Chapter 1 - Politics 6th Edition

Polis

(Greek) City-state; classically understood to imply the highest or most desirable form of social organization.

Polity

A society organized through the exercise of political authority; for Aristotle, rule by the many in the interests of all.

Anti-politics

Disillusionment with formal or established political processes, reflected in non-participation, support for anti-system parties, or the use of direct action.

Civil society

The realm of autonomous non-government or 'private' institutions and associations of a society: businesses, interest groups, clubs, families and so on.

Conflict

Competition between opposing forces, reflecting a diversity of opinions, preferences, needs or interests.

Cooperation

Working together; achieving goals through collective action.

Consensus

A broad agreement which is accepted by a wide range of individuals or groups, and/or agreement over fundamental principles and values rather than specific details necessarily.

Power

In politics, power is usually thought of as a relationship; that is, as the ability to influence the behaviour of others in a manner not of their choosing.

Authority

Authority is power cloaked in legitimacy or rightfulness. Whereas power is the ability to influence the behaviour of others, authority is the accepted right to do so.

Science

Science is the systematic study of human and natural world, to develop reliable explanations of phenomena through repeatable experiments, observation and deduction.

Positivism

A philosophy that holds that only knowledge that can be verified through scientific, logical or mathematical proof, is genuine.

Behaviouralism

The belief that social theories should be constructed only on the basis of observable behaviour, providing quantifiable data for research.

Comparative politics

The study of similarities and differences between political systems to develop theories, infer causal relationships and produce reliable generalizations.

Game theory

A way of exploring problems of conflict or collaboration by explaining how one actor's choice of strategy affects another's best choice and vice versa.

Institution

A well-established body with a formal role and status; more broadly, a set of rules that ensure regular and predictable behaviour, the 'rules of the game'.

Post-positivism

An approach to knowledge that questions the idea of an 'objective' reality, emphasizing instead the extent to which people conceive, or 'construct', the world in which they live.

Discourse

In sociology, a system of thought, knowledge or communication that shapes how the world is perceived or how certain ideas are understood.

Constructivism

An approach to analysis that is based on the belief that there is no objective social or political reality independent of our understanding of it.

Essentially contested concept

A concept about which controversy is so deep that no settled or neutral definition can ever be developed.

Model

A theoretical representation of empirical data that aims to advance understanding by highlighting significant relationships and interactions.

Theory

A systematic explanation of empirical data, usually (unlike a hypothesis) presented as reliable knowledge.

Paradigm

A paradigm is the broad framework of values and ideas within which we operate. A pattern of basic assumptions used to structure the search for knowledge.

Transnational

Configuration, which may apply to events, people, groups, or organizations, that takes little or no account of national governments or state borders.

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