Term
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Definition
- process by which individuals and groups act to promote their interests, often in conflict with others, intimately connected to power (extent to which available resources both constrain and enable people's actions)
- Power: capacity to act in desired way
- Politics: process of mobilizing these capacities |
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Term
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Definition
| - power considered legitimate by those subject to it |
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Term
| Types of authority: Traditional |
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Definition
- people obey because that is the way things have always been done
- more secure when grounded in the belief that it is derived from a revered spiritual source |
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Term
| Types of Authority - Charismatic |
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Definition
- belief in the exceptional qualities of a person -> someone of exemplary or heroic character who reveals how life will unfold, perhaps involving new social values
- rooted in religious faith |
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Term
| Types of Authority - Rational-legal |
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Definition
| - based on formally established rules, procedures, and expertise in which an individual's acknowledged right to command is limited to his/her formal position |
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Term
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Definition
- type of organization with:
> division of labour
> hierachy of positions
> Separation of persons from office
> formal system of rules
> hiring/promotion based on technical merit
> protection of careers |
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Term
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Definition
- established rules and procedures for conduct of political affairs including the government of a society
> constitute a network of powerful relationships
> special interest groups, social movements, and political parties connect public to state |
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Term
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Definition
- Weber's defintion: "human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory"
> However, you can't always assume legitimacy, therefore a state is a set of procedures/organizations concerned with creating, administering, and enforcing rules/decisions for conduct within a given territory |
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Term
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Definition
| - ruled by a single individual who claims legitimacy based on royal lineage (eg. Canada) |
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Term
| Modern State Institutions: Authoritarian States |
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Definition
- public opposition is forbidden and the population as a whole is under great pressure to accept and comply with the expectations of political leaders
- authoritarian leaders insist on compliance in all public life and depend on control of military force to maintain their positions if challenged |
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Term
| Modern State Institutions: Totalitarian States |
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Definition
- totalitarianism is more extreme than authoritarianism because it involves intervening in and controlling all aspects of both public and private life
- demands cultural homogeneity in every important respect |
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Term
| Modern State Institutions: Liberal Democratic States |
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Definition
- Democracy - means ruled by the people
- Direct democracy - all citizens discuss and vote on all issues of importance to them, can function effectively only in small settings
- Liberal Democratic states: characterized by institutions that allow representation of the views of ordinary citizens through political parties that compete for power to govern
>constitutional monarchies (eg. Canada) - in which the head of state is a hereditary position
> Republics - in which the head of state is elected |
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Term
| Perspectives on Democratic State: The Ruling Elite |
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Definition
- small cliques that effectively dominated political decisions on all matters that were central to the interest of its members
- C. Wright Mills: corporate elite was the most powerful of the power elite |
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Term
| Perspectives on Democratic State: Pluralism and Elite Competition |
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Definition
- forum in which any person or group had fair chance of being represented
- recognizes that all modern states have intermediate organizations between government and the people
- interest groups attempt to influence parties but rarely offer their own candidates for election because their objectives are limited to particular issues |
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Term
| Political Economy Perspectives: Neo-Marxism |
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Definition
- state is structured or even programmed so that it acts in long term interest of capitalist as a class
- key role of state is to attain cohesion by "individualizing" workers: contributing to their sense of identity as individuals and as part of nation rather than as memebers of a class |
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Term
| Political Economy Perspectives: Partially Autonomous State |
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Definition
| - Challenges Marxism by claiming that continuation of capitalism isn't necessary, other forms of state or institutional action might meet the needs of capitalism, and much state action is opposed by those for whom it's thought to be essential |
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Term
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Definition
- state as a contributor to the subordination of women and as an institution permeated by gender inequality
- indirect subordination by staying out of areas like family life, which is left to control of men, and legislation that privledges employed, married men
- Welfar programs maintain male dominance since rules of eligibility favour male breadwinners
- men occupy higher-level state positions, inadequate representation of women since they lack presence in decision-making process
- Socialization process must change before these political forms of discrimination will disappear |
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