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Summary of Introduction To Political Science
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Summary of Introduction To Political Science
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1. Comment16 May 2020 at 10:01:40
Politics:
- Constrained use of power
- Process of making/executing
collective decisions in pursuit of
group interest, or to seek
reconciliation of different interests
- Competitive struggle for power/
resources
2. Comment
18 May 2020 at 18:16:50
Rational choice, behavioralism,
some institutionalism
3. Comment Part 1 - What is Political Science?
17 May 2020 at 20:30:11
Feminism, Marxism, Origins:
constructivism
• Ancient Greece
• Plato (political thought/philosophy)
4. Comment
• Aristotle (systematic empirical observation)
17 May 2020 at 20:29:45
• Renaissance/enlightenment
E.g. feminists: “personal is
• Machiavelli, Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Hobbes
political”
1 Political science: study of normative theory and political practice of politics (institutions,
processes and behavior
Approaches to politics:
2 • Arena definition (narrower): focus on formal institutions and actors
3 4 • Process definition (broader): focus on politics in all social processes
• Theoretical perspective: generalized approach to explaining phenomenon (supported by hard
evidence)
Readings:
• LMS 1
• HHM 1
• HHM 5
,5. Comment
16 May 2020 at 10:07:28
Theories of being, nature of
reality
6. Comment
18 May 2020 at 18:38:58
No world that exists
independently of meaning we
have given it
7. Comment
16 May 2020 at 10:24:56
Theories of knowledge
8. Comment
16 May 2020 at 10:27:35 Part 2 - Ontology and Epistemology
Aka scientific
5 Ontology: study of what there is
Developed in 60s (introduction of
• Foundationalism/objectivism/realism: world is independent of observer
scientific method to social
• Absolute truth exists
studies)
6 • Anti-foundationalism/constructivism/relativism: realities are constructed
• Blurred distinction from interpretivism
9. Comment
• Post-modernists: there is no truth
16 May 2020 at 10:27:00
Social sciences is on par with
Social ontology: are social entities objective or constructed?
natural sciences
7 Epistemology: study of what we can know
10. Comment
18 May 2020 at 13:37:09
8 • Positivist:
Interpretative perspective 9 • Formulation of general laws/accurate predictions (causality)
• Direct observation = test of validity
E.g. some arguments excluded in • Objective observation possible
advance (to fit dominant • Empirical and normative can be separated
paradigm) • Critique:
• Quine: limited to sensory experience, theory guides fact-finding
11. Comment 10 • Observations cannot be impartial
16 May 2020 at 10:27:48 • Social structures are not independent
Aka hermeneutic 11 • Interpretative:
12 13 • Understanding > explaining
Blurred boundaries • World is socially/discursively constructed (constructivism)
14 • Focus on identifying discourse (since no access to objective facts)
Associated with SOME strands of • Interpretations impact outcome
institutionalism, feminism • Objective observation is impossible
• Double hermeneutic: world is interpreted by actors (collective) + interpretation is interpreted
12. Comment by observer (individual)
16 May 2020 at 10:28:55 15 17 • Positivist critique: subjective opinions, unfalsifiable, not scientific
Of human reasoning/intention • Critical realism:
• Nature is independent (objectivism) but cannot always be observed (social structures)
I.e. MEANING of behavior • Both qualitative and quantitative
• Focus on causality
Hence more qualitative methods • Less focus on direct observation
• Critique:
13. Comment 18 • Positivists: untestable conjectures
18 May 2020 at 13:35:01 • Interpretivist: objectivist ontology, lack of objective
Since causal relationships cannot 19 • Impossible to combine positivism and interpretivism
be objectively observed • Modern critical realism:
• Interpretation of structures affects outcome
14. Comment
16 May 2020 at 10:42:30 Relationship between ontology and epistemology:
What drives social agents to act • Ontology precedes epistemology
and why 20 • (Disagree) post-structuralism: ontology is grounded in (no different to) epistemology (vs
precedes in)
15. Comment • Ontology is either acknowledged or implied in epistemology
18 May 2020 at 18:54:52
Stems from fundamentally
different ontologies
16. Comment
18 May 2020 at 18:55:41
E.g. particular to certain contexts
(time, space)
17. Comment
18 May 2020 at 18:56:27
Which matters because
interpretivists sometimes try to
make knowledge claims
, 18. Comment
18 May 2020 at 19:00:03
If it cannot be observed then it
cannot be proven
19. Comment
18 May 2020 at 19:02:20
Since based on different
ontologies
20. Comment
18 May 2020 at 18:43:11
There is no causal relationship
between knowledge and society
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