BAS (Key terms - Revision)

Nation-state

a specific form of sovereign state (a political entity on a territory)

- that is guided by a nation (a cultural entity)

- and which derives its legitimacy from successfully serving all its citizens.the nation-state implies that a state and a nation coincide.

National identity

involves identification with representations of shared experiences and history as told through stories, literature, popular culture and the media.

Identity politics

- is concerned with the making and maintenance of cultural rights for those persons making identity claims within society and culture

- most closely identified with feminism, gay activism and questions of ethnicity.

Nationalism

identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.

Democracy

a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

Foucault's modalities of power

Modes of power in democracies:

+ sovereign power

+ disciplinary power

+ pastoral power

+ bio power

Sovereign power

- operates when authorities (people or laws) try to control other people

- exercised through physical punishment and reward

Disciplinary power

- kind of power we exercise over ourselves based on our knowledge of how to fit into society

- exercised through surveillance and knowledge e.g. knowledge of health and nutrition => eat nutrition foods, join health club

Pastoral power

- kind of power exercised through set of techniques, rationalities and practices

- are designed to govern/guide people's conduct & organize them as a political and civil collectivee.g. government take care of citizens by providing with education, medicines,...

Bio power

- the technology for managing populations- exercised through our relationship to demography

- shapes how we think of ourselves relative to populational factors such as births, deaths, health, sickness and demographics.e.g. identification card, passport.

(UK History) 1707 Act of Union

in 1707, the Act of Union joined the Scottish and the English parliaments thus creating the single Kingdom of Great Britain and centralizing political power in London

(UK History) Victorian Era

- the period during the reign of Queen Victoria of England (1819-1901).

- 3 key features of the era:

+ The UK was the biggest empire in the world after the end of the century.

+ An enormous increase in wealth

+ A change in attitude towards colonization

(US History) Revolutionary War

(US History) Treaty of Paris 1783

- ended the Revolutionary War

- recognized the independence of the American colonies

- granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River

(US History) Civil War

- between the Union and the Confederate states (11 states) to decide whether they wanted slavery or not

- the Union wanted war and eventually won the war, putting an end to slavery.

(US History) Jim Crow Era

- era in the South after Civil War (1865) until 1950s.

- African Americans were freed from slavery and could legally vote (Amendments 13, 14, 15) but were still subjected to discriminatory state laws enforcing segregation and kept from voting by laws and by violence

(US History) World War I

- US entered WW1:

+ In 1914, World War I erupted in Europe

+ President Woodrow Wilson urged a policy of strict American neutrality.

+ Germany's declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare against all ships bound for Allied ports caused the US to enter WW1

(US History) The Roaring Twenties

- a period of sustained economic prosperity with adistinctive cultural edge in the United States.

- marked by a general feeling of novelty associated with modernity and a break with traditions.

+ New technologies, especially automobiles, moving pictures, and radio, brought "modernity" to a large part of the population.

+ Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality in both daily life and architecture.

+ Jazz and dancing rose in popularity

- The Wall Street Crash of 1929 ended the era, as the Great Depression brought years of worldwide gloom and hardship.

(US History) Great Depression

- deep problems: plenty of money for investment went into reckless speculation in the stock market => prices were pushed far above stock shares' real value + investors bought stocks on margin=> stock market crashed.

- the failure of banks and businesses + decrease of industrial production, wages & unemployment

- result: Roosevelt's New Deal programs helped improve the economy.

(US History) New Deal

A complex package of economic reform programs initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s to help lift the USA out of the Great Depression.

(US History) World War II

- US entered WW2:

+ Again neutrality was the initial American response to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939.

+ The bombing of Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii by the Japanese in December 1941 brought the US into the war, first against Japan and then against its allies, Germany and Italy.

(US History) Pearl Harbor attack

The bombing of Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii by the Japanese in Dec 1941 brought the US into the WW2.

(US History) Civil Rights Movement

- a social movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s

- people organized to demand equal rights for African Americans and other minorities.

- people worked together to change unfair laws.

(US History) The War against Terrorism

resulted from the attacks against the Twin Towers and Pentagon on 9/11.

(US Beliefs and Values) American Dream

a promise of opportunity for prosperity and success and an upward social mobility through hard work that most immigrants to America believe in.

(US Beliefs and Values) American Exceptionalism

- three related ideas:

+ the history of the U.S is inherently different from that of other nations

+ the U.S has a unique mission to transform the world

+ the us history and mission gives it a superiority over other nations.

(US Beliefs and Values) Multiculturalism

a perspective recognizing the cultural diversity of the United States and promoting equal standing for all cultural traditions

(US Beliefs and Values) Individual freedom

- the most basic traditional American value:

+ freedom of speech press and religion

+ the separation of church & state

+ the restriction of titles of nobility => climate of freedom and emphasis on the individual

=> desire and ability of all individuals to control their own destiny.

(Economy) Mixed economy

The mixed economy in the UK includes public and private sectors.

(Economy) Public sector

includes the state-run industries and public services, which now amount to under one-third of the economy.

(Economy) Private sectors

- consist of:

+ small businesses owned by individuals

+ companies whose shares are sold to the public through the Stock Exchange

+ large companies whose shares are not offered for sale to the public.

- crucial to the economy and generate 50% of new jobs.

- accounts for over two-thirds and will increase with further privatization

(Economy) Main services

(Economy) GDP

Gross Domestic Product - the total market value of all final goods and services produced annually in an economy

(Economy) Budget deficit

the difference between government spending and the income it receives through taxation and other sources

(Economy) Privatization

- 1945-1980: state controlled

- 1980s:

+ conservative government gave more freedom to businessmen

+ many companies were privatized/denationalized => owners of state-owned companies became shareholders

+ local government authorities were encouraged to contract out public services to commercial organizations.

(Economy) Devaluation of the currency

- an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange rate system

- boosted exports by making them cheaper on the world market

- raised the cost of imports and dissuaded people from buying foreign goods.

(Economy) Free enterprise

A system allows private business the freedom to operate for profit with minimum government interference and regulation.

(Economy) Laissez faire

policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.

(Economy) Self-interest

that which each firm, property owner, worker, and consumer believes is best for itself and seeks to obtain.

(Economy) Competition

the struggle among producers for the dollars of consumers

(UK Education) Public schools

are administered and funded by the local, state or national government

(UK Education) Private school

are funded wholly or partly by students' tuition and

administered by a private body.

(UK Education) Comprehensive school

a school in Britain for children above the age of eleven in which children of all abilities are taught

(UK Education) 1944 Education Reform Act

- reorganized state primary and secondary education in England and Wales:

+ free and compulsory education up to the age of 15

+ three stages of education, primary schools, secondary schools and further post-school training.

+ decentralized administration system: ministry of education and three stages of education local education authorities

+ 2 types of state schools: county and voluntary

+ secondary schools divided into grammar schools, secondary modern schools and technical schools.

+ placement of secondary students depended upon eleven-plus examination result at the end of primary schooling

(UK Education) GCSE

General Certificate of Secondary Education is a national examinations taken at the age of 16.

(UK Education) SCEs

(UK Education) A Levels

U.K subject-based qualification for students aged 16 and above, and lead to qualifications recognised for entrance to higher education institutes in the UK and

many others worldwide.

(UK Education) Decentralized authority

An organization structure in which decision-making authority is delegated to lower-level managers more familiar with local conditions than headquarters management could be.

(US Education) Educationalization

the overall orientation or trend toward thinking about education as the focal point for addressing or solving larger human problems.

(US Education) Three goals of education

- Democratic equality: is the perspective of the citizen, from which education is seen as a public good, designed to prepare people for political roles.

e.g. Students are given the freedom of choice over their schools, the course and subjects as well as the classes.

- Social efficiency: is the perspective of the taxpayer and employer, from which education is seen as a public good designed to prepare workers to fill structurally necessary market roles.

e.g. At school, students are taught subjects to equip themselves with the common knowledge (calculating, read and write) to make a living.

- Social mobility: is the perspective of the individual educational consumer, from which education is seen as a private good designed to prepare individuals for successful social competition.

e.g. For example, at school, students are allowed to choose vocational subjects (cooking, science, IT...)

(US Education) Public education

(US Education) Progressive education

- A wider variety of learning resources is put into use, replacing the traditional textbooks;

- Skills are more valued, with emphasis put on problem solving, critical thinking and social

skills;

- Learning by doing is emphasized;

- Entrepreneurship is integrated into conventional subjects;

- Collaborative and cooperative learning projects are common;

- Education is personalized according to the needs of each individual;

- Social responsibility as well as democratic equality are central goals of education;

- Lifelong learning is emphasized.

(US Education) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

a 1954 case in which the Supreme Court ruled that "separate but equal" education for black and white students was unconstitutional

(US Education) Desegregation

- Process of ending the racial discrimination practice which prohibited black children from attending white schools.

- A measure to achieve desegregation was the compulsory "bussing" of black pupils to white schools and vice versa.

(US Education) Affirmative action in education

- positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from which they have been historically excluded.

- This has been used by American policy makers to prevent a recurrence of past discrimination.

(US Education) No Child Left Behind

- Based on five core principles:

+ strong accountability for results

+ expanded flexibility and local control of schools

+ an emphasis on teaching methods based on scientific research

+ expanded options for parents, particularly those whose children attend low-performing schools

+ highly qualified teachers.

- Appropriates more federal money for public education

- Involves an unprecedented degree of top-down federal intrusion into state and local control over public schools

- Requires the formulation of national and state standards of achievement in core curriculum subjects, greatly increased use of standardized testing of pupils and teachers to hold individual schools accountable to these standards, and a system of sanctions against public schools that do not meet annual targets for improvement.

(US Education) Decentralized funding and administration

- public school systems are supported by a combination of local, state and federal government funding.

- educational standards and standardized testing decisions are usually made by state governments.

- spending for public eudcation is determined by states and education leaders.

(UK Politics) Constitutional Monarchy

a country governed by a king or queen who accepts the advice of parliament

(UK Politics) Parliamentary Democracy

a country whose government is controlled by a parliament which has been elected by the people.

(UK Politics) Fusion of powers

The system resembles a balance of powers more than a formal separation of three branches

(UK Politics) Two-party system

- UK: the ruling party and the opposite party: Conservative & Labor parties

- US: two major political groupings: the Democratic and Republican Parties

(UK Politics) Collective responsibility

every member of the government, however junior, shares the responsibility for every policy made by the government.

(UK Politics) First-past-the-post

- a general election: choose MP.

+ the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons at a general election forms the new government and its leader becomes PM.

+ If no party wins a majority of the seats, a situation which is known as a "hung Parliament", a minority government or coalition may be formed.

(UK Politics) Brexit

the possible British Exit from the European Union

Constitution

- was first written about 200 years ago

- defines the power of national and state governments, the functions and framework of each branch of governments and the rights of individual citizens.

Checks and Balances

a system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

Separation of Powers

refers to the idea that the major institutions of state should be functionally independent and that no individual should have powers that span these offices.

Congress

is comprised of two groups called Houses:

+ the House of Representatives

+ the Senate

Representative democracy

a system of government in which citizens elect representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people.

Federalism

a system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Winner-take-all

a system in which the candidate with the most district votes in a state gets all of the delegate votes from that state

Electoral College

a body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

Progressive Movement

A movement to reform society and individuals through government action which arose in the US around 1900s.

Bill of rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States (which were added to safeguard individual liberties)

Boston tea party

As a response of the colonists toward the Tea Act 1773 passed by the British Parliament, a group of patriots disguised as Indians dumped tea in British ships into the Boston harbor.