Chapter 1-politics and knowledge Flashcards
(25 cards)
Politics is the
Process through which power and influence are used In the promotion of certain values and interests
Three types of political knowledge
Description
Explanation
Prescriptions
What is description
What questions!
-usually based on facts, composed of relatively straightforward political facts
Ex. Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt
What is explanation
Attempt to specify why something happens and to provide the reason or process by which the phenomenon occurs
What is prescription
Ex. Statements about politics that include claims of assumptions that certain choices and actions are more desirable than others
-it is a value judgment that indicated what should occur and should be done
What is an example of prescription
Many possible prescriptive responses to the question what should be the governments role in the provision of health care?
Narrative political knowledge
Your value judgments
Combine three types of understanding
1- your descriptive knowledge of certain facts
2- explanatory knowledge of why certain outcomes occurs
3- your priorities around competing values
What are sources of political knowledge
Authority
Personal thought
Science
What does authority involve
The appeal to any document, tradition, or person believed to possess the controlling explanation regarding a particular issue
Knowledge about politics can be based three kinds of authority sources
Specific authority
General authority
“Everyone”
Example of specific authority
Teacher, prof, doctor
General authority sources is one that has a substantial influence on….
A large population of people in a Society
Ex. Revered leaders, respected media or books
Specific authority is when ….
an individual places great confidence in the knowledge he derives about politics from this one specific person
Example of authority in the untied states
The document/ constitution of rights
In Iran the key source of authority is the
Koran
Why is everyone considered an authority figure
Because it can the a belief that’s strongly held by many people
Pros for “everyone” as a source of authority
The beliefs held the test of time and are believed by many!
Problems with authority as a source of political knowledge
They can be biased and shift your opinions
Problems with general authorities
They might not have access to critical information or might rely on inaccurate data
What is personal thought?
Facts that seem correct cause they seem obvious.
This second source of knowledge is about rationality, personal experience and intuition
What’s rationality
Things seem logic cause they seem to just make sense.
What’s intuition ?
Ones knowledge based on feeling, on a sense of understanding or empathy rather than reason.
Ex. You might feel something is right cause it FEELS right
What is personal experience
Form of political knowledge based on personal experiences. People have different personal experiences, they might not come to the same conclusions on some kinds of controversy
Science as a source is political knowledge
Uses explicit methods that attempt to enable different people to agree about what they know.
Describe and explain the what, why and how questions.
