PSC 1001 Early Quiz

Imagined community

Benedict Anderson for the ideal of the nation: a community formed through an ideal of political connection. The inhabitants are loyal to each other but don't know each other.

Harmonization

The establishment of uniform standards, rules, and regulations

Nation states

a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.

What does wealth do

Reduces poverty but propels inequality

Democracy

a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

Why does political violence occur

Inequality, Cultural Differences, Globalization

Analytical concepts

Assumptions, theories about cause and effect

Methods

Testing theories --> explanations

Ideals

Beliefs about outcomes --> compare politics

Institutions

Self perpetuating organizations

Politics

Struggle for power to make decisions and struggle for leadership

Why can't we make true comparisons on politics?

Can't control socioeconomic backgrounds, Multicausality, Too few cases

Selection bias

A polling error in which the sample is not representative of the population being studied, so that some opinions are over- or underrepresented

Endogeneity

The issue that cause and effect are not often clear, in that variables may be both cause and effect in relationship to one another

Motor of history

Causes and effects evolve together

Aristotle

Proper vs. deviant

Machiavelli

Renaissance writer; formerly a politician, wrote The Prince, a work on ethics and government, describing how rulers maintain power by methods that ignore right or wrong; accepted the philosophy that "the end justifies the means." ANALYZED POLITICAL SYSTEMS

Rousseau

(1712-1778) Believed that society threatened natural rights and freedoms. Wrote about society's corruption caused by the revival of sciences and art instead of it's improvement. He was sponsored by the wealthy and participated in salons but often felt uncomfortable and denounced them. Wrote "The Social Contract."

Montesquieu

French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers (1689-1755)

Modernization Theory

A theory asserting that as societies developed, they would take on a set of common characteristics, including democracy and capitalism

Behavioral Revolution

Political institutions defined individual behavior

Game Theory

How are politics played?

Quantitative

Gather data for hypotheses

Qualitative

Master cases through history

Idea of politics

Struggle between individual freedom and collective equality

Macro level approach

Are humans clocklike?

Micro level approach

Judgement --> Bias --> Cognitive Error

Hedgehogs

Look for one overarching explanation

Foxes

Combine small ideas

Peace Model

Universal Democracy + Economic Development = Permanent Peace

Collective action

How groups form and organize to pursue their goals or objectives, including how to get individuals and groups to participate and to cooperate. The term has many applications in the various social sciences such as political science, sociology, and economics.

Why don't countries improve?

Don't want to, cost-benefit analysis, keep power

Disinformation

Distraction

Misinformation

Untrue or wrong information

Parliamentary

Form of government in which people vote for the legislative body, which in turn selects the prime minister. (UNITARY)

Presidential

Separate powers

Self determination

Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

Happiness index

An index which is used to measure the collective happiness and well-being of a population.

Blockade

an act or means of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving.

Embargo

an official ban on trade or other commercial activity with a particular country.

Rules of politics

Observe, Explain, Prescribe

Locke

Wrote Two Treatises of Government. Said human nature lived free and had the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. He said government was created in order to protect these rights and if the government failed to do so it was the duty of the people to rebel.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization concentrated in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and in Guatemala and Honduras but never unified into a single empire. Major contributions were in mathematics, astronomy, and development of the calendar.

Aztec

(1200-1521) 1300, they settled in the valley of Mexico. Grew corn. Engaged in frequent warfare to conquer others of the region. Worshipped many gods (polytheistic). Believed the sun god needed human blood to continue his journeys across the sky. Practiced human sacrifices and those sacrificed were captured warriors from other tribes and those who volunteered for the honor.

Inca

Trade network. Colonized by Spain.

Legitimacy

Recognized as right and proper

Charismatic

Based on power of ideas

Rational legal legitimacy

Neutral system of laws

Capacity

Equality and security

Autonomy

State wields power

Centralized

Federal power

Decentralized

transfer (authority) from central to local government. State power.

Strong gov

Power and budget

Weak gov

Legislative budget

Hobbes

English philosopher and political theorist best known for his book Leviathan (1651), in which he argues that the only way to secure civil society is through universal submission to the absolute authority of a sovereign.

Locke's idea

We benefit society so we deserve rights

Why is Locke's idea ironic

Didn't apply to indigenous people

O'Neill

Democracy leads to freedom

Official

One religion is supported but all are allowed

Secular

All religions are allowed but nothing is supported

Fundamentalist

a person who believes in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture in a religion.

Fundamentalism

Secular + Official

Extremism

One religion is allowed

State

Government

Nation

People

Country

Land

Role of government

State is political structure

What do states do

Make claims to land

What do nations do

Have claims made for land

Basis of peace

Rules everyone abides by

Society

Collection of people bound by institutions that defined how people's relations should be conducted

What do nations want

Self government

Ethnic identity

Set of institutions that bind people through common culture

National identity

binds people together through common political aspirations

Why do ethnic groups need political control

They lack human rights

Citizenship

informed and active membership in a political community

Patriotism

Pride for a country

Nationalism

Want a nation state

Fascism

A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition

Totalitarianism

A political system in which the government has total control over the lives of individual citizens.

Anarchy

absence of government

Free Trade Agreement

an agreement between member countries to remove duties and trade barriers on products traded among them.

What does the left want

More governmental control

Communism

A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.

What does the center want

Balance

Socialism

A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production. Private with government control.

Regulated capitalism

Government intervenes to protect rights and make procedural guarantees. Private with some govt control

What does the right want

Less government control

Conservatism

A political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes.

Liberal

open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values.

Liberalism

A political ideology that emphasizes the civil rights of citizens, representative government, and the protection of private property. This ideology, derived from the Enlightenment, was especially popular among the property-owning middle classes.

Social Democracy

Civil liberties, no competition, equality, equal power in gov, equal economic distribution, public finance of elections, workers control workspace, control natural resources

Liberal Democracy

Individual freedom, limited government, settle disputes, popular sovereignty, classic discourse

Democratic Socialism

A socialist form of government that guarantees civil liberties such as freedom of speech and religion. Citizens determine the extent of government activity through free elections and competitive political parties.

Classical Liberalism

The political ideology of individual liberty, private property, a competitive market economy, free trade, and limited government. The idea being that the less government does, the better, particularly in reference to economic policies such as tariffs and incentives for industrial development. Attacking corruption and defending private property, late-nineteenth-century liberals generally called for elite governance and questioned the advisability of full democratic participation.

Social Liberalism

Belief in government assistance to improve society, especially for the poor and minorities. Socially liberal policies include universal health care, public education, affirmative action, welfare programs

American Conservatism

The belief that freedom trumps all other political considerations; the government should play a small role in people's lives.

Progressivism

The movement in the late 1800s to increase democracy in America by curbing the power of the corporation. It fought to end corruption in government and business, and worked to bring equal rights of women and other groups that had been left behind during the industrial revolution.

Libertarianism

An ideology that cherishes individual liberty and insists on minimal government, promoting a free market economy, a noninterventionist foreign policy, and an absence of regulation in moral, economic, and social life.

Classical Conservatism

Restoration, hierarchy, limited electorate, welfare, stability through law and tradition