introduction (unit 1)

Question 1

comparative politics

Answer 1

study and comparison of domestic politics across countries

Question 2

international relations

Answer 2

study which concentrates on relations betweem countries (war, trade, foreign aid…)

Question 3

institutions

Answer 3

organizations or activities that are self-perpetuating and valued for their own sake
formal- based on officially sanctioned rules
informal- unwritten and unofficial

Question 4

politics

Answer 4

the struggle in any group for power that will give one or more persons the ability to make decisions for the larger group
competition for public power

Question 5

power

Answer 5

the ability to influence others or impose ones will on them

Question 6

comparative method

Answer 6

way to compare cases and draw conclusions

Question 7

inductive reasoning

Answer 7

process moving from studying a case to generating hypothesis

Question 8

deductive reasoning

Answer 8

process moving from generating some hypothesis about cause and effect to test against a number of cases

Question 9

correlation

Answer 9

association between certain factors or variables

Question 10

causal relationship

Answer 10

relation between cause and effect

Question 11

multicausality

Answer 11

many variables interact to produce particular outcomes

Question 12

area studies

Answer 12

regional focus

Question 13

selection bias

Answer 13

cases selected on the basis of effect not cause
our influence on research

Question 14

endogeineity

Answer 14

variables may be either cause or effect, hard to distinguish

Question 15

theory

Answer 15

integrated set of hypotheses, assumptions and facts

Question 16

modernization theory

Answer 16

as societies develop they would become capitalist democracies, converging around a set of shared values and characteristics

Question 17

behavorial revolution

Answer 17

subject shifted away from investigating of political institutions to individual political behaviour

Question 18

Aristotle (4th century BC)

Answer 18

1st separated the study of politics from philosophy
comparative method to study greek city-states
book The Politics (empirical study of politics with a practical purpose)

Question 19

Niccolo Machiavelli (15th century)

Answer 19

1st modern political scientist
emphasis on statecraft and empirical knowledge
book The Prince (discussed his theories)

Question 20

Thomas Hobbes (16th century)

Answer 20

social contract- people surrender certain liberties in favor of order
book Leviathan (advocated powerful state)

Question 21

John Locke (17th century)

Answer 21

private property is essential to individual freedom and prosperity
book Two Treatises of Government (advocated weak state)

Question 22

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (17th century)

Answer 22

government systems
book The Spirit of Laws (advocated the separation of powers within government)

Question 23

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (18th century)

Answer 23

citizen rights are inalienable and cannot be taken away by the state
influenced development of civil rights
book The Social Contract (discussed his ideas)

Question 24

Karl Marx (19th century)

Answer 24

predicted the eventual collapse of capitalism and democracy
book Das Kapital (theory of economic development and inequality)

Question 25

Max Weber (19th century)

Answer 25

bureaucracy, forms of authority, impact of culture on economic and political development
book Economy and Society (these themes)

Question 26

qualitative research methods

Answer 26

narrowly focused, deep investigations of one or a few cases (interviews, observations, documentary research…)

Question 27

quantitative research methods

Answer 27

wider use of cases unbound by area specialization (statistical analysis, mathematical models…)

Question 28

rational choice/game theory

Answer 28

to study the rules and games by which politics is played and how humans act on their preferences

Question 29

freedom

Answer 29

individuals ability to act independently, without fear of punishment by state

Question 30

equality

Answer 30

material standard of living shared by individuals within community, society, country