Politics lecture notes PDF

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lecture notes from the first two classes, covers basic terms and ideology...

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Intro to Political Science Lecture Notes

Politics- process by which communities select leaders and empowers them to make decisions to attain common goals Power- the capacity to influence or control behavior by persuasion or coercion ~the exercise of power is necessary for government to function ~hard power: military ~soft power: economics, diplomacy, culture Special interests- any group you don’t belong to is a special interest Authority- command of the obedience of society’s members by a government Legitimacy- exercise of political power in in a way that is voluntary and accepted by the community Legitimate authority- legal and moral right to rule Order- arrangement of institutions based on principles and rule of law Society- group of like people Government- persons/institutions based on principles and the rule of law Republic- sovereignty resides with the people State- political unit that claims allegiance to a population Country- roughly equivalent to nation or nation size Public Good and Ideology   

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the shared belief of a community as to the goals of the government ought to obtain governments have to identify and pursue efforts to benefit society as a whole ideologies act as a filter that adherents use to interpret events, explain behavior, and justify political action ideologies are a shorthand way to facilitate thought and debate

Types of Ideologies 1. Anti-government a. Anarchism- opposes existence of an form of government mostly through violence and lawlessness b. Nihilism-believes the total destruction of existing social and political institutions is a desirable end

2. Right Wing a. Monarchism- political power concentrated into one person who rules by decree b. Fascism- system headed by a charismatic leader. A single political party along with controlled violence forms the base of complete social and political control c. Capitalism- system in which individuals own means of production and can amass unlimited wealth 3. Left Wing a. Socialism- philosophy favoring social welfare and general prosperity over private wealth and individual reliance b. Communism-based on radical equality attained by open class conflict c. Democratic Socialism- based on popular elections, public ownership, and control of main economic sectors and broad social welfare programs...