1. Political System: Arena of Power
Broader than Government or State
DefinitionPolitical System: The entire network of social structures, institutions, and processes through which a society makes and enforces its collective, binding decisions
Key Thinkers and Definitions:
| Thinker | Definition |
|---|---|
| David Easton | "A political system is the authoritative allocation of values for a society" - decides who gets what, when, and how |
| Talcott Parsons | The political system performs the goal-attainment function of the social system |
| Max Weber | The state is the organisation that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory |
| Gabriel Almond | Every political system performs the same functions through different structures |
Relationship Between Power and Political System:
- Institutionalises Power: Converts raw power into legitimate authority
- Converts Power into Authority: Through constitutions, laws, norms
- Regulates Conflict: Sets rules for arbitrating competing power claims
- Reproduces Power Relations: Favours those who already hold economic or social power
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In these notes
- Political System: Arena of Power
- Meaning and Nature of Power
- Lukes' Three Faces (Dimensions) of Power
- Legitimate and Illegitimate Sources
- Personal Power: Influence Through Who One Is
- Community Power: Collective Capacity
- Classical Elite Theory: Power Concentration
- Modern Elite Theory: Institutional Power
- Burnham and Bottomore on Elites
- Class Power: Economic Structure Determines Power
- Organisational Power: Bureaucracy and Oligarchy
- Mass Power: Numerically Largest, Episodically Powerful
- Pluralist Theory: Dispersed Power
- Criticisms of Pluralist Theory
- Foucault: Power as Dispersed and Productive
- Weber's Three Dimensions of Stratification
- Patriarchy and Caste as Power Structures
- Theories of Power Compared
- Q: Analyse the Various Forms of Power in Society with Examples
- Quick Revision Summary
- How to Write Answers on Power
- Expected Questions for OPSC/UPSC
- Complete Summary