INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE Focus Questions: Unit 1 The concept of “political science”: What do we mean by the term “politics”? What are the main sources of what we know about politics? What does research have to do to be considered “scientific”? What advantages come from studying politics “scientifically”? Some other basic concepts: What is the difference between a “state” and a “nation” or a regime? What is the difference between “power,” “authority,” and “legitimacy”? Writing analytically about politics: What is a thesis statement, and what purpose does it serve in an analytical essay? What is a topic sentence, what two things should an effective topic sentence do, and why are good topic sentences so important? Why do social scientists put page-specific citations in their written research? Is the distrust of politics in the US something new and/or a serious problem (be able to contrast the views of Robert Putnam, the Economist’s “Politics as Warfare,” Martin Luther King, and Federalist 10)? Based on your course materials, what evidence is there to suggest that profound moral outrage in politics may be useful in some instances? What are the best known political “utopias”? At a minimum, you want to be familiar with Plato’s Republic and its noble lies and “philosopher kings,” Karl Marx’s thoughts on how the world would operate if we eliminated private property, and “the state of nature” as described by Thomas Hobbes in his explanation for why people form governments in the first place. What are “political ideologies,” and why do they matter? What are the core assumptions about the way the world works according to classical liberalism? What are the basic assumptions of the main ideological competitors to liberalism (nationalism, communism, socialism, and theocracies)? In what sense are almost all Americans classic liberals (and how does our country’s dominant ideological tradition differ from that of most European democracies)? What are the main differences between American liberals and conservatives? How are these two ideologies distinct from other major belief systems deeply rooted in US political culture (populism and libertarianism)? To what extent are today’s Democratic and Republican parties ideologically pure? Where did the modern international system of “states” come from? Where did the idea that states should be “sovereign” come from, and what are the costs and benefits involved with making state sovereignty a cornerstone of international law and global politics? What are the most important international economic and security organizations, and when/why were they created? What does the UN and its Security Council do, how are these institutions organized, and what are their limitations? Do international organizations and international law make strong states like America less powerful than used to be the case? How has “globalization” impacted the centrality of states in the organization of the world’s politics? Has globalization harmed the ability of national governments to organize their politics, taxes,

labor policies, and social services as they see fit? Should the United States be afraid of globalization and its pressures on our domestic policies and economy? What is the “third world,” and why should people in developed countries like the US care about it? Is there any evidence to suggest (see the Economist handout from class), that the developing world may overcome historical patterns of underdevelopment any time soon? What factors best explain the persistence of underdevelopment in much of the world (Chp. 9): culture/psychology, poor governance, or the structure of the international political economy? In the realm of international politics (Chp. 18), what assumptions do “realists” make about how states will act regardless of their type of government? Why are “good” countries—those that care about their people—often immoral in their dealings with other countries? When is wide-spread war least likely: when one country dominates global politics, when two states do (bi-polarism), or when numerous states maintain a “balance of power”? What system do we have now? To what extent is today's international system (the balance of power and the structure of economic, political, and military relations between states in the world today) "Eurocentric"? To what extent has it become US dominated in the last two decades? What obligations do different types of counties have under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (the NPT)? Why do countries like Iran still seek weapons of mass destruction, and is there any way to dissuade them from doing so? Why don’t countries that have nuclear weapons already give them up? What important qualities distinguish authoritarian regimes from totalitarian dictatorships? Why are totalitarian regimes typically less stable than democracies or authoritarian governments? Why are totalitarian governments so brutal to everyday citizens? Why don't they care about performance? What are the major types of authoritarian regimes? Can they ever be “legitimate,” necessary, or even popular? What are the common misunderstandings about authoritarian governments according to your textbook? What are the main qualities and institutions that make a country democratic (Chp. 4)? What are the main tradeoffs involved in designing any democratic government (e.g., while it is important for a democracy to be responsive to its citizens, many democratic governments are designed to limit the power of government even if doing so means being less responsive). What are the main institutional choices new democracies must make (e.g., type of constitution, federalism, and presidential vs. parliamentary system)? How is Britain’s democracy institutionally different from that of the United States (Chp. 7)? Based on your understanding of different regimes types, classify the following governments to the extent that your reading assignments allow: Iraq, Iran, the United States, Britain, China (under Mao and since), our Arab allies in the War on Terror, Venezuela, and North Korea.