POL 1015: Introduction to Political Science Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering the essential vocabulary of POL 1015, including definitions of politics, systems of government, power dynamics, and international relations concepts.

Politics (Harold Lasswell)

The struggle over who gets what, when, and how.

Politics (David Easton)

The authoritative allocation of values, meaning the allocation of resources and decisions that are binding on society.

Systems Model

A simplified way of understanding the process of politics in modern governance involving inputs, outputs, outcomes, and feedback.

Inputs (Systems Model)

Demands and supports for action or the status quo produced by changes in the social or physical environment.

Outputs (Systems Model)

Decisions or actions directed at aspects of the surrounding social or physical environment resulting from competition in the political system.

Outcomes (Systems Model)

Changes in the environment produced by a political decision or output.

Political Science

A set of techniques, concepts, and approaches whose objective is to increase the clarity and accuracy of understandings about the political world.

Natural Sciences

The study of the natural world.

Social Sciences

The systematic study of human behavior and society.

Comparative Politics

A subfield of political science focusing on similarities and differences in political processes and structures, often through cross-national study.

International Relations

A subfield examining political relations between countries, the behavior of transnational actors, and the dynamics of the worldwide system of states.

Diplomacy

The art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations and the management of international relations by negotiation.

Regional Integration

The process by which states create a supranational organization to enhance political, socio-economic, and security cooperation.

Political Theory

A subfield (also known as political philosophy) focusing on ideas and debates dealing with important political questions and interpreting major political theorists.

Society

A collection of a stable set of relationships among people involving a sense of connectedness, mutual awareness, and cooperation.

State

A political unit within a given territory consisting of a government, a defined territory, and a permanent population.

Nation

A cultural entity restricted to those who possess a common language, ancestry, or cultural heritage.

Nation-State

A political entity where the state consists essentially of one nation; Japan is cited as an example with $99\%$ of the population being ethnically Japanese.

Government

An institution of governance that has the monopoly of authority over the people in a particular state or territory.

Executive

The institution of government responsible for enforcing laws.

Legislature

The institution of government responsible for passing laws.

Judiciary

The institution of government responsible for interpreting the law.

E-government

The use by government agencies of information communication technologies (ICTs) to transform relationships with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.

E-readiness

The availability of technological infrastructures, legal frameworks, institutional and human resources, and political will.

Presidential System

A system where the President is both chief executive and head of state, and is elected independently of the legislature.

Parliamentary System

A system where the head of state and chief executive are separate offices, and the chief executive (Prime Minister) is chosen by the legislature.

Filibuster

The right to prolong speeches to delay legislative action, commonly used in presidential system legislatures.

Separation of Powers

The division of legislative, executive, and judicial functions among separate and independent bodies to limit arbitrary government excess.

Checks and Balances

Mechanisms in a democracy that allow each branch of government to ensure the other branches do not become too powerful.

Power

The act of dominating someone or some group and telling them what to do, even in the face of opposition; characterized by constraint and force.

Influence

The ability to persuade or convince others to accept certain objectives or behave in a certain way without the use of threats.

Coercion

The use of control by force, where compliance is achieved through punishment or threats.

Authority

Government power to make binding decisions and issue obligatory commands that are perceived by citizens as rightful or acceptable.

Traditional Authority

Authority derived from custom and history, frequently gained through inheritance.

Charismatic Authority

Authority derived from the possession of charisma, which may be seen as stemming from divine favor or spiritual possession.

Legal-Rational Authority

An impersonal type of authority (symbolized by bureaucracy) based on allegiance to the office rather than the person and codified norms.

Legitimacy

A general belief that the state's powers to make and enforce rules are justified and accepted by the governed.

Sovereignty

The quality of having supreme, independent right over a territory and being a supreme law-making authority.

Internal Sovereignty

The relationship between a sovereign power and its own subjects, often concerned with the legitimacy of authority.

External Sovereignty

The relationship between a sovereign power and other states, often concerned with international law.

Popular Sovereignty

The belief that the legitimacy of the state is created by the will or consent of the people, who are the source of all political power.

De Facto Sovereignty

Actual sovereignty concerned with whether authority in fact exists and if subjects are in the habit of obeying the governing power.

Autocracy

A system of government in which power and authority to rule are in the hands of a single individual.

Oligarchy

A system of government in which a small elite group holds power based on wealth, military power, or social position.

Democracy

A system of government in which rule is by the people; derived from the Greek words 'demos' (people) and 'kratia' (rule).

Direct Democracy

A form of democracy where people govern themselves by voting on issues in meetings attended by all citizens.

Representative Democracy

A form of democracy where an elected group acts as representatives for the people in law making and government duties.

Political Party

A group of people who organize to win elections, conduct government, and determine public policy.

Constitution

The basic design of the structure and powers of government and the rights and duties of its citizens.

Flexible Constitution

A constitution that can be easily modified, altered, rewritten, or deleted.

Rigid Constitution

A constitution that cannot be modified or altered in any way and follows strict interpretations of exactly what is written.

Political Culture

A collection of values, beliefs, norms, attitudes, and orientations that citizens have about their political system.

Political Socialization

The process by which political culture is transmitted, maintained, transformed, or created.

Citizen

A full member of a state who enjoys the fullest extent of rights and privileges and owes a duty of general well-being to fellow citizens.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

The foundation of the international system of protection for human rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December $10^{th}$, $1948$.

Election

A formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office.

Bye Elections

Elections held to fill a political office that has become vacant because the incumbent has died or resigned.

Suffrage

The right to vote.

First Past the Post (FPP)

An electoral system where the winning candidate is the one who gains more votes than any other, regardless of whether they have an absolute majority.

Majoritarian System

An electoral system requiring that candidates achieve a majority of votes ($50\% + 1$) to win, sometimes involving a second round of voting.

Proportional Representation (PR)

An electoral formula aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes earned and the percentage of seats received.

Interest Group

An organization that seeks to influence political decisions, also known as advocacy, lobby, or pressure groups.

Globalization (Kaldor)

The intensification of global interconnectedness—political, economic, military, and cultural—and the changing character of political authority.

Foreign Policy

Courses of actions which a state undertakes to realize its national objectives beyond the limits of its own jurisdiction.

National Security

The requirement to maintain the survival of the state through economic, military, and political power.