POS211 PDF: Sovereignty, Authority, and Power

SOVEREIGNTY, AUTHORITY, AND POWER Individualism What exactly is a state? Max Weber — State as the organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory....

SOVEREIGNTY, AUTHORITY, AND POWER Individualism What exactly is a state? Max Weber — State as the organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory. liberalism The state defines who can and cannot use weapons and force, and it sets the rules as to how violence is used. States often sponsor armies, navies, and/ or air forces that legitimately use power and sometimes violence, but individual citizens are very restricted in their use of force. States also include institutions: stable, long-lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policy. States, Nations, and Regimes MAX WEBER The concept of state is closely related to a nation, a group of people bound together by a common political identity. - German Nationalism is the sense of belonging and identity that philasopher distinguishes one nation from another. Nationalism is often translated as patriotism, or the resulting pride. - fan of karl Marx - Eurocentric TOPICS IN COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT: - sustainable SOVEREIGNTY AND INSTITUTIONS development Sovereignty - the ability of a state to carry out actions or - past moderist policies within its borders independently Institutions - stable, long-lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policy. WHAT IS POLITICS? — When the American president and Congress start their annual tussle over the federal budget, they are clearly engaged in politics. — When terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, their acts were patently political. SITUATIONS — A family discussing where to take its vacation. — A country deciding whether to go to war. — The world seeking to limit the damage caused by pollution — We live in groups that must reach collective decisions about sharing resources, about relating to other groups and about planning for the future. — As social creatures, politics is part of our fate: we have no choice but to practice it. — It is well known that Aristotle, in his time, compared and contrasted various political systems and developed an explanatory theory regarding their generation. — In a way, Aristotle was certainly the first scholar of comparative politics and considered the study of comparative politics as the oldest and most significant to attract the attention of mankind. NEED FOR THE STUDY OF COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENTS — A comparative study of governments not only streamlines the progress of objective and rational judgement about political systems, but at the same time disperses the dangerously ambiguous form of ethnocentrism, that one's own country is superior to any other.  Politics is what we are for. — Aristotle — So one aim of politics is compromise: to reach an agreement acceptable to all even if the first choice of none. — Crick (2000, p. 21) defines politics as the activity by which differing interests within a given unit of rule are conciliated by giving them a share in power in proportion to their importance to the weltare and the survival of their community. Individualism Political Culture and Political Ideologies — a social, political, and philosophical Political culture refers to the collection of political beliefs, values, concept that practices, and institutions that the government is based on. emphasizes the importance of individual rights, For example, if a society values individualism, the government will autonomy, and generally reflect this value in the way that it is structured and in the way personal freedom. that it operates. If the government does not reflect basic political values of a people, it will have difficulty remaining viable. may be analyzed in terms of social capital--amount of reciprocity and trust that exists among citizens, and between citizens and the state. Societies with low amounts of social capital may be more inclined toward authoritarian and anti-individual governments, and societies with more social capital may be inclined toward democracy.  Types of Political Culture 1. Consensual political culture Although citizens may disagree on some political processes Ex. and policies, they tend generally to agree on how decisions (Consensual) are made, what issues should be addressed, and how problems should be solved. - Election By and large, a consensual political culture accepts (Conflictual) both the legitimacy of the regime and solutions to - "Unity' major problems. 2. Conflictual political culture Citizens in a conflictual political culture are sharply divided, often on both the legitimacy of the regime and its solutions to major problems. For example, if citizens disagree on something as basic as capitalism vs. communism, conflict almost certainly will be dif ficult to avoid. No matter how we categorize political cultures, they are - Our constantly changing, so that over time, conflictual political society cultures may become consensual, and vice versa. is dynamic and not So when the Russian president dictates a major change of policy, the Chinese government enforces economic development of rural static lands, the British prime minister endures another round of so it derision, or Mexican citizens take a liking to a leftist leader, you constantly may be sure that political culture is a force behind the stories in changing. the news. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES SOCIAL Political culture also shapes political ideologies that a nation's citizens hold. CEMENT - Social Political ideologies are sets of political values held by individuals regarding the basic goals of government and Cohesion politics. An ideology refers to a set of ideas that "structure political understanding and so set goal and inspire activism, shape the nature of political systems, and act as a form of social cement" (Heywood, 2017).  LIBERALISM LIBERALISM Liberalism places emphasis on individual political and - building economic freedom. block of democracy. Liberalism is part of the political culture of many modern democracies including the United States. Liberals seek to maximize freedom for all people, including free speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of association. Liberals also believe that citizens have the right to disagree with state decisions and act to change the decisions of their leaders. COMMUNISM Communism rejects the idea that personal freedom will ensure prosperity for the majority. It holds that an inevitable result of the competition for scarce resources is that a small group will eventually come to control both the government and the economy. For communists, liberal democracies are created by the rich to protect the rights and property of the rich. To eliminate the inequalities and exploitation, communists advocate the take over of all resources by the state that in turn insures that true economic equality exists for the community as a whole. As a result, private ownership of property is abolished. Individual liberties must give way to the needs of society as a whole, creating what communists believe to be a true democracy. SOCIALISM Shares the value of equality with communism but is also influenced by the liberal value of freedom. Unlike communists, socialists accept and promote private ownership and free market principles. Socialists believe that the state has a strong role to play in regulating. The economy or even owning key industries within it, and providing benefits to the public in order to ensure some measure of equality. Liberalism Socialism Communism Improve overthrows maximizes capitalism capitalism capitalism follows free Uses mixed imposes state market economy economy collectivization  Liberalism Socialism Communism surrenders private allows private property that surrenders all property generates wealth to the private property government maintains eliminates or eases eliminates class divisions class divisions class divisions Liberalism Socialism Communism regards the state as a uses the state as sees the state as a representation of the an instrument to neutral arbiter common good ease class conflict views human regards humans regards humans as nature as intrinsic as social social creatures creatures to the individual