1.1 Practice of Political Scientists

what is politics

activities associated with governance of country or area, especially debate or conflict among individuals having or hoping to achieve power

what is power

capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or course of events

inductive reasoning

starts with evidence to uncover a hypothesis

deductive reasoning

starts with the hypothesis, then seeks out evidence

correlation

apparent association between variables

causation

cause and effect

endogeneity

problem of distinguishing between cause and effect

empirical statements

assertion of fact that can be proven

normative statements

opinion

Human Development Index

• development

• measure of life expectancy, education, and per capita income

• 0 (lowest) to 1.0 (highest)

GDP

total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year

GDP growth rate

shows how fast an economy is growing

GDP per capita

measure of country’s economic output per person

Gini index

• measures income distribution across population

• 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (perfect inequality)

Freedom House

• categorized as Free, Partly Free, or Not Free

• 0 (most Not Free) to 100 (most Free)

corruption

abuse of official power for personal gain

grand corruption

• occurs at highest levels of society

• causes significant harm bc perpetrators are among elite

• often goes unpunished

petty corruption

everyday abuse of power by gov workers in interactions with citizens

Corruption Perception Index

• rank of perception of corruption

• score from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt)

strong states

state that is capable of providing necessary government services to its citizens

• tends to be wealthier, higher national economies, more legitimacy, etc

failed state

state whose political or econ system has become so weak that the gov is no longer in control

• lack resources to provide basic infrastructure/security, more corruption, lack of law and order, etc.

Fragile States Index

• assesses and ranks countries based on potential to fail due to conflicts and domestic turmoil

• scores range from 120 (most fragile) to 0 (least fragile)