...Gabriel Laurencin Jr Political Science Assignment VI April 17, 2015 The last three months of college have offered me opportunity to learn and understand the science that is involved in politics. Politics can be simplified into smaller components and an easier understanding by studying how it works and the systems of which they operate. This is what we call a social science. According to Britannica Encyclopedia Political science is a social science discipline that deals with systems of government and the analysis of political activity and political behavior. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics which is commonly thought of as the determining of the distribution of power and resources. When I started the political science class my views on politics were negative. Negative in the sense that I wanted little to do with politics. My view of politics was a form of corruption were citizens were robbed. My recent studies of the political science have changed my views, interest, and expectations of politics. Growing up in the Virgin Islands my generation has heard and seen very little positive talks about politics. My definition of politics before my political science class was fairly simple. I thought politics were a group or an entity of elected officials that controlled government money. I learned that I was not one 100% right but there was way more to that one simple word. The very first thing that political science made me understand is the importance...
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...Student’s Name: Professor’s Name Course: Date: Political issue The political issue that is being currently debated in the United States is the issue of the Syrian refugees crossing the American border. The issue of the refugees crossing into the United States has occurred as a result of the civil war that is currently taking place in Syrian. Many of the refugees are fleeing from the ongoing war with the majority of those crossing being women, children, the elderly as well as those who have been injured. The debate is being carried out by the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans are arguing that the refugees should not be allowed to enter the American border. The reasons for championing for the restriction is that, one, those who are crossing the borders are terrorists and that they could endanger the security of the Americans (Akram et al. 287). They further argue that those wounded are the ISIS, a terrorist group that is fighting in Syria and are trying to run away from the war. Additionally, they are blaming the recent attacks in France on the terrorists who had gained access through the same borders posing as refugees who are fleeing from war. On the other hand, the Democrats have their side of the story concerning the same issue. Democrats are arguing that these refugees should not be prohibited from crossing the borders as they are seeking refuge from the war-torn country...
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...What does politics mean to me? At the beginning of this course I stated that defining politics as just a body of government is such a difficult task to do, because it is so much more than that. Before taking this course I despised anything that dealt with politics. I thought politics was a boring and an irrelevant topic, that is in my world of course. When I started to engage in the Discussion Board questions, it exercised my mind to view politics from a different perspective. At first I felt as though politics was something someone invented to be able to control people in society and that it was a way to control who becomes rich and who becomes poor, but now I have realize that there is more to politics than I thought. According to Merriam-Webster (2015), politics is defined as, activities that relate to influencing the actions and policies of a government or getting and keeping power in a government. Personally, I feel as though politics on a whole may seem as though it is the best way for society to live by, but honestly more than half of the people associated in politics are not there to help nor do they care or try to understand the struggle people go through, as I stated at the beginning of the semester. They only care about themselves and their pockets. As students, I believe we can and should reinforce the origins of politics. It sounds a tad easy than it actually is, but I strongly believe that if given the chance not only could society put a stop to the dirty game...
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...little ignorant when it came to knowledge about the government or political issues, but have always wished that I knew more, especially with the economic problems we are facing today. I never really did form many political opinions, one way or the other. I vote every election, but never really understand the bigger picture at hand. Such as, all the issues that a candidate stands for or the impact of proposals on the government. When people around me have conversations about American politics, I am embarrassed that I either do not understand what they are saying, or cannot add to the conversation because I don’t know what to say. I guess you could say that I have always been a little cynical when it came to politics. Part of this reason is because I have always felt that the political game played in American politics was just a bunch of people talking baloney, making empty promises, trash talking their opponents, and trying to persuade people to think their way. And whoever does this the best wins, end of story. I’ve always known that there was more to American politics that this, but never really tried to find out more. So, when I signed up for this class, I wanted to shed my ignorance and learn more about my government and how it operated. I am proud to say that my knowledge of our government has been expanded to the point where I am fully capable of understanding the full context of our government its political system and understand why our government operates the way it does...
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...POLITICAL SCIENCE One of the 3 core subjects offered in a triple main combination to BA- (EPS & HEP) The discipline aims at imparting knowledge of indispensable institutions, concepts and ideals. The study of the subject enables an individual to learn the art of government and administration. The courses in the first two semester focus on basic concepts of political science and major political ideologies. The next two, third and fourth, puts emphasis exclusively on the Indian political system. The fifth and sixth semesters courses deal with public administration and International relations. Course objectives 1. Imparting value based education. 2. Preparing responsible and politically conscious citizens. 3. Building good leadership qualities and responsible future leaders. 4. Understanding the art of government and administration. 5. Motivating students to take competitive examinations. 6. Creating civic sense COURSE STRUCTURE I Semester Course Code POL 131 II Semester Course Code POL 231 III Semester Course Code POL 331 IV Semester Course Code POL 431 V Semester Course Code POL 531 POL 532 VI Semester Course Code POL 631 POL 632 Title Core Concepts of Political Science. Title Major Political Ideologies Title Indian Government and Politics- I Title Indian Government and Politics- II Title International Relations- I Principles of Public Administration Title International Relations- II Personnel and Financial Administration Hrs/ wk 5 Hrs/ wk 5 Hrs/ wk 5 Hrs/ wk 5 Hrs/ wk 4 4 Marks...
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...University of Lagos, Akoka. Department: Bachelor of Science [Economics] Matric No: 131008002 Course: Political Science [POL 101] 1. What do you understand by Politics? The term ‘Politics’ is broad. Politics is concerned with the affairs of the society involving the citizens and the government of a State. It is the interaction of people in the society with a view of forming an opinion in order to influence others. It is concerned with the affairs of the people in the society and how they seek for powers and influence. Politics can be traced to all endeavors; in all spheres of life such as families, companies, schools, organizations, even church, etc. It is everything that makes life. In fact, Politics is L.I.F.E [Living, Interacting, Fellowshipping and Expression of views], all geared towards the acquisition of power or the position of authority or position of high status so as to utilize same to influence people. In a nutshell, Politics is seeking to acquire powers and position of authority with the purpose of commanding obedience and influencing others, and it is the people’s interaction with one another with the view of affecting others opinions. 2. Do you agree that there is science of politics? Yes! I agree! Although, political science is not an exact science as physics or chemistry which are pure or natural sciences but it is a social science as Economics and Sociology. Why I agree that there is science of politics is because politics deals with man...
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...casual questions in the realm of politics and government is what political science and this book are all about. 4. Knowing the fundamentals of your political system and good thinking is important because it allows you to keep your leaders, and family and friends accountable. 5. Single cause explanations flow from a particular or partisan posture or in the need to explain something in a sound bite 6. Correlation- a relationship between factors such that change in one is accompanied by change in one is accompanied by change in the other Causation- a relationship between variables such that change in the value of the others Spurious relationship- a relationship between variables that reflects correlation but not causation 7. Government- intuitions that have the authority and capacity to create and enforce public policies (rules) for a specific territory and people. There are about 89,000 governments 8. Government is different from other institutions in society in that it has a broad right to force, government can make citizens do things they otherwise might not do (such as pay taxes, educate their children, carry car insurance, and pay for lost library books) 9. Social contract- an agreement among members of a society to form and recognize the authority of a centralized government that is empowered to make and enforce laws governing the members of that society Authoritarian system- a political...
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...Essay on the Scope of Political Science by Suhana Dhawan There is no general agreement on the nature and scope of Political Science, “the master science” as Aristotle described it, since there is no generally accepted definition of the discipline, and its organising concept the State. The definitions of both Political Science and the State, the latter in particular, reveal the bias of the thinkers, for example, the metaphysical (Hegel), the juridical (Austin), the sociological (Maclver), the descriptive (Garner) and many others with their own distinctive labels. In fact, there are as many definitions as there are writers on the subject and all these definitions give to the entity — the State — different meanings and conflicting roles. This tendency continues even now though in a slightly different form. “The recent definitions of politics (as a study),” writes Frank Thakurdas, “are not so much cast in the discipline of the thinker (easily detectable) but in the conceptual framework that he has worked out in advance (as it were) the basic presupposition of his personal manner of interpreting the complete phenomenon of politics. But also including the ‘purpose’ that the studies involve in terms of the practical ends they sub serve.” Some writers restrict the scope of Political Science to the study of the State alone, for example, Bluntschli. All such writers exclude the study of government from the scope of Political Science, for the State for them obviously includes the study...
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...Political science Students Name University Affiliation Political cultures definition can be a country’s psychology. Political culture is the set of beliefs attitudes and sentiments responsible for giving order to a process that is political. Studies of political culture attempt to uncover underlying long held values and characteristics of societal groups rather than their attitudes that are short-lived towards issue of public surveys on the latter’s opinions. Political culture is thus a manifestation in aggregate form of the subjective and psychological forms of politics. Political culture attempts to make more explicit and systematic understanding of long-standing concepts that are in association with ideologies, political psychology of the nation and the people's fundamental values. There are no means that freedom and equality can stop disagreeing. Freedom is when one has the right to do something without asking for permission whereas equality is getting treatment that is similar to everyone else and equality differ in that freedom and using them in infringing equality and equality can help in undermining freedom. A good example is a situation where one can use their freedom to insult people from other races. Insulting of others goes against the fact that they are all equal. An example of equality is a situation where traffic is cleared in order for a political leader to be the priority. Freedom and equality can never lack conflict this is...
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...Political science midterm notes Machiavelli “He instructed the prince to think about politics in new ways and to reject notions of morality and ethics that blind leaders to the truth about effective leadership” (Dooley and Patten 57). “In his view, it is no more sinful for people to seek power and pursue self-interest than it is sinful for the earth to orbit the sun. The new empirical prince must understand that people will only follow if they perceive it to be in their best interest to do so” (D& P 58). “Machiavelli contended it is better to be feared because the prince is better able to control those who fear him than those who love him, as “men love at their own free will, but fear at the will of the prince . . . a wise prince must rely on what is in his power and not on what is in the powers of others”. Fear, for Machiavelli, is a strong and long-lasting emotion, whereas the love emotion is occasionally fickle—here today and at times gone tomorrow” (D & P 60). “Machiavelli directs the prince to only ‘take the life’ of someone when there is ‘proper justification and manifest reason for it,’ and when using violence to do so swiftly and brutally because people ‘will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones.’” (D & P 61). “A wise prince should furthermore impose all necessary pain early in his tenure and in one fell swoop, rather than spread small doses of pain over a long period of time” (61) “…inflicting necessary injury on...
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...World History II Nationalism & Imperialism of the 19th century Nationalism is a positive feeling of belonging to a particular nation, often including a desire to serve the nation, based on such elements as birth and ancestry, later choice and naturalization, acceptance of a common future, and or material and cultural benefits of membership in the nation. In order to better understanding what nationalism is, one must learn the meaning of nationalism. Nationalism is the devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation. Nationalism is a striving force that can help a country thrive. To be a bit more specific, nationalism promises to unite and empower the masses of a nation to work together for a common good. As a positive force, it views other nations as potential allies or as friendly competitors. As a negative force, it threatens to force the masses to serve the state and to turn one nation against another in destructive warfare. Nationalism was a debatable issue in 19th century. had developed differently in Western Europe and Eastern, Central Europe. Western Europe was identified with Civic Nationalism, and nationalism was also seen as an imperialist and economic movement. The first goal of nationalism was to create a modern, independent nation where none existed. Independent movements within the Ottoman Empire fought in battle to free their regions from imperial dictatorship. The American colonies fought to create a new nation, independent from England...
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...A. Define Political Ideology and explain what is meant by the Political Spectrum. Political Ideology is an integrated system of ideas or beliefs about political values in general and the role of government in particular. The Political Spectrum classifies different political positions. B. How did the Quiz results classify you? Your PERSONAL issues Score is 50%. Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 90%. I am classified as Conservative. The dot showed me between being a Libertarian and right conservative. C. Based on the Quiz classification and the political ideologies explored in Chapter 1 of your text, do you feel that the Quiz was accurate? No, I do not feel I am on the cusp of being a Libertarian according to the description of beliefs within that group. Libertarianism does not align with my personal religious beliefs. D. Are you surprised by the findings of the Quiz? I’m somewhat surprised. However, I have always voted Conservative because the candidate in that position had similar beliefs as mine, and represented those beliefs with integrity. E. Do you feel that a Quiz has the ability to adequately describe one's ideology? I feel that there are too many variables in political beliefs that are gray areas and are subjective. Learning to discern a person’s stance on each and every political issue in the world today would take many things. These include a good bit of research in defining all positions surrounding each issue, the effects each would have, and how they align with...
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...which decisions are made that resolve conflicts or allocate benefits and privileges Collective Action Prisoner’s Dilemma Free Riding Tragedy of the Commons Transaction Costs Conformity Costs Direct Democracy Indirect/Representative Democracy John Locke Fascism Politics: who gets what when and how Totalitarianism: A form of government that controls all aspects of the political and social life of a nation. Authoritarianism: A type of regime in which only the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler. Social and economic institutions exist that are not under the government's control. Republic: A form of government in which sovereign power rests with the people, rather than with a king or a monarch. Popular Sovereignty: The concept that ultimate political authority is based on the will of the people. Consent of the Governed Communism Conservatism Liberalism Important Concepts – you should be able to identify and explain the ideas and traits associated with the following. What are the defining characteristics of democracy in America? What is the fundamental purpose of government? Why is it fundamental? Why must government have both right and power? As a society...
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...POLITICAL SCIENCE: DEFINITION AND SCOPEIntroduction: It can be argued that the discovery of the laws of evolution has, theselast two centuries, revolutionised the study of Man. Evolution has givena sort of scientific sanction to the idea of human progress of whichmodernity aims at being the concrete expression. Progress, in thispeculiar sense, not only means the advancement of scientific learningbut also the improvement of human society. The growingconsciousness of Man from little more than an ape to a fully thinkinganimal has led to a higher level of organisation and stability within hiscommunities, which were to become later on villages and cities. Overtime, with the development and expansion of human activities, theorganisation of these local units became more defined, and norms andlaws were developed to control them. Again, all along History, we findmany systems devised by various civilisations and peoples for thepurpose of ruling and governing, we observe the influence of personalor collective interests on the policies of governments and the outcomeof conflicts, and we hear of and sometimes witness the contribution of individuals either to the prosperity or ruin of a particular state orcountry. Such evolutions and variations, past and present, in the ideasand practices behind the organisation and administration of humansocieties are the proper subjects of Political Science. Definition and Scope of Political Science. 1. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, political...
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...“Political science is important because politics is important.” Political science as so called is a particular, practical human science that deals with the study of social relationships involving power or man in society in the context of a state. Politics usually describes the processes by which people and institutions exercise and resist power. Political processes are used to formulate policies, influence individuals and institutions, and organize societies. Man is a social being, a rational creature, without man there is no politics. He has spiritual faculties of intellect and will, and characteristics of spirituality, freedom, individuality, equality and sociability. These characteristics brought man his dignity; therefore, he needs to be respected. In order for him to be respected he must have rights but man must also have a duty to the rights of others. Having other men implies a society. Power is the condition of controlling objects. In politics these objects are men and are equal to the one who is exerting power or the one who is authorized to. Authority demands the right to rule with a corresponding obedience; thus, implies a state. Furthermore it implies a government as an agent of power and exercise political law or sovereignty. Science in its simplest sense means the orderly and systematic study of things through their causes by using a methodology. Man, identified as the most intelligent mammal, with him alone there is no society. Society brings up a government...
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