Unit 1 Studying Politics Flashcards
politics
influencing, making, implementing collective decisions for a political community
power
ability to achieve an objective by INFLUENCING others
esp for them to do smth they don’t wanna do
IT IS SITUATIONAL; sometimes you have it, sometimes you don’t
3 dimensions of power
COERSION: using fear/threats
INDUCEMENT: offering reward/bribe
PERSUASION: truthful info to encourage people to act a certain way
political agenda
the issues that are considered important and given priority in political discussions
faces of power
first face: ability to affect decisions
second face: ensure that issues are not raised
third face: affect dominant ideas of society
free rider problem
when community tries to reach a goal and some ppl don’t work
basically why communism isn’t a thing
authority
right to exercise power that is seen a legitimate because of God, traditions, laws, etc
legitimacy
when someone in power is recognized by the PEOPLE
3 types of authority
charismatic: leader is extraordinary, supernatural qualities that make people wanna follow
traditional: based on customs that give the person a right to rule
legal-rational: based on legal rules and procedures
common good
what is good for the entire political community
individualist perspective
humans act in accordance with their own interests, not for the common good
pluralist system
large number of groups put forward demands and gov’t try to satisfy as many demands as possible
empirical analysis
explaining aspects of politics through observation and comparisons
creates a general and testable theories
normative analysis
examining ideas about how the community should be governed
which values should be pursued in politics
policy analysis
evaluating existing policies
assessing possible alternatives
