Into To Political Science Chapter 1

Front 1

What is politics?

Back 1

The activities associated with governance of a country and individuals seeking power.

Front 2

What is power?

Back 2

When one actor induces another actor to behave in a manner in which B would not behave otherwise.

Front 3

What are the types of power?

Back 3

Force, exchange, and mutuality

Front 4

What is force power?

Back 4

Using fear or other forceful means.

Front 5

What are exchange powers?

Back 5

sanctions, trade agreements, bribes

Front 6

What is mutuality power?

Back 6

moral or social obligations. 1 leads and others follow lead.

Front 7

What is the most common use of power?

Back 7

Mutuality. It is the most widespread and least coercive.

Front 8

What are some origins of political power?

Back 8

Biological, psychological, cultural, rational, and irrational

Front 9

Explain biological origins and uses of political power

Back 9

Asserts human nature to form groups with dominance hierarchies.

Front 10

Explain psychological origins and uses of political power

Back 10

Shows how humans behave in various situations. People are naturally conformist (a person who conforms to accepted behavior and practices). Some violate norms.

Front 11

Explain cultural origins and use of political power

Back 11

Human behavior is transmitted by many means (media, church, etc.). Economic and political system must be in line with cultural system. People form dominance hierarchies based on unique cultures.

Front 12

Explain rational origins and use of political power

Back 12

Institutions to help us survive better. People act to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

Even a dictator is better than complete chaos.

Front 13

What origins downplay rationality?

Back 13

Biology, psychological, and cultural downplay rationality and people are born or conditioned to certain behavior; people seldom think rationally.

Front 14

Explain irrational origins and use of political power.

Back 14

People are emotional, moved by myths and stereotypes, and politics is really the manipulation of symbols and peoples emotions. What people regard as "rational" us really myth.

Front 15

Define legitimacy

Back 15

Government rule is rightful and people voluntarily obey it.

Front 16

What are the types of legitimacy?

Back 16

Traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal

Front 17

Explain traditional legitimacy

Back 17

Something is legit because it "has always been that way"

Front 18

Explain charismatic legitimacy and some of its characteristics.

Back 18

Built on the power of ideas embodied by one individual. Typically not institutionalized. Goes away after leader is gone.

Can possibly be transformed into tradition (Ex: MLK day)

Front 19

Explain rational-legal legitimacy and some of its characteristics.

Back 19

Built on a system of laws and procedures that are highly institutionalized. Believe rules enforced serve public's interest. It is not the leader that is important - it is the office.

Front 20

What is modern politics primarily founded on?

Back 20

Rational-legal legitimacy.

Front 21

What is sovereignty?

Back 21

Having full and final authority over a geographic area called a "state". It is not subordinate (under authority of another state)

Front 22

What is authority?

Back 22

A political leader's ability to command respect and exercise power.

Front 23

What is the difference between authority and legitimacy?

Back 23

Legitimacy refers to institutions. Authority refers to its leaders.

Front 24

What are the subjects political science has relationships with?

Back 24

History, human/political geography, economics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and mathematics & statistics.

Front 25

Explain the relationship political science has with history.

Back 25

Provides much of the key data; seek generalizations (relations, correspondence, similarities) covering many historical episodes.

Front 26

Explain the relationship political science has with human/political geography.

Back 26

Territory (borders, ethnic areas, climate) affect and create political issues.

Ex: Africa's poverty has been linked to geography and climate.

Front 27

Explain the relationship political science has with economics.

Back 27

Political issues concern the economics of "who gets what". Economic conditions greatly affect political outcomes.

Front 28

Explain the relationship political science has with sociology.

Back 28

Look into human behavior in to understand what motivates individuals to engage in collective action.

Front 29

Explain the relationship political science has with Anthropology.

Back 29

Focuses on premodern, illiterate societies. Important where traditional political systems predominate, such as a tribal system and its impact on establishing a stable, modern democracy.

Front 30

Explain the relationship political science has with psychology.

Back 30

Can help us understand how certain types of individuals may behave under certain conditions.

Front 31

Explain the relationship political science has with mathematics & statistics

Back 31

Statistical methods to study public attitudes and behavior, and other political phenomena.

Front 32

What are the subfields of political science?

Back 32

US politics, comparative politics, international relations, public policy, public administration, constitutional law, methodology, and political theory.

Front 33

Explain the subfield: US Politics

Back 33

Focuses on American institutions and processes, such as parties, elections, public opinion, and executive & legislative behavior.

Front 34

Explain the subfield: Comparative Politics

Back 34

Examines and comparesdomestic politics across countries to establishgeneralizations about democracy, stability, and policy.

Front 35

Explain the subfield: International Relations

Back 35

Studies interactions between states (war, diplomacy, law, trade)

Front 36

Explain the subfield: Public Policy

Back 36

Analyzes the relationship betweeneconomics and politics to develop effective programs .

Front 37

Explain the subfield: Public Administration

Back 37

Studies how bureaucracieswork and how they can be improve.

Front 38

Explain the subfield: Constitutional Law

Back 38

Studies the applications andevolution of the Constitution within the legal andpolitical system

Front 39

Explain the subfield: Methodology

Back 39

Provides methods and techniquesfor studying political phenomena empirically andobjectively

Front 40

Explain the subfield: Political Theory

Back 40

Attempts to define an ideal polity; makes prescriptions about what politics "ought to be" like, rather than studying how politics operates in the real world.

Front 41

Define empirical and how it relates to political science.

Back 41

Based on observable evidence. Political science is an empirical discipline that accumulated both quantified and qualitative data. We can find persistent patterns much like in biology.

Front 42

Define probabilistic

Back 42

subject to or involving change. Never certain.

Front 43

Define qualitative

Back 43

A property that can be observed but not measured numerically. Based on quality.

Front 44

Define quantitative

Back 44

Based on measurement process

Front 45

What are the 3 essential characteristics of science?

Back 45

entails search for regularities

concerns observable and measurable phenomena(i.e., science is empirical)

cumulative because it accepts previouslyestablished knowledge as the foundation fordeveloping further knowledge

Front 46

What is the goal of scientific inference?

Back 46

Description, explanation, and prediction.

"We cannot construct meaningful explanations(i.e., connecting causes and effects) withoutgood description. Neither does systematicallycollecting facts (i.e., the goal of description) byitself constitute science."

Front 47

What should good political science scholarly work be?

Back 47

Reasoned, balanced, theoretical, and supported with evidence.

Front 48

What is reasoned?

Back 48

Clear, logical reasoning. Assumptions have to be explicit

Front 49

What is balanced?

Back 49

Needing to acknowledge there are several possible viewpoints on the topic; don't rely on just one.

Front 50

What is theoretical?

Back 50

Scholarship requires a theoretical framework that relates several factors to explain a broad array of phenomena.

Front 51

What makes a good theory?

Back 51

Allows you to make predictions about new situations.

Front 52

Explain supported with evidence.

Back 52

Data are required for good scholarship; qualitative and quantitative may be needed.

Front 53

What did Immanuel Kant mean precepts and concepts and why both are necessary?

"Precepts without concepts are empty, and concepts without precepts are blind"

Back 53

Precepts are facts, images numbers, examples.

Concepts are ideas, meanings, theories, hypotheses and beliefs.

Without theories we do not know what questions to ask.

Front 54

What does theoretical perspective influence according to Immanuel Kant?

Back 54

Influences how we collect and interpret data.