What is Politics?
- Politics is an essentially contested concept because the term has a

number of acceptable meanings and definitions.
- It has been defined in such different ways as the exercise of power,
the exercise of authority, the making of collective decisions, the
allocation of scarce resources, the practice of deception and
manipulation amongst others (Heywood 2004:4).
Politics as the Art of Government
- Art of government, the exercise of control within the society through

the making and enforcement of collective decision.
- Classical definition of politics, developed from the original meaning of
the term in ancient Greece.
- Focus on the personnel and machinery of government (managerial
skills)
- Highly stricted view of politics
- Centered on the machinery of government and engaged in by limited
and specific group of people.
Politics as Public Affairs
- The view of politics is often traced back to the work of Aristotle.

- According to Aristotle, man by nature is a political animal by which he
meant that, it is only within a political community that human beings
can live a good life (Heywood 2004:8).
Institutions of Civil Society
the State
public private
responsible for set up and funded by individual

collective organization citizens to satisfy their own
of community life interests (family, church, private
business, trade unions)
Critique: Politics as Public Affairs
- Politics cannot be restricted to only the public realm.

- Decisions that occur in the private realm largely affect the public
realm.
Politics as the Operation of the State
- Weber posited that politics should be equated with activities of the

state because it is an administrative structure which use force to
compel obedience and the monopoly of force is embodied in the
military and police force to the extent that the state exercise
sovereignty over its territory.
Politics as Power
- Politics is at work in all social activities.

- Harold Laswell defined politics as who gets what, when, and how.
Politics as Collective Action and Decision
- Politics as a matter of reaching collective decisions and taking

collective actions.
- Miller (2002) defined politics as the process whereby a group of
people, whose opinions or interest are initially divergent, reach
collective decisions which are generally, regarded as biding on the
group, and enforced as common policy.
- Assumption: All societies must contain diversity and scarcity is also an
inevitable characteristic of all societies.
Politics as Determination and Execution of Public Policy
- Emphasis on how decisions are made and carried out for the society
rather than on the state structures as the sole center of political life.
- Concerned with the implementation of public policies once they are
made.
- Assumptions: political decisions affect the vast number of members of
the society; Politics deals with acceptable decisions which do not
require force: Political activities take place outside structures.
Politics as Relation and Conflict among Different Classes in the

Society
- Marx: Every society is interlocked in a struggle between 2 broad

classes in the society.
- Those who own and control the means of production constitute the
class oppressors (Bourgeoisies), and the “have not” belonged to the
class of the oppressed.
- Political activity centers on the struggle between these 2 classes for
supremacy.
- Criticism: Marx’s predictions has not materialized.
Politics as Compromise and Consensus
- Politics as a particular means finding and resolving conflict through

compromise, negotiation, conciliation, and building of consensus rather
than through force.
- However, if this fails and military conflict or any kind of violence erupts
as a consequence, then politics can be said to have been rejected or
failed.
- Bernard Crick (2002:21) is an advocate of this position. He defined
politics as the only solution to the problem of order. This conception of
politics limits politics to a particular kind of politics, rather than politics
per se.
Module 2
What is Political Analysis?
- Political analysis can be defined as the various methods, theories,

concept, and approaches employed by a political scientist to
summarize and explain various themes, political experience, events,
political issues and phenomena.
- Political analysis entails the process of investigating issues or events,
decisions and challenges by systematically organizing this information
into categories and then establishing a relationship between those data
for the basic objective of explanation and subsequently prediction
(Osaghae, 1988).
 Investigation, organization, relationship, explanation, and
prediction
Development of Political Analysis
- Can be traced back to the works of Greeks and other western

philosophers.
- In the 19th century, political analysis relied on the historical,
descriptive, and philosophical narrations. The work of Aristotle also
revealed primitive empirical analysis especially his classification of
authority.
- 20th century new developments emerged such as:
o The emergence of several new states especially those resulting
from the fall of empires and kingdoms as well as the
independence of new states in Asia and Africa. (Decolonization
and rise of nationalism, new states emerged)
o The spread of social sciences outside the western hemisphere.
- 20th century modern political analysis dominated the mode of political
analysis. It places emphasis on man/human behavior. Modern political
analysis embodies the behavioral school.
- Behavioralism sees man as a social being.
Strengths of Behavioralism
- it is able to shift emphasis away from institution of government to man

- it is able to place emphasis on human behavior
- it is able to develop medium and long-range theories
- it enhances some degree of predictability
Limitations of Behavioralism
- it is accused of being ahistorical

- there is the absence of generally accepted laws, theories, and concepts
- lack accurate measurement tools
- replication is difficult to achieve
Importance of Political Analysis
- according to Osaghae (1988) political analysis has 3 main goals:

o to know what is important in politics
o to know what is valuable
o to know what is real or true by systematically subjecting our
guesses, impressions, popular belief, even rumors to verification

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Module 1

- Politics is an essentially contested concept because the term has a

Politics as the Art of Government

- Art of government, the exercise of control within the society through

Politics as Public Affairs

- The view of politics is often traced back to the work of Aristotle.

responsible for set up and funded by individual

Critique: Politics as Public Affairs

- Politics cannot be restricted to only the public realm.

Politics as the Operation of the State

- Weber posited that politics should be equated with activities of the

- Politics is at work in all social activities.

Politics as Collective Action and Decision

- Politics as a matter of reaching collective decisions and taking

Politics as Determination and Execution of Public Policy

Politics as Relation and Conflict among Different Classes in the

- Marx: Every society is interlocked in a struggle between 2 broad

- Politics as a particular means finding and resolving conflict through

What is Political Analysis?

- Political analysis can be defined as the various methods, theories,

Development of Political Analysis

- Can be traced back to the works of Greeks and other western

- it is able to shift emphasis away from institution of government to man

- it is accused of being ahistorical

Importance of Political Analysis

- according to Osaghae (1988) political analysis has 3 main goals:

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