The Political Dimension
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The Political Dimension - Leaderboard
The Political Dimension - Details
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| State (FEATURES) (mention 4) | A state exercise absolute and unrestricted power in their society. Have institutions that make responsible decisions in society. These decisions are usually accepted and binding on its citizens. And the state is an instrument in domination, it has coercive power to ensure the citizens obey these decisions Has to be recognized internationally |
| Sovereignty (DISTINCTIONS) | Legal and political sovereignty. Legal sovereignty refers to the supreme legal authority which is defined by law. And political sovereignty refers to the political power which is the ability to command obedience by using force. External and internal sovereignty. External sovereignty refers to the states place in the international order and internal sovereignty refers to the state's supreme authority within the state bodies that makes decisions |
| Strong vs Weak States (EXAMPLE) | China vs Monaco |
| Traditional vs Charismatic vs Rational-Legal Authority (CONTEXT) | According to Max Webber, these 3 authority's are derived from legitimacy. Authority is the right to have power. The right to rule and make decisions. |
| Legitimacy (DEFINITION) | Legitimacy is the transformation of power into authority whereby the belief and willingness to comply with this transformation is accepted |
| Legitimacy(CONTEXT) | Legitimacy is about the judgement and consent of the citizens about the rightfulness that the government governs its citizens. Legitimacy is recognizable in democratic countries where the people elect their leaders and parliament. |
| Politics (CONTEXT) | The word politics is derived from the Greek word Politika which is associated with the affairs of the city. |
| Politics (DEFINITION) | Politics is the public activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live. |
| Politics (NOTIONS) (mention 4) | The art of government and activities of the state. The struggle for power and leadership in the public sphere to make decisions for society. The process of resolving conflicts because were not alike and have different views, interest and ideologies. The production and redistribution of resources to achieve the desired outcome. |
| Politics (EXAMPLE) | An example of politics in relation to power and distribution of resources would be your own family or work where resources and power are distributed among the hierarchy that you live in. |
| State (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | A political association with a government that claims the monopoly of legitimate use of violence via a set of institutions within a defined territorial area on its population. |
| Sovereignty (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Sovereignty is the principle of absolute and unlimited power and it gives the ability to act within a territory independently from internal and external rivals. |
| State (EXAMPLE) | The Netherlands who have supreme authority within their state and are independence internationally |
| Monopoly of legitimate violence (CONTEXT) | The monopoly of violence is a definition by Max Webber |
| Monopoly of legitimate violence (DEFINITION) | It means that a state is the only entity that is allowed to use legitimate physical force against its population within its geographical borders. Within the state, there are institutions such as the military or police who have the right to use violence to establish order but only to a certain amount that it doesn't violate the individual rights of a person |
| Monopoly of legitimate violence (EXAMPLE) | The police who are protecting the public safety against internal and external threats. |
| Collective goods (CONTEXT) | The collective goods refer to the distributions and redistribution of resources by the state |
| Collective goods (NOTION) | It's about who gets what, when, how, and why so that it benefits every individual and group of society. So the state provide collective goods and this could be seen as a main function of the state. |
| Collective goods (EXAMPLE) | The infrastructure, law and regulations |
| Unitary vs Federal states (CONTEXT) | In the world, there are different types of classifications of states. One classification is about the territorial organization which looks at how the state organizes its territory |
| Unitary vs Federal states (DEFINITION) | Unitary state are states where the most government power is held at the national level within the central government and the regions have little authority in making decisions. Federal state are states where there are different layers of government. They have a central and federal/regional government. Hereby the regional/federal government have a significant amount of power in making decisions |
| Unitary vs Federal states (EXAMPLE) | An example of a unitary state would be France who has a central government with the most power and the regional state have very little power. An example of a federal state would be the USA where the federal states have a significant amount of power and independence. |
| Strong vs Weak States (CONTEXT) | Strong vs Weak States is a classification about the strength of the states |
| Strong vs Weak States (DEFINITION) | The strength of a strong or weak state depends on a variety of factors. These factors are the geographical size, populations, military might, strength of the economy, the robustness of the state institutions and legitimacy. |
| Traditional vs Charismatic vs Rational-Legal Authority (DEFINITION) | Traditional authority is derived from social traditions, customs and history. Charismatic authority is derived from the power of personality of a person. Rational-legal authority is derived from formal and legal rules and status of an office |
| Traditional vs Charismatic vs Rational-Legal Authority (EXAMPLE) | Traditional = Willem Alexander Charismatic = Barack Obama Rational-Legal = Mark Rutte |
| Legitimacy (EXAMPLE) | The Netherlands where the people believe and accept that the government and authorities have the right to rule and organize society. |
| Narrow vs Broad Democracy (DEFINITION) | A political system in which people(demos) have the authority and the power to decide their governing legislation |
| Pluralism (DEFINITION) | Pluralism is the belief that in society there are multiple groups with different background, lifestyles, ideas, and interest who can participate in the political process. The state regulates between the groups. |
| Social Democracy (FEATURES 3) | Respect for individual liberties. Multiple competing parties. Require a strong state which redistributes policies to ensure more social and economic equality. |
| Illiberal Democracy (3 FEATURES) | Regular elections and competing political parties, absence of fair elections, frequent abuse of power, corruption, curtailment of press freedom and human rights violation. |
| Authoritarianism (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Authoritarianism is a form of government which is not democratic and reject both the notion that people should hold power and individual liberties. The balance between individual liberty and state power is completely on the side of state power. |
| Power (with the three faces) (CONTEXT) | Power is the ability to achieve the desired outcome and to influence the behaviours of others in a manner of not of their choosing |
| Power (with the three faces) (DEFINITION) | The first face is understood as decision making where conscious judgement shape in someway the actions or influence decisions The second face is understood in form of agenda-setting where the ability to prevent decisions being made occurs. The third face is in form of thought control. Which influence others by shaping what he or she thinks, wants or needs. |
| Power (with the three faces) (EXAMPLE) | Politicians who have the ability to make decisions and prevent decisions, and they can influence peoples thinking |
| Narrow vs Broad Democracy (DEFINITION) | Democracy in narrow definition would be that people hold the power in democratic institutions and that there are competitive elections Democracy in broad definition would be the narrow definition plus the democratic ideas and values such as, participation, competition, freedom and the rule of law |
| Narrow vs Broad Democracy (EXAMPLE) | Narrow = Cuba or Russia Broad = USA, UK, The Netherlands |
| Direct vs Representative Democracy (CONTEXT) | In the world there are many different kind of democracies. To be able to identify them better classification/typologies are made. |
| Direct vs Representative Democracy (DEFINITION) | Direct democracy is where the citizens hold the power and exercise the power directly by voting on every decision. Representative democracy is where the citizens will select representatives who rule on their behalf. |
| Direct vs Representative Democracy (EXAMPLE) | The Netherlands would be a representative democracy because citizens vote on parties who then make-up the parliament and eventually exercise the power. |
| Pluralism vs Elitism (CONTEXT) | Pluralism and Elitism are different theories that are used to explain how power is spread between individuals and groups in society. |
| Elitism (DEFINITION) | Elitism is the belief that power is concentrated among a few groups or individuals and that representatives should represent the elite who can take care of political and democratic values. |
| Pluralism (EXAMPLE) | Many cities in the United States have areas such as Little Italy or Chinatown |
| Liberal Democracy (CONTEXT) | Liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy with an underlining political ideology in liberalism |
| Liberal Democracy (DEFINITION) | In a liberal democracy the political system of government recognize and protect individual rights and freedom and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law. |
| Liberal Democracy (FEATURES) | Individual rights and freedoms The idea of a free-market economy with minimal state interference Regular elections and respecting the principle of universal suffrage Multiple competing political parties which represent the people. |
| Liberal Democracy (EXAMPLE) | The Netherlands which has multiple parties with elections every 4 years and citizens have individual rights and a vote. |
| Social Democracy (CONTEXT) | Social democracy is a representative democracy with an underlining ideology in democratic socialism. |
| Social Democracy (DEFINITION) | Its a political system of government which attempt to secure a balance between the market and state and between the individual and the community. |
| Social Democracy (EXAMPLE) | Scandinavian countries where there is more economic equality in healthcare and education |
| Illiberal Democracy (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Illiberal democracy is a representative democracy. Furthermore, its a governing system in which elections take place but where liberal values are rejected. |
| Illiberal Democracy (EXAMPLE) | Russia where there is a curtailment of press freedom and no fair elections. |
| Authoritarianism (DEFINITION) | In this regime, the balance between individual liberty and state power is completely on the side of state power. |
| Authoritarianism (FEATURES) | No multiple competing political parties. Leaders are not directly accountable to society. Take decisions according to their own will. Media is in control of the state. |
| Authoritarianism (EXAMPLE) | North Korea where the state is in control of the media and the leader is not accountable to society |
| Ideology (Traditional vs Contemporary) (DEFINITION/DESCRIPTION) | 1. Description of the existing political order. 2. A vision of what the ideal political order should be. What would be the desired future of a good society. 3. The means of how political change can and should be brought about. |
| Liberalism (FEATURES) (mention 4) | 1. Freedom from the state 2. Individualism which focuses on the individual prior before society 3. Equal opportunities. 4. Toleration is respect to other freedoms |
| Classical vs Social Liberalism (DEFINITION) | Classical liberalism believes in laissez-faire capitalism, there is a belief of a free market with minimal state interference. And a belief for maximal freedom for the individual. which are ideas of Adam Smith and John Lock. Social liberalism, there is a more sympathetic attitude towards the state. The state must correct the inequalities produced by capitalism and intervene to promote equality of opportunity. |
| Classical vs Social Liberalism (EXAMPLE) | Classic Liberalism = John stuart Mill Social Liberalism = Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal |
| Conservatism (BELIEFS)(3) | Society is too complex and 1 must rely on tradition which is the collective wisdom. Beliefs in human imperfection. the collective wisdom is more valuable than abstract reasoning. And individuals are not equal, others can be more capable of governing and defend the existing power distribution. |
| Nation (DISTINCTION) | Within this concept, there are 2 distinctions made. A cultural nation and political nation. A cultural nation has a national identity that is rooted in cultural history and language. And a political nation is bound together by shared citizenship. |
| Nation-State (DEFINITION) | Furthermore, it refers to having a cultural homogenous state. However, the nation-state has never existed and would be extremely hard to attain. In a liberal view, most countries are considered a nation-state but from a Conservatism and nationalist approach, a nation-state would only be possible through ethnic cleansing. |
| Nation-State (CONTEXT) | The concept of a nation-state is a form of political organization and political ideal. It concept means that a nation has a shared culture and community bound together by citizenship and nationality |
| Conservatism (DEFINITION/COREVALUE) | The core values of conservatism are tradition, human imperfection, organic societies and hierarchies. |
| Conservatism (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | The concept conservatism is a political and traditional ideology. Conservatism is mainly based on traditions and therefore, resist or raises suspicion for any form of change in society. |
| Equality of Opportunities vs. Outcomes (EXAMPLE) | An example of equality of opportunity would be students who are in university and attend a lecture. You could argue to a certain extent that they have the same equal opportunity to attend the lecture. But if the classroom is 80% women and 20% men. Then there is no equality of outcome because equality of outcome refers in this example to an equal representation of men and women in this classroom. |
| Socialism (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | The concept of socialism is a traditional ideology. It's an ideology that advocates for collectivism. It refers to any system in which production and distribution of goods and services is the shared responsibility of a group |
| Marxism (EXAMPLE) | An example of Marxism's impact is the communist movement in the 20th century by the soviet union and Cuba for example. |
| Socialism (FEATURES) (mention 4) | 1. Belief in cooperation instead of competition. 2. Prefer collectivism over individualism. 3. Belief in the equality of outcome. 4. Public ownership over private ownership. |
| Socialism (EXAMPLE) / Revolutionary vs Reformist Socialism (EXAMPLE) | The soviet union was a socialist state. Revolutionary = Marxism and communism/Leninism. Reformist = Social democracy |
| Marxism (DEFINITION/NOTION 3) | According to Marx, every society is divided into social classes. And in a capitalistic system, there are 2 classes, Bourgeoisie and the proletariat and that there would be class struggle. Eventually, capitalism is doomed and that it will lead to a revolution in which socialism and communism are destined to replace it |
| Ideology (Traditional vs Contemporary) (CONTEXT) | The concept Ideology is an set of ideas that provide the basis for some kind of organized political action. |
| Ideology (Traditional vs Contemporary) (EXAMPLE) | Traditional ideologies are rooted in the enlightenment era such are liberalism, socialism, marxism. Contemporary ideologies challenge the claim that one ideology can explain the social and political world and focus on differences among individuals and groups such as feminism, postmodernism. |
| Liberalism (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | The concept, liberalism is a traditional ideology and the dominant political tradition in the west. Liberalism central theme is a commitment to the individual and the construction of society in which the individual can satisfy their interests |
| Liberalism (EXAMPLE) | Most western countries where democracy is established such as the USA and the Netherlands. |
| Classical vs Social Liberalism (CONTEXT) | Classical and social liberalism are strands of liberalism. |
| Individualism (CONTEXT) | Individualism is a traditional ideology which emerged in the 17th and 18th century as result of the development of the capitalistic societies. |
| Individualism (DEFINITION) | Its the belief of the importance of the individual over any social group or collective body. Furthermore, the individual should be protected against society and the state. |
| Individualism (2 STRANDS) | Methodological Individualism = the individual is central to any political theory or social explanation Ethical individualism = society should be constructed to benefit the individual giving priority to rights, need or interest. |
| Individualism (EXAMPLE) | An example where we see the value of individualism would be in liberalism because it values the individual. Or when you pay for your own university tuition fee. |
| Freedom (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | The concept of freedom or liberty is a supreme political value in Western Liberal Societies. In broadest sense freedom is the ability to think or act as one wishes. |
| Freedom (2 FORMS) | Negative refers to the absence of external constraint on the individual. Positive refers to the achievement of some goal or benefit for personal development or self-realization. |
| Freedom (EXAMPLE) | Civil liberty and freedom of choice are negative liberties. |
| Socialism (DEFINITION) | Its an ideology that advocates for collectivism. Ir refers to any system in which production and distribution of goods and services is the shared responsibility of a group |
| Revolutionary vs Reformist Socialism (CONTEXT) | Are 2 strands within socialism that try to achieve socialism. |
| Revolutionary vs Reformist Socialism (DEFINITION) | Revolutionary socialism states that their need to be a social revolution to bring order and structural changes in society from capitalism to socialism. Reformist socialism states that socialism can be achieved by universal suffrage. |
| Revolutionary vs Reformist Socialism (EXAMPLE) | Revolutionary = Marxism and communism/leninism Reformist = Social democracy |
| Marxism (CONTEXT) | Marxism is a traditional ideology. It is an ideology system within Socialism developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels |
| Equality of Opportunities vs. Outcomes (DEFINITION) | Equality of opportunity is more connected with liberalism and means that every person needs to have an equal starting point or equal life chances. Equality of outcome is more connected with socialism and means to an equal distribution of rewards or other social constructs such as wealth or income. |
| Equality of Opportunities vs. Outcomes (EXAMPLE) | An example of equality of opportunity would be students who are in university and attend a lecture. You could argue to a certain extent that they have the same equal opportunity to attend the lecture. But if the classroom is 80% women and 20% men. Then there is no equality of outcome because equality of outcome refers in this example to an equal representation of men and women in this classroom. |
| Conservatism (EXAMPLE) | An example would be Jair Bolsonaro because he is a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, homosexuality and abortion. |
| Nationalism (CONTEXT) | The concept nationalism is a traditional ideology which beliefs that the nation is the central principle of political organization. |
| Nationalism (DEFINITION) (mention 2 core assumptions) | Nationalism beliefs in the following core assumptions. The first one is that humankind is naturally divided into distinct nations, which refers to groups of people who have the same language, religion, history and tradition. The second one is that a nation is a political community and is the most appropriate unit of political rule. |
| Nationalism (EXAMPLE) | An example of nationalism would be China where they uphold their traditions and nationalistic values. |
| Nation-State (EXAMPLE) | Examples of nation-states would be the Netherlands, France and the UK |
| Nation (CONTEXT) | The concept of a nation is a stable community of people within a territory who are bound together by history, culture, economy, and language. |
| Nation (EXAMPLE) | The Netherlands who share a common language, religion and tradition. |
| Civic vs Ethnic Nationalism (CONTEXT) | Civic and Ethnic Nationalism are strands with Nationalism. |
| Civic vs Ethnic Nationalism (DEFINITION) | The concept of civic nationalism beliefs in traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality and individual rights. And defend national identity. The concept of ethnic nationalism beliefs that nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity. |
| Civic vs Ethnic Nationalism (EXAMPLE) | An example of Civic Nationalism would be France |