POLITICAL SCIENCE PRESENTATION

MADE BY: AANCHAL AGGARWAL ROLL NO: R450212003 BA LL.B (Semester II)

TRADITIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT Comparative Politics and Government

INTRODUCTION

What is Government? The government is the machinery or agency through which the will of the State is formulated , expressed and released. The goals and the objectives can be achieved through organised efforts. If the effort is to be fruitful it has to be properly directed. The organisation and direction of political institutions as well as the end or goal of a government are to a large extent dependent upon the will and political maturity of the people. There can be no Classification of States because they are all alike their nature; they have the same common elements or attributes, namely, population, territory, government and sovereignty.

DEFINITIONS
COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT
It signifies the study of the legal instrumentalities of government and of political processes conceived as a result of the interaction between the properly constituted organs of government , namely , the electorate , the legislature , the executive , the administration and the courts. COMPARATIVE POLITICS The scope of comparative politics is wider than comparative government as it does not end with the study of rule-making(legislature) , ruleimplementing(executive) , and rule-adjudicating(judicial) departments of political systems. It is concerned with the significant regularities , similarities , and differences in the working of political institutions and in political behaviour.

WHY COMPARATIVE POLITICS IS IMPORTANT?

Political scientists use comparison as a means of analysing similarities and differences. Most work in comparative politics compares between countries. Comparison between how political activities are carried out in the present with how they operated in the past , often to assess efficiency or impact of a particular change or reform , also represent legitimacy for comparative study.

REASONS FOR COMPARING BETWEEN COUNTRIES

GAINING KNOWLEGDE There are a number of particular reason why analysts compare at a macro political level , such as the desire to find out more about politics in different countries , which has practical applications in terms of aiding appreciation of how practices operate. This is also believed to help in understanding our own country. EVALUATING GOOD PRACTICE A particular focus in recent years has been for the purpose of seeing whether institutions, policies, or processes have been chosen because politicians wish to learn from successes or failures of institutions in other countries, and to emulate practice which has worked well.

OBJECTIVITY This relates to the desire to establish a systematic , scientific approach to analysis , especially in areas where experimental conditions are unable to be used and contexts cannot be replicated exactly. This also helps to ensure reliability credibility of the results of analysis and to validate new methods.

TRADITIONAL DEFINITIONS
Traditional form of government are those that exist under the cover of the broad form as parliamentary government under a monarchical system , or a federal government under a democratic system. Political classification begins with the Greek period and classifying the government helps in evolution. Thus classifying the government is very important.

TRADITIONAL CLASSIFICATION

(1) PLATO
Plato had classified States/Governments on the basis of the number of people(one , few , many) in whose hands power resided and whether law was observed or not.

RULED BY
ONE

LAW OBEYED
MONARCHY (single ruler)

NOT OBEYED
TYRANNY (dictatorship)

FEW

MANY

OLIGARCHY ARISTOCRACY (power with few (nobility) people) MODERATE EXTREME DEMOCRACY DEMOCRACY

Plato classified the government as perfect, imperfect and ignorant state. According to Plato, ruler was supposed to be the embodiment of knowledge. A philosopher king was supposed to be the ruler. Plato visualised the things based on his ideas on justice. His classification comprised of theory of education. Theory of education included the state driven education. It included public and compulsory education. This theory comprised of theory of communism and theory of justice which was for the ideal states. According to him , the imperfect state need laws and it is the worst form of government.

(2) ARISTOTLE
Aristotle regarded the State as that which came into existence to satisfy the basic needs of man and continues to be in existence for the sake of the promotion of good life. According to him , State should always strive for the promotion of the welfare of the people. He classified governments on the basis of two principles , i.e. , according to the number of persons holding the sovereign power and according to the interest they serve. That government is perverted that serves only the interests of the ruler of the

Number of people having power ONE

Working in general interest (normal form) MONARCHY OR KINGSHIP (rule by one) ARISTOCRACY (nobility) POLITY (a particular form of government)

Working in perverted form TYRANNY (dictatorship) OLIGARCHY (power with few people) DEMOCRACY (government by the people)

FEW

MANY

Aristotle made a neat distinction between normal and perverted forms. A normal government is one where the rulers are selfless and good, whereas a perverted form of government is one where power is exercised by selfish persons for their own benefit. Monarchy, aristocracy , polity are the normal or the best forms of government. Tyranny, oligarchy and democracy are the perverted forms. According to Aristotle , location of sovereign power was a reliable basis for classification.

Aristotle suggested a cycle of change in the forms of the government. He explained how a normal government degenerates into a perverted form. He pointed out the wheels of a cycle revolves , so also the government. The King(monarch) , for example , governed the State with love and justice. But , his successors forgot their duties and ruled the State tyrannically. So people revolted against the rulers and established the rule by few aristocracy. In the beginning , the rulers passed good laws but slowly they became selfish , cruel and made it an oligarchy. Naturally people were not satisfied with it and established the rule by many. In course of time this government degenerated into mob rule (democracy). Not satisfied with it , people again established the rule by one (monarchy). This , Aristotle called the cycle of political change.

FURTHER CLASSIFICATIONS:Jean Bodin agreed with Aristotle that location of sovereign power was a reliable basis for classification. Thomas Hobbes elaborated Bodins criteria of location of sovereign power for classification of governments. James Harrington was more realistic. He agreed with the classification of governments into absolute monarchy. But argued that actual location of power depends upon the land tenure system ,i.e. , control over land determined the form of government.

MERITS
Scientific

and realistic classification Both quantitative and qualitative. His classification was very specific and thus modern. His classification was very realistic and scientific.

CRITICISMS

Aristotle did not distinguish between state and governmental property. His classification is not up to date. It does not take account of modern forms of government. He underrated democracy. He condemned democracy as the perverted form of government. But, in modern times democracy has emerged as the best type government. His classification is unscientific and quantitative. He failed to take into considerations the fundamental characteristics of different forms of government . There were no examples in his classification and this classification is not applicable to the modern times.

CONCLUSION
Comparative politics is a wider form of comparative government. Aristotle classified the government both qualitatively and quantitatively . Location of sovereign power was a reliable basis for his classification. Thus his classification was very specific and modern.

REFERENCES
S.N. Ray : Modern Comparative Politics JC Johari : New Comparative Politics SR Myneni : Political science for law students Books: comparative politics, principles of politics, classification of government.

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