Introduction to Political Science: Concepts, Traditions, and the State

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the nature, origins, traditions, and methods of political science, along with the constitutive elements, territorial forms, and contemporary transformations of the State.

Political Science

An academic discipline combining empirical and theoretical dimensions that studies political phenomena, including how power is constituted, legitimized, and exercised, how individuals and groups participate, and how institutions, electoral behaviors, parties, social movements, public opinion, and public policies function.

Theoretical Dimension of Political Science

The conceptual dimension of the discipline dedicated to elaborating and conceptualizing core ideas such as power, the State, and legitimacy.

Empirical Dimension of Political Science

The practical observation and measurement of political reality through tools such as surveys, statistics, qualitative interviews, archives, and field research.

Constitutional Law (vis-à-vis Political Science)

A normative legal discipline that studies fundamental norms, legal rules, the structure of the State, and the formal organization of public authorities (what the legal order ought to be), whereas political science uses an explanatory approach to analyze how institutions operate in reality.

Political Philosophy (vis-à-vis Political Science)

A normative discipline analyzing ideal governance, justice, and what should be (associated with Platon, Rousseau, Kant, Rawls, and Hannah Arendt), in contrast to political science, which descriptively analyzes observed reality and the structures that govern it.

Political History (vis-à-vis Political Science)

A retrospective discipline that reconstitutes past events, ancient regimes, and institutional chronologies, whereas political science builds explanatory models to analyze present processes, dynamics, and reproduction.

Le politique (Polity)

The institutionalized social space dedicated to maintaining social cohesion and arbitrating conflicting interests; for Max Weber, it enables collective living, and for Pierre Favre, it fulfills coordination, conflict resolution, and goal prioritization required by society.

La politique (Politics)

The competitive struggle to conquer and exercise power (the political game/life); defined by Pierre Bourdieu as the competitive production of political goods chosen by citizens as consumers, and by Philippe Braud as the peaceful competition to monopolize coercion and declare law.

Les politiques publiques (Policies)

The concrete actions, targeted programs, and technical, legal, or financial measures taken by public authorities to address specific problems or demands across various sectors like health, education, economy, and the environment.

Politicization of a Problem (Three Conditions)

The process through which an issue becomes a political problem: requiring an interpretive frame (a specific vision of the issue), mediatization by cause-bearers (actors promoting it), and entry onto the public agenda (public authorities recognizing it and choosing whether or not to act).

Institutionalization of Political Science (USA vs. Europe)

The formal academic establishment of the discipline, emerging first in the United States in the late 19th century via dedicated university departments, quantitative surveys, and political psychology, and developing in Europe after World War II through university chairs, specialized journals, and scientific associations like IPSA and AFSP.

Institutionalist Tradition

A major tradition in political science emphasizing that formal institutions, constitutions, and legal frameworks structure and constrain political behavior.

Behavioralist Tradition (Behaviorism)

An approach developed in the United States between the 1940s and 1970s that analyzes voting behavior, political attitudes, and public opinion at the individual level using quantitative surveys, statistics, and psychology.

Structural-Functionalist Tradition

A tradition influenced by Talcott Parsons and David Easton that conceptualizes the political system through its vital functions: political socialization, mobilization, decision-making, and resource allocation.

Marxist and Neo-Marxist Tradition

A tradition focusing on social class conflicts, the political economy of power, and structures of domination, demonstrating that the political realm serves as a space for reproducing social relations.

Rational Choice Theory (Choix rationnel)

An approach originating in economics positing that political actors are rational individuals who calculate their interests and maximize personal gains, widely applied to voter behavior, party strategies, and game theory.

Constructivist Tradition

An approach emerging between the 1980s and 2000s arguing that political phenomena—such as national identity, gender, and citizenship representations—are socially constructed through discourses, norms, and collective actors.

The State (L’État)

A sovereign political organization that exercises authority over a given population within a defined territory; the modern State model originated in Europe starting in the 16th century through monarchical centralization and administrative development.

Territory (Element of the State)

The geographic space delimiting the legal jurisdiction and power of the State, encompassing the terrestrial surface (soil), subsoil, airspace, and sometimes territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone.

Population (Element of the State)

The demographic and political community subject to the State's authority and bound by rights and obligations, comprising nationals, permanent residents, and temporary inhabitants.

Sovereignty (Jean Bodin, 1576)

The supreme power of a State recognizing no higher authority; classically defined by Jean Bodin in 'Les Six Livres de la République' (1576) as the absolute and perpetual power of a Commonwealth ('puissance absolue et perpétuelle d’une République').

Internal Sovereignty vs. External Sovereignty

Internal sovereignty denotes superior political power over all internal authorities and entities within a territory; external sovereignty denotes independence from other States and international organizations.

Regalian Sovereign Functions (Fonctions régaliennes)

The primary public functions tied to State sovereignty: lawmaking, administration of justice, taxation, national defense, and the conduct of foreign policy.

Unitary State (L’État unitaire)

The most common form of State, characterized by a single central decision-making body, a single Constitution, and a unified legal system applicable across the entire territory (e.g., France, Morocco, Portugal, Japan, Turkey, Tunisia).

Decentralized Unitary State

A variation of the unitary State in which administrative competencies and financial responsibilities are transferred to local territorial authorities (regions, provinces, municipalities) without granting them sovereign power.

Federal State (L’État fédéral)

A State founded on the principle of 'unity in diversity,' comprising two levels of government (federal and federated), two sets of constitutions, and a constitutional division of competencies (e.g., United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Brazil).

Confederation (La Confédération)

A rare, often transitional association of sovereign States that delegate specific competencies while maintaining their independence, marked by unanimous decision-making, absence of common sovereignty, and the right to withdraw (e.g., Germanic Confederation 1815–1866, Old Swiss Confederacy).

Confederation vs. Federation

The institutional distinction where a confederation is an association of sovereign states with intergovernmental decisions, frequent unanimity requirements, and no shared citizenship, whereas a federation is a single sovereign State of federated entities featuring a central political authority, majority voting, and federal citizenship.

Regional Integration and Sovereignty

A contemporary transformation exemplified by the European Union where States transfer specific competencies and accept supranational rules and community law primacy, reconfiguring rather than abolishing State sovereignty.

Globalization and State Sovereignty

A modern dynamic where international organizations, financial markets, multinational corporations, and NGOs influence State decisions, shifting sovereignty from being strictly territorial to more functional and negotiated.

Global Transnational Challenges

Cross-border phenomena—including international terrorism, cybersecurity threats, climate change, and global pandemics—that require international cooperation and constrain absolute State autonomy.

Subnational Territorial Contestations

Internal political movements demanding greater regional autonomy, identity recognition, or outright independence (such as in Catalonia, Scotland, Kurdistan, and Quebec), challenging the internal sovereignty of existing States.