POLI 100: Introduction to Politics and International Relations

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, thinkers, texts, historical milestones, and analytical models from the POLI 100 lecture notes.

Polis

The ancient Greek word for city-state, referring to a city and its surrounding territory where citizens lived together under a shared political system; it forms the etymological root of politics.

Space (in Politics)

The geographical dimension of political differences, showing that governance, practices, and political systems vary across different countries and regions, such as Canada, the US, and Europe.

Time (in Politics)

The historical dimension of politics, demonstrating that political ideas, practices, and institutions evolve across different historical periods: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.

Western Politics

The political systems, ideas, and traditions characteristic of Western nations, specifically exemplified in the course by Canada, the United States, and European states.

Ancient Period of Politics

The historical era centered on Ancient Greece that focused on foundational ideas about justice, ethics, and how politics ought to be organized.

Medieval Period of Politics

The historical era characterized by the political rule of kings, the dominant influence of the Catholic Church, and continuous struggles for power.

Modern Period of Politics

The historical era characterized by secular nation-states, representative democracies, individual rights, and the scientific study of political institutions.

Political Events

Major occurrences throughout history, categorized into long epochs and specific ages, that fundamentally changed how governments and political power operate.

Epochs vs. Ages

Epochs are very long periods of history marked by fundamental societal transformations, whereas ages are specific, shorter periods contained within history.

Political Ideas

The philosophical frameworks, published texts by influential thinkers, and conceptual theories that shape political systems and governments.

Political Concepts

Fundamental theoretical ideas used to analyze and organize political systems, including democracy, justice, liberty, and power.

Standard Definition of Politics (OED)

The definition provided by the Oxford English Dictionary defining politics as "the art and science of governing."

Art of Governing (Ancient/Medieval)

The historical view that governing is a practical skill or craft based on prudence, making sound decisions, and maintaining order.

Science of Governing (Modern)

The modern approach of studying government systematically using empirical evidence, quantitative data, logic, and scientific research.

Post-Modern Definition of Politics

"The construction of and resistance to power in society as a whole," meaning politics occurs in all social interactions rather than solely inside formal government institutions.

Construction of Power

The process through which power, authority, social hierarchies, and norms are established and maintained throughout society.

Resistance to Power

The ways in which individuals, social movements, or groups challenge, oppose, protest, or deconstruct existing power dynamics and state policies.

Power Over Justice

A political situation where authority prioritizes control, dominance, and self-preservation over fairness and rights, such as the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan and restricting women's rights.

Justice Over Power

A political approach prioritizing the public good, human needs, and fairness over raw power, exemplified by Canada's universal healthcare system providing access regardless of income.

Plato's Republic

An ancient Greek philosophical dialogue arguing that politics should be the art of justice and dedicated to achieving the common good rather than simply gaining power.

Politics as It Ought to Be

The normative approach championed by Plato that investigates the ideal functions, moral purposes, and ethical standards that government should pursue.

Purpose of Politics (Plato)

To establish a just state governed by wisdom, where each class fulfills its proper role and leaders prioritize the collective well-being of the community.

Philosophers' Rule

Plato's ideal system where philosophers govern because their philosophical knowledge, reason, and wisdom allow them to distinguish true reality from appearance.

Paramount Good of the People

Plato's foundational principle asserting that political rulers must subordinate their personal self-interest entirely to the collective welfare of society.

Allegory of the Cave

Plato's philosophical metaphor illustrating how ordinary people mistake shadows (appearances) for reality, while philosophical education leads to true knowledge of the Good.

Tripartite Division of the Soul and State (Plato)

Plato's framework connecting human nature to state roles: Rational relates to Rulers (think and govern), Emotive/Spirited relates to Warriors (protect and defend), and Appetitive relates to Artisans/Producers (produce goods and meet needs).

Rational Component / Rulers (Plato)

The intellectual part of the individual soul in Plato's philosophy that corresponds to the governing ruler class of the state, whose primary role is to think and govern.

Emotive/Spirited Component / Warriors (Plato)

The spirited or courage-driven part of the individual soul corresponding to the warrior class of the state, whose main role is to protect and defend.

Appetitive Component / Artisans and Producers (Plato)

The desire-driven part of the individual soul corresponding to the artisans and producers in the state, whose main role is to produce goods and fulfill physical needs.

Machiavelli's The Prince

A medieval/Renaissance political text defining politics as the art of acquiring, exercising, and maintaining power rather than achieving moral goodness.

Politics as It Really Is (Machiavelli)

The realist approach analyzing how political actors actually behave and struggle for power in real-world conditions, rather than imagining ideal societies.

Purpose of Politics (Machiavelli)

The fundamental goal of a ruler (prince) to maintain state power, preserve political stability, and ensure social order.

Virtù

A Machiavellian political concept describing a leader's practical skill, cunning, strength, adaptability, and capacity to master unpredictable situations.

Fortuna

Luck, chance, and unpredictable external circumstances that rulers cannot control but must anticipate and overcome through political skill.

River Metaphor for Fortuna

Machiavelli's comparison of fortune to a violent flooding river that can destroy unprepared territories, but can be controlled with dikes and dams built in advance.

"Dirty Hands"

The Machiavellian political concept that a ruler may be forced to commit morally questionable or unethical acts in order to preserve public order and maintain state power.

Elitism in Classical Political Thought

The shared anti-democratic belief between Plato and Machiavelli that governing is a specialized craft suited only for a select, qualified few rather than the entire population.

Plato vs. Machiavelli Comparison

Plato focuses on justice, goodness, the public good, and ethics; Machiavelli focuses on power, maintaining order, and utilizing "dirty hands" when necessary to retain power.

Politics as Power and Self-Interest

The contemporary viewpoint that politicians primarily seek personal benefit and power, often making morally compromises or expedient campaign promises to win elections.

Politics as the Greater Good

The contemporary viewpoint that politicians and governments prioritize collective societal needs and justice, exemplified by public investments like universal healthcare.

René Descartes

The Enlightenment philosopher whose famous dictum "I think, therefore I am" established individual centrality, rationalism, and methodical skepticism as foundations of modernity.

"I think, therefore I am"

Descartes' foundational philosophical assertion highlighting three modern principles: the individual ("I"), reason ("think"), and skeptical verification ("therefore, I am").

Modern Skepticism

The Enlightenment commitment to questioning received authority, dogmas, and traditions by demanding logical proof or empirical validation before accepting knowledge as true.

Conceptual Definition of Modernity

Defining the modern age by its core beliefs and guiding ideas: the centrality of individuals, rational scientific inquiry, market systems, and progress.

Historical Definition of Modernity

Defining modernity according to a specific chronological timeline, typically beginning in the 16th to 17th centuries with the Enlightenment and the emergence of the state.

Tenet: Individuals Are Paramount

A foundational modern principle holding that the individual human person and their natural rights are the most important elements of society.

Tenet: Belief in Science

A foundational modern principle that applies logical reasoning, the scientific method, and universal laws to understand nature and human society.

Tenet: Development of the Market

A core modern principle characterized by voluntary contracts between private parties and legal protections for individual private property.

Tenet: Idea of Progress

The modern belief that human societies naturally improve and advance over time through science, knowledge, institutional development, and economic growth.

State and Citizens vs. Monarchs and Subjects

A key shift from pre-modernity to modernity wherein people ceased to be passive subjects obeying a monarch and became active citizens possessing protected legal rights.

Progress Towards an End

The modern political understanding that governments and policies are oriented toward achieving specific teleological or societal improvements over time.

Galileo's Mathematical Scientific Method

The Enlightenment methodological model using empirical observation, measurement, and mathematics to discover universal laws, later adapted to political science.

Inductive Reasoning

A scientific methodology that starts by collecting specific empirical observations or data points to formulate general rules, theories, or hypotheses.

Deductive Reasoning

A scientific methodology that begins with general laws, axioms, or theoretical premises and applies them logically to predict or explain specific outcomes.

Thomas Hobbes

A 17th-century English philosopher who analyzed politics scientifically in Leviathan, arguing that an absolute sovereign is necessary to maintain order.

Leviathan (1651)

Thomas Hobbes's masterpiece arguing that human self-preservation requires establishing a powerful, centralized authority to avoid chaos and war.

Forces Acting on People (Hobbes)

The psychological drivers that Hobbes identified as governing human behavior in the state of nature: glory, power, and ambition.

Law of Nature (Hobbes)

The fundamental human impulse identified by Hobbes as self-preservation: the universal drive to survive and avoid violent death.

Absolute Monarchy (Hobbes)

Hobbes's recommended form of government wherein a single undisputed authority possesses absolute power to guarantee domestic peace, security, and order.

John Locke

A 17th-century English philosopher whose Two Treatises of Government established liberal political theory, natural rights, and limited constitutional government.

Two Treatises of Government (1689)

Locke's seminal work arguing that individuals possess natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that political authority exists solely to protect these rights.

Empirical Method (Locke)

Locke's observational, evidence-based approach to studying human nature, society, and government based on real-world experiences.

Laws of Nature (Locke)

Moral and rational imperatives inherent in nature ensuring self-preservation and protecting individuals' inalienable rights to life, liberty, and estate (property).

Liberal/Democratic State (Locke)

A constitutional system of government created by citizen consent with explicit legal limits, designed specifically to safeguard individual rights and freedoms.

Karl Marx

A 19th-century political theorist and economist who developed scientific socialism, historical materialism, and the critique of capitalism.

Scientific Socialism

Marx's systematic approach utilizing deductive economic laws and dialectical materialism to demonstrate that class struggle inevitably leads from capitalism to communism.

Laws of Capital (Marx)

The structural economic rules and internal contradictions that govern how the capitalist mode of production extracts profit and creates class division.

Surplus Value

The economic value generated by workers over and above the cost of their wages, which is appropriated by capitalist owners as profit.

Prediction of Communism (Marx)

Marx's deductive conclusion that worsening economic inequality and class conflict will cause capitalism to collapse and be replaced by a classless communist society.

Modern Thinkers on Government Outcome

A comparative framework contrasting Hobbes (focus: self-preservation; outcome: absolute monarchy), Locke (focus: individual rights; outcome: liberal democracy), and Marx (focus: capitalism and class conflict; outcome: communism).

American Political Science Association (APSA)

The primary professional academic association for the study of politics, founded in 1903 to study political phenomena systematically.

Behavioral Revolution (1960s–Today)

A major shift in political science emphasizing empirical research, statistical analysis, and observable individual behavior rather than formal legal structures.

Behavioralism

A political science methodology that rejects purely legal, historical, and normative analysis in favor of quantifiable data, statistics, and scientific methods.

Empirical Validation

The scientific requirement of evaluating and testing political theories against measurable, real-world evidence and observable data.

Time-Series Data

Quantitative information tracked, measured, and compared across multiple chronological dates to observe longitudinal political trends.

Comparative Data

Quantitative or qualitative information gathered across different geographical locations, countries, or regions to evaluate political variations.

Political Polling

An empirical survey methodology that gathers representative public opinion data to estimate citizens' political attitudes and voting intentions.

Sampling Error / Biased Samples

A polling limitation occurring when the surveyed group is too small or non-representative of the entire voting population, skewing predictive results.

Non-Response Bias

A polling inaccuracy caused when certain demographic cohorts or voters systematically refuse to answer survey questions.

Shy Voters

Survey respondents who conceal their true political preferences or intended candidates from pollsters, producing misleading predictions.

Voter Turnout Factor in Polling

The challenge pollsters face in accurately forecasting which surveyed respondents will actually cast ballots on election day.

Emergence of the Modern State (16th–17th Centuries)

The historical period during which centralized, sovereign political entities emerged through religious conflict, economic transformations, and secularization.

Secularization (State Emergence)

The historical process occurring in response to the Catholic Church wherein governing authority separated from ecclesiastical control.

English Civil War (17th Century)

A major conflict in 17th-century England concerning whether supreme political authority resided with the monarchy or parliament, influencing modern theories of state power.

Treaty of Westphalia (1648)

The international peace agreement signed in 1648 that ended the Thirty Years' War and established modern territorial state sovereignty.

State Sovereignty (Westphalian Principle)

The foundational principle that each sovereign state has supreme, exclusive law-making authority over its own territory, free from external interference.

Secular Authority

The governance of a state independently of religious organizations, ensuring political and legal decisions are made without ecclesiastical dictate.

Order and Security (State Purpose)

A core objective of the early modern state focused on maintaining domestic peace, enforcing stability, and protecting subjects from internal violence.

Mark Carney's Address to the European Parliament (2026)

A contemporary speech delivered on September 17, 2026, arguing that Canada and Europe must cooperate to defend their sovereignty against trade and tech pressures.

State as a Country (Definition #1)

A distinct political and legal entity characterized by a permanent population, defined territory, central government, sovereignty, monopoly of force, and international recognition.

Six Characteristics of a State (as a Country)

The six necessary attributes of a sovereign country: permanent population, defined territory, central government, sovereignty, monopoly on the use of force, and recognition by other states.

Monopoly on the Legitimate Use of Force

The exclusive legal authority claimed by the modern state to use physical force to enforce laws, execute penalties, and maintain territorial defense.

Recognition by Other States

The diplomatic acknowledgement by the international community that a political entity possesses legitimate statehood and territorial authority.

Nation

A sociopolitical group of individuals sharing a common collective identity based on culture, language, history, ethnicity, or ancestry.

State vs. Nation Distinction

A state is a legal, sovereign entity with defined borders and a government, whereas a nation is a human community bound together by shared cultural or ancestral identity.

State as a Governing Entity (Definition #2)

The complete, permanent institutional system of public authority, encompassing the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, alongside public bureaucracies.

State vs. Government Distinction

The state is the permanent system of public institutions, whereas the government consists of the temporary political leadership in office managing those institutions.

Max Weber's Definition of the State

An institution claiming a "monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory."

Six Functions of the Modern State (L-E-J-A-S-C)

The six core modern state operations: Legislative (makes laws), Executive (develops/enforces laws), Judicial (interprets laws), Administrative (administers laws), Socialisation/Educational (teaches citizens), and Coercive (enforces laws using force).

Legislative Function of the State

The primary operational role performed by parliaments or congresses dedicated to debating, drafting, and passing official statutes and laws.