PSG110

• Components of the State:

  • The State
  • Sovereignty
• Types of the State
• Justifying the State:

  • What makes the state legitimate?
  • What makes the people obey the state?
• The Rise of the Modern State
• Separation of Powers
• • States came into existence after people made a decision with the government to be government-ruled, explaining the government's expectations towards citizens and people's expectations of living in the state
• Origins of the State:

  • Force Theory:
  • Some people in authority forced others to follow certain rules in society, often associated with a 'Dictatorship' where those in authority are not held accountable by the governed
  • Evolutionary Theory:
  • Society transforms and evolves naturally, people grow and learn to make decisions, leading to the need for a state as man is by nature a political animal
  • Divine Right Theory:
  • God created a state, placed certain people with royal birth and "divine right" to rule others in society
  • Social Contract Theory:
• The Current Modern State
• Strong States and Weak States:

  • Features of Strong and Weak States
• Political Power: the ability to make, or influence the making of, binding decisions in politics
• Political power involves control of, or influence on, the state
• Economic Power: control of economic assets
• Military Power: ability to wage war or compel others through intimidation or deterrence
• Ideology: a set of interlocking assumptions about some aspect of reality shared by a group
• Hegemony: the dominance or influence of one group over another (political, economic, etc.)
• State: consists of territory, people, and government
• People's lives are greatly influenced by state types, laws, and policies
• Government: institutions concerned with making, implementing, and enforcing laws
• Branches of government: Legislative (making laws), Executive (implementing laws), Judicial (enforcing laws)
• Fields of Study in Political Science
• Comparative Politics: comparison of various forms of governments and governmental policies
• Political Thought/Theory/Philosophy: normative questions of government, ideology, regimes, and history of political philosophy
• International Relations: study of relations between states, activities of international organizations, and transnational issues
• Public Administration: study of determination, implementation, and outputs of public policies
• Sovereignty Characteristics
• Absoluteness, Permanence, Indivisibility, Comprehensiveness, Inalienability, Absence of Foreign control
• Legitimacy: general acceptance of a political system, government, or administration as appropriate and in line with laws
• Empirically concerned with citizens' perception of how a state or government comes to exist as a legal entity
• Normatively concerned with whether a state or government deserves obedience
• Development: economic and social transformation resulting in higher standard of life, political awareness, and economic opportunities
• Underdevelopment: socio-economic and political condition where human and material resources are not fully utilized
• Indices of underdevelopment include poor infrastructure, under-utilization of resources, under-employment, low per capita income, low literacy level, high mortality rate
• Rule of Law: emphasizes equality, stating that no one is above the law
• Public Policy: a definite course of action selected to guide present and future decisions
• Constitution: fundamental laws, customs, conventions, principles, rules, and regulations according to which a government operates
• Features include Preamble, Party system, organs and functions of government, rights and duties of citizens
• Political Economy: interplay of politics and economics at national or international levels
• Customs: rules of behavior based on long-established ways in which most people behave
• Decision Making: process of choosing among alternatives to become public policy
• Political Parties: roles, elements, functions, internal structure, women's participation, competing in elections, representing social interests, providing policy alternatives, training leaders