Orientation to Political Science

LECTURE SET FOR

ANALYZING POLITICS: AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE

BY ELLEN GRIGSBY
WADSWORTH CENGAGE LEARNING
4TH EDITION

CHAPTER 3:
KEY CONCEPTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
 Basic Political Concepts

Power
State
Nation
 Power

Ability to influence outcomes in order to achieve

objectives
Ability to influence others to act in a way they would not
on their own

Involves
 Volition
Can be
 Latent
 Manifest
Generally
 Blended
 Types

Force
 physical
Persuasion
 Nonphysical
 Clear and known
Manipulation
 Nonphysical
 Concealed
Exchange
 Incentives
 States

Organizations claiming authority within their

borders
Internationally recognized organizations
 Claiming the ultimate rule-setting and enforcing authority
within their borders
 That can successfully claim the monopoly over the legitimate
use of force
Governmental institutions and the people who
occupy them
 Organization may be:

Unitary
Federal
Confederal
 Types of States

 Unitary
Sovereignty lies with the central authority
 The power of the central authority is greater than that of the subunits
combined
 Federal
 Sovereignty is divided between central governing authority and
constituent units
 The power of the central authority is greater than that of individual
subunits but is equal to that of the subunits combined
 Confederal
 Sovereignty is divided

 The power of the central authority is lesser than that of the individual
subunits
 Exercise of Power

Sovereignty
 failed states
Legitimacy
The role of Culture
 Other decision-makers

Multinational Corporations (MNC’s)

Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO’s)
Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO’s)
 Threats to States

Technology
Globalization
Leadership other than state
Information sharing
Citizen know-how and resistence
 Nations

Group of people with unity based on shared…

 Trait
 Attribute
 Custom
 Language
 Culture
 History
 Ethnicity
 Religion
 Nations and States

Nations are NOT the same as States

May or may not have their own state
 Zionism existed before the creation of the state of Israel
May have more than one nation within a
single state
 Ex:
 Serbs, Croats, …
 Tutsi and Hutus
 Deaf nation
 Mononational vs. Multinational States