Political Science Lecture Notes

Flashcards about the Communist Manifesto, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Max Weber, Silvia Federici, the Welfare State, and Political Regime.

What, according to Marx and Engels, originates a society's distinctive ideology and social thought?

According to Marx and Engels, the economic and productive structure of a society determines its ideology and social thought.

According to the Communist Manifesto, what is the true basis and driver of history?

The clashes between social classes drive history, reflecting their economic interests in the forms of political/ideological ideas.

According to Marxist thought, how does the proletariat eliminate social classes upon taking power?

By eliminating the private ownership of the means of production, which eliminates the bourgeoisie as a class and then the proletariate until a classless society emerges.

What 'great law' did Marx discover that governs the course of history?

He discovered that all historical struggles are expressions of struggles between social classes

According to Marx, how did the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie act with respect to their political and private interests?

Industrial and commercial bourgeoisie opposed parliamentary struggles, sacrificing their political interest for private business interests.

According to Marx, how did the State evolve and what did parties consider it to be?

The State is a parasitic organism developed through the French Revolution which parties consider the 'main prize' for class domination.

What is the difference between the source of inspiration in bourgeois and proletarian revolutions, according to Marx?

Unlike bourgeois revolutions that draw inspiration from the past, proletarian revolutions draw their poetry from the future.

According to Marx, what is a bourgeois republic?

It is a natural result of the bourgeois monarchy; the unlimited despotism of one class over others.

According to Marx, what drives the actions of parties and classes?

The actions of parties and classes are driven by the material conditions of life, more than by their declared phrases or principles.

What is the main objective of Weber's comprehensive sociology?

Weber's aim is to understand social action based on its subjective meaning, motivations, and resulting effects.

What is "social action" according to Max Weber?

An action where the subjective meaning considers the behavior of others; fundamental to Weber's sociology.

What kind of actions is Weber's sociology centered around?

Weber's study focuses on actions with meaning for the actor; classified into rational (most understandable) and irrational (affective/traditional) types.

What are the four types of social action according to Weber?

Rational with respect to ends, rational with respect to values, affective, and traditional.

What are the three ideal types of legitimate domination according to Weber?

Weber identifies legal, traditional, and charismatic types of legitimate domination.

According to Weber, what are the three dimensions of power in a community?

Class refers to economic status; status refers to social honor, and party refers to organizations seeking political power.

What does Federici mean when she refers to the Great Witch Hunt?

It was a monstrous attack against women's bodies during the transition from feudalism to capitalism.

In Federici's work, what do Caliban and the witch symbolize?

Caliban symbolizes the rebel against colonialism and the global proletariat. The witch symbolizes women who fight against colonization, including the heretic, the healer, the disobedient wife, and slave rebel.

In what main way does Federici's analysis depart from Marx's?

Federici focuses on the reproduction of labor power and the social position of women, while Marx focuses on commodity production.

What does Federici mean by, “Caliban and the Witch shows that, in capitalist society, the body is for women what the factory is for male wage laborers?

In capitalist society, women's bodies are controlled and used for the reproduction of labor like factories are used for male wage workers.

What was the motivation behind the emergence of the Welfare State?

The Welfare State emerged after WWII promoting equality, regulating the market, and ensuring the prosperity of all.

From the neoliberal perspective, what was the role of trade unions in the economic crisis?

From a neoliberal perspective, excessive union power caused the 1973 economic crisis, so unions needed to be weakened.

What has been the result of neoliberalism?

Neoliberalism has had the result of creating a more unequal society with increased poverty.

What does the concept of political regime address?

It is the question of who governs a state-nation and how they do it. It includes values, norms, and authoritative structures.

Besides the regime, what elements comprise the political system?

The community, the regime, the authorities.

What is the most influential typology of political regimes?

The most influential typology is the one inherited from Aristotle, but Schumpeter reconfigured it, establishing a minimal democracy based on competitive elections.

What are the two dimensions of concentration-decentralization of power?

Horizontal refers to the separation of powers. Vertical refers to federalism.

What is the origin of parliamentarism?

Parliamentarism originated from the shift to constitutional monarchy in England's Glorious Revolution of 1688, granting parliment final approval. .

What are central characteristics of Parliamentarism?

Interdependence amongst executive and legislative branches, a non fixed mandate of the executive, the dissolution of parliament, etc.

What is the origin of Presidentialism?

With the Constitution of the United States in 1787

What are the central characteristics of Presidentialism?

The election of the president and their permanence, the inability of their executive branch to dissolve congress, the direct popular election of the president by the people, etc.

What does semipresidentialism present?

Direct election and the authority of two heads.

What does a federal form of government assume?

A distribution of power across different levels of governments.

According to Abal Medina, what is a political party?

It is an institution with an organization that seeks to influence the state, usually by placing its representatives in positions of the government.

What is the importance of party models?

A tool to understand how politics work globally. They can simplify, article, and model traits or the elements present in real parties.

What happens when a party becomes cosified?

It is the reduction that takes place when parties are reduced to unitary actors. This ignores the fact that these are organizations for power and certain strategies

In the study of parties, what supposes the ideological dimension?

Involves a way of seeing the world. It is a form of values and the idea of how societies are presented.

What criteria are habitually used for political systems?

The number of parties, the structures of social systems, the stability system structure, etc.

Specifically, what does Abal Medina refer to when he says that the Argentinian party system is absolutely deconstructed?

It remains in a state of deep destruction with political parties that integrate in coalitions, and the absence of traditional parties.