Political Science 111

Politics as art of government

View politics as a statebound activity

Politics as a public affair

distinction between the political and non political spheres

politics as a compromise and consensus

politics is seen as a particular means of resolving conflict by compromise, concillation, and negotiation

politics as a power

power is at work in all social activities and in every corner of human existence

area

behaviour is political based on where it takes place

process

behavior is political based on its characteristics and not limited to any specific arena

insitutions (narrow definition)

a well established body/organization with a formal role and status in a system

institutions (broad definition)

a set of rules and norms that ensure regular and predictable behaviour within a system

politics as public affairs (public)

institutions and activities that are publicly funded

politics as public affairs (private)

civil society and activities institutions such as families, businesses, trade unions, etc. that are set up and funded by individuals and groups

luke’s three dimensions of power

decision making, agenda setting, ideology/worldview/preference shaping

luke’s three dimensions of power: decision making

the power to make decisions that other people have to follow

Luke’s three dimensions of power: agenda setting

the power to set the parameters of what decisions can be made

luke’s three dimensions of power: ideology/ worldview/ preference shaping

the power to shape how people understand the world

foucault’s conception of power

power is everywhere and operates through discourse—historically specific rules that shape what can be thought, said, and known—and instead of seeking a single definition of power, we should analyze the concrete practices through which it functions

Status

a recognized social position defined by culturally prescribed rights and duties

legal status

status by law; social status is determined by social characteristics

citizenship

the dominant modern legal status; status allocate citizenship status through control of territory and the people who live there

hannah arendt:

Citizenship is the right to have rights (membership)

domination

exercise or potential exercise of power by one, institution, or individual over others in such a way that the dominated have little or no real capacity to resist, influence or exit that arrangement

oppression

a system or sustained practice of unjust treatment that restricts the freedom, rights or opportunities of a group

equality

a condition in which individuals or groups have the same rights, opportunities, access to resources in political life, and/or status

autonomy

the unconstrained capacity for or exercise of self governance (can be group autonomy or individual autonomy) no interference when trying to do something

Canadian/ single country domestic politics

focuses on the detailed study of all political dimensions within one country, with the field defined by its in-depth analysis of that specific case 

Comparative politics

method of comparing domestic political cases, often at the state level and sometimes focused on single cases in order to generate broader generalizations across countries

International relations

field that explains how states and global actos interact across border, through conflict, cooperation, institutions, and global issues, using various ontological, epistemological, and methodological approaches while distinguishing between participant and analyst perspectives

Normative political theory

systematically evaluates political ideas and insitutions, focusing on concepts like justice, rights, legitimacy, democracy, and authority, by asking ethical should/ought questions rather than empirical ones

Gender and politics

examines how gender shapes and is shaped by political structures, institutions, and outcomes, across issues like representation, participation, policy, and power, while overlapping with all other fields of political science

social construction

refers to things that exist only because humans collectively create, believe in, and act on them, such as states, gender, nationality, class, and race, and while these constructs are real and powerful, they are not natural or fixed and can change over time 

core concepts in political analysis

ontology, epistemology, methodology, method

ontology

what kind of things are there and what are their characteristics

epistemology

what can we know and how can we know it

methodology

what tools should we use to answer our questions

method

a research tool

participant vs analyst perspective

distinguishes between viewpoints of those directly involved in a social or political practice and those who study it from a self consciously detached, analytical position, an essential epistemological and methodological distinction for social science

participant perspective

biased and incomplete because it relies on one’s own identity or experience, cannot capture full complexity of what is being explained

analyst