Q.2 Explain
what is meant by politics.
Politics, Political theory is one of the core areas in
political science. It is only in recent times that it has emerged as an
academic discipline. Earlier, those who engaged in this enterprise styled
themselves as philosophers or scientists. Political theory is the most
appropriate term to employ in designating that intellectual tradition which
affirms the possibility of transcending the sphere of immediate practical
concerns and ‘viewing’ man’s societal existence from a critical perspective. Politics,
Political theory was political science in the full sense, and there could be no
science without theory.
So, political theory may legitimately and accurately be used
as synonymous with political science. Developments in political theory always
reflect the changes which occur in society. Political theories are produced in
response to the challenges which emerge at different times. Politics, Hegel’s
symbolic characterisation of political theory as ‘the owl of Minerva takes
flight when shadow of darkness falls’ is very apt. However, we will do well to
remember that political thought, which also emerges due to societal challenges,
is bound by time as well as space, and is therefore, different from theory
which breaks such barriers and proves its worth in understanding and explaining
political phenomena of different nature and origin.
This happens, because theories are purged and purified
from ideologies and biases and arrive at certain principles, which are not only
timeless, but may even be called knowledge. Political theorists, while
indulging in theorisation, pursue ideas not for the sake of fulfillment of
their fads and fantasies, but in order to search those principles whose understanding
can make life better. Politics, And in this enterprise, theorists, by and
large, are motivated by the concrete political situation. The history of
political theory bears out how ills and maladies afflicting societies have
lubricated the tools of theorisation, through which various accepted principles
and practices and the assumptions behind them were questioned and the blueprint
for the future was drawn. It is, however, true that the stimulus for theory
always comes from some sort of failure and a related conviction that things can
be bettered through an improved understanding and may, ultimately be resolved.
Hence, political theory’s task is not limited to providing a fleeting response
and getting contented with a compromise. Rather, it has to reach at the root of
the problem and has to discover remedies in the form of an alternative set of
principles.
Hence, Politics, any project on theory requires a
‘vision’ through which a theorist could think not only about the problems at
hand, but also beyond them. It is here that political theory might be
differentiated from art or poetry. In terms of vision, reflections and
ruminations, there is not much difference between political theory and other
creative activities like art and poetry. But what sets apart the political theorist
from the poet is that his urge and search are a conscious act with a definite
design, whereas a poetic act is one of spontaneity. Politics, Therefore, it is
not creativity, but consciousness that denies poetry the status of a theory.
