Political Science Test 1

Beginning of arab spring

26 year old Tunisian named Mohammed set himself on fire after a Tunisian police officer flipped his produce cart and confiscated his vegetable weighing scale because he was unwilling to pay a bribe

aristotle's book

Politics. he argued the necessity of the state and that it evolved directly from human interaction (more about what people are ruling for, ruling for the common good and not self interest, closer to a democracy)

aristocracy

a govt in which power is vested in a minority, consisting of those believed to be best qualified

timocracy

a govt in which the love of honor is the ruling principle (ruled by warriors)

counterinsurgency policy

a military strategy that includes military, political, economic, and humanitarian efforts in an attempt to win over the hearts and minds of the domestic population (uses hard and soft power)

counterterrorism policy

a police or military strategy that employs offensive tactics to preempt or deter future terroristic attacks (uses hard power)

John Locke advocated for

a representative democracy where govt possesses limited powers and where the people select representatives to make decisions on their behalf

plato's republic

addressed the nature of justice, statesmanship, ethics, and the nature of politics (people need govt to function effectively). argued that happiness results from only pursuing knowledge and justice which are more valuable than power or material goods. said individuals and govts should focus on this for the harmony of the soul and society

socrates

agreed with sophists that more can be learned through human behavior. employed normative theory in that he was more interested in what "ought to be". argued humans seek the "good life" meaning cultivation of soul and living an ethical right, not materialism/power. would not escape from jail because he thought it was unjust to do so. believed a successful political career required one to surrender ethics. said people can't find true happiness in politics because a successful politician surrenders their ethics

aristotle's theory of forms theorizes that

all living things have a preexisting design or an ideal form of the way they are supposed to be (theory of being). says happiness is achieved when we actualize our potential by achieving our preexisting purpose

public opinion polls

allow individuals to see how certain demographics view certain political issues or problems

tyrant

an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution

hypothesis

an educated guess about a particular experiment

theory

an idea thats been tested that aims to demonstrate a correlation between political phenomena

in plato's theory of forms, the highest form of happiness is achieved when

an individual attains perfect knowledge about everything in the world of appearances (said its non-permanent and ever changing or state of becoming) and the intelligible world (includes a permanent design that transcends our material world or state of being)

quantitative analysis

analysis that uses data to interpret political phenomena. data may come from a survey research or data sets to better understand the political world

social sciences

any number of academic disciplines that seek to understand human behavior (anthropology, archaeology, economics, criminology, political science, and psychology)

plato's rankings of political systems from his preferred form of govt to his least favorite form of govt

aristocracy (valued concept: justice and knowledge), timocracy (valued concept: courage), oligarchy (valued concept: work ethic and wealth), democracy (valued concept: freedom to pursue necessary and unnecessary desires), tyrant (freedom to pursue lawful and unlawful unnecessary desires)

intellectual political context

attacked plato's ideal state because "is" is so far from "ought", that pursuing "ought" brings ruin; realist-not what should be, but when given power and resources, what could be; power not justice is the real issue; effective leaders rejected morality and ethics; used "instrument rationality" or finding most efficient means to achieve goal; self interested power seeking behavior was human, not wicked or sinful

spirit

behavior guided by impulses stemming from feelings of pity, compassion, and/or remorse

appetites

behavior guided by impulses stemming from our desires and urges, without regard for consequences

Jean- Jacques Rousseau

believed people are born in liberty with a natural aversion to seeing others suffer in the precontract state. competition for property destroys our goodness. why govt? in a state of nature, people are good but corruptible in societies. kind of govt? everyone participates (direct democracy) "general will"- says hobbes is wrong because it doesnt protect minority rights. social contract? right of revolution

theory of being

believed that underlying our ever-changing material world is a preexisting and permanent design. argue permanent design or truth in the universe exists beyond appearances of the material world that's visible to physical senses

unlike plato, aristotle didn't believe humans are

born with knowledge which then must be uncovered (rationalism), but instead argued that knowledge comes from experience (empiricism)

polis (state) (adulthood stage)

brings greater efficiency to the economic system and provides the requisite organizational infrastructure to more skillfully deter and repel foreign invasions

auxiliaries

citizens defend the republic (military). function is to enforce the laws of the states and defend the state from foreign invasion. taught both courage and temperance

demographics

classifications of different groups of people that usually refer to one's race, class, ethnicity, gender, level of wealth, age, place of residence, employment status, level of education, and so on

Hard power

compelling other nations to modify their behavior through military or economic force

plato argued that societies and individuals consist of

craftspeople/appetites, auxiliaries/spirit, and guardians/rational

Jean- Jacques Rousseau

criticized representative democracies claiming they facilitate exploitation of the masses by political elites (poltiical elites take advantage of their people). called for a direct democracy where people make decisions for themselves

aristotle's theory of mixed constitutions

does not advocate that one political system is better than the other. monarchy (led by one person is good if it pursues justice) could form into tyrant (person pursues self-interest), aristocracy (small number of leaders pursue justice) could form into oligarchy (follow economic self-interest), polity (many leaders pursue justice) could form into democracy (majority pursue self-interest and behave unjustly)

thomas hobbes

empiricist. opposed plato's normative approach and held a high regard for the scientific method. denied that a permanent objective truth lies beneath our world and that people construct a perception of "truth" through self interest and language. says human behavior is not good or bad. why govt? to bring about order because humans have a lust for power. kind of govt? totalitarian- undivided (one person rules), doesnt care about minority rights. social contract? one time and permanent

John Locke

empiricist. our behavior is controlled by our reasoning powers. why govt? to protect inalienable rights. kind of govt? limited, limit self interest, protection of minority rights. social contract? changes, right of revolution. we are born free and in a state of perfect freedom, we will naturally come to possess private property

broad political context

european renaissance- cultural rebirth bridged middle ages and modernity, transition from feudal to nation-state system as 30 yrs war ended feudalism and treaty of westphalia created nation-states, protestant reform weakened the catholic church

villages (childhood stage)

families organize into more complex communities. these provide greater efficiency. vulnerable to foreign attacks

aristotle theorized discrete forms of human communities

family unit, village, and polis (state)

international relations

field of political science that studies the way nations interact with one another and the influence of global trends on nation-states

oligarchy

govt in which a small group exercises control over the masses

"national" political context

italy divided into 5 states and machiavelli believed if unified, could compete with spain, britain, france and other major powers; thought catholic church was too weak to bring about

soft power

leverage is gained through the sway of diplomatic and cultural persuasion

family (embryonic stage)

most divine like power humans possess is the ability for two people to come together to create another person

normative

normative approach that seeks to determine how one "ought to live"

who did plato believe could rule?

only those with a perfect understanding of justice because only they will appreciate the need to pursue the public good

aristotle

plato's student who pursued a more scientific approach.

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and other ancient philosophers believed

politcal power should only be applied as a means to the ends of social justice and that political power should be brandished by the wisest and most ethical members of society because their responsibility is to promote social harmony and the public good

Aristotle's Politics argued that

political debate is the most highly valued political skill because it is through debate that we are able to carry reason into action

Harold Lasswell said that

politics is who gets what, when, and how

Political science is the study of

power

Niccolo Machiavelli said that

power and not justice is the most important unit of analysis in politics. said its more important to know how to acquire and maintain political control. primary purpose of govt is to prevent civil unrest and promote security at home and abroad

both plato and aristotle both believed in the

principle of an objective truth and the need to fuse politics and ethics

political socialization

process by which citizens develop the values, beliefs, and opinions that enable them to support the political system

aristotle concludes that the key to our purpose is found when we

pursue virtue in our reasoning powers. virtue is found in the means between extremes (middle class)

guardians

represent the ruling class and require intensive training in order to pursue the public good and justice. taught wisdom, courage, and temperance. only those who demonstrate excellence in math, dialectic argument, military matters, and philosophy are permitted to rule the republic

craftspeople

represent working class including farmers, shopkeepers and merchants. function is to produce economic activity and ensure social sustenance. taught temperance and restraint.

sophists

responsible for shifting the focus of Greek philosophy from the universe to the individual. shifted study from nature of universe to behavior of individuals. skeptical that universe realities/truths could be known or if they existed. believed individuals are self interested and seek power. interested in teaching the power of persuasion instead of establishing a strong framework. famous for teaching rhetoric and public debate. human happiness is acquired through acquiring objects that give most pleasure (wealth, honor and status), material success and getting power was source for happiness

behavioralism

school of thought that looks at "actual" behavior of certain persons or institutions. it is largely data driven and without a strong commitment to values (variables and correlation)

post-behavioralism

school of thought that seeks to combine elements of the traditional approach with those of behavioralism

John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed power

should be more dispersed among people in democratic systems of govt in order to achieve social harmony

plato

socrates' most prolific student. his dialogues (the Republic) captured the philosophy that socrates didnt write down and highlighted his own political ideas. argued humans are born with knowledge and that we dont learn things in our daily experience but we recollect them. using socratic method of dialogue (asking questions but not giving answers), truth and wisdom surface.

Political power

the ability to get others to do what they would not do on their own

Political science

the academic discipline that seeks to understand the relationship between individuals and political institutions

Thomas Hobbes's text the Leviathan proves

the correctness of Machiavelli by saying power rather than justice is important

John Locke was referenced in

the declaration of independence by stating that men are equal and this led to the rights for ethnic minorities and women

subfields of political science

the different content approaches within the overall discipline of political science. it can refer to political theory, american politics, comparative politics, and international relations

ionians

the earliest greek philosophers, who believed using rationality rather than mythology to understand the universe

modern thinkers opted for

the empirical method of examining politics

traditionalism

the methodological tradition that seeks to understand if certain govt or political institutions are behaving in accordance with how they "ought to behave"

Niccolo Machiavelli's book

the prince

Arab spring

the pro-democratic political movements (2011) spreading throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa

comparative politics

the subfield of political science that examines different types of institutions and issues within different countries. they are usually regionally based

theory of becoming

the universe was in a constant state of random and arbitrary chance and could be understood in material terms. didn't believe that a preexisting plan or sacred objective guides our material world. said our universe is the byproduct of a long series of perfectly random and accidental collisions

social contract theorists

thinkers beginning in the 17th century who sought to explain human nature by looking at the terms by which govts are set up in the first place

Hobbes says the purpose of political power should not be

used to promote ethical governance but should be used to promote the more limited goal of preventing social turmoil and war. advocated for an authoritarian system of govt

aristotle says the highest form of happiness is

when we fully immerse ourselves in politics because it is here in the community of the state that our thinking is elevated to the peak form of reasoning, where discussions are most abstract and decisions have the greatest consequence

ancient philosophical debate

whether our universe behaves in a purposeful and systematic manner, or whether our universe instead is in a state perpetual random change, devoid of any purpose or meaning

niccolo machiavelli

wrote the prince and dedicated it to lorenzo de' medici. it had forceful and uncompromising theories of leadership. offered medici family advice on how to gain and maintain political power. political realist who separated politics from religious/ethical concerns. empirical (focuses on how govt works instead of how it should be) not normative or spiritual focus. the prince shows that a ruler can control the governed by force, threats, and gifts