A French political scientist, Maurice Duverger, in his book: The Idea of Politics suggests that the study of politics should be undertaken at two levels: micro-political and macro-political. At the micro-political level, political study should deal with the relations of an individual with other individuals in such political activities as elections, voting, party meetings, committee work, etc.
At the macro- political level, it is a study of group relations where, as Maurice Duverger writes, “direct contact does not exist or is replaced by indirect contact between intermediaries, by ^administrative relationships, or by artificial, Theatrical contacts (e.g., the minister’s handshake, the television appearance of the head of State).
However, we should not draw a very hard and fast line of demarcation between micro-politics and macro-politics. They always affect each other. Indeed, what is micro-political today may become macro political tomorrow and vice versa. History of revolts and revolutions tell us that they often began as micro-political activities of a small group of rebels or revolutionaries. What is more, political psychology tells us that the personality of the future rebel or revolutionary is often formed by the micro-politics of his parental family life. Similarly, macro-politics is also deeply affected by the nature and quality of micro-politics. It is a well known principle of Political Science that the strength and stability of a State very much depends upon the vitality of its local government bodies. Maurice Duverger says, “Research must be pursued simultaneously on both levels, but the passage from one to the other, the change in scale, raises an important problem.”
| Levels of Politics / Types of Politics | Micro-Level ‘ Politics | Macro-level politics |
| Non-governmental Politics (subject-matters of sociology, anthropology and other social sciences) | family, school, club, tribes, student community, business concerns Industry Chambers Trade Unions, etc. | National o— country-wide industrial or labour .organisations, Corporations. Multinational companies and corporations etc. |
| Governmental Politics or, politics as understood in Political Science | Local political leaders; Local Bodies; Local Administration; A Tahsil / Taluqa or District Authority; Local political party Local election units Voters, etc. | Government or political system or State; nation; political parties, and organisations; Pressure Groups; Governmental f Departments, Bureaucracies. Public Services; International organisations; UNO; etc. |
See Maurice Duverger, The idea of Politics, p. x