POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE STUDY OF ORGANIZATION.
ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES OF POLITICS
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adiunkt w Instytucie Nauk Politycznych Uniwersytetu
Warszawskiego
Publication date: 2020-01-26
Studia Politologiczne 2010;17
ABSTRACT
Politics happen in the world of organizations. It has an organizational dimension.
Organizations on the other hand undergo political phenomena and processes,
they have a political dimension. Political science does not investigate these issues
sufficiently. Quoting LaPalombara one could say that in political science there is
a serious gap in this respect. Meanwhile it is exactly in these areas that should be
found answers to the crucial questions about the nature of contemporary politics,
which happens more and more in the sphere which is but seemingly apolitical or
outside politics. Politics does not disappear, but it becomes post-politics which
“hides from” or “escapes” political scientists. In the studies of organization or
management there is a current focused on the phenomena of power and politics in
organizations, however, even these, normatively oriented disciplines, do not explore
the problematic enough. It is possible to reconstruct a few major models of treating
politics in organizations: considering politics as a pathology in organizations,
the theory of organizational games, the political interpretation of the strategic
process, and understanding organizations as political systems. There are also some
more fundamental links to be found between politics and organizations – as well
as between the paradigms of interpretation employed by political sciences and
organizational studies – politics can be understood as a process of organizing the
social life, while organization and organizing as essentially political phenomena.
Thus, it seems justified not only to employ the tools of political science in the
study of organizations or the tools of organizational studies in the interpretation
of politics, but also to postulate further integration of political and organizational
studies, to remove artificial boundaries and seek a synergic synthesis of the
achievements of the two disciplines. Such attitude should be embraced in academic
education too.