PS 491 Study Guide Flashcards
PS 491 Study Guide
■ Federalist 10 - James Madison
How can a government of non-angels govern the governed?
● Reject the arguments that “large republic” cannot survive
Insider’s Guide (Chapter 2)
Author: Joseph
■ Madison’s Defense
● Human nature- ○ Self governance
● Consequences○ Herd mentality
■ Harmful but necessary!
A strong federal government can protect liberty because it guards against the dangers of control by a narrow interest
■ What is the “American Dream?”
● Refers to the idea that everyone has the opportunity to succeed in
this county
● Concept captures central values of American political culture
■ Term was coined in 1931 by historian James Adams (during GD) The dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller
for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and
achievement
○ Political Research in Practice (Chapter 1)
■ How do we know things? nature vs nurture
How do social scientists know things?
Solve puzzles by observing patterns
● Goal is to produce theory and generalize results
● Identify these patterns through scientific method and well-respected research approaches
○ Often understood → anti-intellectualism, low-information
voters
■ What is “Politics?”
Activities associated with governance of a country or other are,
especially debate or conflict
components of good scientific study
● Systematic: Based on careful and comprehensive observation
● Replicable: Collected and analyzed in a way that others can
reproduce
● Cumulative: Often evolves over time as multiple methodologies are
being used and new data is examined
● Falsifiable Open to questioning and the possibility of being disproved
Philosophers on what is politics
● Laswell: “Politics is who gets what, when, how.”
Easton: “The authoritative allocation of values for a society.”
● Lenin: “Most concentrated expression of economics.”
What is “Political Science?”
Systematic study of governance by application of empirical and
scientific methods of analysis
● Four major subfields:
○ American politics
○ Comparative politics (methods of differences, similarities)
○ International relations
○ Political theory
What is “Public Policy?”
● Related field that focuses on specific problems and policy areas
○ Such as health, education, transportation, foreign policy
■ Normative: Theorizing about how things ought to be
■ Positivist: Describing things based on observation
○ Political Research in Practice (Chapter 2)
■ How do we get the “Science of Politics?”
By adopting a language of science and proceeding systematically and scientifically in one’s inquiry of politics
■ Why does the Scientific Method matter?
Can be reproduced
● Uses reason and evidence
● Unbiased
■ An example of “Science in Politics”
1) Democratic Peace Theory
○ Immanuel Kent (1795) - Perpetual Peace
■ Asks fundamental research question
● Statement that identifies phenomenon that we
want to study
● (2) Justification for nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq
○ Argues democracies don’t go to war with each other because
it is in the best interest of the U.S. that other states become
democracies
■ Especially states that affect national interests
■ Using the language of science → Democratic Peace Theory
Identify variables: Democracy and war
● Hypothesis (independent variable): Expression of cause
○ Presumed effect is dependent variable
● Citizens in democracy will avoid war because they want to avoid:
○ Costs of life
○ Expense
○ Burden of debt
● Ex. Type of regime (democratic/non-democratic)
○ Variables must be defined (conceptualized)
○ Variables must be measured (operationalization)
