Week 1

What is Politics?
Politics is to multi-faceted to have one simple definition We must ask what are the boundaries of the political? Politics is often popularly associated with corruption, conflict and intrigue however some political figures such as Rousseau and Mill deem that participation in political life is an extremely noble activity that should be encouraged The most popular definition for politics is that politics is the process by which groups representing divergent interests and values make collective decisions. However, this definition makes the assumption that all societies of any complexity must contain diversity and the second that scarcity is also an inevitable characteristic of all societies Politics seems to be who gets what, when and how?. This cannot be limited to how economic goods are distributed, but also other goods such as human values Politics in the pre 19th century consisted more of political values and politics in philosophy, but now focus has shifted over the past two centuries to the argument of those who prefer liberty over equality and those who prefer equality of liberty.

Is politics inevitable?
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If we define politics in terms of differences, conflicts and scarcity then politics is an inevitable feature of all societies

Political Questions
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Politics is the mechanism for making decisions according to Lasswells Who gets what, when and how If we all has the same interests and values and there was enough of what everyone wanted to go around then there would be no need to make such decisions. Politics is the predicted assumption that this is not the case. Students of politics should be asking: what values do and should the decisions made serve?, show makes and should make the decisions taken?, are we more obliged to obey decisions made in a democratic way than in other ways?, why are those taking decisions able to enforce them? Power and Authority concepts are central to politics Authority legitimate power in the sense that rulers can produce acceptance by the ruled, not because they can but because they ruled recognize the right of the rulers to exercise power

The Boundaries of the Political State, Society, and the International Community
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Politics is often associated with activities of the state and the public realm or with the particular type of decision making based on building compromise and consensus The state has traditionally been the centre of much political analysis because it has been regarded as the highest form of authority in a society. the state has a monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force in enforcing its order within a given territorial area Weber Such authority over an area is crucial to states sovereignty. The state is sovereign in the sense that it is the supreme law making body over a certain geographical territory

The state is much bigger than the government as it makes up a larger entity containing police services, judiciary, military, bureaucratic institutions etc. The state can also be distinguished from civil society which consists of nongovernmental organizations businesses, unions, pressure groups Political theory is linked to a study of political obligation why should we obey the state? Defining politics is plagued by boundary problems

The boundaries of the Political 2 Politics as Consensus or Conflict

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Politics is the preferable way in which conflicts can be resolved, a great and civilizing human activity associated with admirable values of toleration and respect Bernard Crick Political rule is concerned with incorporating competing groups in society. Crick argues that conciliation is most likely to occur when power is widely spread in society so that no one small group can impose its will on others

The Rise and Fall of Normative Analysis

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This type of political analysis asks questions of a valuation kind and seeks to identify good or better with a view recommending what we ought to want example question of normative analysis: whether, when, when and why we ought to value freedom or democracy or equality and why we should obey the state The decline of normative analysis is attributed to the rise of positivism, an approach that seeks to apply the scientific methodology of the natural sciences to social phenomena You cannot resolve normative questions by stating empirical facts

Week 2: What is politics? What is its object of Study

Garner Pages 14-25 Empirical and Semantic Analysis o Empirical analysis seeks to identify observable phenomena in the real world with a view to establish what is, rather than what ought to be o Most used in the natural sciences and by positivist political analysts o Semantic analysis is concerned with clarifying the concepts we use o In political science it is crucial to be able to define the essentially contested concepts that you use o All three forms of analysis are linked to each other and are not necessarily independent of one another o Studying how things are helps to explain how things can be, and studying how they can be, is indispensable for assessing how they ought to be o Normative claims are at least partly based on empirical knowledge o A large amount of empirical analysis presupposes normative assumptions o From a positivist perspective, empirical political theory refers to the generation of testable hypotheses of political phenomena o Those who study government without recognition of the key normative questions raised by political philosophers will only receive a partial picture of their discipline

Theories are used in empirical work to try to order and make sense of the mass of information that political researchers discover and to try and find the relationships o A key element of the empirical approach is the comparative method Deductive and Inductive Theories of Politics o Deductive method is associated with rational choices theories of politics o Inductive is associate with behavioralism o Rational choice approaches focus on politics being a response to the problem of collective action. o Starts by making fundamental assumptions about human behavior from which theories are deduced and then tested against the real world o Nest known applications are in voters and political parties and interest groups o Largest problem with deductive method is that it is based off of assumptions o Behaviouralism stresses the importation of the scientific method in the study of social phenomena. There is an assumption that human behavior can be measured in a precise way and generalizations can be derived from it o Inductive approach starts with empirical observations from which generalizations are drawn. o The inductive approach seems to focus more on the gathering of the empirical data rather than the generation of the theory o Positivist have started to move away from the inductive method Can Politics be a Science? o Behavioralists and positivists suggest that it can because it offers ordered knowledge based off of systematic enquiry o There are two challenges to this view o One can question whether the methods of natural science can be transferred to politics o One can question whether the whole scientific enterprise, both natural and social, is useful Garner, Chapter 2: Political Power, Authority, and the State Power and Authority o Power is equated to coercion while authority is equated to consent o Authority is legitimate power in the sense the rulers can produce acceptance by the ruled, not by coercion but because the ruled recognizes the rulers right to exercise power o Converting power to authority is highly desirable o However, a just because the ruled recognize the ruler as that does not mean that the regime is legitimate, e.g.: Hitler o Authority can just as easily be based on manipulation of the public interests o Traditional Authority: authority derived from traditional customs and values, e.g.; monarchies, leaders chosen through divine right o Charismatic Authority: Authority based on the charm and personality traits of the leader, unstable because the authority rests with the individual rather than a set of rules o Legal-rational authority: authority derived from the statute of an office as part of a system of constitutional rules Is Power the same as Force? o Power is usually exercised by the means of force o

Force does not necessarily mean power, having the means power is not the same as being powerful Must Power be Exercised Deliberately? o Not necessarily because in many situations people can gain and benefit from power that they have not obtained or used intentionally Is Power a Good Thing? o Most political thinkers argue that it depends on how that power is used o Liberals argue that any use of power is bad because it mean imposing on others beliefs even if it is in the others best interests Can We Eliminate Power? o In some way or another power seems to always exist in society Interests and Power o It is difficult to determines ones self-interests and whether or not the use of power is beneficial to these interests o However it is also to difficult to give away power to a larger body and allow them to make decisions based on what they believe are societies interests Political Elites o In most societies those with power have come from similar social and educational backgrounds (UCC) o It is difficult to gather information on whether or not all of these elites have the same opinions o Elite backgrounds studies do tend to reveal similar patterns of recruitment, however, the existence of a shared social and educational background does not prove the existence of a ruling class or elite Marxism and Power o Marxists believe in the role of both ideological control and elite background studies and therefore face problems trying to find and justify an elite ruling position o Marxists also face difficulty in trying to explain how a ruling class can still exist in a liberal democracy that is already a welfare state o The state acts in long term interests of capitalism, even though in the short term it may seem to damage the interests of the class it is said to rule o

Part 1: Key Concepts in Political Studies Week 3:Power, Legitimacy & Authority
Steven Lukes Power The word power lies at the center of a semantic field that includes authority, influence, coercion, force, violence, manipulation, strength, and so on. At its most general, power simply means the capacity to bring about outcomes. It is important to avoid two fallacies. Exercise fallacy: this occurs when we equate power with its exercise, as when we define power as winning, as achieving success in decision making, or as prevailing over others. The second fallacy is the vehicle fallacy, which occurs when we equate power with the means or resources of power. In social and political contexts, we typically attribute power to agents when we hold them responsible for bringing about significant outcomes.

But we often want to know how to locate power (who has it? who can exercise it, and who has exercised it? who has more, and who less?). We also want to assess its impact (who is affected, and in what ways?). Controversy already attaches to attributing responsibility (holding agents accountable) and significance (judging where peoples interests lie). In the narrowest, individualist, intentional, and active view, the powerful are individuals who, when they choose, can intentionally advance their interests by positive actions In the broadest view, the powerful can be individuals or collectivities whose interests may be advanced by acting or not acting whether they intend such consequences or not But power can be empowering, even transformative, increasing others resources, capabilities, and effectiveness. Examples are nurturing relationships such as apprenticeship, teaching, parenting, and therapy. The common understanding of power relations, then, is in terms of domination A method for studying power that defined interests as preferences, as revealed in political participation, and measured power by quantifying the extent to which the preferences of a group regularly prevail over those of other likely groups in key decisions or in observable conflict. Their view was criticized by political scientists Peter Bachrach and Morton Baratz for ignoring a second face of power, namely, the power to shape political agendas: the power to keep potential issues from becoming actual by determining which are to be the key political issues A three-dimensional view, while embracing both the first and second views, proposed that power can also consist in the securing of consent to dominant power relations through the shaping of desires and beliefs. Another criticism, advanced at length by James Scott in Domination and the Arts of Resistance, is that powers third dimensionsecuring the consent of willing subjects to their dominationis nonexistent or very rare. Our use of the terms power, powerful, and powerless are interest-driven, and we have several distinct interests in locating and assessing the impact of the power of agents in social and political life. One of our interests is to identify the extent to which agents are able to advance their interests and/or the interests of others. Another is to identify the extent to which they are able to harm others interests. A third is to identify the extent to which an agent or agents can induce and reproduce the subordination, dependency, or control of others in ways that may or may not involve their willing consent. There is no neutral, canonical, uncontestable way of conceiving power that is free of controversial political implications.

Weber on Legitimate Norms and Authority (Also in Chapter 2 above) Weber defines an 'order' as a system of '... determinate maxims or rules...' towards which behavior is oriented By a legitimate order is meant a normative system, which is upheld by the belief in the actors of its binding quality or rightness. Legitimacy may be ascribed to an order by those acting subject to it in the following ways: (a) By tradition: a belief in the legitimacy of what has always existed; (b) by virtue of effectual attitudes, especially emotional, legitimizing the validity of what is newly revealed or a model to imitate; (c) by virtue of a rational belief in its absolute

value, thus lending it the validity of an absolute and final commitment; (d) because it has been established in a manner which is recognized to be legal. The essence of authority is a relationship between two or more actors in which the command of certain actors are treated as binding by the others Authority is thus a sphere of legitimate command and where authority exists ordered interaction is also possible. The significance of legitimate order and authority is, as Weber makes clear, that the most stable ordering of conduct is achieved when the ordering principles are held to be binding by the actors subject to them The essence of legitimacy, whether it is of norms or authority, is the sense of duty, obligation, or 'oughtness' towards rules, principles or commands. For those who recognize the legitimacy of the laws, however, the nature of that legitimacy is based on the 'legality' of the laws, i.e., that they were passed in the duly accepted manner. A major problem in the Weberian typology of authority is the difficulty of conceptualizing the patterns of legitimacy of democratic political institutions. This fourth type of authority, which we shall call value-rational authority thus derives from a supervening general principle, and is historically quite familiar. 'Forms of protest against established authority have, under certain conditions taken the form of an attempt to subject supreme political authority to some overriding principle. Thus in the case of the origin of the Magna Carta, the Whig doctrines of legitimacy and the political theories of the French and American revolutions, the monarch is made responsible to absolute principles of natural rights, natural law, consent of the governed, the general will, etc. An absolute principle of rational belief becomes the ultimate source of authority and generates a constitution as structure of state in which all supreme political authority is held subject to the basic principle. The significance of the legitimacy of normative order is that legitimacy is the best guarantee of the stability of an order. The same is obviously true of legitimate authority: it is the most stable form of power.

Week 4: Ideology and the lenses of politics

Chapter 5
What is an Ideology? : - Antoine destutt de Tracey first used the term during the French revolution to denote a rationalistic science of ideas, which could be discovered in the same ways as truths in knowledge. - In contemporary popular usage, ideologue is often used to denot someone with an uncompromising devotion to a set of ideas irrespective of their utility, or as simply an extremist. - An ideology contains empirical, normative, and semantic elements. For example Marx gave both an empirical and a normative account of socialism. He seeks to tell us that socialism is desirable, it ought to happen, but he also puts forward an empirical theory which purports to determine the prospects of it happening. - Other features of Ideologies. First, ideologies are, more often than not, actionoriented in the sense that they seek to promote a particular social and political order for which they urge people to strive. Secondly, it is sometimes said that ideologies are less rigorous and sophisticated than proper political philosophy. As Vincent points out ideological themes can be found on a continuum from the most banal jumbled rhetoric up to the most astute theorizing.

The Historical Development of Liberalism: - Classical Liberalism: Had its hayday in the 19th century. Was significantly influenced by Adam Smith (1723-90) and the social theory of Herbert Spencer (1820-1907) emphasizes that the states role should be limited to ensure internal and external security and to ensure that private property rights are enforced. Believes markets are the most effective means of meeting human needs. Also concerning morals believe that a limited state maximizes freedom and rewards those that work the hardest. - New Liberalism: Emerged at the end of the 19th century as a result of the extent of poverty that had been created under classical liberalism. Led by thinkers such as T.H. Green (1836-82), L.T, Hobhouse (1864-1929), and J.A. Hobson (1858-1940) new liberalism saw a much more positive role for the state, in correcting the inequities of the market, greater opportunities for individuals to achieve their goals. It influenced the direction of Liberal Party politics, the Liberal government elected in 1906 carrying through a range of social reforming measures including old-age pensions. Liberal Thought - The core meaning of liberalism can be found in the concepts of liberty, tolerance, individualism, and a particular kind of equality. Liberty is the concept right at the centre of liberal thought, the primary value in the liberal creed as Goodwin (2007:14) puts it. For some liberal thinkers, liberty is seen as an intrinsic good; for others such as J.S. Mill, it is a means to an end in the sense that its value is the possibilities for self-development it produces. - The classical liberal tradition emphasizes negative liberty. Freedom is about removing external constraints. The new liberal tradition emphasizes positive liberty, whereby the state can remove obstacles of freedom. - The liberal focus on the individual stems from the belief that individuals are rational, and able to determine their own best interests, which they will always pursue. Suggested by J.S Mill - The community is merely an aggregate of individuals with competing interests and values. - Communitarians criticize the liberal social contract tradition, which envisages humans in a pre-social state. For communitarians, political principles must be derived from actual existing societies which provide identity and meaning for individuals. - Liberals regard individuals as of equal vale, but they do not accept equality of outcome. Rather, the liberal position is characterized by equality of opportunity, whereby fairness is ensured because individuals, although-in theory at leaststarting from the same position are rewarded for their efforts. Socialism Socialism is dominated by the work of Karl Marx, who described his socialism as scientific as opposed to the utopian variety of those socialists who preceded him: - Pre Marx the main socialists thinkers were Claude-Henri Saint Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen and they are usually regarded as the founders of socialism. Marx regarded these thinkers as utopian in the sense that they regarded socialism as ethically desirable but had no contextual historical analysis of the possibilities of bringing about political change. Marx by contrast, developed what he called a scientific socialism which not only argued

that socialism was ethically desirable but also attempted to explain the historical conditions that would bring it about. To classify different varieties of socialism, it is useful to distinguish between means and ends: There is a distinction between revolutionary and evolutionary socialism. Revolution socialists such as Marx believed that a revolution would be a popular uprising. Lenin also revolution socialists used a coup involving a disciplined band of revolutionaries. Evolutionary socialism is based on the belief that with universal suffrage, socialism can be achieved through political democracy. It assumes, therefore, that the state can be responsive to working-class interests once enfranchised. Core Socialist principles include an optimistic view of human nature, equality of out-come, and community and cooperation: - Socialists have optimistic view of human nature which they suggest, is capable of being shaped by social, economic, and political circumstances. Liberals and conservatives tend to view humans as selfish, individualistic, and materialistic. - Socialists are more likely to advocate for equality of outcome. This is partly because socialists see inequality as resulting not so much from differences of ability but in terms of an individuals location in a social structure. - There is an emphasis on what humans can achieve collectively. Community is linked to the other two core socialist values in the sense that common ownership and equality are obvious ways in which communal values can be furthered. Some argue that Socialism is utopian and has Authoritarian tendencies: - The problem, however, is that such a society demands too much of its citizens. This might be acceptable if its effects are benign but, so the argument continues, to maintain such an egalitarian society inevitable results in an authoritarian state which has continually to intervene to prevent differential levels of talent and effort from eroding the socialist distribution of goods. Conservatism The New right has liberal and conservative elements: - New Right supported the idea of a free market with Thatcherism at its helm. However had several traditional conservative valuessuch as law and order, respect for authority, and the importance of traditional values. This ideological mix was described by on British academic commenator as the free economy and the strong state (Gamble, 1994). The underlying principles of conservatism are an aversion to rationality, an organic view of society, human imperfection, and a preference for hierarchy: - The conservative model of society is organic rather than mechanical. In other words, society cannot be taken apart and rearranged like the parts of a machine. Rather, society is a little-understood, complex, and interdependent organism. To change one part may have an unpredicatable and undesirable impact on other parts. - Conservatives are skeptical about mans ability to fully understand their social and political environment. Therefore drawing on Platos Republic only the elite should rule. Nationalism:

Nationalism has had an enormous impact on the development of world politics since the 19th century: - After the First World War U.S president Woodrow Wilson went for national selfdetermination in the peace settlement. After World War 2 nationalism shifted towards Africa and the Middle East and then East Europe after the fall of Communism. Many argue that nationalism is not, properly speaking, an ideology and that it is of dubious normative worth: - Is not a universal principle as not everyone can have their nationalist objectives realized. It lacks political content as its only concern is national identity. As well compared to other ideologies it is not a set of interrelated ideas. It has nothing to say about the character of the political system within the nation-state, or what the role of political principles such as justice, rights, and liberty might be. A profitable distinction is to be made between civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism: - Civic Nationalism refers to loyalty to the institutions and values of a particular political community. Ethnic Nationalism refers to loyalty to a shard inheritance based on culture, language, or religion. In civic anyone can join, while in ethnic it is something that is inherited. Fascism Fascists reject abstract intellectualizing in favor of action: - Believe in acting out of emotion and instinct which has resulted in few intellectual works on which to rely, exceptions being Italian fascist Giovanni Gentile and Hitlers Mein Kampf. Fascism is best understood in terms of its oppositional mentality: - Fascism is above all anti-Enlightenment. It therefore opposes Enlightenment ideas such as liberalism, democracy, reason, and individualism. It is also profoundly anti-Marxist. Central fascist themes are emphasis on the states role in creating meaning for individuals, and an elitist view of humans. In Germany, the belief in the superiority of some humans took on a racial dimension. - Fascisms opposition to liberalism and individualism stems from the belief that it is the community that creates individuals. It is the state that confers meaning upon individuals lives and, as a result, individuals should be subservient to it. Anarchism Anarchism is primarily an off-shoot of socialism: Anarchists share an abhorrence of the state, but this principle raises many difficult questions which many argue anarchists cannot effectively answer: - First question is that it is not clear what Anarchists are actually opposing but if we assume it is the force that the government exercises on its people there are many oppositions. One of them was by Hoffman in which he said the problem that anarchists did was that they didnt differentiate the state from the government. As he views the government as positive and empowering while states are what exercise force over the people (therefore promoting stateless governments). However because government, without a state, relies upon authority since it has no means of force to ensure its decisions are obeyed. So how will such a society deal with those who refuse to accept the authority of government?

Anarchism has had relatively little influence on modern politics:

Week 5: Democracy and its variants

Chapter 3 What is Democracy?
Illiberal democracies are not actually democratic because there is no protection of rights and freedoms such as elected rulers pay little heed to the protection of free speech. The turnover of political leaders through competitive elections is small. Singapore uses plurality-based elections similar to that of Britain however the Peoples Action Party (PAP) has won control of Parliament in every election with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister from 1959-1990. Lively gives seven criteria for the definition of democracy: 1. That all should govern, in the sense that all should be involved in legislating, in deciding on general policy, in applying laws and in governmental administration. 2. That all should be personally involved in crucial decision making. 3. That rulers should be accountable to the ruled, and be removable by the ruled. 4. That rulers should be accountable to the representatives of the ruled. 5. That rulers should be chosen by the ruled. 6. That rulers should be chosen by the representatives of the ruled. 7. That rulers should act in the interests of the ruled. Numbers 1 to 4 directly describe democracy while 5-7 can apply to other ideologies such as communism. Direct democracy refers to a system whereby the people rule directly. Representtive democracy is where the people choose others to represent their interests. Lively suggests that democracy requires the people to make decisions directly, or to choose, and be able to remove, those who make decisions on the peoples behalf.

The Classical Versus the Elitist Theory of Democracy Austrian economist and sociologist, Joseph Schumpeter offered the elitist theory of democracy (Protective/Revisionist theory). Schumpeter argued the classical model is unrealistic because mass participation is not characteristic of modern democratic societies. People are happy to leave politics to a class of political elites. The masses tend to be irrational and are liable to have authoritarian values and be seduced by charismatic and dictatorial leaders just like fascist Germany and Italy. Schumpeter theory was a protective model of democracy in the sense that they are concerned with ensuring that political leaders are accountable to the wishes of the voters. An alternative model is the participatory/ developmental model of democracy. It argues that participation is enriching. Individuals who participate, it is argued, become more virtuous and intelligent, they understand the need for cooperation, and their own self-worth increases as does their status in the eyes of others.

By abandoning the participatory element, the elitist theory of democracy had lost sight of the true meaning of democracy unlike participatory democracy which is built on mass participation. Lively argues that Schumpeters elitist theory is not democratic because it does not meet the described criteria of a democracy. This is because Schumpeter makes no recommendation on the frequency of elections.

Deliberative Democracy A spin-off of democratic participation is the school of deliberative democracy. It builds upon the emphasis on participation by arguing that the process of public debate and argument leads to rational and more legitimate decision-making. Alternative Sources of Political Obligation We Ought to Obey the State because it Provides us with Security Thomas Hobbes argues that a sovereign who is strong enough to enforce stability is worth obeying. We Ought to Obey the State because it Protects our Natural Rights John Locke argues that humans possess natural rights, given by God, before they enter into a political community. For a political community to be legitimate it must uphold and protect these rights. The problem is, what rights exist? Locke only mentions rights to liberty, life, and property. No mention of health care and education. We Ought to Obey the State when it Pursues the General Will This approach to political obligation holds that if the state purses this common, general interest and not particular interests then we have an obligation to obey it. Rousseau argues that we can all obey a political system that pursues the gernal will and remain as free as we were before, because the general will is what we all want. We might, for instance, want to obey the state because it provides us with security(Hobbes) or because it protects our rights (Locke) or because it promotes the general will(Rousseau). Is Democracy Special? The Problem of Majority Rule Democracy is regarded as the primary modern ground for political obligation because if we participate in the making of the laws under which we live, these laws are likely to be in our interests and therefore we get what we want. The principal problem with democracy, however, is that we are very rarely going to arrive at unanimous decisions. As a result, democratic government means, in practice, following the view of the majority. Rousseaus solution to the minority problem is to say: provided that the laws carried are in accord with the general will, everyone unanimously will want to accept them because it is the right or moral thing to do. Paul Wolff argues that those who find themselves in a minority are not obliged to accept the law; and because there is no solutions to the majority rule problem, no government can ever be legitimate, requiring everyone to be obligated to it. For Wolff, the only legitimate kind of society is on that preserves individual autonomy. Cosmopolitan Democracy

The impact of globalization has political theorists discussing of supranational institutions and processes becoming democratized.

Week 6: Freedom Liberty & Justice

Freedom
Freedom is the of constraints or the absence of impediments Freedom is often labeled as something that is good so all governments should pursue it, however there are many good grounds for limiting freedom Some may object that when we are physically coerced e.g. prison it impedes our freedom, but we are free to make the choice to break the law and accept punishment or avoid detection Human agency is necessary for an impediment to count as a constraint on our freedom Some political theorists argue that on rational or moral behavior can be free Constraints on our freedom can range from being psychological, advertisements telling us how to act and what to do, to economic the more money you have you arguably have more freedom All genuine statements about freedom must contain three elements involving the agent, the constraint and the objective o This means someone is free (the agent) from or to do (the constraint) to do something they want (objective) Most general conceptions of freedom can divided into two types of freedom, negative and positive. British Philosopher John Mill said that freedom is helpful to achieving greater happiness. Freedom allows us to indulge in the higher pleasures such as music, art etc. Mills liberal theory on freedom suggests justifying limited state intervention and maximizing personal autonomy. He argues for maximum freedom Justice requires us to give to others what they are due or entitled to Procedural justice vs Social justice procedural more focused on following the rules as opposed to social justice which is more concerned about outcomes All theories of justice must involve equality, not in the sense that everyone gets an equal share of a good, but rather there is consistency in treatment Meritocratic theory of justice advocates for giving more to those who display the most amount of merit and deserve to be rewarded Justice is a distributional concept Political Culture is the totality of ideas and attitudes towards authority, discipline, governmental responsibilities and entitlements, and associated patterns of cultural transmission n such as the education system and family life. Three possible dimensions to a political culture parochial, little interest in politics especially at the national level, subject, had a wider perspective and more interested in national politics, but only at an observer level, an finally participant, feel they could and should contribute to national decision making through interest groups and contacts with the media

Justice
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Political Culture

The origins of the concept of political culture lie in an attempt to identify political culture There are two many factors such as, diversity and size, to identify a common national political culture Globalization multiplies the factors affecting political values and nullifies attempts to identify a national political culture Interest in state politics and participation in political culture varies depending on state A nations political culture is inseparable from nationalism There are many differences in political attitudes between citizens of different states, and that these differences are linked to divergent policy outcomes. This also helps explain why it is so difficult to transfer or impose democracy on another country because of the differences in their political and social cultures

Week 7: Political Participation: why dont we seem to care?

Confronting the Problem of Declining Voter Turnout Among Youth
Voter turnout steadily declining for last four federal elections Voter turnout declining in both France and UK Link declining participation in elections to some of the more fundamental problems of modern democracy (part of larger democratic deficit). Serious implications for future health of democratic system, could continue well into the future Generational gap of not voting: though people generally become more interested in politics at older ages voters are entering electorate at older average age less and less older people voting and less younger people voting Since the government claims a democratic mandate a low voter turnout takes away from legitimacy of that claim. Reasons for not voting Age difference distances youth from the political process and the politicians Political parties do not reach out to youth or are out of touch with youth Youth feel that politics does not affect them, perhaps because they have not yet developed the responsibilities that are the subject of political discourse (taxes and shit) No one listens to young people; they have no voice 80% of <25yr olds say they dont feel integrated in political system Raising young peoples interest in politics Improved education or information (in home and media especially) This education must be made more relevant to youth Systemic changes such as Proportional representation might encourage greater youth voter turnout Setting political agenda to fit youth More youth involvement in politics (political actors; leaders, politicians, candidates) Compulsory voting is not supported in Canada

Changes in action or conduct of those running the political system (honesty, accountability...) Technological improvements (internet voting) would increase voter turnout substantially Decline in voter turnout mainly attributable to youth Serious implications for agenda setting Fundamental changes must be made, will not solve itself

Part 2: The Political Process Week 8: Representation through Legislatures

Chapter 9 Functions of Legislatures
Parliaments are necessary to democracy and act as checks upon the state executive Functions of parliaments: o Representational 1. Members of parliament represent wider society, most often through the means of territorial districts 2. Part of their legitimacy is based upon the assumption that they are also representatives of society 3. The extent and ways to which they are representative` is contentious and varies from one state to another 4. Quotas to increase woman in parliament may lead to other minority quotas o Governmental (form governments, form policy and accountability) 1. Parliamentarianism: the principle that parliament is the final arbiter in the choice of the head of the government 2. Presidentialism: the head of state, whether, elected or not, either determines the choice of Prime Minister (France) or is personally head of executive branch (USA) 3. Parliamentary systems are generally seen as more stable in democratic regimes 4. Many hybrid systems both parliamentarianism and presidentialism 5. With both they easily paralyse government decision-making 6. Parliaments respond to initiatives for policy that originates from elsewhere in the political system, primarily the executive 7. Parliaments are forums for national debate (set the agenda) o Procedural (Three procedural functions that legislatures perform) 1. Ritualizing Conflict Function on basis of debate Westminster-style creates royal opposition, dividing society All societies have a plurality of opinions on any issue and parliament only reflects that

Parliaments do not manufacture conflict, the tames its excesses 2. Partisanship Members of parliament are expected to hold partisan ideologies 3. Transparency Parliaments are must have openness or they are purely symbolic (part of their job is to publicize issues and policies)

Types of Legislature

Based upon capacity of legislature to stand up to executive 1. Active Legislatures: centre of political system, genuinely has power to say no to president as often as necessary (US Congress) 2. Reactive Legislatures: has less power to withstand the government, but can set firm parameters within which the government has to act and can impose sanctions if government infringes upon parameters (House of Commons) 3. Vulnerable Legislatures: much more pliant, because local political culture tolerates legislators pursuing own material interests (Philippines and Italy) 4. Marginal Legislature: do perform important legislative functions but also enjoy much more tentative support from social elites, when executive decides to bypass legislature it can (Pakistan, Peru) 5. Minimal Legislature: meet rarely, more symbolic of legitimacy and unity than anything else (China and Vietnam) Unicameralism and Bicameralism o Bicameralism may offer better legislation closer to preferences of population but it more time-consuming Three factors for existence of second chambers: o Tradition o Federalism (Serves as representatives for lower level of government: senators for provinces) o Expectation of better legislation Legislators spend most of their time working in committees Increasing trend of professionalization of political representatives Leading to emergence of a `political class

Structures of Legislatures

Legislators

Week 9 Electoral Systems: how do they work and what effect do they have?
Diversity of electoral systems Plurality systems First-past-the-post (FPTP) To be elected, a candidate needs to have more votes than its opponents.

Members of the Electoral College are elected within each state on a winner-take-allbasis (bloc vote). o Bloc vote usually results in the elimination of minority parties. Post-Pinochet Chile has two-member districts, where the leading party gets both seats only if it polls twice as much as the party that came second.

Majority systems In a majority-runoff system, a majority is required on the first ballot. If no candidate obtains a majority, a second and final ballot is held between the two candidates who received the highest votes in the first round. As in all other majority systems, transfers may result in the final victory of a candidate who did not get the highest number of first preference votes. Proportional representation PR can be used only in multimember districts, for it is impossible to distribute a single seat among many parties. List systems Districts District magnitude The Electoral Formula Seats will be distributed within each district. DHondt is acknowledged to produce a bonus for larger parties Pure Saint-Lagu is the most likely to produce a proportional outcome. Threshold States that political parties that fail to secure a given percentage of the vote, either in districts or nationally, are deprived of parliamentary representation or at least of some of the seats they would otherwise be entitled to. In Germany, they exclude any party which fails to obtain 5% of the national vote or to elect three members in single-member districts. Thresholds send a clear and frank message that marginal parties are not considered suitable players in the parliamentary arena. Selection of Candidates Plurality and majority systems result in the election of an individual, while in PR seats are distributed. In Poland, voters may express a preference for one or more candidates within the party list they voted for. Mixed systems Coexistence: apply PR in some parts of the national territory, and either plurality or majority everywhere else. Superposition or Parallel: involving two tiers of members elected by PR and the others elected by plurality or majority throughout the country. Corrective: to compensate weaker parties that did poorly in single-member seats and to produce a parliament where each party gets its fair share of seats. I did not make notes on the last 10 pages of this article cause it made no god damn sense.

Week 10: Voting and Political Parties:

Chapter 11 The Voting Paradox Voting is a mechanism for making collective decisions Arrow Impossibility Theorem: Asserts that when a group of people are asked to make once choice as their preference between three or more alternatives, it is impossible to conclude that one particular outcome is the one most preferred unless over 50% all vote for it The method chosen for assessing votes plays a crucial part in determining the outcome Elections Elections are methods of assessing preferences through votes Vital component of democracy According to Article 12 (Universal Declaration of Democracy) The key element in the exercise of democracy is the holding of free and fair elections at regular intervals enabling the peoples will to be expressed Two basic electoral systems: First-past-the-post majority system & proportionate representation FPTP allows voters to choose individual candidates rather than party representatives, biased in favour of producing governments with larger majorities, at the expense of more representative reflections of public opinion Canadas electoral system is referred to as a first past the post system Restricts minorities, particularity female representatives The priority of PR is to ensure an adequate representation of the range of public opinion, irrespective of whether it strengthens or weakens the cohesion of government resultant from it Reduced number of wasted votes, favours minorities, but also encourages parties to spread their appeal beyond their core districts Coalition agreements more visible and greater policy stability Brazil, Spain, and Italy use the PR electoral system Some countries have adopted a hybrid of the two known as the alternative member model, with some seats elected on the basic of simple majority and some of the basic of proportional representation Russia is headed down this route 70 states in the world have proportional representation whilst 47 have first-past-the-post There are 21 hybrids The outcomes of each system have different virtues: stronger government versus more representative government Parties Individuals only rationally form groups to pursue their interests when they can be sure that the benefits they are likely to obtain are greater than the costs of membership This is only apparent in smaller groups For big organizations such as political parties, especially at the national level, the benefits that any individual member is likely to gain are bound to be minuscule, while the costs of membership are significant See page 256 for Carothers standard lament about political parties in various countries Essentially, Carothers argues that parties are a vital element in modern political systems, especially democracies

Despite this, the rationality of party membership can be questioned Parties generally suffered from low public esteem and are often associated with corruption Emergence of Parties Historically, there were two phases in the development of political parties: Emerged in the parliaments of the first democracies as groups of independently elected representatives who needed to find ways of cooperating to pass legislation Later on, parties became involved in the process of tying to structure the vote in popular elections The emergence of mass parties both changed the course of elections and also stimulated interest in politics in general, at least as measured by turnout effectively strengthening democracy All the political issues associated with industrialization in the second half of the nineteenth century provided matter for new, more popular democracy where mass parties became the norm and where the franchise was extended to incorporate all men and women This period also saw a key social divide between capital and labour Since the Second World War, parties in europe have evolved further towards what have been termed catch-all parties, i.e. parties that devote less attention to ideology and more to strategies to win over the median voter An early indication of this change came in West Germany in 1959 when the Social Democratic Party renounced its Marxist ideology and committed itself to a market economy and liberal pluralism Most recently, European and American parties have undergone a further mutation as they turned into cartel parties (commercial enterprises) Functions of Parties A political party is an institution that (a) seeks influence in a state, often by attempting to occupy positions in government, and (b) usually consists of more than a single interest in the society and so tome degree attempts to aggregate interests A party performs seven functions: legitimation of the political system (single most common function), integration and mobilization of citizens, representation, structuring popular vote, aggregation of diverse interests, recruitment of leaders for public office, and formulation of public policy facilitating choice between policy options The way in which parties perform these functions depend on three things: the constitutional framework within which they operate, the particular national system of elections, and the technologies of communication available to them Typologies of Political Parties Liberal or radical: such parties stand for equal legal and political rights, as well as free trade Conservative: such parties tend to support forms of social relations, including hierarchy, they often appeal to nationalism as well Socialism: There parties advocate workers control of the means of production, close connection with trade union movement; advocate welfare system Communism: parties inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1917 and sought to spread the communist alternative to socialism based on the teachings of Marx and Lenin Environmental parties: these appeared more recently, initially emerging from interest groups such as Friends of the Earth, skeptical of free market economic policies

For Christian democracy, regional parties, nationalist parties and Islamic parties see page 264. Party Systems Sartori defined the party system as the system[s] of interactions resulting from interparty competition These interactions are affected by the nature of the political system as a whole, the pattern of basic cleavages in society, and the channels open for competition between parties Party systems are the product of sociological and institutional interactions They cannot be designed in genuine democracies Once formed, they are very durable and difficult to successfully reform Predominant party systems: (developed democracies): Japan Two party systems: the United States Systems with three to five parties: France, Germany, UK Systems with more than five parties: Belgium, Denmark, Italy Problems Facing Parties One problem is declining party membership By the end of the 1990s, the average share of European populations who are party members was around 5.7 percent, only around a third of what it had been thirty years earlier In the USA, there is an analogous problem In the 2004 presidential election, there was a combined expenditure of US$880 million, an increase of two-thirds since 2000. At least the same amount is spent every two years on elections to Congress and state legislatures. Obviously, the problem has been mediated in the past few years Political parties are facing a range of new challenges; in various parts of the world the balance between rank-and-file party members and party professionals is tipping towards the latter Despite the lack of esteem for them, parties remain vital for the formulation and legitimation of public policies

Week 11: Institutions of Civil Society and their impact on politics

Chapter 12 Civil Society
Is an ambiguous term subject to a wide variety of interpretations: - Robertson defined it as Civil society is the framework within which those without political authority live their liveseconomic relationships, family and kinship structures, religious institutions and so on. It is a purely analytic concept because civil society does not exist independently of political authority, nor vice versa, and, it is generally believe, neither could long continue without the other, therefore, no very clear boundary can be drawn between the two. It acquired a heroic aura because of its association with the protests that brought down communist regimes in Easter Europe: Poland in 1989 was the first to break out of the communist regime when the independent trade union, Solidarity, won all but one of the seats that it could contest in the elections in

June. This opened the gate for all countries throughout Europe and by mid-December the last Eastern European regime crumbled in Romania. Subsequently it was appropriated by policy- making elites in the West as the targets for aid that they wished to distribute to grass-roots organizations in the developing world: Policy makers in Western Government and international charities became fed up with the lack of results in reducing poverty by giving money to the developing world governments. They were tired of official corruption, so they fastened civil society and the voluntary sector as instruments to spread good governance and democracy. Aid donors liked this idea because it got women involved, governments liked it because it took more pressure of them to provide welfare, and it was attractive for the recipients too because it provided them with opportunities to organize and stand up for their rights. There is a big disagreement over whether it can be applied in an non-European environment, and if so, how: The fundamental issue when trying to apply the concept of civil society is that there is no clear division between the state and society. As well there is the issue of where the boundaries of private began. In the west family affairs are often seen as private however this would exclude the family-based social activity, which is typical to Middle Eastern, African and Asian societies. Confucian view could either not accommodate the public/private distinction or made it a fluctuating one. This is because its doctrine began with the development of virtue in the individual and then gradually widened its horizon to encompass the whole society. As well in Easter Europe they learned that the civil societies that overthrew the communist regimes did not have the organization necessary to face the economic crisis. Interest Groups There is an ambiguity in the term interest groups: Some argue that they may disproportionally privilege some interests at the expense of others, or of the public interests as a whole. For others they facilitate the input of new ideas into the political process making them a key part of democracy. Or it can refer to groups of interests in society which some actors may promote, in which case it can be found in any state: In either case, they are adapted to the institutional framework of a particular regime to maximize their effect: If they want to the national government, they will turn most of their attention to capital, appealing to public opinion, lobbying ministers, officials, and members of parliament. In federal systems they will devote much attention to winning support in individual states. In more administratively dominant communities, interest groups will concentrate most of their efforts on lobbying officials, as happens in Brussels with the European Union. Corporatism Corporatism privileges certain nation peak organizations as negotiating partners for the state in determining socio-economic policies: They set up arrangements for regular consultation of key interest groups that represent the views of sections of society that are politically or economically strategicwhat have been termed peak associations, as in Britain the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress. This more select group of organizations acts as channels for

exchanging views between their members and the government, rather than necessarily promoting a set view. There are two variants: society-led or state-led: Schmitter identified two variants society-led and state-led. The societal variant of corporatism, emerged out of pressure from below i.e. from society or economic actors. As a consequence the choice of which of these actors the state recognizes depends partly upon these pressures from below. State corporatism, was the state that took the lead in designating its preferred partners. It is still a common approach to governance in countries in continental Europe: Was popular in the 1960s and 1970s with Keynesian policies. In Nordic countries, Germany, and France all practice variants of organized or concerted capitalism, which still allows significant scope for negotiations between national partners as opposed to impersonal market forces in determining socio-economic policies. Infrapolitics and Subaltern Studies Infrapolitics is the subtle ways in which the powerless subvert or undermine the authority of the powerful. In other words Infrapolitics is the realm of informal leadership and nonelites, of conversation and oral discourse, and of surreptitious resistance. Examples of infrapolitics can be poaching, squatting on land, evasion and foot dragging. Political anthropology examines the connections between political attitudes and political behavior and their cultural contexts, especially at the grassroots. Subaltern studies emphasizes the multiplicity of ways in which the state is perceived by people because of the disparate ways in which they are treated by local officials. Subaltern studies also demand consideration for development strategies that are not borrowed from the West and are better adapted to local (non-Western) conditions. The Impact of the Media Traditionally the media has been seen as confronting or challenging the established authorities on behalf of ordinary people. Politicians and the media are by turns adversaries and accomplices: Critize the government as a way of drawing more views. Even BBC often give governments a hardtime in its reporting so as to appear impartial to its audiences, even though it is overwhelmingly paid for out of a state-determined license fee. In the West it is quite popular to have human interests accounts of politics even though politicians complain that this often leads to dumbing down the politics. That being said both governments and individual politicians need the media to help sell policies and to help to win election campaigns. Promoting Horizontal Communication In the USA during the early days of the Internet, the enormous cost of standing for office made it very difficult for outsiders to be elected. However Jesse Ventura, used the internet as a cheap way of getting his message across and won governor of Minnesota in 1998. However the established parties took note of the importance of the internet and have now

outflanked smaller parties via the web. In the Phillipines they used SMS text messaging as a way of organizing protest that way the government could not react quick enough to stop them. This lead to the overthrow of democratically elected yet corrupt, President Joseph Estrada in 2000. Everyone a Blogger, Everyone a Journalist Everyone can now voice their own opinion on politics. As well it limits the ability of governments to manipulate the media as people can often record and upload videos themselves. For example in China the regime has been forced to reconsider and apologize for initial official explanations of disasters or major accidents that local people thought were mistaken. Electronic Decision-making The two strategies which have been suggested that Electronic Decision-making could be uses have been based upon local government, and the other upon greater use of referendums.

Week 12: Prospects for Democracy

Chapter 6: Challenges to Dominant Ideologies The End of History? The so-called end of history thesis was developed most notably, by an American scholar Francis Fukyama to denote the triumph of liberal Idealism, he argued is dead because the ideals of liberalism have spread throughout the world and now remain unchanged This thesis was perceived in the context of the Cold War where the key ideological battle was between socialism, communism and liberalism. Contemporary ideologies challenge the meta-narrative character of traditional ideologies Traditional ideologies are regarded as too homogenous Postmodernism The modernist approach, influenced by Enlightenment, is essentially a belief in the omnipotence of reason; a confidence in the ability of reason to penetrate to the essential truth of things and to achieve progress; and a foundationalist ontology which argues that a real world exists independently of our knowledge of it Postmodernism represents a critique of particular ideologies rather than being an ideology in itself The postmodern attitude points out the necessary limitations in the project of trying to master the nature of realty A celebration of diversity and difference Feminism Starts from the assumption that women are oppressed in a variety of ways Political theory has failed to recognize this fact, or actively sought to justify it Feminism has further fragmented into a number of different categories, some of which are mentioned below Liberal feminism is often described as first wave feminism in the sense that it was characteristic of feminist thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Its position is that women ought to have the same liberal rights as men in the public sphere, where equality is demanded in the worlds of politics and work Women have legal and political rights in Western liberal democracies After ferocious campaigning by the suffrage movement, women in Britain were granted the vote in 1918 and on the same terms as men in 1928 Other liberal democracies have followed suit, in the workplace, legislative initiatives against sex discrimination, such as the British Equal Pay Act have helped to equalize male and female pay and working conditions Marriage Laws, are much more enlightened, women no longer being regarded as essentially the property of men Radical or second-wave feminism is a relatively recent development dating from the 1960s All interpretations share the position that the exploitation of women is more central and universal than liberal feminists think, and is not merely a product of inequality in the public realm Some radical feminists emphasize the sexual repression of women under patriarchy, that women have been effectively castrated by the patriarchal culture which depends that they be passive and submissive creatures Race, class, and Feminism A number of feminist criticisms have been made of this radical stand. One is that by politicizing all aspects of our lives, feminism has totalitarian tendencies where feminists are to held accountable for their sisters for every aspect of their behavior. The most important critique is that radical feminism has a tendency to ignore the oppression of women based on race and class Feminism has universalized the experiences of the white middle-class women Feminism starts from the assumption that women are unequal to men, subject to subordination, at best, and oppression at worst Feminism is best divided into liberal, socialist, and radical strands Liberal feminism seeks to achieve the same rights for women as possessed by men in the public sphere Significant progress has been made in the securing of liberal rights for women, although this should not be exaggerated Socialist feminists insist that more attention should be placed on working-class women whose plight is inextricably linked to the existence of the capitalist system Radical feminism seeks to focus attention of patriarchal relationships in the private sphere Feminist thought has undergone a great deal of fragmentation with differences evident over motherhood, pornography, political strategy, and the value of post-modernism Environmentalism Legislation designed to control pollution, for instance, dates back to the nineteenth century and there are no earlier examples of this The environment did not really exist until the 1970s, and it did not become a mainstream issue for another decade The Economic Realm One major distinction between reformist and radical accounts is their approach to economic growth Radical greens see economic growth as incompatible with environmental protection

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs Ecological modernization suggests a number of ways in which growth can be sustainable. The use of non-renewable resources such as coal and gas The production of environmental goods such as catalytic converters for cars or scrubs Environmental damage is not cost-free economically The Philosophical Realm Reformists adopt an anthropogenic-or human-centered-view of the world As a result, the value of non-human nature is extrinsic to us The rise of environmentalism has been the product of severe environmental problems Environmental thinkers can be divided into radical and reformist camps In economic terms, the radicals support a limit to growth while the reformists advocate a version of sustainable development In philosophic terms, the radicals hold an ecocentric ethic while the reformists hold an anthropocentic ethic In political terms, radicals advocate far-reaching change while the reformist position can coexist with a variety of ideological positions Multiculturalism Multiculturalism seeks to promote pluralistic states based on many different religions, cultural, and ethnic identities Multiculturalism was initially aligned with communitarianism but was later adopted by liberals The liberal advocacy of multiculturalism is problematic because of the need to sanction practices within minority cultures that are liberal Some liberals seek to reject multiculturalism on the grounds that it can be illiberal, others seek to qualify their support of others Religious Fundamentalism Religion become ideological if it becomes embroiled in politics Religious fundamentalism can be characterized by its intention or organizing politics along religious lines Not all Muslims are fundamentalists, and fundamentalism occurs in all religions Religious fundamentalists, of the Muslim and Christian varieties, are the anti-modernist in the sense of being morally conservative and, in the case of the former, anti-democratic too, but they are also modernist in the sense that they utilize modern communication media and campaigning strategies