Political Knowledge - AY 24-25 Midterm T2 PDF

POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE  There are many sources of statements about politics— family, friends, television, books, newspapers, teachers, politicians. When you hear or read any claim about politics, what do you do?  Ignore it. Accept that it is correct. Reject i...

POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE  There are many sources of statements about politics— family, friends, television, books, newspapers, teachers, politicians. When you hear or read any claim about politics, what do you do?  Ignore it. Accept that it is correct. Reject it. Try to assess it. If you decide to assess it, you would probably ask questions such as: Is it based on accurate information? Is it consistent with other things I know about politics? Does it influence any political actions I might take?  try to answer them, you are engaged in political analysis. At its core, political analysis is the attempt to describe (to answer the what questions) and then to explain politics (to answer the why and how questions). There is a need to enhance your ability to engage in political analysis—to answer the what, why, and how questions about politics SOURCES OF POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE  The method of authority involves the appeal to any document, tradition, or person believed to possess the controlling explanation regarding a 1. particular issue. Knowledge about politics can be AUTHORI based on three kinds of authority sources: TY (1) a specific authority; (2) a general authority; or (3) “everyone.”  A particular individual (but few others) might place great confidence in the knowledge he derives about politics from a a. specific authority source such as a parent, teacher, friend, or famous person. SPECIFIC Young people and those AUTHORIT minimally interested in politics Y are especially likely to rely on specific authorities for much of SOURCES their political knowledge.  - one that has substantial influence on a large proportion of people in a society. b. EXAMPLES: constitutions GENERAL revered leaders AUTHORIT widely respected media or Y books SOURCES religious teachings  Sometimes we are convinced that something is true because it is a belief strongly held by many other people. c. If almost everyone (i.e., the reference group to which you look for information and knowledge) seems to agree on EVERYON a “fact” about politics, there is E little reason for you to disagree with or challenge that fact.  One reason to place confidence in a belief that is strongly held by many people is the assumption that it is unlikely so many people could be incorrect. c. Such knowledge has stood the test of time because it could have been challenged and repudiated in the marketplace of ideas. EVERYON EXAMPLE: you will probably find E that almost everyone you know agrees that political terrorism is bad  PROBLEMS WITH AUTHORITY Specific authorities: You might think that your parent or best teacher or favorite celebrity has the correct view on an important political issue, but few of the other 7.2 billion people in the world have any confidence in this source of your political knowledge  PROBLEMS WITH AUTHORITY GENERAL AUTHORITIES: Sometimes even the most competent general authorities might not have access to crucial information or might rely on inaccurate data EXAMPLE: WHEN THEY LIST THE COUNTRIES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS Despite a group’s acceptance of a single authority, there are still ambiguities and problems of interpretation. EXAMPLE: THE ISSUE OF THE POLITICAL ROLE OF WOMEN. In interpreting gender equality, all branches of government in the United States continually debate and interpret the rather limited framework outlined in the Constitution.  Have you ever insisted that some fact is correct because it seemed so obvious to you? It is possible to feel confident 2. that you know something on the basis of personal thought—your own reason, feelings, or experiences. PERSONA - it assumes that the individual can use his own L rationality, intuition, or THOUGHT personal experience to assess a knowledge claim  RATIONALITY INTUITION The available information fits One’s knowledge is based on feeling, on a sense of together in a coherent framework understanding or empathy, that, it seems, would lead to rather than on reason. You have probably been convinced that agreement among all people who something is correct because it think clearly. feels right. Or it is assumed that the Examples: knowledge claim is verified key slogan of Barry Goldwater - “In your heart, you know he’s right!” because it is self-evident to Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign reasonable people and needs no incantation “Change we can further justification. believe in!”  PERSONAL EXPERIENCE You can also be convinced that something is true because of your personal experiences. Example: - you might be convinced that government bureaucracies are inefficient because a specific agency handled your inquiries so ineptly. - you might believe that different ethnic groups can live together in harmony based on your own positive experience in a multiethnic setting. Personal involvement in a dramatic event, such as witnessing a handgun murder or being physically harassed by the police, can have a particularly powerful impact on one’s political beliefs.  PROBLEMS WITH PERSONAL THOUGHT AS A SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE There is no method for resolving “thoughtful” differences of opinion among individuals. This is most obvious with personal experience: Because people have different personal experiences, they are unlikely to reach the same conclusions about what is true. There is no reason to assume that different people will share the same intuitive feelings regarding what is true. Rational thought will not necessarily enable people to agree on political facts. We do not all employ the same logic, and it is rare to find a knowledge claim that everyone agrees is obviously correct.  Science uses explicit methods that attempt to 3. enable different people to agree science is to SCIENCE describe and explain —to answer what, why, and how questions.  FOUR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: 3. 1. Science is empirical - concerned with phenomena that can be observed or at least measured SCIENCE 2. Science entails a search for regularities in the relationships among phenomena.  FOUR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: 3. Science is cumulative - tentatively accepts previously established knowledge on a subject as the foundation for development of further knowledge. One can challenge existing 3. knowledge, but it is not necessary to reestablish the knowledge base every time. 4. The method of science is testable. Its practitioners, scientists, specify the assumptions, data, analytic techniques, and inference patterns SCIENCE that support their knowledge claim. Other scientists look for some analysis or evidence that would invalidate (falsify) the claim. They evaluate all aspects of the claim and can repeat the analysis to ensure that the claim should be part of the accumulated knowledge.  The four characteristics give the scientific method some major advantages over the methods of authority and personal thought in determining whether we can agree on a knowledge claim. This is helpful because you are surrounded by competing claims regarding the political world.