Unit 1 Flashcards
Why?
To live with 8 billion people on one planet
What?
Politics in Nation States
How?
Based on norms and values
Through a social contract
Who?
Individuals
Collectives
Actors
Institutions
What is politics about?
POLITICS IS ABOUT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE STATE AND SOCIETY
What is Power
Power is the ability to influence the actions of others or the outcome of events
What is Authority
Authority is the power that comes from a certain position.
Sources of power and authority
• Religions
• Military forces
• Political parties • Legislatures
• Popular support
Political Legitimacy
The right to govern, passed down by law and/or tradition and/or production (i.e. elections in the U.K., Chinese Meritocracy).
Political Systems
Political systems comprise the laws, ideas, and procedures that address who should have authority to rule and what the government’s influence on its people and economy.
State
A state is an independent political entity with clear geographic boundaries
Nation
A nation is a large population that shares the same culture, language, traditions, and history…
Need for nation state/nation
❏ National Identity
❏ Borders
❏ Single Government
Political Organizations - States
States are political organizations that combine
1. a permanent population with
2. governing institutions to
exercise control over a
3. defined territory with
4. international recognition.
Political Organizations - Regimes
• Regimes are a set of fundamental rules that
- • control access to political power
- • and exercise of political power
• Regimes typically endure from government to government.
• A regime can be characterized as democratic or authoritarian based on how it sets rules or makes decisions about how to exercise power.
Political Organizations - Governments
• A government is
• the set of institutions (or individuals) • legally empowered
• to make binding decisions for a state.
• A government’s authority is derived from the state’s legitimate right to use power to enforce policies and decisions.
Democratic and an authoritarian regime are regimes:
• fundamental rules that control access to and the exercise of political power.
• Regimes typically endure from government to government
Democracies
• Independent branches (see illustration) are more likely.
• Less concentration of power (in small group). This creates:
• accountability
• more citizen participation • more transparency
• Political Efficacy
• Free media creates
• transparency and accountability
Authoritarian Regimes
A system of government where power is invested in a small group of people who exercise power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public.
Types of authoritarian regimes
• Illiberal democracy or hybrid regimes (Russia)
• Has elections, but are not free fair or competitive (miss democratic elements such as free media or participation in government)
• One Party State (China)
• One political party that controls government of
regime
• Theocracy (Iran)
• Religious leaders play a very important role and government
• Decisions are made based on predominant religion
• Totalitarian government
• Total control over governmental decision making
and private life (no example in AP 6- think Nazis) • Military regime
• Military leader runs government (Nigeria in past, prior to 1999)
