Lecture notes IPol
lecture 1 - 7 September - the journey into politics
what are we studying?
Politics is a contested concept → seen as a lot of thing but mainly:
1. the art of government → politics as an arena
2. public affairs → politics as an arena
3. compromise and consensus → politics as a process
4. distribution of power and resources → ecnomics → politics as a process
Positionality is very important in politics:
your position in society shapes what you see - and what you find
important.
The people who dominate, rule → they decide which problems are
important.
I.E. in US political science: more than 65% men, more than 90% white.
Political science is ‘The Science of Politics’ and ‘Political Science’
Ideology
Ideology is a coherent set of ideas that ultimately lead to a preferred
outcome of how a state is shaped.
Liberalism
Key ideas: individualism, consent, constitutionalism. → political powers
have to guard individual freedoms.
Classic liberalism differs with modern liberalism → classical liberalism is
based on negative freedoms, modern liberalism is based on positive
freedoms.
Lecture notes IPol 1
, Conservatism
Doesn’t want reforms → no experiments (CDU-germany) (experts
instead of experiments)
Key ideas: tradition, pragmatism, human imperfection, organicism,
hierarchy, authority, property.
lately, The New Right came up → reaction against apperent failure of
Keynesian social democracy and concern about ‘social breakdown’.
Socialism
Karl Marx → “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in
various ways. The point, however, is to change it.” → society is divided
in classes.
three socialist currents:
Communism: normative ideal → remains vague
Socialism: political system
Marxism; theory of history → history about how society forms, with
class struggles between the rich and the poor and that would
eventually lead to a revolution.
Society as a system of exploitation and oppression. → Politics as
the organized enforcer of this system.
Culture and ideas as the legitimator of this system → ‘awakened’
tensions will get stronger and it will lead to change.
Feminism
Feminism is a school of thought that puts central the unequal and unfair
(power-)relations between men and women.
three waves of feminism:
1. 1st wave: formal political rights
2. 2nd wave: gender relations in society (”the personal is political”)
3. 3rd wave: diversity within gendered relations; attention to diversity in
gender identities.
Post-colonialism
Tradition of political thought focused on:
Lecture notes IPol 2
, Political, societal, economic, cultural and psychological
Environmentalism
Sees society and contemporary politics through the lens of ecological
impact and sustainability
wide range of flavours, from esoteric (spiritual) to rational-scientific
→ May become a serious (and radical) force to reckon with.
(the ministry for the future - Kim Stanley Robinson)
Populism and beyond
Appeals to voters’ gut feelings. (subconcious plays)
Frequently driven by rejection of minorities and their rights
Strong focus on a leader (rules are thrown overboard to keep the
leader in power).
Sceptical of democratic intitutions, suspecting elites to have rigged
them.
Populist chant: “Power to the People”
Lecture 2 - 14 september -
What is the state?
Five key features of the state
Sovereignty: ultimate power internally → ultimate source of authority
Public character: in charge of collective (and collective binding)
decisions
Exercise in legitimation: the state has to justify their decisisions so that
they are made in public interests
Instrument in domination
Territorial association: the jurisdiction is territorially defined.
Lecture notes IPol 3
Voordelen van het kopen van samenvattingen bij Stuvia op een rij:
Verzekerd van kwaliteit door reviews
Stuvia-klanten hebben meer dan 700.000 samenvattingen beoordeeld. Zo weet je zeker dat je de beste documenten koopt!
Snel en makkelijk kopen
Je betaalt supersnel en eenmalig met iDeal, creditcard of Stuvia-tegoed voor de samenvatting. Zonder lidmaatschap.
Focus op de essentie
Samenvattingen worden geschreven voor en door anderen. Daarom zijn de samenvattingen altijd betrouwbaar en actueel. Zo kom je snel tot de kern!
Veelgestelde vragen
Wat krijg ik als ik dit document koop?
Je krijgt een PDF, die direct beschikbaar is na je aankoop. Het gekochte document is altijd, overal en oneindig toegankelijk via je profiel.
Tevredenheidsgarantie: hoe werkt dat?
Onze tevredenheidsgarantie zorgt ervoor dat je altijd een studiedocument vindt dat goed bij je past. Je vult een formulier in en onze klantenservice regelt de rest.
Van wie koop ik deze samenvatting?
Stuvia is een marktplaats, je koop dit document dus niet van ons, maar van verkoper vsn123. Stuvia faciliteert de betaling aan de verkoper.
Zit ik meteen vast aan een abonnement?
Nee, je koopt alleen deze samenvatting voor €4,39. Je zit daarna nergens aan vast.