POLS-Y 107 Chapter 3 (Nations & Society)

Society

A broad term that refers to complex human organization, a collection of people bound by shared institutions that define how human relations should be conducted.

Ethnic Identity/Ethnicity

A set of institutions that bind people together through a common culture (ie: language, religion, geographic location, customs, appearance, history.)

Ascription

The assigning of a particular quality at birth, or a quality about oneself that one does not choose.

Ethnic Solidarity

Groups with this may be more willing to redistribute within the group, and conversely, less willing to share with groups that are ethnically different.

Nation

A group that desires sovereignty, often an independent state.

National Identity

An institution that binds people together through common political aspirations.

Nationalism

A pride in one’s people and the belief that they have a unique, sovereign political destiny.

Citizenship

An individual’s or group’s relation to the state. They swear allegiance to the state, and in return the state is obligated to provide rights to these individuals.

Patriotism

Pride in one’s state.

Nation-state

A sovereign state encompassing one dominant nation that it claims to embody and represent.

Ethnic conflict

Can be defined as conflict between ethnic groups that struggle to achieve certain political or economic goals at each other’s expense. Each group may hope to increase its power by gaining greater control over existing political institutions like the state or government.

National Conflict

Groups involved in this seek to gain sovereignty, clashing with one another over issues of autonomy, such as the quest to form an independent state.

Political attitudes

Describe views regarding the necessary pace and scope of change in the balance between freedom and equality. Typically broken up into the categories of radical, liberal, conservative, and reactionary. Often arrayed on a spectrum of left to right.

Radicals

Placed on the spectrum of the extreme left. Believe in dramatic, often revolutionary change of the existing political, social, or economic order. Believe that the current system is broken and cannot simply be improved or repaired; it must be scrapped in favor of a new order.

Liberals

Believe that much can be improved in the current political, social, and economic institutions, and support widespread change. However, they favor evolutionary change.

Conservatives

Question whether any significant or profound change in existing institutions is necessary. They are skeptical of the view that change is good in itself and instead view it as disruptive and leading to unforeseen circumstances.

Reactionaries

Opposed to further evolutionary or revolutionary change. However, they view the current order as fundamentally unacceptable. Rather than transforming the system into something new, they seek to restore political, social, and economic institutions to something it once was.

Political Ideology

Sets of political values held by individuals regarding the fundamental goals of politics.

Liberalism

Places a high priority on individual and political freedom. They believe that politics should seek to create the maximum degree of liberty for all people. The lower ability of the state to intervene in the public’s affairs, the greater the scope and promise of human activity and prosperity.

Communism

Rejects the idea that personal freedom will ensure prosperity for the majority. It advocates that the state control all economic resources and thus provide true economic equality for the community as a whole. It requires a powerful state in terms of both autonomy, capacity, and scope.

Social Democracy/Socialism

Accepts a strong role for private ownership and market forces while maintaining an emphasis on economic equality.

Fascism

Hostile to the idea of individual freedom and also rejects the notion of equality. Rests on the idea that people and groups can be classified in terms of inferiority and superiority.

Anarchism

Rejects the notion of a state as a whole. Share the belief that private property leads to inequality, but they are opposed to the idea that the state can solve this problem. They view the state as a threat to freedom and equality rather than as their champion. Without a state, people would be able to cooperate freely as equals.

Fundamentalism

An ideology that seeks to unite religion with the state, or rather, to make faith the sovereign authority (theocracy). They base their beliefs on the failures of ideology and the modern state.

Culture

The content of the institutions that help define a society. Acts as a social roadmap, providing norms and priorities that guide people as they organize their lives.

Political Culture

Society’s norms for political activity.