Political Theories and Ideologies Notes | B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Semester 2 | SPPU | munotes

Contents

Module 01 Introduction

1. What Political Theory Is: Meaning, Definitions, Types and Significance 1
2. The Decline and Resurgence of Political Theory 4
3. How Political Theory Shapes Society and Law 7
4. Mill's Influence on the Indian Constitution 10

Module 02 Political Concepts and Theories (Part I)

1. Liberty: Meaning, Importance and Kinds 15
2. J. S. Mill on Liberty: The Harm Principle 19
3. The Shift From Negative Liberty to Positive Liberty 25
4. Liberty and Equality: Enemies or Partners? 31
5. Equality: Meaning, Importance and Kinds 34
6. Theories of Equality: Welfare, Resources, Capability and Complex Equality 37
7. What Justice Means 41
8. The Kinds of Justice 44
9. Rawls and Justice as Fairness 48
10. Rights: Meaning, Nature and Kinds 53
11. Negative and Positive Rights, and the Kinds of Rights 59
12. Fundamental Rights and Human Rights Distinguished 62
13. Duties, and the Correlation of Rights and Duties 67
14. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The Rights It Declares 71

Module 03 Political Concepts and Theories (Part II)

1. What Power Is, and Why Political Science Begins With It 77
2. The Definitions of Power, and the Three Faces of It 82
3. Power, Force, Coercion and Influence: The Family of Words That Get Confused 87
4. What Authority Is 91
5. The Features of Authority 96
6. The Sources of Authority: How Power Is Legalised 100
7. Power and Authority Compared 105
8. Legitimacy: The Concept 109
9. Max Weber's Classification of Authority 114
10. The Elite Theory of Power 118
11. The Marxist Theory of Power 124
12. The Elite Theory and the Marxist Theory Compared 130
13. The Group Theory of Power 135
14. What Political Obligation Is 138
15. Why People Obey Laws: The Grounds of Political Obligation 143
16. The Theories of Political Obligation: A Map 148
17. The Divine Right Theory of Kings 152
18. The Theory of Force 157
19. The Theory of Prescriptive Possession 162
20. The Social Contract and Consent Theory 167
21. Locke: The Contract as a Trust 172
22. Rousseau: The General Will 177
23. Consent Theory and Its Critics 182
24. Karl Marx on Political Obligation 187
25. The Utilitarian Theory of Political Obligation 193
26. What an Unjust Law Is 196
27. The Right to Resistance and Dissent 202
28. Civil Disobedience: Meaning, Features, Conditions and Limits, and Revolution Contrasted 208
29. Thoreau and Civil Disobedience 212
30. T. H. Green on Resistance 217
31. Martin Luther King Jr on Resistance 222
32. Nelson Mandela on Resistance 228
33. Punishment: Why the State Does It at All 234
34. The Justification of Punishment 239
35. Kinds of Punishment Under the Sanhita 245
36. Theories of Punishment: An Overview 254
37. The Deterrent Theory 259
38. Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarian Theory of Punishment 265
39. The Retributive Theory 271
40. Kant's Retributivism 278
41. The Preventive Theory 284
42. The Reformative Theory 289
43. Gandhi and the Reformative Approach to Punishment 296
44. The Expiation Theory 303

Module 04 Political Ideologies

1. What a Political Ideology Is 307
2. Theory and Ideology, and the End of Ideology 312
3. Liberalism: Meaning and Basic Principles 315
4. Classical and Modern Liberalism 320
5. Neoliberalism, Liberal Democracy and the End of History 325
6. Liberalism: The Arguments For and Against 329
7. Socialism: Meaning and Basic Principles 335
8. The Kinds of Socialism 340
9. Socialism: The Arguments For and Against 345
10. Socialism's Influence on the Indian Constitution 350
11. Socialism and Communism Compared 356
12. Marx: Historical and Dialectical Materialism 361
13. Marx: Theory of Social Class and Social Conflict 366
14. Marx: Alienation 371
15. Communism: The Basic Principles 376
16. An Evaluation of Communism 382
17. Marxism: Exploitation, the State and Its Relevance Today 387
18. Utilitarianism: Meaning and Basic Principles 390
19. Bentham's Utilitarianism and the Felicific Calculus 395
20. J. S. Mill's Modification of Benthamite Utilitarianism 401
21. Utilitarianism: The Arguments For and Against 407
22. State, Nation and Nationality Distinguished 413
23. Nationality: Meaning, and the Elements That Help It Develop 416
24. Nationalism: Meaning, Principles, Merits, and the Dangers of Over-Nationalism 420
25. Challenges Before Nationalism: Sub-nationalism and Regionalism 425
26. Dictatorship and the Totalitarian State: Fascism, Nazism and Soviet Communism 428
27. Fascism and Nazism: Core Values 434
28. Gandhiji's Political Thought 437
29. Satyagraha: The Gandhian Technique of Resistance 443
30. Gandhian Gram Swaraj 450
31. Sarvodaya, Compared With Utilitarianism 455
32. Gandhism and Communism Compared 461
33. Ambedkar on Marginalization 467
34. Dr Ambedkar's Views on Decentralisation 471
35. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar's Theory of Social Justice 476

Module 05 Contemporary Political Ideologies

1. Ecologism 480
2. Feminism and Sociology: The Historical Roots 483
3. The Feminist Perspective 489
4. Liberal Feminism 493
5. Marxist Feminism 497
6. Black Feminism 501
7. Eco-Feminism 505
8. Multiculturalism, and the Indian Version of It 509