राज्यशास्त्र Political Science

Quick summary

Plato (c. 427–347 BCE) was a Greek philosopher, a disciple of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle. He founded the Academy at Athens. In his famous book The Republic, he described an ideal state based on justice, ruled by philosopher-kings, supported by a state system of education and the communism of property and wives for the ruling classes.

Key points

• Plato's main works: The Republic, The Statesman, The Laws. The Republic is written as dialogues with Socrates as the main speaker.
• He was disturbed by the execution of Socrates (399 BCE) by Athenian democracy and by the corruption of politics; he wanted rule by knowledge.
• Theory of Ideas (Forms): the real world is the world of Ideas; the visible world is only a shadow (illustrated by the Allegory of the Cave).
• Theory of Justice: Plato saw three elements in the human soul – reason, spirit (courage) and appetite – and three classes in the state:

• Justice = each class performing its own function and not interfering in the work of others. It is a principle of harmony and specialisation.
• He rejected the traditional views of justice put forward by Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus ("justice is the interest of the stronger") and Glaucon.
• Theory of Education: state-controlled and compulsory, for both men and women. Elementary stage (up to about 20 years: gymnastics for body, music for soul), then higher education (20–35 years: mathematics, dialectics). Those who pass become philosopher-rulers; they rule from about 50.
• Philosopher-king: "until philosophers are kings, or kings and princes have the spirit and power of philosophy… cities will never have rest from their evils."
• Communism: for the guardian classes only – no private property and no private family (communism of wives and children). Aim: to free rulers from greed and family attachment so they serve the state.
• He treated women as equal to men in ability for guardianship (with the qualification that they are weaker on average).
• In The Laws (later work) he described a "second-best state" ruled by law, with mixed constitution.
• Criticism (especially by Karl Popper in The Open Society and Its Enemies): totalitarian, ignores individual liberty, class rigidity, impractical communism; Aristotle also criticised his communism.
• Contribution: first systematic political philosophy; importance of education, justice and rule by the wise; equal opportunity for women.

Important terms

• Philosopher-king – wise ruler with true knowledge.
• Guardians – ruling and military classes in Plato's state.
• Dialectics – method of reaching truth through questions and answers.
• Communism (Platonic) – sharing of property and family by guardians.
• Ideal state – perfect state as imagined in The Republic.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. What is Plato's concept of a philosopher-king?

Plato believed the ideal state should be ruled by a philosopher who has true knowledge of the Good. Such a ruler, trained through long education, will rule wisely and selflessly.

Q2. What are the three classes in Plato's ideal state?

Rulers (guardians), auxiliaries (soldiers) and producers (farmers, craftsmen), matching reason, spirit and appetite in the human soul.

Q3. Explain Plato's theory of justice.

• Rejection of traditional views.
• Analogy of soul and state.
• Three classes and virtues.
• Justice = doing one's own work, non-interference.
• Justice as harmony.
• Criticism: ignores rights; supports class division.

Q4. Describe Plato's scheme of education.

• State-controlled, compulsory.
• Equal for men and women.
• Elementary: music and gymnastics.
• Higher: mathematics, dialectics.
• Tests to select rulers.
• Aim: produce philosopher-rulers.

Q5. Critically examine Plato's theory of communism.

• Communism of property and family for guardians.
• Aim: remove greed and nepotism.
• Differences from modern communism (limited to rulers; moral not economic aim).
• Criticism: against human nature, Aristotle's objections.
• Equal status of women as a positive point.

Exam tip

A table matching soul, class and virtue is the best way to explain Plato's justice quickly and clearly.

Quick summary

Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher, the student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great. He is called the "Father of Political Science" because he studied politics in a realistic, scientific way. In his book Politics, he discussed the origin and nature of the state, classification of constitutions, citizenship, slavery, property and the causes of revolution.

Key points

• Born at Stagira (Macedonia); studied at Plato's Academy for about 20 years; founded the Lyceum at Athens (c. 335 BCE).
• He studied 158 constitutions of Greek city-states (only The Constitution of Athens survives); used inductive, comparative and historical methods.
• Main works: Politics, Nicomachean Ethics.
• Origin and nature of the state: "Man is by nature a political animal." The state grows naturally: family → village → polis (state). The state "comes into existence for the sake of life, and continues for the sake of good life".
• The state is prior to the individual (as the whole is prior to the part); one who lives outside the state is "either a beast or a god".
• Classification of governments – by number of rulers and their aim:

• He saw a cycle of change among these forms.
• Polity – a mixed constitution combining oligarchy and democracy, ruled by the middle class – was the best practicable state ("golden mean").
• Citizenship: a citizen is one who shares in the administration of justice and in holding office (deliberative or judicial). Workers, slaves, women and foreigners were excluded.
• Slavery: justified "natural slavery" – some people are by nature fit only to obey. Slaves were "living tools". This is strongly criticised today.
• Property: rejected Plato's communism; supported private property with common use. Property gives happiness and encourages generosity.
• Family: natural and necessary; criticised Plato's abolition of family.
• Revolution: general causes – desire for equality or for more privileges, profit and honour, insolence of rulers, fear, contempt, disproportionate growth of one class. Remedies – moderation, education in the spirit of the constitution, obedience to law, rotation in office, a strong middle class.
• Justice: distributive (according to merit) and corrective.
• Plato vs Aristotle: Plato idealist and deductive; Aristotle realist and inductive. Plato's ideal state vs Aristotle's best practicable state.

Important terms

• Polis – city-state.
• Polity – mixed government of the middle class.
• Golden mean – moderation between two extremes.
• Natural slavery – Aristotle's idea that some are naturally slaves.
• Inductive method – reasoning from facts to general conclusions.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. Why is Aristotle called the Father of Political Science?

Because he studied politics systematically and realistically, using observation and comparison of 158 constitutions. He made political science a separate, independent subject of study, while still treating politics and ethics as closely linked (the state exists for the good life).

Q2. Define a citizen according to Aristotle.

A citizen is one who has the right to share in the deliberative and judicial functions of the state – that is, to take part in making decisions and in the courts.

Q3. Explain Aristotle's classification of governments.

• Basis: number of rulers and aim.
• Pure: monarchy, aristocracy, polity.
• Perverted: tyranny, oligarchy, democracy.
• Cycle of change.
• Polity as the best practicable.

Q4. Discuss Aristotle's theory of revolution.

• Meaning: change of constitution or rulers.
• General causes.
• Causes in different governments.
• Remedies.
• Relevance today.

Q5. Compare Plato and Aristotle.

• Idealist vs realist.
• Deductive vs inductive method.
• Communism vs private property.
• Ideal state vs best practicable state.
• Rule of philosopher vs rule of law.
• Both: state for good life; ethics and politics linked.

Exam tip

The six-fold classification table is the most asked part; draw it neatly in the exam.

Quick summary

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a political thinker of Florence, Italy, during the Renaissance. In his famous book The Prince (written 1513, published 1532), he advised rulers on how to gain, keep and increase power. He separated politics from religion and morality, and is called the "Father of Modern Political Thought" and the "child of the Renaissance".

Key points

• He served as Secretary of the Florentine Republic (from 1498) and as a diplomat. After the Medici returned to power (1512), he lost his post, was jailed, and wrote The Prince, dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici.
• Other works: Discourses on Livy (on republics), The Art of War, History of Florence.
• Background: Italy was divided into small states, weak and corrupt, and invaded by foreign powers. He wanted a strong ruler to unite Italy.
• Human nature: men are selfish, ungrateful, fickle, deceitful and greedy for gain. Men forget the death of their father more quickly than the loss of their property (patrimony).
• Separation of politics from ethics and religion: the ruler should judge actions by results, not by morality. "The end justifies the means" is the popular summary of his idea.
• He did not reject morality for private life, but held that the state's safety comes first – a "double standard" of morality for ruler and citizen.
• Advice to the Prince:
• It is safer to be feared than loved, if one cannot be both, but he must avoid being hated.
• He should be like the fox and the lion – the fox to recognise traps, the lion to frighten wolves.
• He should appear to be religious, honest and merciful, but be ready to act otherwise when needed.
• He should not touch the property and women of his subjects.
• He should rely on a national citizen army, not mercenaries.
• Virtù (ability, energy, skill of the ruler) and Fortuna (luck, chance) – a ruler with virtù can control fortune.
• Religion: useful as a tool to keep people united and obedient.
• Republic: in the Discourses, he preferred a republic for a virtuous people, and a monarchy for a corrupt one.
• Nationalism: he dreamt of a united, independent Italy.
• Contribution: realism in politics; secular state; modern idea of the state and "reason of state"; power politics. Machiavellianism has come to mean cunning, deceitful politics.
• Criticism: immoral, narrow view of human nature, ignores ethics, encourages tyranny.

Important terms

• Realism – studying politics as it is, not as it ought to be.
• Virtù – energy, skill and courage of a ruler.
• Fortuna – chance or luck.
• Machiavellianism – use of cunning and deceit in politics.
• Raison d'état – reason of state; state interest above all.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. Why is Machiavelli called the child of the Renaissance?

Because, like the Renaissance, he rejected medieval religious authority, took a secular and realistic view of politics, and focused on human beings and the state.

Q2. What is meant by virtù and fortuna?

Virtù is the ruler's energy, ability and courage; fortuna is luck or chance. Machiavelli said a ruler with virtù can master fortune.

Q3. Explain Machiavelli's views on human nature.

• Selfish, ungrateful, fickle.
• Greedy for wealth and power.
• Act only under necessity.
• Need for a strong ruler.
• Basis of his advice to the prince.

Q4. Describe Machiavelli's advice to the Prince.

• Feared rather than loved, but not hated.
• Fox and lion.
• Appear moral; act as needed.
• National army.
• Respect subjects' property and honour.
• Use religion as a tool.

Q5. Discuss Machiavelli's separation of politics from ethics.

• Politics judged by results.
• Double standard of morality.
• State safety supreme.
• Influence of Italian conditions.
• Criticism: immoral; defence: realistic, patriotic.

Exam tip

Quote "fox and lion" and "feared rather than loved" – examiners expect these famous lines from The Prince.

Quick summary

The social contract theory explains the origin of the state as the result of an agreement (contract) among people who earlier lived in a "state of nature" without government. The three main thinkers are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. They differed about human nature, the state of nature, the terms of the contract and where sovereignty lies.

Key points

• Common elements: state of nature (before society/government) → natural law and natural rights → contract → civil society and government.
• Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679), England; book ***Leviathan* (1651)**; background of the English Civil War.
• Human nature: selfish, competitive, fearful; all are roughly equal in their power to harm each other.
• State of nature: a "war of all against all"; life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short".
• Contract: each person gives up all his rights (except self-preservation) to a sovereign, who is not a party to the contract.
• Result: an absolute and indivisible sovereign (Leviathan); no right of revolt (except to save one's life). He supported absolute monarchy.
• John Locke (1632–1704), England; book ***Two Treatises of Government* (1690); justified the Glorious Revolution of 1688**.
• Human nature: rational, social, peaceful.
• State of nature: a state of peace, goodwill and mutual help, governed by natural law; people had natural rights to life, liberty and property. But it had three defects: no clear written law, no impartial judge, no power to enforce decisions.
• Contract: two stages – a social contract forming society, and a trust with the government. People gave up only the right to interpret and enforce natural law.
• Result: limited, constitutional government by consent; sovereignty lies with the people; right to revolt if government breaks trust. Father of liberalism.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), Geneva/France; book ***The Social Contract* (1762), opening line: "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.**"
• State of nature: "noble savage", simple, happy and free; private property and civilisation brought inequality and corruption.
• Contract: each person gives himself completely to the community as a whole; obeying the community means obeying oneself.
• Result: popular sovereignty through the General Will (the will that aims at the common good, not the sum of private wills – the "will of all"). Sovereignty is inalienable and indivisible. Inspired the French Revolution.
• Criticism of the theory: unhistorical (no evidence of such a contract), state of nature imaginary, rights cannot exist without society, a contract binds only its makers, the state grows by evolution. Still, it gave the important idea that government rests on the consent of the people.

Important terms

• State of nature – imagined condition before government.
• Natural rights – rights people have by nature.
• Leviathan – Hobbes's absolute sovereign state.
• General Will – Rousseau's collective will for the common good.
• Will of all – sum of private interests.
• Consent – people's agreement as the basis of authority.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. How did Hobbes describe the state of nature?

Hobbes said it was a state of war of all against all, where life was solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, because human beings are selfish and fearful.

Q2. What is the General Will?

In Rousseau's theory, the General Will is the will of the community aimed at the common good. It is always right and is the true sovereign; it differs from the "will of all", which is the total of selfish interests.

Q3. Explain Locke's social contract theory.

• Human nature rational.
• State of nature – peace with natural rights.
• Defects of state of nature.
• Two contracts; trust.
• Limited government, right to revolt.
• Basis of liberal democracy.

Q4. Compare the social contract theories of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.

• Human nature.
• State of nature.
• Terms of contract.
• Location of sovereignty.
• Type of government supported.
• Influence (absolutism, liberalism, democracy).

Q5. Critically evaluate the social contract theory.

• Historical, philosophical, legal criticisms.
• State as evolution, not contract.
• Rights need society.
• Value: consent, popular sovereignty, rights of individual.
• Influence on American and French revolutions.

Exam tip

Use a comparison table with the three thinkers in columns – it is the clearest way to write the most frequently asked long question.

Quick summary

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), an English philosopher and law reformer, is the founder of modern utilitarianism. He held that human beings are governed by pleasure and pain, and that every law and institution should be judged by whether it produces "the greatest happiness of the greatest number". He rejected natural rights and social contract, and used the principle of utility to demand legal, penal and democratic reforms in Britain.

Key points

• Main works: A Fragment on Government (1776), An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (printed 1780, published 1789), Constitutional Code.
• Psychological hedonism: "Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure." People naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain.
• Principle of utility: an action is right if it increases happiness and wrong if it decreases it. The goal of the state and law is the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
• Quantitative view: pleasures differ only in quantity, not quality ("quantity of pleasure being equal, push-pin is as good as poetry"). Each person counts for one and no one for more than one.
• Felicific (hedonistic) calculus: pleasure and pain can be measured by intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity (nearness), fecundity, purity and extent.
• Four sanctions that make people follow rules: physical (natural), political (legal), moral (popular) and religious.
• State: a group of people organised for promoting happiness; it is based on utility and habit of obedience, not on a contract. He called the social contract a fiction.
• Rights: rights are created by law; natural rights are "nonsense upon stilts".
• Law: law is the command of the sovereign; it should be codified, clear and aimed at utility. He coined the word "codification".
• Punishment: punishment is itself an evil, justified only if it prevents greater evil; it should be just enough to deter. He designed the Panopticon prison.
• Democracy: supported universal male suffrage, secret ballot, annual parliaments, abolition of the House of Lords and monarchy – because rulers' interests must be identified with the people's.
• Mill's revision: J. S. Mill made utilitarianism qualitative ("better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied").
• Criticism: pleasure cannot be measured; ignores quality and moral motives; majority's happiness may harm minorities; human beings are not only pleasure-seekers (Carlyle called it a "pig philosophy").
• Contribution: legal and penal reforms, the Reform Acts, scientific study of law, foundation of welfare-oriented policy.

Important terms

• Utilitarianism – the theory that right action produces the greatest happiness.
• Hedonism – the idea that pleasure is the highest good.
• Felicific calculus – method of measuring pleasure and pain.
• Sanction – a force that makes people obey rules.
• Panopticon – Bentham's design of a prison watched from a central tower.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. What is the principle of utility?

It is Bentham's principle that an action, law or institution is good if it increases the happiness of the greatest number and bad if it causes more pain.

Q2. Name the four sanctions given by Bentham.

Physical (natural), political (legal), moral (popular) and religious sanctions.

Q3. Explain Bentham's theory of utilitarianism.

• Psychological hedonism.
• Principle of utility; greatest happiness of greatest number.
• Felicific calculus and its seven criteria.
• Sanctions.
• Criticism.

Q4. Explain Bentham's views on state, law, rights and punishment.

• State based on utility, not contract.
• Law as command; codification.
• Rights as creation of law; rejection of natural rights.
• Punishment and Panopticon.

Q5. Compare the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill.

• Quantitative vs qualitative pleasure.
• Self-interest vs higher pleasures and character.
• Role of liberty and individuality.
• Conclusion.

Exam tip

List the seven dimensions of the felicific calculus in order; it is a favourite short question.

Quick summary

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) was an English philosopher, economist and a leading liberal thinker. He is famous for his defence of individual liberty in ***On Liberty* (1859), his revision of Bentham's utilitarianism, his support for representative government, and his early support for women's equality in The Subjection of Women (1869)**.

Key points

• Son of James Mill; educated very strictly by his father from early childhood (Greek at 3, according to his Autobiography); influenced by Jeremy Bentham.
• Suffered a mental crisis at 20; found relief in poetry and feelings, which shaped his softer, more humane liberalism.
• Main works: A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy (1848), ***On Liberty* (1859), Considerations on Representative Government (1861), Utilitarianism (1863), The Subjection of Women (1869)**.
• Member of the British Parliament (1865–68); proposed votes for women.
• Revision of utilitarianism:
• Bentham: "greatest happiness of the greatest number"; pleasures differ only in quantity ("pushpin is as good as poetry").
• Mill: pleasures also differ in quality; higher (intellectual, moral) pleasures are better. "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied."
• Liberty (On Liberty):
• Harm principle: "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others."
• Self-regarding actions (affecting only oneself) – full liberty; other-regarding actions (affecting others) – can be regulated.
• Liberty of thought and expression: even if one person holds an opinion against all others, mankind has no right to silence him. Reasons: the silenced opinion may be true; it may contain part of the truth; even a true opinion, if not challenged, becomes "dead dogma".
• Liberty of action and individuality – freedom to choose one's way of life; he feared the "tyranny of the majority" and social conformity.
• Representative government: the ideally best form of government; proposed proportional representation (Thomas Hare's scheme), plural voting for the educated, open (not secret) ballot, votes for women, and education as a condition for voting.
• Women's rights: equality in education, employment, voting and marriage.
• Criticism: distinction between self-regarding and other-regarding actions is unclear; plural voting is elitist; called by some a "reluctant democrat" and "prophet of empty liberty" (Ernest Barker's phrase).

Important terms

• Utilitarianism – right action is the one that gives the greatest happiness to the greatest number.
• Harm principle – liberty may be limited only to prevent harm to others.
• Self-regarding action – action affecting only the doer.
• Tyranny of the majority – suppression of minorities by the majority opinion.
• Plural voting – extra votes for educated persons.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. What is Mill's harm principle?

Mill said society or the state may interfere with an individual's liberty only to prevent harm to others. A person's own good is not enough reason to force him.

Q2. How did Mill revise Bentham's utilitarianism?

Mill added the idea of quality of pleasures. He said higher intellectual and moral pleasures are superior to bodily pleasures, so happiness is not just a matter of quantity.

Q3. Explain Mill's views on liberty of thought and expression.

• Silenced opinion may be true.
• May contain part of truth.
• True opinion unchallenged becomes dogma.
• Free debate helps progress.
• Limits: incitement to harm.

Q4. Describe Mill's ideas on representative government.

• Best form of government.
• Proportional representation.
• Plural voting for educated.
• Open ballot.
• Women's suffrage.
• Protection of minorities.

Q5. Critically examine Mill's concept of liberty.

• Individual as sovereign over himself.
• Self vs other-regarding actions.
• Individuality and diversity.
• Criticism: vague distinction, negative liberty, elitism.
• Relevance: free speech, minority rights today.

Exam tip

Quote "better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied" when explaining qualitative utilitarianism.

Quick summary

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) was a German idealist philosopher. He explained history as the gradual unfolding of Spirit (Geist) or Reason through a dialectical process. For Hegel the state is the highest stage of social ethics and the realisation of freedom; the individual finds true freedom by obeying the rational laws of the state. His ideas deeply influenced Marx, but critics like Karl Popper accused him of glorifying the state.

Key points

• Main works: Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), Science of Logic (1812–16), Philosophy of Right (1821), Lectures on the Philosophy of History (published after his death).
• Idealism: reality is ultimately mind or spirit; "the real is rational and the rational is real".
• Dialectics: progress happens through conflict of opposites. An idea (often described as thesis) meets its opposite (antithesis), and a higher idea (synthesis) emerges that keeps the truth of both. (The thesis–antithesis–synthesis wording is a later simplification, but it is how exams usually present it.)
• History is the march of Spirit towards freedom: in the Oriental world one was free (the ruler), in the Greek and Roman world some were free, in the Germanic-Christian world all are free.
• Family – based on love and unity (thesis).
• Civil society – based on self-interest, market, contracts; individuals compete (antithesis).
• State – unity of family's love and civil society's individuality; universal and rational (synthesis).
• Ethical life (Sittlichkeit) has three stages:
• State: "the march of God in the world" (a famous phrase often quoted from Philosophy of Right); it is an end in itself, the embodiment of reason and morality, not a mere protector of property.
• Freedom: not doing what one likes, but acting according to rational law; the individual becomes free in and through the state.
• Monarchy: he favoured constitutional monarchy, with the monarch giving final decision, a trained bureaucracy (the "universal class") and an estates assembly.
• War: he thought war preserves the ethical health of nations and prevents decay; there is no authority above sovereign states.
• Influence: Marx used the dialectical method but replaced ideas with material conditions (dialectical materialism) – he said he turned Hegel "right side up". British idealists like T. H. Green and Bosanquet were also influenced.
• Criticism: glorifies the state and war; individual absorbed in the state; seen as a source of authoritarian and fascist ideas (Karl Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies, 1945); difficult and obscure language. Defenders say he wanted a rational constitutional state, not dictatorship.

Important terms

• Geist (Spirit) – universal mind or reason working through history.
• Dialectic – development through contradiction and its resolution.
• Civil society – sphere of economic life and private interests between family and state.
• Sittlichkeit – ethical life embodied in social institutions.
• Idealism – philosophy that ideas or mind are the basic reality.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. What is Hegel's dialectical method?

It is the idea that development takes place through the conflict of opposite ideas, from which a higher idea emerges that combines the truth of both; the process continues until the Absolute is reached.

Q2. What is civil society according to Hegel?

Civil society is the stage between family and state in which individuals pursue their private interests through the market, contracts and associations.

Q3. Explain Hegel's dialectical method and philosophy of history.

• Idealism and Geist.
• Dialectic: thesis, antithesis, synthesis.
• History as progress of freedom (one, some, all).
• Influence on Marx.

Q4. Explain Hegel's theory of the state.

• Family, civil society and state.
• State as embodiment of reason and morality; "march of God".
• Freedom through the state; constitutional monarchy.
• Criticism.

Q5. Evaluate Hegel's contribution to political thought.

• Dialectics, history, state, freedom.
• Influence on Marx and idealists.
• Charges of authoritarianism; balanced conclusion.

Exam tip

Draw the three-step chart family → civil society → state with thesis/antithesis/synthesis labels in Q4.

Quick summary

Thomas Hill Green (1836–1882), an Oxford philosopher, was the leading British idealist and a founder of modern (positive) liberalism. He argued that "will, not force, is the basis of the state", that true liberty is a positive power to do things worth doing, and that the state should "hinder the hindrances" to the good life – for example, by providing education and controlling harmful trades. He built a bridge from classical laissez-faire liberalism to the welfare state.

Key points

• Main work: Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation (delivered 1879–80, published 1886 after his death); also Prolegomena to Ethics (1883).
• Influenced by Kant and Hegel, but more individualist and liberal than Hegel.
• Human nature: man is a moral, rational being who seeks self-realisation (developing his best self). Self-realisation is possible only in society, through common good.
• Will, not force, is the basis of the state: people obey the state because it stands for the common good they recognise, not mainly because of fear of punishment. He criticised Austin's view that sovereignty rests on force alone.
• Rights: a right is a power claimed by the individual and recognised by society as necessary for the common good. Rights are not natural in the sense of existing before society; they come from social recognition. There can be no right against society as a whole.
• Positive liberty: "a positive power or capacity of doing or enjoying something worth doing or enjoying, and that, too, something that we do or enjoy in common with others." Freedom is not just the absence of restraint.
• Function of the state: the state cannot make people moral directly (morality must be voluntary), but it can remove obstacles to moral life – ignorance, drunkenness, poverty, unhealthy conditions. Hence he supported compulsory education, temperance (liquor) laws, factory and land laws.
• Property: property is necessary for self-realisation, so everyone should have some; unlimited accumulation that leaves others without means is not justified. He criticised large landlordism.
• Punishment: should be mainly preventive and reformative; it protects rights.
• Resistance: citizens may resist the state when its laws clearly go against the common good, but only when the majority would support it and it will not cause anarchy.
• War: never an absolute right; it violates the right to life; a perfect state would not need war.
• Criticism: vague idea of "common good"; mix of idealism and liberalism (Barker called him "a liberal idealist"); state's role not clearly limited. Contribution: foundation of social or welfare liberalism (Hobhouse, Laski, and the British welfare state).

Important terms

• Idealism – the view that ideas and moral consciousness shape reality and society.
• Self-realisation – full development of one's moral capacities.
• Common good – the shared good of all members of society.
• Positive liberty – freedom as real ability to act and develop.
• Hinder hindrances – the state removing obstacles to good life.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. What did Green mean by "will, not force, is the basis of the state"?

He meant that the state rests on citizens' willing acceptance of laws that serve the common good, not mainly on coercion. Force is used only against those who break the law.

Q2. Give Green's definition of liberty.

Liberty is "a positive power or capacity of doing or enjoying something worth doing or enjoying", and that in common with others.

Q3. Explain Green's theory of rights.

• Rights based on moral nature and common good.
• Social recognition as essential.
• No rights against society; right to resist in limited cases.
• Comparison with natural rights theory.

Q4. Explain Green's views on the functions of the state.

• State cannot enforce morality directly.
• "Hinder hindrances": education, temperance, property and land laws.
• Positive liberty; welfare role.
• Criticism.

Q5. Evaluate Green's contribution to liberalism.

• From negative to positive liberalism.
• Will as basis of state, rights, property.
• Influence on welfare state; limitations.

Exam tip

Quote Green's definition of liberty word for word; it is often asked in 2-mark questions.

Quick summary

Harold Joseph Laski (1893–1950) was a British political scientist at the London School of Economics and a leader of the Labour Party. His thought moved through three stages: pluralism (attacking the idea of absolute state sovereignty), Fabian socialism (A Grammar of Politics, 1925) and a Marxist phase in the 1930s. He is famous for his definitions of rights and liberty, and he taught many Indian students who later shaped public life in India.

Key points

• Main works: Studies in the Problem of Sovereignty (1917), Authority in the Modern State (1919), A Grammar of Politics (1925), Liberty in the Modern State (1930), The State in Theory and Practice (1935), Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time (1943).
• Taught at Harvard and Yale, then at the LSE (from 1920); Chairman of the Labour Party (1945–46).
• Pluralism: society has many associations – family, church, trade unions, professional bodies – each with its own purpose. The state is only one association among them, though it co-ordinates the others. He attacked the monistic theory of sovereignty (Austin): "it would be of lasting benefit to political science if the whole concept of sovereignty were surrendered."
• State: the state's authority depends on how well it serves the needs of its citizens; obedience must be given on moral grounds, not blindly.
• Rights: "Rights are those conditions of social life without which no man can seek, in general, to be himself at his best." Rights are prior to the state in the sense that the state is judged by the rights it maintains. Important rights: to work, to adequate wages, to reasonable hours of work, to education, to vote, free speech and association.
• Liberty: "the eager maintenance of that atmosphere in which men have the opportunity to be their best selves." Types: private, political and economic liberty. "Liberty without equality is a name of noble sound and squalid result."
• Equality: absence of special privileges and adequate opportunities for all; economic equality is necessary for political democracy.
• Property: unequal property makes liberty meaningless; key industries should be socially controlled.
• Marxist phase: after the Great Depression he argued that the capitalist state protects the owning class and that democracy and capitalism are in conflict; but he still preferred peaceful, democratic change ("revolution by consent").
• Influence in India: students such as K. R. Narayanan and V. K. Krishna Menon learned from him; his ideas of rights and welfare influenced Indian democratic socialism.
• Criticism: shifting views and inconsistencies; pluralism weakens state unity; vague about how to reconcile liberty and equality.

Important terms

• Pluralism – the view that power and loyalty are shared among many associations, not only the state.
• Monism – the view that sovereignty is single, absolute and indivisible.
• Fabianism – gradual democratic socialism.
• Economic liberty – security from want and the opportunity to earn a reasonable living.

Important dates and people

5 important questions

Q1. Give Laski's definition of rights.

"Rights are those conditions of social life without which no man can seek, in general, to be himself at his best."

Q2. What is pluralism?

Pluralism is the theory that society consists of many associations with their own authority, and the state is only one of them, so sovereignty is not absolute or indivisible.

Q3. Explain Laski's pluralist criticism of state sovereignty.

• Monistic theory (Austin).
• Associations and divided loyalty.
• State as co-ordinator, not absolute master.
• Criticism of pluralism.

Q4. Explain Laski's views on liberty and equality.

• Definition and types of liberty.
• Equality: no privilege, adequate opportunity, economic equality.
• Relation between liberty and equality.

Q5. Evaluate Laski as a political thinker.

• Three phases: pluralist, Fabian, Marxist.
• Rights, liberty, property, state.
• Influence on India and the welfare state.
• Limitations.

Exam tip

In any answer on rights or liberty in BA-1 papers too, Laski's definitions are the most quoted; learn both exactly.