Political Philosophy
Political Philosophy
 Everyone is interested in politics and everyone has
own philosophy
 So, many political theories in worldwide
 Politics and Philosophy came from Greek word : polis
(city state)
 Political philosophy can be defined as philosophical
reflection on how best to arrange our collective life our political institutions and our social practices, such
as our economic system and our pattern of family life
Political Philosophy in Greek
 Socrates lived between 469 and 399 BC, Plato between
427 and 347 BC, and Aristotle between 384 and 322 BC.
 they all had in common was a thirst for knowledge.
 Three “good” regimes being monarchy, aristocracy,
and a moderate form of democracy
 Justice, then, depended on treating equals equally, and
only the equals as full citizens., not for slave and
women
Socrates
 Widely considered the founder of Western political philosophy, via
his spoken influence on Athenian contemporaries; since Socrates
never wrote anything, much of what we know about him and his
teachings comes through his most famous student, Plato.
 Socrates wanted his students to arrive at the truth by answering a
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stream of questions. , through deductive reasoning, arrive at the
truth.
Socrates felt that a man who admitted he was ignorant was very
wise and said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know
nothing.”
He also said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
He felt that most people never reach their full potential and that to
be happy a person must keep his soul, his central core,
healthy. That was done by self-examination and gaining wisdom.
democracy was an unwise form of government, . he thought that
the electing of the people was unfair justice.
Plato
 Plato wrote down many of the dialogues Socrates had with
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his students, which was really important because Socrates
didn’t commit his ideas to paper
Plato believed that there was a higher world where perfect
ideas existed and if you knew them then you knew the
truth.
Politically, he did not trust democracy and felt that
philosophers should rule and that there needed to be a
blend of philosophy and politics.
To him aristocracy was a perfect form of government, He
believed that government should only have rulers who had
the intelligence and education appropriate for the matter.
His thoughts were that a job should be done only by those
who are best suited for it.
Plato’s most enduring and influential work is the book The
Republic
Plato’s Republic
 Timocracy: Socrates defines a as a government ruled by people who love
honor and are selected according to the degree of honor they hold in society,
where only property owners may participate in government.
 Oligarchy: These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties,
education, corporate, or military control. Such states are often controlled by a
few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the
next.Socrates suggests that wealth will not help a pilot to navigate his ship. This
injustice divides the rich and the poor, thus creating an environment for
criminals and beggars to emerge. The rich are constantly plotting against the
poor and vice versa.
 Democracy: As this socioeconomic divide grows, so do tensions between
social classes. From the conflicts arising out of such tensions,
democracy replaces the oligarchy preceding it. The poor overthrow the
inexperienced oligarchs and soon grant liberties and freedoms to citizens.
 Tyranny: A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
The excessive freedoms granted to the citizens of a democracy ultimately leads
to a tyranny, the furthest regressed type of government.
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Aristotle
 While Plato was more abstract, Aristotle was more logical. Aristotle was
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brilliant and wrote about many diverse subjects, including mathematics,
government, metaphysics, and science.
He was practical and realistic in his approach to knowledge.
As far as politics go, he felt the best form of government was a
constitutional one.
His opinion toward life was that all people should live a fair and happy
life.
Aristotle's political science encompasses the two fields which modern
philosophers distinguish as ethics and political philosophy.
he had his own theories towards his belief of the "right
government". He wanted his results to show happiness among the
people. believe that a perfect government could be formed only by those
who have a middle class.
Political system
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Democracy
Republic
Monarchy
Communism
Dictatorship
Totalitarian
Theocracy
Parliamentary
Revolutionary
Oligarchy/Plutocracy
Democracy
 all citizens have an equal opportunity to express their opinion
 Most popular one is parliamentary democracy
 The term comes from Greek word demokratia (rule of the
people)
 Essential of democracy include freedom of speech, press,
political expression, human right, civil society
 Representative democracy involves the selection of government
officials by the people being represented. Parliamentary
democracy is also representative democracy where government
is appointed by parliament. Presidential democracy is a system
where the public elects the president free and fair elections.
Semi-presidential system in which the government includes
both prime minister and president. Deliberative democracy is
based on the notion that democracy is government by
discussion.
Parliamentary
 In this system government in which ministers of the
executive branch get their legitimacy from and are
accountable to that parliament body.
 The origins of the modern concept of prime ministerial
government go back to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–
1800) and The Parliamentary System in Sweden (1721–1772),
that coincided with each other.
 A Parliamentary System may consist of two styles
of chambers of parliament one with two chambers (or
houses): an elected lower house, and an upper house or
Senate which may be appointed or elected by a different
mechanism from the lower house. This style of two houses
is called bicameral system. Legislatures with only one
house are known as unicameral system.
Oligarchy
 The meaning “ a few”, ruled by small people.
 These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family
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ties, corporate or military control.
Few prominent families who pass their influence from one
generation to the next.
For example, communist country where only members of the
Communist Party were allowed to vote.
For example, in past South Africa, only white people were
allowed to vote.
Corporate oligarchy (Corporatocracy) is a form of power, where
such power effectively rests with a small, elite group of inside
individuals, sometimes from a small group of educational
institutions, or influential economic entities or devices, such as
banks, commercial entities,
Plutocracy
 Plutocracy meaning (ploutos: wealth and kratos power
rule) is ruled by the wealthy.
 Wealthy minorities have always influence over the
political arena.
 In modern times, the term is sometimes used to refer
to societies rooted in state-corporate capitalism.
 It is fusion of money and government.
Revolutionary
 A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is
a fundamental change in power or organizational
structures that takes place in a relatively short period of
time.
 Aristotle described two types of political revolution:
Complete change from one constitution to another,
Modification of an existing constitution.
 Perhaps most often, the word "revolution" is employed to
denote a change in socio-political institutions.
 Many such early studies of revolutions tended to
concentrate on four classic cases—famous and
uncontroversial examples that fit virtually all definitions of
revolutions, like the Glorious Revolution (1688), the French
Revolution (1789–1799), the Russian Revolution of 1917 and
the Chinese Revolution (1927–1949).
Totalitarianism
 Stay in political power through propaganda campaign
by controlling mass media, a single party and
controlled economy.
 The concept was developed in 1920 in Italian fascists.,
it means total political power by state.
 Everything within the state, nothing outside the state,
nothing against the state.
Theocracy
 It is a form of government in which official policy is
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governed by religion or religion groups.
From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God
himself is recognized as the head" of the state
the term theocracy, from the Greek "rule of God",
Theocracy should be distinguished from other, secular,
forms of government that have a state religion, or are
merely influenced by theological or moral concepts
Current , an Islamic state is a state that has adopted Islam,
, specifically Sharia, as its foundations for political
institutions, or laws, exclusively, and has implemented the
Islamic ruling system
Dictatorship
 A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of
government in which the government is ruled by an
individual a dictator.
 Dictatorship is often defined simply as "not
democracy",
 Dictatorships may be classified in a number of ways,
such as: Military dictatorship, Single party state,
Personal, or Hybrid
 Dictators may attain power in a number of ways:
family, military, constitutional, self-coup,
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Monarchy
 A monarchy is a form of government in which
sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a
single individual.
 Types of monarchy: absolute monarchy, constitutional
monarchy, hereditary monarchy, elective monarchy ,
ceremonial monarchy, cultural monarchy
Communism
 Communism (from Latin communis - common, universal), Communism comes from the Latin
word communis, which means "shared" or "belong to all".,It is a revolutionary social movement to
create a classless, moneyless, stateless, common ownership of the means of production.
 Marxist theory contends that socialism is just a transitional stage on the road to communism.
 A communist society would have no governments, countries, or class divisions.
 In modern usage, the word "communism" is still often used to refer to the policies of self-declared
socialist governments comprising one party states which were single legal political party systems
operating under centrally planned economies
 According to communist theory, the only way to abolish capitalist inequalities is to have the
proletariat (working class), who are perpetually exploited and marginalised by
the bourgeoisie (wealthy class), to overthrow the capitalist system. Like other socialists, Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels sought an end to capitalism and the systems which they perceived to be
responsible for the exploitation of workers.
 The dominant forms of communism are based on Marxism, but non-Marxist versions of communism
like Christian communism and anarchist communism also exist.
 Anarchist communism (also known as libertarian communism) is a theory of anarchism which
advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favour of common
ownership of the means of production,[58][59] direct democracy and a horizontal network ofvoluntary
associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle:
"from each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Anarcho-communism differs from
marxism rejecting its view about the need for a State Socialism phase before building communism.
 Christian communism is a form of religious communism centred on Christianity. It is a theological
and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ urge Christians to support
communism as the ideal social system.
Republic
 Simplified definition of a republic is a government where the
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head of state is not a monarch. It is form of government in which
the supreme power rests with people.
Classical republic: Greek: Athens, Sparta, Roman Republic,
India, Northen part of Europe
In Europe new republics appeared in the late Middle
ages, These were generally small, but wealthy, trading states, , in
which the merchant class had risen to prominence.
Protestant Reformation used as justification of establishing new
republics.
Most of these Enlightenment thinkers were far more interested
in ideas of constitutional monarchy than in republics.
Collapse of monarch due social or communist movement.
Islamic political philosophy has a long history of opposition to
absolute monarchy,
Types; parliamentary republic, Federal republic, Islamic
republic, Socialist republic
Socialism
 The producing and distributing goods can be privately or collectively owned or dictated
by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy. Although
socialism does not always co-exist with only communist or fascist governments, the
implementation of socialism in many countries requires that a strong central government
generally impose this philosophy on the people.
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 Modern socialism originated from an 18th-century intellectual and working class
political movement that criticised the effects of industrialization
 "We want to achieve a new and better order of society: in this new and better society
there must be neither rich nor poor; all will have to work. Not a handful of rich people,
but all the working people must enjoy the fruits of their common labour. Machines and
other improvements must serve to ease the work of all and not to enable a few to grow
rich at the expense of millions and tens of millions of people. This new and better society
is called socialist society. The teachings about this society are called socialism." Lenin
 In the most influential of all socialist theories, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels believed
the consciousness of those who earn a wage or salary (the "working class" in the broadest
Marxist sense) would be moulded by their "conditions" of "wage-slavery", leading to a
tendency to seek their freedom or "emancipation" by overthrowing ownership of the
means of production by capitalists. For Marx and Engels, conditions determine
consciousness and ending the role of the capitalist class leads eventually to a classless
society in which the state would wither away.
capitalism
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Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or
corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits
gained in a free market.
Capitalism is a system that is based on private ownership of the means of production , competitative
market, wage labor, capital accumulation etc.
Product (capital or consumer): Capital goods (i.e., raw materials, tools, industrial machines, vehicles
and factories) are used to produce consumer goods (e.g., televisions, cars, computers, houses) to be
sold to others. The three inputs required for production are:labor,land (i.e., natural resources, which
exist prior to human beings) and capital goods.
Money was primarily a standardized medium of exchange, and final means of payment, that serves to
measure the value of all goods and commodities in a standard of value.
Types: Mercantilism holds that the wealth of a nation is increased through a positive balance of trade
with other nations. Free market capitalism consists of a free-price system where supply and demand
are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by the government. A social
market economy is a nominally free-market system where government intervention in price
formation is kept to a minimum but the state provides significant social security, unemployment
benefits and recognition of labor rights through national collective bargaining laws. State
capitalism consists of state ownership of the means of production within a state. Corporate capitalism
is a free or mixed market characterized by the dominance of hierarchical, bureaucratic corporations,
which are legally required to pursue profit.
largely market-based economy consisting of both public ownership and private ownership of the
means of production. Most capitalist economies are defined as "mixed economies" to some
degree[although the balance between the public and private sectors may vary.