Lecture Notes: Understanding Politics
Definition of Politics
- Fundamental Definition: Politics is how we decide who gets what, when, and how.
Attributes of Political Distribution
- Variety in Distribution:
- Monarchies (e.g., kings distribute resources to loyalists)
- Dictatorships (e.g., Saddam Hussein in Iraq favored Tikrit)
- Democracies (e.g., elected officials in the USA decide resource allocation)
- No Perfect System: Each method of distributing resources has its flaws.
Scarcity of Resources
- Universal Scarcity: No country can provide everything to everyone.
- Poor Countries: Distribution might decide survival (e.g., who starves).
- Rich Countries: Decisions may affect education and quality of life.
- Non-Existence of Unlimited Resources: Unlike the fictional Star Trek replicators.
Conflict in Politics
- Inherent Conflict: Scarcity leads to competition and conflict.
- Winners and Losers:
- Decisions benefit one group over another.
- Politics is essentially about making these choices.
- Approaches to Conflict:
- Violent (e.g., warlord-dominated politics)
- Political discourse (e.g., debates in Congress or Parliaments)
Examples of Political Decisions
- Tax Breaks:
- Bush era: targeted middle class and poor during the Great Recession.
- Trump era: benefited the wealthy through Republican Congress policies.
- Differing Party Philosophies:
- Democrats: Tax breaks for middle-class to boost spending and demand.
- Republicans: Tax breaks for the wealthy to encourage job creation.
Allocation of Public Resources
- Decision Making:
- Choices between education, infrastructure (e.g., roads), defense, etc.
- Example: New baseball stadium in Arlington, Texas over other projects.
- Impact on Society:
- Local examples such as water situation in Flint, Michigan, and school supplies.
Nature of Political Systems
- Competitive and Conflictual: Politics naturally leads to conflict.
- Expression of Conflict: Can be violent or through political institutions.
Summary: Politics is essentially about the allocation of scarce resources within a society. It inherently involves making decisions that result in winners and losers, and thus leads to conflict, which can be managed through different political systems.