POLS1101 Flashcards

Power

Power is about how much you can do what you want to do in a relationship to the social forces that constrain or enable it

3 Kinds of Authority (Max Weber)

• Traditional (history)

• Charismatic (personality)

• Legal-Rational (rules)

Power as a System

Power moves through society rather than being concentrated in any single authority

Power as Relational

To have power, it must be over something or someone

Power as Domination

To have power is to be able to shape the actions of someone/something regardless of their wishes

Ideology

Broadly refers to a collection of ideas and propositions that forms a worldview and a system of values.

Conservatism

Characteristics:

• “Things should stay the same!”

• Legitimacy drawn from existing political order

• Resists radical change

• Stability and Order

• Values Traditional Authority, Queen and Pope Etc.

Modernism

Characteristics:

• “Things should be better through change”

• Life is something that can be constantly improved

• Things can always improve and grow

• Rejection of old order

• Willingness to abandon traditions

• Advancement

Critiques of Modernism

• It is always incomplete, always elements of conservatism in society

• Improves lives of some people at the expense of others, poor working conditions for workers

• Cloak for Westernisation. Relationship with colonialism, globalisation.

Communism

Characteristics:

• “Working class should be free from injustice”

• Values equality and dismantling social hierarchy

• People should be emancipated from injustice caused by unequal economic systems

• Reliant on modernisation and means of production

Socialism

Characteristics:

• Broader than Communism, emerges from Communist thought

• Social welfare, Nationalisation of industry

• Strong labour laws

• Social democracy is middle ground

Communism as Outcome

Global history is defined by movement through different historical stages

Each historical stage (thesis) contains within it a fundamental tension (antithesis)

Hegelian Dialectics: Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis

Communism as Disposition/Lens

Belief that oppression is fundamentally economic and should be eradicated. Commitment to workers’ rights

Communism as Governance

Communism as policies of various governments:

• Forced collectivisation

• Violent revolution

• Nationalisation of Industry

• Suppression of Dissent

Realism

Humans are driven by will for power or survival

Critiques of Communism

• Reliance on Authoritarianism
  Collective good at the expense of individual freedoms

• Removes individual incentive
  Private profit becomes almost impossible

• Classic Marxism proposes impossible utopia
  Impossible because it assumes the end of contestation, political disagreements etc.

Liberalism

Characteristics:

• “We should be free to do what we want”

• Limit powers of ruling class to increase freedom of the ruled people

• People should be as free as possible without disrupting others

• Limited government and liberty is essential

Capitalism

Characteristics:

• The economic wing of liberalism

• State role in economy should be as limited as possible

• Only allow individual profits

Social Liberalism

Individual liberty is only possible if social conditions allow equal opportunity, state’s job to fulfil those conditions

Libertarianism

Radical rejection of excessive state authority

Neoliberalism

Extreme global market deregulation (removal of trade barriers, privatisation of government functions)

Critiques of Liberalism/Capitalism

• Promotes individual liberty over collective good

• Only possible to accumulate large profits through exploitation

• Allows debate, only within certain parameters

Collective Identity

Shared experiences, interests, tastes, aspirations and sometimes ancestry with a group.

Primordialism

This is the idea that collective identities are fixed by innate characteristics of a group like phenotypes, sex, location of birth etc. However, does not account for how identities have changed, whiteness has meant different things throughout history.

Structuralism

Idea that collective identities are the outcomes of changing structural processes, not innate qualities. Like large political, economic and environmental changes such as partition of British Raj,

Constructivism

Collective identities are built and maintained, not naturally occurring phenomena. Acts like encouraging shared language, shared religion, shared sense of kinship produce kinds of collective identity.

Instrumentalism

A sub-category of constructivism, collective identities are intentionally produced by elites to serve their political purposes.

Symbols

Collective Identities that are constructed may not have the material basis they claim. Symbols can be a very important driver of creating an ‘us’. Collective identities that aren’t based on historical legitimacy must often rely on symbols to foster kinship.

Changing Identities

Collective Identities are processes, not just strict categories. No such thing as a stable identity that has remained the same eternally. Being an Australian in 2024 compared to 1924 is vastly different, such is the same for all identity groups. No one identity has persisted, exactly the same as it always has been.

Us and Them

Collective Identities are used as a process of social differentiation, creating an ‘us vs them’ mentality. We are who we are because we are not them. Common among opposing ethnicities or religions.

• Eastern Orthodox vs Roman Catholic

• Serb vs Bosniak (Ethnic)

• Turks vs Kurds (Ethnic)

• Indians vs Pakistanis (National)

External Differentiation

Sometimes, the categories that we belong to are made by someone else entirely. Categories created by others can sometimes come to dominate our lives. Racial categories of blackness during and after slavery were imposed on the African-Americans. British rule in India cemented religious and caste differentiation among the populace etc.

Ethnicity

Attributes associated with, or believed to be associated with, descent. Ethnicity has often emerged out of conflict. Ethnicity can become short hand for who to trust and who not to trust.

Race

System of categorisation that suggests there is a fundamental biological distinction between people and that this distinction is significant. Usually about skin colour. No scientific basis for separate human races. It is largely not real, but it does matter. Colonial ideas of race portrayed Africans as a lesser race to justify slavery.

Nation

Imagined political community that is limited and sovereign.

Imagined = Not material. It is abstract and symbolic

Community = Group of people

Limited = Insiders and outsiders

Sovereign = Exclusive power over its own affairs.

Imagined Communities

Nations become imagined through homogenisation and socio-linguistics.

Print capitalism; the use of print media, newspapers, magazines etc to massively influence a population

Single language can eradicate smaller languages, impose identity

Nationalism

The idea that one’s nation is the most important and your nation should live in a state congruent with its people.

State

A form of political association used to exercise sovereignty to govern a population in a particular territory. States are impersonal and outlast personified governments.

Social Contract Theory

The idea that humans consent to surrender some of their freedoms and autonomy in exchange for a state preventing violent chaos and maintaining social order.

Westphalian Sovereignty

Physical territory is a patchwork of territories and borders, states have complete authority to govern within these given borders, free from external pressures or influence.

Mandala State

A state defined by its core rather than its borders which were undefined and fluid. Can overlap with other states, power radiates out from the center, strongest at the center. Common in medieval Southeast Asia.

Zomia

Region of the world that resists state-ness despite existing within modern states. Highland South and Southeast Asia. Active historical attempt to resist influence of lowland states. People in these areas are citizens but actively resist the implications of this.

Religious State

Boundaries of a certain territory are considered divine, not the product of legal-rational historical processes.

Early States

Agricultural Theory: Formed through the need for large scale agricultural projects which required management, bureaucracy and security which evolved into a state.

Conflict Explanations of Early States

Development of Bronze Age metallurgy and weapons allowed for easier warfare and expansion. Inclusion of conquered peoples required sophisticated military management and bureaucracy. More people to tax also brought in more money to buy more expensive weapons.

Economic Transformation of Early States

Urbanisation and growth of trade in feudal societies led to emergence of new class of people. Businessman, merchants bourgeoisie. This class was disadvantaged in feudal system as no political rights were given.

Institutionalism

Institutions refer to structures with rules that tell you what to do. Elites formed coalitions to reduce costs of war and the agreements underlying such coalitions turned into institutions.

Why do we let states rule?

Legal-Rational: Laws, rules and norms in society should be respected.

Violence: Some evidence suggests that people were not incorporated into early states willingly.

Internationalism

Advocates for greater cooperation within states, viewing the world through larger units rather than individual states. Pan-Arabism, Pan-Africanism etc.

Democracy

Demos + Kratos means that people should rule. Democracy is the process of leadership selection through majority vote. Democracy is the will of the people. It hopes to achieve civil rights, equality, popular leadership, social justice. Has procedural institutions such as elections,

Direct Democracy

Everyone votes on issues directly, themselves. Athenian assemblies, assemblies in Mesopotamia and India did this.

Indirect Democracy

People vote for representatives who then vote on issues on their behalf. Should people vote for a representative that votes on their behalf or who they trust to exercise their own judgement?

Elections

Presence of elections is a minimalist approach to democracy. Elections by themselves do not meaningfully add to democracy unless they are accompanied by other measures to ensure that they are free and fair.

Free Elections

Anyone can run for office. Freedom of speech ensures that alternative views can be considered and decided upon by voters. Freedom of assembly should allow for groups with similar ideas to meet. Cannot have freedom of speech if journalists and activists are jailed such as in Turkey and Australia.

Fair Elections

Secret Ballot allows for the absence of intimidation. Universal suffrage means that anyone can vote. However, some democracies prevent those under 18, incarcerated people or felons from voting, e.g. USA. Gerrymandering can alter political results such as in the USA Texas, where electoral boundaries were put to the vote to be redrawn to secure Republicans the midterm elections. Officials must be accountable to their constituents.

Liberal Democracy

A liberal democracy (in theory) institutes the values and practices that ensures meaningful elections. Liberal democracies should provide safeguards against autocracy in the form of checks and balances. However, majoritarian rule can still allow for anti-minority policies.

Deliberative Democracy

Maximalist view of democracy that suggests for a decision to be truly democratic, everyone must hear different sides of the matter. Best way to do this is through deliberation. Democracy isn’t just voting, but an exhaustive process of deliberation and differing views.

Democratisation

The idea that modern democracies emerged in waves (Huntington 1991). First in 1918 after WWI, then second revolved around decolonisation following WWII and the third after Cold War ended, collapse of Soviet Union freed Eastern European states. Each wave is followed be democratic retreat.

Authoritarianism

Not simply the absence of democracy. It is a form of government characterised by central arbitrary control. Strong focus on law and order, strict obedience to authority, ruler’s will is paramount and will of majority is largely irrelevant. Rights can be overrode by dictator. Decisions are made quickly, arbitrarily and efficiently.

Monarchy

Rule by inherited royals, Kings and Queens rule by decree, often legitimised by association with divinity. Divine right of Kings in medieval times.

Dictatorship

Rule by a dictator defined by lack of accountability and ability to make arbitrary decisions with little to no constraints by state/people of the state. Many different kinds, Military Dictatorship, ruled by general, religious etc. Not necessarily hereditary, can be political dynasty. Varying degrees of oppression/freedom.

Totalitarian Regime

State that demands total submission of its citizens. E.g. Eritrean Regime under Isaias Afwerki, ruling since 1993. Eritrea is one-party state, no legislature, independent media or elections. Indefinite national service of all citizens which human rights groups have labelled as a form of slavery. Extreme regulation of both private and public life. Characterised by total control. Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin all practiced totalitarianism.

Mechanisms of Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism works most commonly through repression, propaganda and state-sanctioned violence. Denial of civil liberties, some groups are targeted more strongly than others. In times of crisis, people look toward strong and decisive leaders. Authoritarianism promises efficiency, national strength and offers a degree of comfort to people familiar with it.

Repressive Developmentalism

Authoritarian states that implement harsh policies quickly in order to produce economic growth. Often associated with anti-Communist and Socialist states. E.g. Taiwan under Chiang Kai-Shek. Achieves substantial increase in collective prosperity of nation at cost of individual rights and democratic processes. State violence may be common, but it produces results, especially for nations that need to thrive or die. Is it worth it?

Modern Authoritarianism

Agnostic relationship with traditional authority.

• Catholic Church and Fascism

• Orthodox Church and Soviet Union

• Zia-ul Haqnd the ulema

• Thai Royal Family and Thai military

Modern authoritarianism promises modernisation, development and bright futures.

Authoritarianism and ideology

Is authoritarianism left or right wing? Both left and right wing leaders have leveraged authoritarianism to strengthen their own mandate to rule and implement the policies they see fit. Hitler used his total control over Germany to implement the atrocities of genocide, while Stalin used his total control over the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc to impose forced collectivisation. Both were inherently undemocratic, illiberal and at the whims of a single person, however they were not skewed towards one form of rule. Therefore, authoritarianism can’t be defined as solely belonging to the left or right of the political spectrum.

Authoritarianism and instability

Authoritarian regimes often take power during times of instability, as seen in Hitler taking power during the Reichstag fire. Offers a response to the instability in the form of control and maintaining rule in dire situations. Common critique of global South as home to authoritarianism:

Can authoritarianism be a response to the instability caused by imposed Westphalian state model and colonial disruption.

Responses to authoritarianism

Invasions of other countries to restore democracy as seen in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Vietnam etc. The interventions rarely achieve democracy, they often exacerbate crises instead. They can make authoritarianism more durable as seen in the Al-Assad regime in Syria. Democratisation can be a mask for colonialism. Why does the West only seek to democratise some areas but not others? America sought to liberate Syria but not Saudi Arabia which is an absolute monarchy without democracy.

Authoritarian and Democratic Outcomes

Stability - Are authoritarian governments more durable than democracies?

Prosperity - Can authoritarian regimes offer greater prosperity?

Public Health - Did democracies or authoritarian regimes handle COVID-19 better?

Reality is that both of these categories are immensely intricate and internally diverse.

Spectrum Approach

Hard to generalise because it is not binary between democracy and authoritarianism.

Increasingly, we use spectrum approach to understand orientation of governments.

We must recognise that democratic governments use authoritarian tools and do not hold completely fair elections and some authoritarian regimes preserve strong aspects of a democracy.

E.g. Whistleblower detention in Australia, NSA in USA, arbitrary detention of refugees in Australia. It is more complex than black and white.