Politics and Sociology

The Definitions and its Methodology

Definitions
Sociology - the study of human
behaviour within a society
Politics - resolution of human
conflict, process of deciding and
allocating resources, functions of
government
Political Sociology - links between
politics and society

Think of Right of Abode Issues, 1999
it studies the nexus of society and
politics, or the sociology of politics;
it examines how society and various
social groups, defined by factors
such as social class, race, gender,
ethnicity, religion, occupation affect
politics, and vice versa
study of power and power
structures at all levels
Relevancy???
Understand the nature of society
(power) .
The decision making process and the
decision which affect us..
Moral and ethical concerns behind
... right for some people to dominate,
right for some people to suffer
because of ..
What can we do...
Traditional Approaches
Historical - history is the root of
politics; politics is the fruit of history
Legalistic - study of constitutions
and legal codes
Institutional - legislature, executive
and judiciary
Contemporary Approaches
Behavioural - behaviour of political
actors (empirical and value-free)
Psychological - learning,
socialisation, personality, cognitive
dissonance
Systems - political structure and
process as systems, systems
interplay
Communications - media,
information, perception, reception