Politics & Government
This concerns human interactions that involve both power and conflict.
Politics
A governing structure where an open society enjoys freedom of expression and a system for choosing leaders in a multiparty polity.
What is democracy?
Study of political behavior outside of or across domestic political borders
International Politics
Human nature is self-interested and power-hungry, and states are an extension of this human nature. The state operates in a world of anarchy, or the absence of a global government (self-help system). States seek alliances with the powerful, offering what they can in terms of resources
Realism
This is about who wins and who loses.
Power
The branch of political science that focuses on governmental and political institutions and behaviors outside the US.
Comparative Politics
a democratic form of government where the executive branch derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature
Parliamentary system
democratic states rarely, if ever, will go to war against one another.
Democratic Peace Theory
The idea that humans are moral beings, are not violent or selfish by nature, and that public institutions moderate individual behavior.
Idealism/Liberalism
The absence of a global government
International anarchy
Comparative Politics, International Relations, American Politics, Political Theory, and Public Administration
What are the major fields of political science?
In theory, this is the most totalitarian political system, in that the government monopolizes all aspects of society: the armed forces, the press, cultural activities (including religion), and the economy, in addition to the government itself.
Communism
Peace/conflict, international security, global organizations, international law, foreign policy analysis, etc. are examples of these.
Subfields of international politics
States organize and agree to the rules of international engagement
Collective Security
Military, economic, and political are examples of these
Levels of Power
The U.S. uses this type of democratic system with a separation of power between the executive and legislative branches.
Presidential system
this political system relies on the principle of one strong dictator to unify a country under nationalist slogans
authoritarianism
A theory or situation marked by strong connections among nations and states that make these actors mutually vulnerable and sensitive
Complex Interdependence
A group of people who identify with others on the basis of a shared (and often imagined) history, common language, a religious community, and a historic territory.
Nation
Political decisions, military force, and alliances are ways this is exercised.
How is power exercised
This term refers to alliance formation.
Realpolitik
a king or queen from a royal family acts as the head of state, but the real political power rests with a democratically elected legislative branch
Constitutional monarchy
States operate in an anarchical system, power is unevenly distributed, which creates systems like multipolar, bipolar, or unipolar orders
The structure of the international system
They are very strong and powerful, have dominant influence and authority over others (ex. the US today, France or UK a century ago)
Hegemons
The principle that each state has authority over its own territory and should not be interfered with by other states
State Sovereignty