PO 151 - Bonzonelos (Ch. 1, 2), Rom (Ch. 1, 2)

Week 1 & 2 Vocab

Authority

The entity (person or institution) holding legitimate power in a specific realm.

Bargaining

The process of negotiating with the goal of reaching agreement.

Civil liberties

Human freedoms with which the government may not interfere.

Civil rights

Opportunities to which all humans are entitled that governments must act to protect.

Collective action problem

A collective dilemma in which the group would benefit if its members cooperated, but they have incentives not to do so, ultimately harming the group and individuals.

Collective dilemmas

Problems that arise when multiple individuals interact to make a group decision.

Compromise

In bargaining over a single issue, each participant agrees to move toward the other party’s position to reach an agreement (e.g., a car seller lowers the price, and the buyer increases their offer).

Conflict (disagreements)

Disagreements between individuals, groups, institutions, or states regarding the allocation of resources or the determination of values.

Constitution

A collection of the most basic principles of a country (or state).

Country

A populated geographic area with a sovereign government.

Courts

An institution for resolving disputes.

Democracy

A system of government in which citizens elect their leaders.

Empirical political science

The systematic study of political behavior, often based on developing and testing hypotheses with evidence.

Executives

The persons responsible for leading an institution.

Fact

Something that is true because it can be verified by evidence.

Government

The set of institutions that make and implement decisions for a political collective, most often for a specific geographic area.

Human rights

Liberties and opportunities that humans have by virtue of their humanity.

Hypothesis

A tentative explanation for a reality that can be tested.

Institutions

The beliefs, norms, and organizations that structure social and political life.

American politics

A subfield of political science focusing on political institutions and behaviors within the United States.

Area studies

A traditional method for comparing scholarship organized geographically.

Between-nation comparisons

A method where subnational governments are compared across different countries.

Comparative politics

A subfield of political science that advances understanding of political structures worldwide in an organized, methodological, and clear way.

Confederal government

A system where sovereignty is held at subnational levels (e.g., Switzerland, Iraq).

Cross-national studies

A method for comparison involving two or more countries, not confined to a single region.

Devolution

Occurs when the central government deliberately transfers power to a lower-level government.

Federal government

National or centralized authority differentiated from state and local governments. Federalism is a system where governmental power is shared between federal, state, and local governments (e.g., United States, Canada).

Formal institutions

Institutions based on clear, formalized rules, often with authority to enforce them through punitive measures.

Informal institutions

Institutions based on unwritten conventions about how one should behave.

International relations (also called World Politics, International Affairs, or International Studies)

A subfield of political science focusing on interactions between countries and international organizations.

Political economy

A subfield of political science that examines economic theories (e.g., capitalism, socialism, communism, fascism), practices, and outcomes within or between states.

Political institutions

The spaces where most politics and political decisions take place.

Political philosophy (also called political theory)

A subfield reflecting on the philosophical origins of politics, the state, government, fairness, equality, equity, authority, and legitimacy.

Political psychology

A subfield combining political science and psychology to understand the psychological roots of political behavior.

Political science

A field of social and scientific inquiry that advances knowledge of political institutions, behavior, and outcomes using systematic research methods.

Public policy

A subfield exploring political policies and outcomes, focusing on the strength, legitimacy, and effectiveness of institutions.

Qualitative research

A research approach exploring ideas and phenomena to develop or test theories, often through in-depth case analysis.

Quantitative research

A research approach testing theories or hypotheses using mathematical and statistical analysis of large datasets.

Research methods and models

A subfield considering best practices for analyzing political science themes through discussion, testing, and critical analysis.

Sovereignty

Fundamental governmental power to coerce compliance.

Subnational studies

A method for comparing subnational governments.

Unitary government

A system where power is centralized at the national level (e.g., France, Britain).

Within-nation comparisons

Studying subnational governments or institutions within a single country.

*legislature- an institution composed of individuals who have the power to propose, deliberate, adopt, and alter

the laws of a state

*legitimate authority- used in ways that are true to the rules

nation a population connected by history, culture, and beliefs that generally lives in a specific area

*normative political science- the systematic study of ideal goals, principles, and behaviors in politics; also

called political philosophy

*political ideology- a set of beliefs (or a systematic set of concepts) that helps individuals determine how they see the proper roles of citizens and their governments

*political science- the systematic study of political phenomena using empirical or philosophical methods

*politics- “who gets what, where, when, and how”—the process for resolving disputes and allocating scarce resources

*power- the ability to compel someone to do something they would not otherwise choose to do

*public interest- that which benefits a state and those who reside there

public opinion in empirical political science, the sum of individual opinions on the question being asked

*public policy- any decision by a government, such as a law, regulation, or ruling, that attempts to guide human

behavior

*reality- the world as it is, as verified by observations and measurements

rules instructions regarding what behaviors are required, forbidden, or allowed

*scientific method- the processes used to conduct empirical research

*sovereign- the entity (person or institution) that holds supreme authority over a domain

*state- a defined geographic area with unified

Applied research

defined as research that attempts to explain social phenomena with immediate public policy implications.

Assumptions

statements that are taken to be true, or statements that are accepted as true, without proof.

Case

is defined as a “spatially delimited phenomenon (a unit) observed at a single point in time, or over some period of time.

Case study

an intensive look into that single case, often with the intent that this single case may help us better understand a

particular variable of interest.

Causal case studies

case studies “organized around a central hypothesis about how X affects Y”

Causal mechanism

defined as “portable concepts that explain how and why a hypothesized cause, in a given context, contributes to a particular outcome.

Causal question

involves discerning cause and effect, also referred to as a causal relationship.

Comparative case study

defined as a study that is structured on the comparison of two or more cases.

Deductive reasoning

occurs when political scientists make an inference and then test its truth using evidence and observations.

Dependent variables (outcome variables)

the assumed effect, their values will (presumably) depend on the changes in the independent variables.

Descriptive case studies

case studies “not organized around a central, overarching causal hypothesis or theory”

Empirical Analysis

is defined as being based on experiment, experience or observation.

Experiment

defined as “laboratory studies in which investigators retain control over the recruitment, assignment to random

conditions, treatment, and measurement of subjects.

Falsifiability

is a word coined by Karl Popper, a philosopher of science, and is defined as the ability for a statement to be logically contradicted through empirical testing.

Hard sciences

such as chemistry, mathematics, and physics, work to advance scientific understanding in the natural or physical sciences.

Hypothesis

a specific and testable prediction of what you think will happen.

Independent variables (explanatory variables)

the cause, and these variables are independent of other variables under consideration in a study.

Inductive reasoning

occurs when scientists look at specific situations and attempt to form a hypothesis.

Inference

is a process of drawing a conclusion about an unobserved phenomenon, based on observed (empirical) information.

Large

N research

Literature review

a section of your research paper or research process which collects key sources and previous research on your research question and discusses the findings in synthesis with each other.

Most Different Systems Design (MDSD)

the cases selected for comparison are different from each other, but outcomes are similar in results.

Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD)

the cases selected for comparison are similar to each other, but outcomes differ in results.

Non

falsifiable

Science

is defined as the systematic and organized approach to any area of inquiry, and utilizes scientific methods to acquire and build a body of knowledge, political science, as well as comparative politics as a subfield of political science, embody the essence of the scientific method and possess deep foundations for the scientific tools and theory formation which align with their areas of inquiry.

Scientific method

a process by which knowledge is acquired through a sequence of steps, which generally include the following components: question, observation, hypothesis, testing of the hypothesis, analysis of the outcomes, and reporting of the findings.

Social sciences

which are the fields of inquiry that scientifically study human society and relationships.

Soft sciences

like psychology, sociology, anthropology and political science, work to advance scientific understanding of human behavior, institutions, society, government, decision making, and power.

Subnational case study research

when subnational governments, such provincial governments, regional governments, and other local governments often referred to as municipalities, are the cases that are compared.

Theory

a statement that explains how the world works based on experiences and observation.

Variable

is a factor or object that can vary or change.

authority

the entity (person or institution) holding legitimate power in a specific realm

bargaining

the process of negotiating with the goal of reaching agreement

civil liberties

human freedoms with which the government may not interfere

civil rights

opportunities to which all humans are entitled that governments must act to protect