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POLITICS > Introduction to Politics > Flashcards

Introduction to Politics Flashcards

1
Q

What is Politics according to Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Stuart Mill?

A

Participation in Political life regarded as extremely noble activity that should be encouraged

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2
Q

What is a popular basic definition of Politics?

A

Process by which groups representing diverging interests, values make collective decisions

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3
Q

What does Harold (aswell (1936) say about politics?

A

Politics is about “who get’s what, when, how”

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4
Q

Why is the way economic goods are distributed important to keep in mind?

A

To determine mature of society and well-being
of those within it.

There are non-economic goods that hold value as well : eg. Status though no money reward attached to it

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5
Q

What was the study of politics before 19th century’s focus?

A

study of values : philosophy overlaps
what is the best society to live in?

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6
Q

who said there was a central divide for 2 centuries between those who prefer liberty and over equality those who prefer the opposite?

A

stocker (2006)

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7
Q

Give example of negative view of power

A
  • conflict
  • uneven distribution of power
  • ’ politics is the art of governing manking by decieving them’
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8
Q

Who said : ‘ politics is the art of governing manking by decieving them’

A

Isaac D’Israeli (1962)

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9
Q

Give examples of positive view of power

A
  • Democracy and cooperation
  • power as a productive force
  • allows the world to change for the better
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10
Q

What are the subfields of political science?

A

-Political theory
- comparative theory
- International relations
- canadian politics
- political economy

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11
Q

whatis the normative approach?

A

Focuses on norms, values to identify effects on politics

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12
Q

How can research be biased?

A

Research can sometime be overtly motivated by values of political scientist conducting it.

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13
Q

What led to the decline of the normative approach?

A

20th century emphasis analytical and empirical politics
advent of statistics made normativesm seem meaningless

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14
Q

which diverging approach also led to downfall of normativism?

A

Positivism:
August Comte > seeks to apply science methods to study of social events.

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15
Q

what is the semantic approach?

A

Focuses on analysing concepts used when talking about politics : language, representationsused to describepolitical events

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16
Q

what are ‘essentially contested concepts’ according to Gallie (1955-6)?

A

Defining what is meant by words such as democracy/freedom is a crucial starting point

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17
Q

What is the empirical approach?

A

identifying observable phenomena: data that are measurable

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18
Q

Positivism according to Garner et al.

A

approach that ‘holds that science must limit itself to what is observable and insists on a clear seperation between fact and value

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19
Q

Behaviourism

A
  • measuring and predicting human behaviour by applying scientific method to the study of social phenomena like politics
  • aspires to perfect obectivity
  • Garner et al.
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20
Q

Who said that the semantic, empirical and normative approach go hand in hand?

A

Wolff (1996): ‘Studying how things are gelps explain how they can be =, and studying how they can bve is indispensible for assessing how they ought to be’

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21
Q

Can political theory be seperated from the study of political institutions and processes?

A

No:
- Studying gov without recongnition of key normative questions will only give a partial picture
- Systems of gov created by humans are a reflection of normative beliefs

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22
Q

Give an example of a political system created based on normative beliefs

A

American constitution:
- product of vision of founding fathers for a modern polity
- developments in const. since creating to allow for societal change and reflect modern normative thinking

23
Q

Why is theorising on an empirical basis central to study of politics?

A

Savigny & Marsden (2011)
- theories need to make sence of mass political information
- one must generalise decisions of numerous indivi. participating in politics

24
Q

What is a key element of empirical research?

A

Comparative method

25
Q

What is the comparative method?

A

Political analysts seek to develop testable generalisations by examining political phenomena across different political systems/same

26
Q

What is the criticism of the argument of the inevitability of politics in society?

A

seriously underestimates possibility of greater social cohesion based around an agreement on core values

27
Q

Why do Marxists belive politics is not necessarily inevitable ?

A

differences of interests in society are centered around the existence of competing social classes
–> in a society basedd on consensus & co-op politics technically wouldn’t be needed

28
Q

Give an example of the negative image of politics

A

Marx & Engels: Communist Manifesto (1976)
‘merely the organised power of one class for oppressing another’

29
Q

Why do some believe Marxist were unrealistic in their view of politics?

A

Seen as failing to account for humans tendency towards ddifference and competition (Berlin 1969)

30
Q

Who theorised the ‘end of history’/ ‘end of ideology’ school of thought?

A

Bell (1960) and Fukuyama (1992)

31
Q

What does the end of ideology theory say?

A

After 1945 to liberal democratic values dominating world–> alternative to this model appear

32
Q

Give examples of alternatives to the liberal democratic model

A
  1. Post communist regimes in estern europe (limited contact to democratic norms)
  2. East-asian regimes (focus on econ dev at expense of civil liberties)
  3. military regimes (africa)& islamic fundamentalist regimes (religion>liberty)
  4. authoritarian regimes (china) rapid econ growth, prosperity& presene of democratic values–> Dryzek and Dunleavy 2009
33
Q

What are the most insuluble political conflicts based on according to Gamble (2000)?

A

Territory and political values

34
Q

What are Gamble’s criticism of argument that politics is superfluous?

A
  • Fatalism
  • Humans feel out of control of their destinies
  • capitalism lead to ‘disentchantment of the world in which ability to change the world has been lost irrevocably’
  • globalisation=end of autonomy
  • decline in pol. participation ‘ant-politics’ discourse (Finders and Heywood: 2012 and 13)
35
Q

What is politics according to Laswell?

A

Mechanism for deciding ‘who gets what, when and how’?

36
Q

Who created a six-fold classification of political systems?

A

Aristotle (384-332)

37
Q

What does aristotle argue in his classification?

A

that a symbol of good gov. is how much the rulers rule in the interests of all and not just some

38
Q

What was his preferred form of govt. ?

A

The democracy

39
Q

Why did he still see democracy as devient although it was his preferred choice?

A

The poor rule in their own interests> mob rule

40
Q

What distinguishes power and authority?

A

Power: implies of coercion/ sanction that the powerful can cause the powerless (regime which relies only on that unlikely to be efficient)
Auhority: legitimate power where rulerss are accepted by rules because they recognise the right of rulers to exercice power

41
Q

Why do the boundaries of politics matter?

A
  • otherwise to brod or too narrow
  • must encompass state, power relations, social institutions or political instit.
42
Q

Who seeks to define politcs in terms off consensus building and co-operation?

A

Crick
Criticism: limiting definition
-> politics is not absent in undemocratic regimes or in periods of ccivil unrest

43
Q

Can politics be a science?

A

Depending on loose/rigid definiton of science

44
Q

What is the loose definiton of science according to Stoker and Marsh (2002)?

A

offers ordered knowledge based on system enquiry
–> according to that even normative analysis is scientific

45
Q

What is the more rigid definiton of science?

A

Hay (2002) ability to generate neutral, dispassionate, objective knowledge claims
Would apply methodology of the natural scieences to political world.

46
Q

What are the criticisms of the rigid, behaviourist definition of science?

A
  1. are methods of natural sciences compatible with social science-> humans are unpredictable and not amendable to unbending scientific laws
  2. social sciences must deal with conscious reflective subjects capable of acting differently under same stimuli (unlike nat. Sci)
47
Q

Name another criticism of the attempt to apply scientific methods to social sciences

A
  • social researchers face ethical dilemnas
  • can’t treat humans as inanimate objects
  • results have ethical dimension on top of political one
48
Q

what is the interpretivist approach?

A

idea that scientific knowledge is in part a social construct (Bevir & Rhodes, 2002)

49
Q

What is interpretivism based on?

A

Ontology and epistemology

50
Q

Define ontology

A

relates to what is, what exists
Key question: is there a physical world capable of being observed or is it a reality created by the meanings we impose on it? (is the social world just projections of our values)

51
Q

Define epistemology

A

refers to acquiring knowledge of that which exists.
Focus on what we know about what exists.

52
Q

What do those who adopt behavioural/ rational choice theory believe?

A

Belief that a reeal world exists which can be discovered by empirical observations

53
Q

What do interpretivists do rather than seeking an objctive reality?

A

they examine meanings humans impose and therefore politcs can’t be a science

POLITICS (15 decks)

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