Maurice Duverger: Selected Summaries: SELECTED SUMMARIES

By MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

We have summarized the essentials of the following texts by this eminent French political scientist: selected excerpts from POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, the appendix "The notion of social sciences" in THE METHOD OF SOCIAL SCIENCES and THE GREAT POLITICAL SYSTEMS.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU
• Release date: Nov 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201145125

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Mauricio Enrique Fau nació en Buenos Aires en 1965. Se recibió de Licenciado en Ciencia Política en la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Cursó también Derecho en la UBA y Periodismo en la Universidad de Morón. Realizó estudios en FLACSO Argentina. Docente de la UBA y AUTOR DE MÁS DE 3.000 RESÚMENES de Psicología, Sociología, Ciencia Política, Antropología, Derecho, Historia, Epistemología, Lógica, Filosofía, Economía, Semiología, Educación y demás disciplinas de las Ciencias Sociales. Desde 2005 dirige La Bisagra Editorial, especializada en técnicas de estudio y materiales que facilitan la transición desde la escuela secundaria a la universidad. Por intermedio de La Bisagra publicó 38 libros. Participa en diversas ferias del libro, entre ellas la Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires y la FIL Guadalajara.

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Maurice Duverger: Selected Summaries

SELECTED SUMMARIES

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Published by BOOKS AND SUMMARIES BY MAURICIO FAU, 2021.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

MAURICE DUVERGER: SELECTED SUMMARIES

First edition. November 17, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

ISBN: 979-8201145125

Written by MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Duverger, Maurice | POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Duverger, Maurice

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Further Reading: Jeremy Rifkin: Selected Summaries

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Duverger, Maurice

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Political Power

For the jurist León Duguit, power is a relationship between the rulers and the ruled. The rulers are those who give the orders and the ruled are those who obey them. Those who make decisions are rulers and those who carry them out are the ruled. From this point of view one can fall into a confusion, that of considering material power and power as equal. Power can be considered as the possibility of coercing another, instead power is based on the belief of the coerced that the coercion he suffers is legitimate. Power: it is the law of the strongest, it is omnipresent in society since it is based on the inequality of forces. Therefore, we can consider a linked power:

1) To physical strength: occurs when the most muscular takes the direction of a group.

2) Economic force: this is the power exercised by the social class that owns the means of production, that is, the richest class that exercises political authority and takes over the government.

3) The strength of collective organizations: in this case we could talk about the structures of the army, for example, which maintains a tight control over the soldiers by a group of well-disciplined leaders.

Power and Beliefs

The aforementioned corresponds to power. We talk about power. Power appears when those who obey believe that it is normal to obey. Power then has two elements:

1) Coercion.

2) The belief, that is, the consensus.

The belief is present in society in general. We all consider that power is necessary, which is why we also consider as necessary, a boss, an authority. Legitimacy: there is a tendency to think that one power is legitimate and to reject others as not legitimate. Legitimacy is then a belief system. Legitimacy can be defined: quality that has a power to conform to the image of power that society considers valid. Ideologies reflect the interests of those who hold them and as the interests are different, then we will find different systems of legitimacy opposed to each other. The ruling class will be in charge of making the dominated accept the conception of legitimacy that it supports.

POLITICAL POWER AND Non-Political Power

For Duguit, all power is political. The power of the father, the power of the boss in the office, the power of the head of a church, etc. is political. Other sociologists consider that only the power exercised by the state is political. In this case, politics is considered the science of the State. Sustaining this conception means accepting that the State is a perfect society that does not depend on anyone, on any other and that dominates the others, that is, to consider that the State is sovereign. From here to thinking that the State has a sacred character there is only one step. This is why Duverger prefers the concept that Political Science is the science of power.

Politics in the broad sense and politics in the narrow sense

In a broad sense: politics is defined by power, that is, all power is political. In a restricted sense: political is only what is related to public affairs, to the art of governing a state and directing its relations with others. The different political institutions: this includes the institutions that officially belong to the State, such as the Parliament, the Justice, etc. But it also extends to other institutions whose activities are related to politics. For example: political parties. Also included within these institutions are certain local communities such as provinces, departments and municipalities, which symbolize the territorial distribution of State power. Finally, in this study, political institutions must be placed in the context of other institutions of society, for example, relating them to economic power, religious power, professional powers, etc.

Power and Law

Law is one of the essential instruments of power because a large part of the activity of power is carried out through law, that is, through constitutions, codes, laws, etc. In law, the two elements that underpin power