3. Write summary of the text (130-150 words).

* Appendix 2 p. 148

4. Choose one topic and make a report: “Relations between politics and religion in the contemporary state”, “Trends in political science research on religion and politics”, “Seculariszation and secularism worldwide” Use extra sources to find information about the topic.

Remember to:

• make a plan before you start to write

• organise your report logically

• use the key vocabulary of the unit

• look at Appendix 2 p.148 for proper linkers

• support your opinion with examples

• check your report for errors when it is ready

• apply audio and visual aids if necessary

Unit 2. Political science as the study of conflict

1. Work with a partner to discuss the following questions.

* Appendix 3 p. 153

1. Is politics connected with conflicts? If yes, give examples.

2. What distinguishes political conflicts from other types of conflict?

3. How can the knowledge and skills of conflict resolution be applied in political science?

2. Read the text quickly and find the answers to the questions from exercise 1.

At its core political science is concerned with the study of conflict. This can take place at several levels. Personal conflict, usually studied by psychologists, can be of service to political scientists. The study of aggressive instincts, for example, or the ability to compromise are obvious examples and these themes can also apply to group conflict.

Collective conflict is obviously the main field of investigation. It is of a different order from personal conflict because it involves all sorts of considerations about group coherence and group fragmentation. Political sociologists investigate for what reasons and to what extent people identify with others and to what degree they emphasise their distinction from those in other groups. When a group achieves a level of continuous existence, develops rules and decision-making procedures and systematically begins to recruit members, it is called an ‘association’.

The part of the subject variously called political institutions or comparative institutions is involved with the study of conflict within the framework of a set of institutions. A political institution is a public body with formally designated structures and functions intended to regulate defined activities applying to the whole population. Governments, parliaments and the law courts are political institutions. Their interrelationships are defined in constitutions.

Collective conflict may take place at three levels - at that of local associations, at that of national associations and at that of nation-states. Often collective conflict takes the form of a clash between those associations and interests involved in the government and those outside it. In authoritarian regimes, however, where governments rule virtually unchallenged, conflict at the first two levels is submerged or likely to be repressed. Unless there is one-man rule, however, there will be conflict in private cabals. Such situations are not easy for the researcher to examine. Conversely, the study of politics in democracies, where conflict is permitted and even encouraged and where it often takes place publicly, is so much easier.

The study of conflict between local groups may be made at the community level. It may be about the building of a new bypass or the closing of a footpath. Increasingly nationwide groups associate themselves with such matters, but there may be other local issues, such as a dispute between travelers and the local landowners, which proceed no further than local government. In the Western world physical conflict at this level is rare, but there are areas where internal disputes, especially ethnic rivalries, deteriorate into armed conflict.

In recent years attention has turned to the environments which affect conflict and its resolution. Especially economic and social environments of the political system have interested political scientists, leading them to study the areas where the polity overlaps with the economy and society. These two areas are known respectively as political economy and political sociology.