Political Theory : An Introduction Class 11 Notes Political Science Chapter 11 - CBSE

Chapter : 11

What Are Political Theory : An Introduction ?

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    Politics

    • The definition of politics has different meaning for different sections of the society. On one hand the leaders who contest elections to secure political office consider politics as a medium to provide service to the people.
    • There are several sections who find politics as a method to manipulate the choices of people to achieve certain desired outcomes for personal benefits.
    • Some people look at the politics as a scam when they see leaders making false promises, indulged in corruption practices, changing parties for the sake of power and many other things.
    • The term politics has become synonymous with manipulation. Whenever an individual tries to persuade someone or something into his favour, it is usually termed that he is doing politics.
    • The society has established a negative connotation with regard to the politics due to the lack of trust in the
      government and their representatives.

    Roles Of Government In The Society

    • The most important role of the government is to maintain law and order of the society. It has to ensure the
      security of the people in the country in every situation.
    • The government formulates the educational policy of the nation and launches welfare programs to promote
      the education in the society as it is the most important path for development.
    • The government works upon the health policy of the nation and makes every effort to improve the health status of the nation as it is critical for the progress of an individual and nation as a whole.
    • The foreign policy of the nation and its defense capabilities are developed by the government which is instrumental in developing an international reputation of the country.
    • The government also has to ensure social, economic and political justice in the society and oversee that no
      community or group gets exploited.

    How People Influence Government

    • One of the most accepted and acknowledged method is to form associations and choose their leaders. Those leaders put up the aspirations and grievances of the people in front of the government.
    • People and groups also organise campaigns on certain issues to gain attention of the government. The scale
      of these campaigns and the people involved in it decides the fate of the campaign and the response of the
      government towards it.
    • When the people are against the policies or certain laws of the government then to make the government rethink about their decision they organise rallies and hold demonstration against the government.
    • Frequent debates and opinion polls also take place in which the people participate to give their opinions
      about the policies and on the working of the government.

    Political Theory

    • Political Theory is collective term which is used to address the ideas and principles that are essential for the Constitution, working of the government and the conduction of social life in a sound and systematic manner.
    • It deals with providing the clarification of the certain essential features of the society. It deals with the meaning of freedom, equality, justice, secularism and democracy.
    • It deals with the principles like rule of law, separation of powers and role of the judiciary in the state.
    • Political Theory got developed on the ideas of some of the most famous thinkers of the world like Plato,
      Aristotle, Rousseau, John Locke and Gandhiji.
    • Political Theory analyses the political situations of the nation and also suggests measures for its 
      improvements in the long run.

    Interpretation Of Laws And Debates On Political Theory

    • The interpretations of the existing laws and rights and their relevance in the society is an important activity.
    • The judiciary makes regular interpretations of the principles of the Constitution. On the other hand the
      legislature comes up with the new laws or amendments on several occasions.
    • In one instance the court made an inclusion of Right to Livelihood under the Right to Life in Article 21 of the
      Constitution.
    • Similarly, the Right to Information Act was passed by the Parliament which provided the rights to the people
      to secure information concerning the working of public authorities.
    • The Fundamental Rights have been amended on several occasions due to the continuous judicial interpretation of the Constitution and also changing motives of the government.
    • The continuous evaluation of laws is an important feature of sound democratic framework.

    Socrates: Earliest Philosopher

    • Socrates was known as the wisest man and the greatest philosopher of the ancient Greece.
    • He was a man of reasoning and challenged the established beliefs and notions on the ground of rationality.
    • His philosophies varied in several dimensions from religion, politics to societal structure. His ideas started to
      propagate in the Greek society.
    • The most of the philosophies of Socrates were known through the writings of his disciple Plato who has written extensively about him.
    • Socrates possessed challenge to the beliefs of the administration of the Athens which they could not tolerate
      as they cannot compromise with their ruling power.
    • Socrates was forced to drink poison which led to his untimely death but his ideas and philosophies remained
      disintegrated and immortal.

    Importance Of Political Theory

    • The study of political theory is important for all the groups in some or the other way. It is important for the politicians as they have to formulate the policies for the administration of the country.
    • Similarly, for the bureaucrats they are important as they have to render advice for the formulation of the policies and also oversee their implementation.
    • The lawyers and judges need to study them as they had to make the interpretation of the Constitution.
    • The journalists and social activists had to study it so that they can do better work for the welfare of the society and can raise relevant issues.
    • For common citizens it is important as they have the right to vote and choose the representatives, so they must be aware about their rights and liberties and also the obligations towards the government.