Midterm 1 Flashcards
Realism
What we must do
Idealism
What would be best
Socrates
Idealist
Conceptual framework
Background shapes our understanding of politics
Aristotle
Realist; learn by observing
Machiavelli
Father of realism
Hobbes
State of nature was brutal and short so we create social contract
Locke
Everyone should have natural rights “life liberty and property”; limit gov
Rousseau
“The general will”; voice of the majority must speak for the common good
Reform liberalism
Gov. Regulates economy and removed major capitalist inequities; remove obstacles that hinder individual goals
Politics
Individual or combined actions of individuals, governments or groups aimed at getting what they want accomplished when those actions have public consequences
Agreement reality
Derived from interaction
Collective action
Coordinated group activity designed to achieve a common goal that individuals acting on their own could not otherwise attain
Authority
Social structure that leads others to accept a persons control
Alliance
When individuals or groups agree to combine resources and abilities for a purpose that benefits the members individually
Government
Institutionalize power to pursue collective actions
Leadership benefits
Power, wealth, accomplish goals
Ideal vs Real on judging leaders
Idealist –> how effectively they provide
Realist –> expect to only maximize self interest
Revolution
Collective action; mass uprising focused on the goal of tearing down and replacing the current gov
Limits on forceful control
Level of force needed related to society’s level of unhappiness
Legitimacy
Voluntary acceptance of govee ment
Balancing force and legitimacy
Legitimacy: bad for short term, good for long term; force: good for short term
Tragedy of the commons
Rational choices of individuals collide with needs of larger community
Enlightened self interest
Everyone’s best interest to preserve the commons for everyone
What is enlightened self interests flaw?
Overlooks people’s calculations not soley based on own behavior
Stag hunt
Interdependence of actions and choices affects collective efforts to attain a goal
-75% chance all get stag, 100% chance you get rabbit
Humanist
An idealist who is interested in and motivated by concern for the broader human condition and quality of people’s lives
Structures
Basic functions that governments need to perform; generic
Institutions
Organizational structures through which political power is exercised; specific
Transaction costs
Time, effort and resources required to make collective decisions (ex: what it takes to change the constitution)
Conformity costs
Difference between what any party prefers and what the collective body requires
Political culture
The political aspect of the human nature of the local populace (religious values, expectation, morals, etc)
6 types of gov
Monarchy: rule by 1 for all Dictatorship: rule by 1 for 1 Aristocracy: rule by few for all Oligarchy: rule by few for few Polity: rule by many for all Democracy: rule by many for many
Presidential system
Separation of legislative and executive
Parliamentary system
Fusion of legislative and executive
President
More stable
Prime minister
More efficient
How do executives leave office?
President: after fixed term, impeachment
PM: next scheduled election, majority MPs vote out
Social forces that separated legislative and executive
Tradition, religion, money
Functions of legislatures
Lawmaking, representing, checking, legitimating, educating
Problems with president
Imperial presidency, gridlock, divided government
Problems with parliamentary
Policy stability, tenure of gov
Relevant party
Policy leverage out of proportion
Immobilism
The more complex and fragile the ruling coalitions
Minority government
Minor parties abstain for concessions
Functions of authoritarian regime legislators
Advise, legitimacy, educate
Bureaucracy
The position within the administrative political culture
Functions of the bureaucracy
Service, regulation, implementation, policy making
Mac weber and 4 bureaucracy components
Clear assignment of roles, lots of rules, clear hierarchy, professionals on basis of merit
Authority leakage
Impossible for top to direct the bottom because too distorted
Agency theory
Potential for bureaucratic responsiveness to demands and desires of broader public
Principal agent model
Bureaucrats are agents that act on behalf of the legislature in a relationship similar to a business contract; “hired” to perform certain functions
3 roles of courts
Dispute resolution, policy making, monitoring
Statutory interpretation
By defining how laws can/cannot be interpreted, courts set policy
Civil law system
Codified, constructed; inquisitorial system with prolonged pretrial investigations to protect the innocent
Common law systems
Judges base decisions on custom and precedent; stare decisis; judge made law
Natural law
Some higher law that originates with God or nature and is discoverable through use of reason
Positivist jurisprudence
Law can be studied as a body of principles that originate with the state but take its own logic and rationality
Realist jurisprudence
Law is a set of rules intended to meet the needs of society; judge discretion
Private law v public law
Private: relations among private individuals/organizations
Public law: relations among the gov and individuals/organizations
Criminal v civil law
Criminal: body of laws that defines specific crimes and details punishments for offenses; civil law: law that governs relations between private parties (can include gov)
