RESEARCH BACK UP

1.0 INTRODUCTION Political and social change refers to the varying change in human behaviour and institutions, in response to stimuli from society and the power relations between social groups. What then is change? What makes it necessary? What are the different forms of change? Change is the different in process, form and structure in response to certain stimuli or factors. Therefore, political and social changes are caused by certain factors or reasons in which men struggle to effect change with the hope that it will make life better for the majority of people living in society. If politics is defined as “who gets What, When and how”, the political change has to do with changes in who gets what, when and how. Changes in human behaviour towards constituted authority, in the state, in leadership, in political institutions and structures. Therefore, a change in government is a form of political change, just as a change in form of government, for instance, change from a Monarchical regim...

CONSTITUTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION Constitution entails the document that embodies the steps that determine how we do things in the society. It is essentially the embodiment of the most fundamental rules, principles and institutions which constitute the political fabric of a state. Rules are those regulations that govern a particular action, and principles are the underlying premises of these regulations. In essence, this helps to bring order and sanity to the society and for the good governance of the generality of the people. 2.0 OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit, you should be able to: explain the essential ingredients of the constitution   identify the rights, duties and obligations as enshrined in the constitution  differentiate between the different types of the constitution.  3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 Types of Constitutions There are different types of constitutions. Let us briefly do an overview of each. 3.1.1 Written Constitution A written constitution is t...

1.0 INTRODUCTION Ideology is a very crucial aspect of politics. It is a gateway to the understanding of political action and indeed, interpenetration of politics. In this respect, it guides, supports, restrains and rationalizes political action. According to Okwudiba Nnoli, it can act as a great mobilizing energy to galvanize mass political action. Ideology is a very pervasive aspect of politics: it antedated it, is enmeshed in it, envelops it and conditions it. The ideology at a time was used to designate the study of ideas towards the end of the eighteenth century in France. In the mid nineteenth century, Marx and Engels in their work The German Ideology, described the young Hegelians as ideologists of the bourgeois system for holding tenaciously to Hegelian philosophy. This unit will explore the various ideologies, examining their basic principles and characteristics. The major ideologies and movements known in political history are examined in different section. At the end of the u...

1.0 INTRODUCTION This Unit introduces us to the interrelatedness of the basic concepts in political science, power and authority. It has been found that these concepts are subjected to certain misinterpretation and abuses, especially, for non-political scientists. This Unit deals essentially with the 2 basic concepts: power and authority. The other 2 concepts: influence and legitimacy will be considered in the preceding section. It is important for you to know the distinction between these concepts. Political scientists at times attempt to equate politics with power, authority, or conflict. No doubt, power holds a significant place among other concepts of politics. Harold and Margaret Sprout put it “Some concept of power underlies virtually every description of political interaction, domestic as well as international”. If politics has to do with state power then an adequate understanding of the concept of power is also crucial for an understanding of politics. Many argue that power is...