polisci modules 1-6

Politics

includes, but is not limited to, actions of government

Government

refers to the institutions and actors that make + enforce public rules + punish those who don’t follow them

• Central to politics

• Affects most of life (direct/indirectly)

Prisoners Dilemma

Hypothetical model that shows life would be worse in absence of government (because people are rational + agreements can’t be enforced)

• Collective outcomes will NOT emerge without hierarchical government

Thomas Hobbes - “life without government is ….”

“Nasty + brutish + short”

3 types of power

coercion + influence + authority

coercion

to force others into doing what you want

influence

making others WANT to do what you want (convincing)

authority

State makes you believe they are legitimate (ensures society follows rules)

• subconscious way to influence/coerce

Democracy

political power should be controlled by the people who are affected by its use (citizens)

Direct democracy

People/citizens directly control political power

• they determine rules + regulation that bound their lives

Ancient Athens

Political class is made up of citizens through Assembly + Council of 500

• Participatory + direct democracy

Ancient Athens Assembly

Political body that made all major policy decisions

• Made up of every single citizen (at least 6,000)

• Votes of majority

Ancient Athens Council of 500

500 people that run daily occurrences in Athens + set agenda for assembly

• Members randomly selected (everyone had equal chance in election)

Critiques of direct democracy in Ancient Athens

• Women + foreigners + slaves NOT considered citizens (not part of process)

• Ancient Greek theorists believed political experts should make decisions

Opportunities for direct democracy in modern Canada

Referenda + voter initiative + recall

Referenda

Federal government + Provinces reach out to people and ask specific policy question

• only 3 for federal government (in total)

voter initiative

Citizens put forth petition + government is required to do something about it (with enough signatures)

• only for some provinces (not federal government)

Craft Analogy

Politics is a specific type of knowledge + experts of politics should control, NOT everyone

Indirect democracy

People transfer their political power through elections to other people/representatives (who make rules on their behalf)

Federalist papers

Series of essays written by people involved in creating the new US constitution

• Goal of gaining support for new constitution

• Justified + explained proposed new constitutional order

Federalist papers main points

• not to create direct democracies

• political power should be citizens (affected by its use)

• danger of factions

• tyranny of majority

Faction

Groups of citizens that have common interests/belief + try to impose that on other people

• harms their interests + policy as a whole

• minority OR majority

Elections

Transfer of political power (belief that representative will use power based on everyone’s best interest)

Reduce danger of minority factions

Hold regular general elections

• Get votes = support

• Term limits = checks whether political elites followed through on promises

Reduce danger of majority factions

Elections

• Makes majority (+ minority) tyranny less likely = mass doesn’t decide what the rules are

• Power transferred to representatives who represent the power on behalf of mass (their interests)

• Term limits = checks on power

3 branches of US government

Legislative + Executive + Judicial

Legislative Branch (US)

makes laws

• Senate

• House of Representatives

Executive Branch (US)

president (proposed laws)

Judicial Branch (US)

supreme court (interprets constitution + control what power other branches have)

What percentage of the population of Canada was eligible to vote in 1867?

11% (only men 21 and older + property owners)

What percentage of the population of Canada was eligible to vote in 2021?

72%

Wealth bypassing government power (3 types of power)

• Coercion = coercive power of state land on wealthier people differently

• Influence = Privately-owned media tells us what to consume/believe

• Authority = wealth makes it easier to attain elected office

David Held + Rescaling democracy

Regional parliaments + democratic international organizations + reform UN

Regional parliaments

giving membership in two political areas (at different government levels)

democratic international organizations

allowing people some say in who individuals are in international organizations

reform UN

Exercising more democratic control (adding new types of democratic participation)

Liberty/Liberalism

Most important thing for the state to do is to protect the individual freedom of citizens

Equality

the state should use power to maximize amount of equality in society

Conservatively

power of state should be used carefully + respects tradition + concerned about social stability

Classical Liberalism

gives government minimum amount of power that will provide individual freedoms + protect human rights

State of nature (John Locke)

asks what life looks like in a time before government

• we’re all equal

• we’re free to do what we have ability to do

• individual freedom is the default norm

• government protects freedoms

Problem with state of nature (classical liberalism)

individual freedom is vulnurable + can be violated by other people

purpose of government (Adam Smith)

• Protect society from invasion

• Protect members of society from each other

• Provide public goods (government coercion is justifiable)

public goods

things in individual interests that also benefit society (cannot be created without coercive institution/government)

classical liberal economy

free market without government interferences

free market

allows people to interact freely with market

invisible hand

argument that if you leave economy alone, you end up with outcome based on free/individual choices (society will be better off)

• competition that leads to communal benefit

Negative freedom (classical liberalism)

the right to be left alone

Reform Liberlism

looks at freedom with POV of having ability to chose (with a base required to get over in order to have freedom to choose life you want to live)

Positive freedom

state can expand domain of freedom/have a large role in free market

• Providing base level of opportunity

• Promotes equality of opportunity

John Maynard Keynes

believes that free markets have value BUT there are times when free market fails + government involvement in economy can help

General theory of employment, interest, and money (1936) - John Maynard Keynes

Reform liberal model of way state should intersect with economy

Cause of Great Depression (1930s)

economy wouldn’t produce + no consumers

How economic depressions can start

Spending decreases —> demand decreases —> production decreases —> employment decreases

Stagflation

happens when you have economic stagnation at the same time you have inflation

Stagnation

demand is too low

inflation

demand is too high

Keynesian tool during depression

State can manage economy

• When not enough demand = inflate demand by spending

• When too much demand = take away demand through taxes

Neoliberalism

goal is to force free market back into society (prioritizes free market + negative freedom)

• shrink the state + get rid of interferences in economy

Neoliberal policies and international organizations (deals with global south)

They will provide them aid BUT countries have to pay it back + install neoliberal policies within government

Social censorship

ability of society itself to act tyrannically

Government censorship

governments acting tyrannically

John Stuart Mill

defense of free speech (liberal)

The harm principle

only reason for power to be “rightfully exercised” over people (“against his will”) is to “prevent harm to others”

Mill’s hypothesis/argument (On Liberty)

society should be governed by the principle that people should be free to do whatever they like, as long as they don’t harm others by doing so

Individual sphere (On Liberty)

actions that primarily affect individual as individual

• freedom of speech + thought

• freedom of action (benefits + consequences of actions)

• freedom of association (to unite in a group)

Social sphere (On Liberty)

actions that affect others

• each individual has obligation to avoid injuring/violating rights of other members of society

Utilitarianism

if you allow individuals complete freedom, you will maximize benefits to individual AND to society at a whole

3 dangers of censoring opinions (On Liberty)

the opinion is actually true, the opinion is incorrect but useful, and the opinion is partially true

Dead Dogma

it doesn’t have an impact on life/way people live (ex. truth without falsehoods is not as impactful)

Danger of Dead Dogma (danger of banning false opinions)

banning falsehoods can weaken truth (can hurt understanding and influence of truth)

Formal equality

all individuals are treated the same under law regardless of personal background (ex. all Canadian citizens older than 18 can vote + all votes worth the same amount)

Equality in practice

inequality in accessing + influencing + controlling political power (recognizing that certain people start from different social/economic positions + may need special treatment)

Mouseland allegory

Conservatives + liberals (anyone in government) are capitalists + will act for themselves (the choice of voting is not as much of a choice)

Ways money flows into political sphere

direct control (political elites have more money) + influence in electoral process (money for advertising) + influence in lobbying (many large companies pay for registered lobbyist)

Elite Theory (imperial argument)

we do not have meaningful political equality in modern societies + it’s NOT POSSIBLE to create a society that has meaningful political equality for all

Gaetano Mosca’s “two classes” theory

“class that rules and a class that is ruled” (imperial statement that says the smaller class has political power + the large class doesn’t)

Two explanations for why there are two classes

individual differences (some people are naturally gifted to run politics) + structures of society

Research question - Robert Micheal’s “Iron Law of Oligarchy”

Is egalitarian democracy possible in large organizations (like political parties)?

• possible to have political party that is open to equal participations by all people?

Hypothesis - Robert Micheal’s “Iron Law of Oligarchy”

organization + oligarchy ALWAYS go hand in hand/together

• imperial statement that says all political parties turn into oligarchies

Theory - Robert Micheal’s “Iron Law of Oligarchy”

you need to organize to achieve effective collective action but doing so plants the seeds from which oligarchy will form

Oligarchy

controlled by the few, rather by the many (doesn’t represent what general mass wants)

• distances between mass + people controlling power

Testing Robert Micheal’s hypotheses (least likely case study)

chose political party least likely to form oligarchy and evaluated if oligarchy would form (chose socialist parties in Germany + saw it would form)

Bureaucracy

organization with different people filling different roles (that have skills that not everyone processes)

Robert Micheal’s main points (Iron Law of Oligarchy)

• need organizational structure to create a political movement

• that structure can only be effective as bureaucracy (delegated roles)

• this creates leadership class within organization

• organizational elites shape outcomes through their interests

Robert Gaul’s “Who Governs”

there are elites in society, but there isn’t a capital E elite (many different groups with different interests competing + collaborating)

Polyarchy

power in the hands of many rather than a single leader/group

Pluralism - Robert Gaul’s “Who Governs”

power is fragmented (many groups/elites) + competitions between elites (for power) + contradictory goals (many interests) + non-elites can have power and create groups (in democracy)