Polity
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Polity refers to the structural, formal and institutional dimensions of politics , such as the state organization , the political system or the community (see also social order , political culture ). The name comes from Anglo-Saxon political science , which distinguishes three aspects of "politics": Polity, Politics and Policy . In contrast to process-based politics and content-related policy, polity describes the formal dimension of the rules of the game of social coexistence (e.g. legal texts , constitutional principles, institutions).
For several decades, political scientists have understood “ institutions ” to be much more than purely formal, legal institutions of the constitution and legislation (see March / Olsen 1984 and North 1990). Political institutions also include unwritten rules of the game of social interaction. Thus, the term polity also takes on new nuances of interpretation: it denotes all normative, structural and also “desired” elements of politics. Such institutions historically grow both intentionally and unintentionally. Their significance lies in the fact that they channel or block the room for maneuver of political actors in the political process (politics) . According to Klaus Schubert , they are therefore a “decisive prerequisite” for the design of political measures (policy) .
literature
- Douglass C. North : Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge u. & nbspa. 1990, ISBN 0-521-39416-3 .
- James G. March , Johan P. Olsen : The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life. In: American Political Science Review. Volume 78, No. 3, 1984, pp. 734-749 ( ISSN 0003-0554 ).
- Klaus Schubert : Polity. In: Dieter Nohlen , Rainer-Olaf Schultze (ed.): Lexicon of political science: theories, methods, terms. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51127-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Klaus Schubert : Polity. In: Dieter Nohlen , Rainer-Olaf Schultze (ed.): Lexicon of political science: theories, methods, terms. 2nd, updated and expanded edition. Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51127-9 , pp. ??.