Political Judgment In Politics

Judgment are central not only to humans but also in the field of politics as we cannot escape the need to judge. We exercise the power of judgment in a variety of contexts but whenever making decisions in politics, we particularly use political judgment. When telling what color an object is we make perspective judgment. Telling whether a person is guilty or not is an example of legal judgment. Deciding what is the right thing to do is all about moral judgment. Deciding what policy is the best policy, on the other hand, is an example of political judgment (Kant 1996;Aristotle 2004; Beiner 1983). Political judgment may not be categorized under the special category of judgment but one thing for sure is it is an instance of practical reason - the

In other words, to get from “here and now”, one must first be knowledgeable about the “here and now” including the people’s existing ideas , desires, and opinions, the desirability of these “future” and the means of achieving this “future”. After all the discussions, it follows from this that political judgment is exercised best when it uses theories or philosophies that are realist; theories or philosophies that start and are concerned, in first instance, at “the way the social, economic or political institutions operate in the society under a particular time, and what elements or variables move these humans to act in the given contexts” (Geuss, 2008). So why realist theory? This is because a realist theory is not concerned in the first instance with how people ought ideally to act, desire or ought to be. It focuses its discussions in the real motivations of the people and the elements that determines it. It aims to give a correct account of the “way the world is” (Dunn, 1980a; Dunn, 1980b; Geuss, 2008). Its focus is on the cognitive and institutional conditions and the principles, ambitions and