In the article “Politics and Pseudo-Politics: A Critical Evaluation of Some Behavioural Literature” published in The American Political Science Review author Christian Bay creates an interesting and divisive definition of the word politics in response to his frustration with the ambiguous behavioural research and literature taking place in “the discipline that bravely calls itself Political Science.” Although Bay’s definition for politics assists in “guiding and interpreting (Political Scientist’s) empirical work” it is too specific to be used as a definition that encompasses the larger meaning of the word. Christian Bay and the authors of An Introduction to Government & Politics: A Conceptual Approach (9th Edition) and Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics (5th Edition) both try to encompass what they believe the meaning behind the word politics is. While Bay believes that politics is about making choices that attempt to benefit all of society according to an agreed upon “scheme of priorities” , the authors of An Introduction to Government & Politics: A Conceptual Approach (9th Edition) believe that politics is about “building coalitions of support to obtain rank” and the authors of Critical Concept: An Introduction to Politics (5th Edition) believe that politics is about “individuals join(ing) groups that promote their interests.” Even though all three of these approaches to the topic of politics appear to be quite different there are also similarities that can be drawn from them when they are compared. Through this process of comparison and contrast the usefulness of the three definitions can eventually be determined.
Christian Bay attempts to clarify the scientific based research going on in his field by comin...
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...te their interests.” Both of these definitions are more closely related to Bay’s definition of “pseudopolitics” than his definition of politics. Through the analysis of these three definitions it can be determined that Christian Bay’s definition of politics is not very useful and creates a false divide between what is and is not political behaviour.
Works Cited
Bay, Christian. “Politics and Pseudopolitics: A Critical Evaluation of Some Behavioural Literature.” The American Political Science Review 59, no. 1 (1965): 39-40, http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1976119
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Politics, although a very abhorred profession, is a necessity for society, and requires good leaders who make good political decisions for their constituents. Unfortunately, there is always a negative connotation associated with politicians, as they are usually seen as corrupt, lying, and scheming people. There are many dif...
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What Is Politics On hearing the word politics, what usually springs to mind are images of government, politicians and their policies or more negatively the idea of corruption and dirty tricks. The actual definition seems to have been obscured and almost lost by such representations and clichés that tend not to pinpoint the true essence, which defines this thing, called politics. In order to make an attempt at a definition of politics a systematic approach is required. To begin with, a brief historical overview will be considered, to understand the origins of politics. Following this, different core concepts, which are imperative to a definition of politics, will be discussed, in the hope to discover a true and fair interpretation of the word politics.
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