Intro To Political Science: Final Flashcards
Feminism
Opposes the political, economic, and cultural relegation of women to positions of inferiority.
- Critiques laws, customs, and beliefs that posit that women are inferior to men.
-Simple definition: Women should be as free as men
Patriarchy
The rule of men as a social group over women as a social group
-Women are subordinate in this system
Matriarchy
The rule of women as a social group over men as a social group
-Men are subordinate in this system
What are some examples of evidence that a patriarchy exists?
-Women have been denied equality of resources
-Women have been denied equality of political power
-Women have been denied equality of educational opportunities
-Women have been denied equality of basic health care
-Women have been denied equality of respect
-Women have been denied equal protection from violence
-Women have been denied equal protection by the state
How does Religion relate to Patriarchy?
-Over human history religion has been used as a tool of oppression in order to subjugate women
-Some counter that there are examples of egalitarianism in religion as pointed out in the text
-Arguments made for the modern subjugation of women are often rooted in fundamentalist interpretations of religious writings
What are the branches of Feminism?
-Liberal Feminism
-Radical Feminism
-Socialist Feminism
-Diversity Feminism
What are the Liberal Feminist policy positions?
-Antidiscrimination measures
-Affirmative action
-Access to safe and legal abortion
-Funding for childcare centers
-Flexible work hours
This person was one of the first women to assert the Liberal Feminist perspective and argued in her seminal work “Vindication of the Rights of Women’ that women should be included in the Lockean definitions of human nature and not just men and that the systematic oppression of women was unjust.
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
What is the name of the woman who argued along with other second wave feminists that women should have access to educational institutions, career growth, and economic advancement? She was a Liberal Feminist.
Betty Friedan
What are the beliefs of Socialist Feminists?
-The mainstream of a society such as the United States should itself be radically changed
-Asserts that capitalism and patriarchy are mutually reinforcing and that both should be dismantled
-By disempowering women economically, the patriarchy provides capitalism a source of cheap labor and by keeping women in poverty, capitalism reinforces women’s dependence on men.
-“I would leave my husband, but I need his healthcare”
What are the Radical Feminist Beliefs?
-Rejects classical feminism and opposes mainstream institutions and politics because they are systems of oppression created by and run for the benefit of men
-Concentrate on offering alternative systems
-Critique the patriarchy, the creation of systems of victimization of women
-Critique advertising for its narrow depiction of women
-Argue that the legal system in almost all countries discriminate against women and leave them vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse
What are the Diversity Feminists Beliefs?
-Critiques what is perceived as a limited perspective of liberal feminism and draws on the experiences of women from multiple ethnic, racial, cultural, and international backgrounds
-Opposes the privileging of any single ethnic, racial, cultural, or national perspective on women’s issues
What is Environmentalism?
Asserts the importance of viewing natural resources from an ecological perspective. As advocates of an ecological perspective, environmentalists emphasize the importance of protecting the natural resources found within the earth’s varied ecosystems.
What is Ecology?
Coined as a term in 1860 by scientist Ernst Haeckel to describe how organisms interacted in their environment.
What are the basic tenants of Environmentalism?
-Emphasizes preservation of ecosystem health and well being
-Calls on women and men to assume obligations to nature
-Advocates environmental stewardship
-Proposes that any use of the nature be done in a manner supportive of sustainable development
-Claims that owning natural resources does not imply complete discretion over use of those resources
-Rejects the belief that humans are the center of the universe and masters of nature
-Suggests that economic value is not the only value to consider when calculating the worth of natural resources
What is Postmodernism?
Postmodernist- Put forward the concept of metanarratives to describe ideologies (and outlooks generally) that posit objective truths (truths presented as intrinsically true).
Rejects metanarratives as a source of intrinsic truth.
What are Comparative Politics?
The study of how governments, political groups, political procedures, and citizenship vary across countries or time periods.
Democratic Governments
Governments in which the people and the government are connected; in other words, the people are self-governed.
Nondemocratic Governments
A government in which the people are not self-governing and are not, therefore, in a position to direct government policy toward the expression of the people’s interests.
What are the hallmarks of a pure democracy?
1.Elections in which the people are free to select and reject government officials
2.Ongoing access to the government by the people between elections
3.The enactment of laws and policies reflecting the interests of a self-governing people
What are the 5 components of Democracy?
- Participation
- Pluralism
- Developmentalism
- Protection
- Performance
This kind of government can be Anti participatory (deny freedom of participation by the people), may suppress various groups within its society, and may produce laws and policies that are not reflection of popularly defined and properly articulated interests.
Nondemocratic Governement
Who was China’s first communists leader?
Mao Zedung
What are two policies that were put into place during Mao’s reign?
-The Great Leap Forward Policy
-The Cultural Revolution Policy
What is an Interest Group?
Interest Groups are defined as groups of individuals and/or institutions united by shared opinions or interests and organized together in an effort to influence political outcomes. These groups seek to influence beliefs and attitudes and to effect the actions of the government and the people.
What is Direct Lobbying?
Direct Lobbying is a strategy whereby interest groups make personal contact with political officials and try to persuade them to support the aims of the interest group. Direct Lobbyists target public officials carefully and tend to concentrate on contacting a small group of officials whom the lobbyists identify as key decision makers.
What is Grassroots Lobbying?
Grassroots Lobbying is a strategy of trying to convince voters and members of the public to support the interests groups position. Their tactics include mass mailings, television or newspaper ads, telephone calls, internet postings, email, door-to-door campaigns, and more.
What is Astroturf Lobbying?
This is when a company or industrywide interest group poses as the ‘average person” and tried to influence voters and politicians.
What does Campaign Involvement mean?
Interest group activity in conjunction with political campaigns.
What are some tactics of Campaign Involvement?
-Registering Voters
-Working on behalf of certain candidates
-Convincing candidates to support certain positions
-Joining political parties
-Shaping party decisions from the inside
-Making campaign contributions
How can interest groups influence the courts?
Interest groups can influence the courts by bringing lawsuits or by supporting one side or another in a case by filing an amicus curiae brief.
What are two results of using protests as an interest group strategy?
-Gains attention for the cause
-Can be negative of positive attention
What are Direct Contributions?
Are contributions made to candidates themselves