Page 1 - Lesson Note - 3

Class – XI

Political Science (Political Theory)

Chapter-1 (Political Theory: An Introduction)

Topic- Putting Political Theory into Practice

Short Notes :

 Political theory as a subject deals with human beings. The

behavior human changes every time and so also the concepts.

 Unlike any other physical sciences we can not expect a static
definition of the concepts of Political Theory.

 Human beings unlike things, have opinions on issues like equality

etc. And many opinions need to be understood and harmonized.

 If we take the example of the concept of equality, we find the idea

is very complex, because when we are in a queue or playground

we want equal opportunity.

 If we suffer from some disability we want special provisions made.
When we cannot afford basic needs, equal opportunity is not

enough.

 The reasons we have many definitions is because the meaning of

equality dependent on the context. We started with what it

meant for ourselves and then proceeded to consider others.

 We discovered many layers of meaning. We have been doing

political theory without realizing it.
 Political theorists clarify the meaning of political concepts by

looking at how they are understood and used in ordinary