http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmericanSeries

http://allafrica.com/stories/200912150998.html

Africa in current state

http://www.allafrica.com

Communities and Societies

What is the distinction between a community and a society? 

Community

a.        Group of human beings who know each other

--Implies personal knowledge of one another

--Family or group of families—neighborhood, village, college, etc, for example

--Literally have a personal relationship with them; it may not be a deep relationship; it is about knowledge—prefaced on emotional response

--communities are based on emotion

--sense of responsibility in a community/not governed as societies are

--Example of community:  high school

----power relations exists

-----Examples:  elite (wealthy, cheerleaders, jocks) vs poor (nerds, geeks, dweebs)

----informal politics – personal

Society

a.        Group of people that work together

--Relationships primarily defined by pragmatic concerns, norms, structures, institutions

--capable of being much larger (i.e. billions)

--more impersonal

--Example:  United States is a society with

--Example:  United States of America is a society with 330 million people

--impersonal

--a society is impersonal; based on ethics (structural or institutional); governed

--dominated by formal or institutionalized politics; impersonal

Political Science, Political Thought and Political Philosophy

What is political science and how does it differ from political thought and political philosophy?

a.  Political thought:

--any kind of informed political conversation; conversing with one or more people with anything involving politics

--the discussion of politics when you know what you’re talking about

--what we see on good news programs:  2 or 3 people reading a newspaper and they’re discussing what is going on

--informal; no systematic way of approaching it

--example:  have a discussion at lunch over what is happening in the Middle East or in Washington; since you have read about the events you can discuss it with them

--no fancy terminology                                        

b.  Political philosophy

--the attempt to figure out what is right political action

--what is the moral purpose of human action

--what are the moral means by which a human being can undertake action

----What is the best way for politicians to act politically; how “should” people act

--example:  social contract theory:  sit down and figure out, based on his or her perceptions, why states exist or where do rights come from

--Another example may deal with how a monarchy should rule

--If one lived in the late eighteenth century, and know the past history with monarchs in power, they may come up with an idea on how they should rule while discussing the Constitution – example

--more systematic than political philosophy

c.  Political Science

--along with political philosophy…

----systematic, formal language used, approach problems in a formal way; informed and have very specific type of problems they deal with. 

--How does political science differ from political thought and philosophy? 

----less concerned about what people should do (political philosophy deals with this), more concerned with what people actually do; observes the human animal; interested in human beings’ interactions involving power

----what people do; it’s about observing people in their interactions with politics; means how they vote or respond to when bills or legislature is passed for example; as the vote or response to when bills or legislature is passed, they are displaying power or influence over whether someone is elected locally or nationally, or if a bill becomes national law. 

--What does it mean to interact with politics:  Politics includes war, taxation, electoral process…anything involving power (This is what political scientist are involved in – people’s interactions with politics)

--Why?  2 things

a.    Political scientists want to explain why human beings do what they do

b.  They would like to predict when humans are going to do certain things

Political science is like meteorology:  trying to explain something complicated; predict what will happen (80% chance or 80% of the time); Keep good enough an explanation that we can say 80% of the time predict what people will do.

Example:  voter behavior

Tools of Politics

What tools does politics involve?  Compromise, cooperation, bargaining, discussion, debate, even bribery and deceit

--Example of bribery and deceit:  Watergate

--Success at politics requires bargaining and compromise

----simple issues plus trust in participants equals success

----Examples:  bargaining regarding prolonged exchange of proposals and counterproposals between teenagers and parents—may be all that’s needed to reach a collective decision

--Successful bargaining generally ends in compromise or a settlement in which each side concedes some preferences to secure others

Preferences—regarded as ‘givens’—individuals and groups know what they want—must be reconciled if they are to agree to some common cause of action

---may reflect individual’s economic situation, religious values, ethnic identity, or some other valued interest 

----example:  we commonly associate preferences with some perception of self-interest 

----we commonly associate preferences with some perception of self-interest, but they need not be so restrictive. 

----Millions of Americans oppose capital punishment, but surely very few of those who do expect to benefit from such a ban  (Think about the most heinous crimes requiring capital punishment and if they weren’t carried out) 

Reconciling preferences

--a fundamental problem of governance

--example:  Constitution

----James Madison, who played a role in drafting the document explains that the new government must be devised to represent and reconcile society’s many, diverse preferences “sown in the nature of man”:

“A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points…have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.  So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts”  excerpt from Federalist No. 10. 

Meaning:  Madison took into account the human nature of all—there are many preferences and the government must be made to represent and reconcile those diverse preferences. 

What is politics?

1.       What are ‘Politics

--Anything that involve political power; the power of causing people to behave in a way that conforms to one’s will

 --It is our capacity to be political—to cooperate, bargain, and compromise

--It allows us to reach more exalted heights than we could ever achieve alone

----Examples:  dedication of a new public library, dismantling of the Berlin Wall, establishment of democratic elections in Iraq

Famous definition from Harold Lasswell for politics:  “who gets what when and how”

--Who gets power and resources in society and how to get them 

What is power?  The ability to get other people to do what you want them to do. 

--Resources in question?  Governmental jobs, tax revenues, laws that help you get your way, or public policies that work to your advantage

Politics is the process through which we try to arrange our collective lives in some kind of social order so that we can live without crashing into one another at every turn, and to provide ourselves with goods and services we could not obtain alone. 

It is also about getting your own way.  It may be a noble goal for society or pure self-interest, but the struggle you engage in is a political one 

Politics is about power and scarce resources.  There will always be winners and losers in politics 

For everyone to get his or her own way, there would be no politics.

To get your way all the time—no politics

           --no resolution or compromise between conflicting interests
            --no agreements struck, bargains made, or alliances formed
            --Example:  the desire to change an AP class into an honors class
            -----there has to be bargaining and compromise with those who want the class to stay AP. 
            --Example 2:  needing to get something during class and rules are to take care of business before class
             ----could bargain and compromise something:  i.e. let the person go during class; give them a certain number of chances to do this until he or she runs out of opportunities (ie during a 9 week period) 

 Without bargaining or compromise – what would happen? 

             --life would be constant conflict as Thomas Hobbes said – “war of all against all” 
             ----Individuals unable to cooperate with one another (because cooperation is essentially political), would have no option but to resort to brute force to settle disputes. 

 That is why we have politics