Chapter 1- Textbook

Question 1

What is politics?

Answer 1

Activity relating to influencing, making, or implementing collective decisions for a political community.

Question 2

What is political activity?

Answer 2

involves people trying to influence government, gain or maintain control, and interactions among governing institutions when making public policies.

Question 3

What is power?

Answer 3

the ability to achieve an objective by influencing the behaviour of others, particularly to get them to do what they would not have done otherwise.

Question 4

What are four ways to exert political power?

Answer 4

1) Coercion
2) Inducements
3) Persuasion
4) Leadership

Question 5

What is coercion?

Answer 5

involves using fear or threats

Question 6

What are inducements?

Answer 6

achieve an outcome by offering an award

Question 7

What is persuasion?

Answer 7

involves the use of truthful information to encourage people to act in accordance with their own interests or values, or the use of misleading information

Question 8

What is leadership>

Answer 8

A country that is successful in providing health and harmony may be able to convince other countries to follow its example.

Question 9

What does it mean when power has been exercised through non-decisions?

Answer 9

If those who are powerful are able to prevent important issues from being raised

Question 10

What is the political agenda?

Answer 10

the issues that are considered important and given priority in political deliberations

Question 11

If those who are able to shape the dominant ideas in society to work against the weaker groups, resulting in them acting against their true interests, how could it be argued that power has been exercised?

Answer 11

In an indirect manner

Question 12

What are the three faces of power?

Answer 12

First face: ability to affect decisions
Second face: ability to ensure that issues are not raised
Third face: ability to affect the dominant ideas of society

Question 13

What does the third face of power move us away from?

Answer 13

Power being defined solely in terms of a relationship where one influences another, and tends to assume that decisions will reflect the dominant groups in society.

Question 14

How is power distributed in society?

Answer 14

The resources that give individuals and groups the potential to exert political power are unequally distributed. Furthermore, groups differ in how effectively they use they power resources

Question 15

Why is power viewed negatively?

Answer 15

Because of its association with efforts to dominate or exploit others

Question 16

How can we think of power in a positive way?

Answer 16

To achieve worthwhile collective goals

Question 17

What is the cree rider problem?

Answer 17

A problem with voluntary collective action that results because an individual enjoys the benefits of a groups action without contributing.

Question 18

What is coercive power?

Answer 18

Is useful to achieve goals that benefit the community (ex. encore tax payments).

Question 19

What is authority?

Answer 19

the right to exercise power that is accepted by those being governed as legitimate.

Question 20

What is legitimacy?

Answer 20

acceptance by members of a political community that those in positive of authority have the right to govern.

Question 21

What are Max’s Weber’s three basic types of authority that could be used to establish legitimacy? Explain each.

Answer 21

charismatic authority- perception that leader has extraordinary qualities
traditional authority- based on customs that establish the right of certain persons to rule
legal-rational authority- the right to rule based on legal rules and procedures

Question 22

When can a legitimacy crisis occur?

Answer 22

A legitimacy crisis can occur in democratic systems if governments are continuously ineffective at dealing with certain problems.
-long term mistreatment by the government

Question 23

What does legitimacy in a democracy depend on?

Answer 23

How the government exercises its authority.

Question 24

Why is legitimate authority significant? (3 reasons)

• what does effect governing depend on?
• what can a gov’t whose rule is legitimate rely on?
• why does having legitimate authority give gov’t a power resource?

Answer 24

• Effective governing depends on governing institutions having the power to act in a certain way
• a government whose rule is legitimate can rely more on authority than coercion
• having legitimate authority gives gov’t a power resource to achieve its goals because people obey laws when the source of laws in legitimate.

Question 25

What is the common good?

Answer 25

What is good for the entire political community

Question 26

What is the individualist perspective?

Answer 26

A perspective that views human beings as acting primarily in accordance with their own interests.

Question 27

What is seen as the form of government most likely to actually pursue the common good? Why?

Answer 27

• Democracy
• An informed consensus can be reached through citizen discussion but discussion is often difficult to achieve so it is assumed that democracy will reflect the majority, but this does not ensure that common good will be achieved.

Question 28

Why is common good controversial?

Answer 28

Because people have different interests and values.

Question 29

What is a pluralist system?

Answer 29

A political system in which a large number of groups representing a wide variety of interests are able to influence the decisions go gov’t. Gov’t tries to satisfy as many groups as possible, and no group has a dominant influence on gov’t.

Question 30

What is the problem with a pluralist system?

Answer 30

Even if they are responsive to a wide variety of interests it does not result in common good if each group pursues its own interests the good of the community will be ignored.

Question 31

What is empirical analysis?

Answer 31

Analysis that involves explaining various aspects of politics, particularly by using careful observation and comparison to develop generalizations and testable theories (goal is to develop theories on how politics work).

Question 32

What is normative analysis?

Answer 32

analysis that includes examining ideas about how the community should be governed and what values should be pursued through politics.

Question 33

What is policy analysis?

Answer 33

A combination of empirical and normative analysis that involves evaluating existing policies and assessing possible alternatives to deal with particular problems. Consider what is feasible rather than ideal.