Political Theory: An Introduction — Class 11 Political Science

This opening chapter asks what politics is and why we should study political theory. Human beings are unique in possessing reason and the capacity to reflect and communicate, and political theory grows from these twin aspects of the self. Politics is far more than what politicians do or the "scams" people associate with it; Mahatma Gandhi said politics envelops us like the coils of a snake. It arises because people have different visions of what is just and desirable, and it involves the many negotiations through which collective decisions are made — both what governments do and how people struggle to influence them. Political theory examines the values that inform political life — freedom, equality, justice, democracy, secularism, rights, citizenship, nationalism and development — clarifying their meanings by drawing on thinkers from Kautilya, Plato and Aristotle to Rousseau, Marx, Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Using everyday examples like queues and equal opportunity, it shows we already "do" political theory. Studying it matters because we are all future citizens and voters who must reason and argue in an informed way; it helps us examine our own prejudices, debate rationally, and assess the political events of our time.