SAP-1IntroduksiM. Raudy Gathmyr, S.Sos, M.Si31 Agustus 2009

Politics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions.

It consists of "social relations involving authority or power"[1] and refers to the regulation of a political unit,[2] and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.[3]

The word "Politics" comes from the Greek word "polis" meaning state or city. "Politikos" describes anything concerning the state or city affairs. In Latin, this was "politicus" and in French "politique". Thus it became "politics" in Middle English ( see the Concise Oxford Dictionary).

plural noun usu. treated as sing. 1 the activities associated with governing a country or area, and with the political relations between states. 2 a particular set of political beliefs or principles. 3 activities aimed at gaining power within an organization: office politics. 4 the principles relating to or inherent in a sphere or activity, especially when concerned with power and status: the politics of gender

Political science, the study of politics, examines the acquisition and application of power. Related areas of study include political philosophy, which seeks a rationale for politics and an ethic of public behaviour, political economy, which attempts to develop understandings of the relationships between politics and the economy and the governance of the two, and public administration, which examines the practices of governance.

Sebagai cabang dari ilmu sosial yang memiliki (a) dasar (b) rangka (c) fokus (d) ruang lingkup yang jelas maka: IP masih sangat muda, timbul akhir abad-19.

Sebagai pembahasan rasional dari berbagai aspek negara dan kehidupan politik: sudah sangat tua, timbul tahun 450 S.M., merupakan ilmu sosial paling tua. Bersandar pada Sejarah dan filsafat.

Sains memiliki karakateristik: tantangan untuk menguji hipotesis melalui eksperimen yg dilakukan dlm kondisi terkontrol (controlled circumstances): laboratorium.

Hal tsb berlaku untuk ilmu pasti (eksakta) So, bgm dengan ilmu sosial? Jwbnya: tidak mungkin spt ilmu eksakta. Jadi IP bukan sains? Nggak juga Why? : karena objek ilmu sosial/politik

adalah MANUSIA: mahluk kreatif, sifatnya selalu inovatif dan unpredictable.

IS/IP tetap sains tapi berbeda dengan kriteria sains ala ilmu eksakta.

Ahli IS cenderung merumuskan definisi yg bersifat umum: ilmu pengetahuan adalah keseluruhan dari pengetahuan yg terkoordinasi mengenai pokok pemikiran tertentu (the sum of coordinated knowledge relative to a determined subject (Budiardjo:8:208)

New Science of Politics: th 1950-an, muncul sbg akibat ketidakpuasan sarjana politik dgn perumusan yg terlalu luas, ingin mengembangkan metode ilmiah : behavioral approach.

Gerakan tsb merupakan revolusi dalam IP: rumusan: sekalipun perilaku manusia kompleks, namun ada pola2 berulang (recurrent patterns), dpt dibuktikan melalu pengamatan yg teliti dan sistematis.

Terdapat reaksi thd pendekatan Behavioral, dari ahli politik aliran “kiri”. Kritiknya; pendekatan behavioralist terlalu kuantitatif dan abstrak shg tdk mencerminkan realitas sosial.

Kelompok ini dsbt Post Behavioralist: nilai2 BOLEH masuk dalam analisis keadaan sosial, kebalikan dari pandangan behavioralist.

Nilai2 hrs diteliti dan ilmuawan melibatkan diri scr aktif utk mengatasi mslh2 sosial.

Teori PolitikLembaga PolitikPartai PolitikHubungan Internasional

Hub. IP dengan: 1.Sejarah2.Filsafat3.Sosiologi4.Antropologi5.Psikologi Sosial6.Geografi7.Ilmu Hukum