Polgov

• Politics is commonly defined as the process determining the distribution of power and resources
• Politics refers to the theory and practice of how people influence others in making decisions and carrying out projects and programs
• Politics is an activity that involves an interaction of people whose relationship is determined by conflict and cooperation
• Politics is the "master of all science" according to Aristotle
• Politics is a social activity, always a dialogue and not a monologue
• Different views on politics:

  • Art of Government focuses on the state, personnel, and machinery of the government
  • Public Affairs concerns the conduct and management of public interest
  • Politics attempts to solve conflict through discussion, compromise, bargaining, and consensus
  • Politics involves the exercise of authority in the production, distribution, and use of resources
• Governance refers to the process by which laws and policies are enacted by the government through the implementation of programs that uphold the general welfare
• Government is a formal, structured entity through which the state exercises its will
• Political Science is a branch of social sciences that deals with the study of politics, systems of government, and political activity
• Quantitative Methods rely on statistics and hard data to analyze political phenomena

  • Qualitative Methods provide descriptive accounts of political phenomena through participant observation, interviews, and focus group discussions
• Power is the ability of a person to carry out his or her will

  • Coercive, Reward, Expert, Legitimate, and Referent are classifications of power
  • Charismatic, Traditional, and Legal-rational are classifications of power based on different types of authority
• Three inherent powers of the state:

  • Police Power ensures law and order
  • Eminent Domain allows the government to acquire private property for public use
  • Power of Taxation allows the government to impose and collect taxes
• Forms of Power in International Politics:

  • Military Power
  • Economic Power
  • Soft Power
• Concepts of Political Power:

  • Legitimacy
  • Authority
  • Sovereignty
• Power and Citizenship:

  • Sovereignty resides in the people who compose the state
  • Citizen Participation includes suffrage, referendum, plebiscite, initiatives, and popular revolt
• State is a political community with sovereign jurisdiction over a defined territory

  • Five features of the state: sovereign, public institutions, legitimation, domination, territorial association
• Four Elements of the State:

  • Sovereignty
  • Government
  • Territory
  • People
• Nation is a group of people bound together by commonalities in language, history, traditions, and religion

  • Nation-state relies on the fusion of cultural and political aspects in a state and a nation
  • Globalization is the development of an increasingly integrated global economy
• Features of globalization (Heywood 2013):

  • Declining relevance of geographical distance
  • Lessening the significance of territorial boundaries
  • Deepening and broadening of political processes, with local, national, and global events constantly interacting
• Forms of globalization:

  Economic Globalization:

  • All economies integrated into a global economy
  • Internationalized production
  • Financial capital flowing freely between countries

  Cultural Globalization:

  • Information, commodities, and images from one part of the world make cultural differences between nations and individuals less significant
  • McDonaldization or rationalization extended to fast-food chains, leading to the standardization of processes such as production
  • Information evolution
  • Global brands penetrating the local scene

  Political Globalization:
• • Importance of international organizations, transnational organizations, and nongovernmental organizations recognized
  • Influence on domestic issues of organizations such as the United Nations, World Trade Organizations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Red Cross, and World Wide Fund for Nature
• Opportunities and Challenges of globalization:

  • Economic globalization provides developing states an opportunity to access markets they would otherwise be unable to enter due to protectionist policies
  • Membership in regional and international organizations enables small countries to work together, gain more influence, and acquire a platform to call attention to significant issues
  • Cultural globalization gives rise to a global community that accepts and celebrates diversity
• Nature of Political Ideology:

  • An ideology is a coherent set of ideas that direct or organize specific actions
  • Political ideology is a set of beliefs and ideas that define political activities, policies, and events
  • Ideology becomes the basis for the values, principles, and ideas the state should develop and transform
  • Different ideologies may exist within societies and interact closely with each other
  • Political ideology is the basis for the development of a political culture, which defines political processes and governance
• Key functions of ideology:

  1. Explain how society and politics are organized

  2. Evaluate whether a certain political action or program is good or bad

  3. Orient those who subscribe to it to have a sense of identity and direction

  4. Provide a plan of action that will bring about political change
• The Political Spectrum:

  • A model for classifying political actors, parties, or ideologies along one or more axes that compare them
  • Origin of the left/right political axis dated to 1789 during the French National Assembly meeting in Versailles
  • "Leftist" or "left-wing" ideologies value individual freedom over government control
  • "Rightist" or "right-wing" ideologies emphasize government power and authority
  • Centrist ideas combine elements from both left and right ideologies and advocate more moderate policies
• Major Political Ideologies:

  1. Liberalism:

  • Belief in individualism
  • Liberty of the individual must be protected
  • Considers economic and social inequality as undesirable
  • Authority and social relationships based on agreement and consent
  • Public policy oriented towards eliminating discrimination and barriers to growth and development

  2. Communism:

  • Socialist ideology that believes inequality is a result of capitalism and the class system
  • Based on Marxism

  3. Socialism:

  • Community highlights the connection of the individual with others
• • Envisions a society with public ownership of resources and means of production
  • Social class is an important social cleavage dividing society

  4. Social Democracy:

  • Seeks to implement socialist reforms within a democratic government and capitalist economy
  • Espouses state regulation, rather than state ownership, of the means of production and social welfare programs
  • Predominantly capitalist but with state intervention for social justice
• • Advocates a return to traditional practices and previous state policies

  9. Fascism:

  • Subscribes to the idea of a supreme race
  • People give unrelenting loyalty and obedience to a supreme leader

  10. Feminism:

  • Desires to enhance the social role of women
  • Belief in gender equality

  11. Cosmopolitanism:

  • Focuses on the idea that all people in the world have obligations regardless of nationality or ethnicity
• 5. Anarchism:

  • Advocates the total dismantling and elimination of the state
  • Advocates self-governed communities managed through cooperative effort and mutual respect

  6. Neoliberalism:

  • Based on laissez-faire economics
  • Believes economic growth is key to human progress
  • Government must not intervene in market activities

  7. Conservatism:

  • Upholds a strong, stable government and firm implementation of laws
  • Values continuity of tradition and is more nationalistic, religious, and moralistic
  • Social problems should be addressed at a local or community level

  8. Reactionism:
• Ideology and Governance:

  • Ideology influences how the government organizes itself and conducts activities
  • Political ideologies form the basis of state policies and laws
  • Political systems may be based on a single ideology or a combination of ideas from various ideologies
• Political Turncoatism:

  • Act of changing party affiliation by a candidate
  • Embedded in the country's political culture as aspiring politicians use parties as financial vehicles during elections

  Populism:

  • Ideology emphasizing the interests of the masses
  • Presents the masses as oppressed by elites, with the government's role to limit elite privileges and uplift the masses