Key Concepts in Politics and International Relations
Concrete summary of all the concepts needed for the Political Dimension of Europe course of European Studies. This summary includes ALL concepts needed for the exam including information from all lectures and seminars and information from the book: Key Concepts in Politics and International Relatio...
Summary en Key Concepts Political Dimension of Europe year 1
Political Dimension, Summary of the concepts and examples (2019-2020)
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Haagse Hogeschool (HHS)
European Studies
The Political Dimension of Europe (PDOE)
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My list of concepts Political Dimension of Europe
Sophie
Semester 1 term 2
2019/20
Concepts with * are found in Heywood book
1. Politics*
The activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules
under which they live.
Politics is a multidimensional definition and it includes:
Conflict and cooperation
o The process of resolving conflicts in which rival views and competing
interests are reconciled because we are not all alike and there is never
enough to go round. Politics can be referred to as a search for conflict
resolution since not all conflicts can be resolved
The public sphere of the state
o Struggle for power and leadership that gives an individual or a group
the ability to make authoritative decisions for the public as a whole,
for society. It is the conduct and management of the community’s
affairs
Pursuit and exercise of power
o It provides the focus for understanding the production, distribution
and use of resources. Who gets what, when, how, why and where?
An example of politics is the Democrat and Republican Party in America who
battle for the most power over the ruling of the state.
2. State*
Political association that establishes sovereign jurisdiction within defined
territorial borders and exercises authority via a set of permanent institutions.
A state always has a geographical territory with internationally recognised
boundaries. It has an identifiable population that lives within these boundaries.
It has a recognised (international recognition usually from the united nations)
government (leadership that runs the state). All states also have sovereignty.
States differ based on territorial organisation and strength.
Kosovo for example is not a sovereign state since it is not recognised by all of the
UN. The US on the other hand is a state since sovereignty is shared between the
individual US states and the US federal government.
, 3. Sovereignty*
Sovereignty is, in its simplest sense, the principle of absolute and unlimited power.
Sovereignty is the ability and freedom to act within a territory, independently
from internal or external rivals. There is internal and external sovereignty.
Internal: supreme authority domestically. Columbia for example has had
many revolutionary movements in the past so it wasn’t sovereign during
that time. Ukraine has two provinces that are under rebel control so it’s
not sovereign.
External: independence internationally, other governments recognise the
government and give it the responsibility to self-govern
An example of a sovereign state is the USA since it is an independent nation
governed by the American people who control its affairs.
4. Monopoly of legitimate violence
The possession of the coercive power to ensure laws are obeyed and transgressors
are punished. Monopoly of legitimate violence protects a state’s territory and the
population within it.
An example is gun control in the US since the state must increase gun control in
order to gain a monopoly of legitimate violence and limit the means by which
others can carry out violent acts without state legitimacy.
5. Collective goods
Delivering collective goods is function of a sovereign state alongside security. They
are goods produced by public authorities.
They are goods that go to the entire population in the state and are funded by
taxation since people benefit from them.
Examples are infrastructure, collecting rubbish and social programmes funding
transportation and healthcare.
6. Unitary vs. federal states
In a unitary state power is based at a national level with little regional authority
such as in France where the French national government in Paris has total
authority over the seven provinces.
In a federal state significant power is given to the regional bodies by the
constitution such as in Germany.
The Netherlands is a combination of a unitary and federal state because it has
provinces with local governments alongside most decisions being made in the
national government.
, 7. Strong vs. weak states
What makes a state strong?
Size: geographic spread for example China versus Monaco
Strength of economy: for example Germany versus Slovenia
Military might: for example USA versus Iraq
Robustness of state institutions: extent to which they can effectively
implement decisions. Russia versus USA because of difference in societal
pressure on state.
Legitimacy: right to rule
An example of a strong state is Finland since it demonstrates a democracy with
respected human rights and low corruption.
What makes a state weak?
Not as much investment in infrastructure
Inadequate collective goods
An example of a weak state is Sudan because it provides a small amount of
collective goods and the quality of these goods is also poor. Furthermore there is
a lot of poverty and lack of security in Sudan.
8. Traditional vs. charismatic vs. rational-legal authority
Traditional authority: Traditional customs and values for example
patriarchy or monarchy, which is based on
traditional positions of authority.
Charismatic authority: Personality of leader for example Martin Luther King
who used powerful speaking and personality to be a
leader.
Rational-legal authority: System of collectively agreed rules. One respects and
obeys the office but not the ruler. For example
respecting a prime minister even though you didn’t
vote for him but because you respect the office. For
example Mark Rutte the Dutch prime minister
because he represents an office elected by the
democratic rules.
9. Legitimacy*
Legitimacy confers on transforming power into authority. It is different from
legality in that in ensures that the government is respected and citizens
acknowledge a duty of obedience.
Legitimacy is the right to rule or the belief in the right to rule on behalf of the
people. There are three types of legitimacy: traditional, charismatic and rational-
legal legitimacy.
An example of legitimacy is when the authority of a country can use taxes from
the citizens to pay for collective goods.
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