Political theory basics

Overview

Political theory examines concepts such as state, sovereignty, liberty, equality, justice, rights and democracy that underpin political life.

Key points

• Elements of the state: population, territory, government and sovereignty.
• John Austin described legal sovereignty as the command of a determinate sovereign.
• Isaiah Berlin distinguished negative liberty (freedom from interference) and positive liberty (freedom to act).
• Equality includes legal, political, social and economic equality.
• John Rawls’ theory of justice uses the veil of ignorance and the difference principle.
• Democracy may be direct or representative.

Explanation

• Rights and duties are interlinked.
• Liberal and Marxist views differ on the state.
• Gandhi’s idea of swaraj included self-rule at personal and village levels.
• Rule of law protects liberty.
• Indian Constitution reflects liberty, equality and fraternity.

Step by step

1. Identify the concept, law or fact asked.
2. Recall the definition, formula, example or year.
3. Apply it and eliminate mismatched options.

Examples

• Freedom from censorship → negative liberty.
• Free education enabling a child to pursue goals → positive liberty.
• The four elements of a state → population, territory, government, sovereignty.

Traps and advanced points

• Trap: Mixing negative and positive liberty.
• Trap: Missing sovereignty as an element.
• Trap: Wrong thinker attribution.

Quick revision

• Four elements of the state.
• Berlin: two liberties.
• Rawls: veil of ignorance.

Practice MCQs

1. Which is NOT an element of the state?

   1. territory
   2. sovereignty
   3. political party
   4. population

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   Answer: (c) political party. Population, territory, government, sovereignty.

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2. Legal sovereignty as the command of a determinate sovereign was described by —

   1. Rousseau
   2. Rawls
   3. John Austin
   4. John Locke

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   Answer: (c) John Austin. Austin’s theory.

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3. Negative and positive liberty were distinguished by —

   1. Isaiah Berlin
   2. J. S. Mill
   3. Hobbes
   4. Laski

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   Answer: (a) Isaiah Berlin. Berlin.

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4. Freedom from censorship is an example of —

   1. negative liberty
   2. equality
   3. sovereignty
   4. positive liberty

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   Answer: (a) negative liberty. Freedom from interference.

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5. The "veil of ignorance" is associated with —

   1. John Rawls
   2. Karl Marx
   3. Plato
   4. Aristotle

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   Answer: (a) John Rawls. Theory of justice.

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6. Rawls’ difference principle allows inequalities only if they —

   1. benefit the least advantaged
   2. benefit the rich
   3. are hereditary
   4. are temporary

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   Answer: (a) benefit the least advantaged. Justice as fairness.

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7. Democracy in which citizens decide directly is —

   1. monarchy
   2. oligarchy
   3. representative democracy
   4. direct democracy

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   Answer: (d) direct democracy. Direct democracy.

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8. Free education enabling a child to pursue goals illustrates —

   1. positive liberty
   2. sovereignty
   3. anarchy
   4. negative liberty

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   Answer: (a) positive liberty. Capacity to act.

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9. Which is a type of equality?

   1. political equality
   2. economic equality
   3. all of these
   4. legal equality

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   Answer: (c) all of these. Also social equality.

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10. The Indian Constitution’s ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity are stated in the —

    1. Preamble
    2. Seventh Schedule
    3. Article 356
    4. Ninth Schedule

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    Answer: (a) Preamble. Preamble.

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More topics in this chapter

• Federalism
• Governance and Local Government
• Election system
• Constitutional bodies
• Social Science Pedagogy