Danziger/Rejai: Politics and Knowledge

Prepared and Presented byAngela Oberbauer ©2005

What is Politics? Individuals using power to make change!

• Types Of Political Knowledge:

1. Description political knowledge focus on

what, and descriptive response based on

facts.

2. Explanation answers why, and require adequate explanation of information.

3. Prescription is your value judgment.

Sources of Political Knowledge

1.Authority involves respect to authority sources: specific, general, or everyone.2.Personal Thought involves exercising: rationale, Intuition, and personal experience.3.Science uses explicit methods to describe and explain by (1) search for regularities; (2)empirically observe phenomena; (3)cumulate previous established knowledge

as foundation for further knowledge development; (4)new knowledge must be testable/verifiable.

What is Political Science?

• Political Science attempts to understand and explain the political world, by developing concepts, improved methods of

science, to use systematic and analytic thinking to reduce our misunderstandings

and misconceptions of political issues.

Danziger, Chapter 2Political Beliefs

Individual political beliefs are cumulative reactionsand orientations toward political phenomena:Cognitive Orientations are what an individualbelieves to be political “facts”.Affective Orientations include our feelings oremotions in reaction to political phenomena.Evaluative Orientations involves synthesizingthe facts and feelings into a judgment call aboutsome political phenomenon.

Belief Systems of Mass Publics

1. Political issues have low salience.

2. People focus attention on concrete issues,

have minimal grasp of abstract political concepts, and don’t have constraint knowledge.

3. Interest/knowledge is short-term.

4. Fundamental beliefs are stable, but can be

volatile in short-term political opinions.

5. Content of beliefs is often inaccurate.

Belief Systems of Elites

1. Have relatively high levels of interest and involvement in political life; hold positions of political responsibility.

2. Elites communicate their beliefs to others.3. They influence the Mass Publics.4. Have relatively high levels of constraint

knowledge, accuracy, complexity.5. Emphasis is on consistency, however, Elites can

have conflicting opinions among themselves.

Political Culture

Is the configuration of a particular society’spolitical orientations -- the general beliefsystem of many:

The American Political Culture believes in:liberties, rights, political equality,

individualism, capitalism, property, universal suffrage, democracy, equal opportunity, and pluralism.

Rejai, Chapter 1: Political Ideology/Political Belief SystemsIs a comprehensive set of beliefs about the

political world. Rejai’s five important dimensions:

1. Cognitive: knowledge and belief

2. Affective: feelings and emotions

3. Evaluative: norms and judgments

4. Programmatic: the plans and taking action

5. Social base: mobilization of supporting groups and forming the political party.

Karl Marx’s Conceptionalization of Ideology

How does Marx analyze ideology?

Marx says ideology is an intellectual activity, an idea system.

What does Marx say about an idea system?

Marx insists that an idea system is only derivative, secondary, and false, and

explains his theory through “social reality”.

Marx’s explanation of “Social Reality”

Society is broken down into two “structures”:I. The Substructure contains:

--All material, economic foundation of society, including: “The Owning Class”,(which is the “Ruling Class”), and it alsocontains “The Non-owning Class” (the oppressed and exploited “proletariat”.

Marx suggests that the “substructure” is the most important aspect of a society and gives rise to the “superstructure”.

“Social Reality”, continued

II.The Superstructure:--consists of all other elements of society:art, culture, religion, social and politicalinstitutions such as government, education,and it also consists of “ideologies”.

Therefore, Marx suggests that the “Superstructure” has no independent reality, and only mirrors the ideas and philosophies set down by the “Ruling Class” within the “Substructure”, thereby, Ideologies are “derivative, secondary, and false”.

Friedrich Engels’ “False Consciousness”

Engels suggests that the “Ruling Class” onlypretend sincere consciousness toward the“Nonruling”, and that the “ideologies and actions”the Ruling deliberately promulgate through theirbelief systems are indeed falsehoods set down forthe purpose to control the “oppressed and nonrulingclass”. Further, these ideologies are there to onlybenefit the Ruling Class.

The Rise of Ideologies

I. The French Revolution and its new ideas:The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (1789)--men

are no longer “subjects” but now “citizens” (king is dethroned).

Estates General was expanded to incorporate representatives from the middle-class commoners, now called the “Third Estate”.

Democracy: new institutions protecting:life, liberty, equality, fraternity, and citizenship

Popular Sovereignty: the people have ultimate authority over government.

Rise of Ideologies, continued

II. The Industrial Revolution:

--More factories were built in urban areas.

--Improved factory manufacturing.

--More trade was created internationally.

--More labor was needed.

continued

III. Urbanization:

Labor coming into urban areas from rural areas: Ethnic Ghettos were formed; depersonalization of

human life.

Unions: With the rise of production, groups of

dissatisfied laborers formed into unions with

specific beliefs and demands from Factory

property owners.

continued

IV. Modernization:Further, with the 19th century, a rise of literacy through

better means of printing.The rise of education, and the condition of ignorance is

broken: one begins to challenge one’s subservient status, and becomes activist, even rebellious.

Secularism rises: no longer does one automatically follow “set ideas”. Religion begins to looseits hold on those educating themselves. Therefore,“ideology” became the substitute for religion.

continued

V. Science and Technology:---Improvements in technology.---Modern methods of Communications.---Modern forms of transportation.All of these advancements allowed information

about ideologies to reach millions of peopleacross many continents.

Now, let’s look back at Danziger, Chapter 2,“Political Ideologies.”

Rejai’s, Functions of Ideologies

• First: they provide a perspective on social and political reality.

• Second: provide the individual with a sense of identity and belonging.

• Third: ideologies serve to achieve social solidarity and cohesion.

• Fourth: ideologies encourage optimism, hope, promise, utopia, and even paradise.

• Fifth: they serve to support and maintain a political regime or to challenge and destroy it.

Danziger, Chapter 3: Political Actions

Modes of Activity:1. Individual political actions:

voting, campaign activities, rallies, protesting.2. Political Activists: Foot soldiers; Extremist-

activists; political leaders.3. Political Interest Groups: people who share same

interest and want to influence policymakingthrough: Political action; Provision of materialresources; Exchange of Information; Cooperation

Political Actions, continued

4. Political Parties: are political activists that

want to win elections, run government, and

make policy.

5. Party Functions: serve as brokers of ideas;

facilitate political socialization; link individuals to the belief system; mobilize and recruit political activists; coordinate governmental operations; serve as sources of opposition.

Danziger, Chapter 4: Influences on Beliefs and Actions

Four broad types of explanatory factors that might account for individual political behavior:

1. The environment: where someone is born,rural, urban, connected to technology.

2. Agents of Political Socialization: parents,schools, religion, peers, media, events.

3. Personal Characteristics: education, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race.

4. Personality and Human Nature: cheerful, angry,aggressive. Also possible genetic makeup.