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Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. Introduction to Political Science
    1. 1 What Is Politics and What Is Political Science?
      1. Introduction
      2. 1.1 Defining Politics: Who Gets What, When, Where, How, and Why?
      3. 1.2 Public Policy, Public Interest, and Power
      4. 1.3 Political Science: The Systematic Study of Politics
      5. 1.4 Normative Political Science
      6. 1.5 Empirical Political Science
      7. 1.6 Individuals, Groups, Institutions, and International Relations
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
  3. Individuals
    1. 2 Political Behavior Is Human Behavior
      1. Introduction
      2. 2.1 What Goals Should We Seek in Politics?
      3. 2.2 Why Do Humans Make the Political Choices That They Do?
      4. 2.3 Human Behavior Is Partially Predictable
      5. 2.4 The Importance of Context for Political Decisions
      6. Summary
      7. Key Terms
      8. Review Questions
      9. Suggested Readings
    2. 3 Political Ideology
      1. Introduction
      2. 3.1 The Classical Origins of Western Political Ideologies
      3. 3.2 The Laws of Nature and the Social Contract
      4. 3.3 The Development of Varieties of Liberalism
      5. 3.4 Nationalism, Communism, Fascism, and Authoritarianism
      6. 3.5 Contemporary Democratic Liberalism
      7. 3.6 Contemporary Ideologies Further to the Political Left
      8. 3.7 Contemporary Ideologies Further to the Political Right
      9. 3.8 Political Ideologies That Reject Political Ideology: Scientific Socialism, Burkeanism, and Religious Extremism
      10. Summary
      11. Key Terms
      12. Review Questions
      13. Suggested Readings
    3. 4 Civil Liberties
      1. Introduction
      2. 4.1 The Freedom of the Individual
      3. 4.2 Constitutions and Individual Liberties
      4. 4.3 The Right to Privacy, Self-Determination, and the Freedom of Ideas
      5. 4.4 Freedom of Movement
      6. 4.5 The Rights of the Accused
      7. 4.6 The Right to a Healthy Environment
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
    4. 5 Political Participation and Public Opinion
      1. Introduction
      2. 5.1 What Is Political Participation?
      3. 5.2 What Limits Voter Participation in the United States?
      4. 5.3 How Do Individuals Participate Other Than Voting?
      5. 5.4 What Is Public Opinion and Where Does It Come From?
      6. 5.5 How Do We Measure Public Opinion?
      7. 5.6 Why Is Public Opinion Important?
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
  4. Groups
    1. 6 The Fundamentals of Group Political Activity
      1. Introduction
      2. 6.1 Political Socialization: The Ways People Become Political
      3. 6.2 Political Culture: How People Express Their Political Identity
      4. 6.3 Collective Dilemmas: Making Group Decisions
      5. 6.4 Collective Action Problems: The Problem of Incentives
      6. 6.5 Resolving Collective Action Problems
      7. Summary
      8. Key Terms
      9. Review Questions
      10. Suggested Readings
    2. 7 Civil Rights
      1. Introduction
      2. 7.1 Civil Rights and Constitutionalism
      3. 7.2 Political Culture and Majority-Minority Relations
      4. 7.3 Civil Rights Abuses
      5. 7.4 Civil Rights Movements
      6. 7.5 How Do Governments Bring About Civil Rights Change?
      7. Summary
      8. Key Terms
      9. Review Questions
      10. Suggested Readings
    3. 8 Interest Groups, Political Parties, and Elections
      1. Introduction
      2. 8.1 What Is an Interest Group?
      3. 8.2 What Are the Pros and Cons of Interest Groups?
      4. 8.3 Political Parties
      5. 8.4 What Are the Limits of Parties?
      6. 8.5 What Are Elections and Who Participates?
      7. 8.6 How Do People Participate in Elections?
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
  5. Institutions
    1. 9 Legislatures
      1. Introduction
      2. 9.1 What Do Legislatures Do?
      3. 9.2 What Is the Difference between Parliamentary and Presidential Systems?
      4. 9.3 What Is the Difference between Unicameral and Bicameral Systems?
      5. 9.4 The Decline of Legislative Influence
      6. Summary
      7. Key Terms
      8. Review Questions
      9. Suggested Readings
    2. 10 Executives, Cabinets, and Bureaucracies
      1. Introduction
      2. 10.1 Democracies: Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Regimes
      3. 10.2 The Executive in Presidential Regimes
      4. 10.3 The Executive in Parliamentary Regimes
      5. 10.4 Advantages, Disadvantages, and Challenges of Presidential and Parliamentary Regimes
      6. 10.5 Semi-Presidential Regimes
      7. 10.6 How Do Cabinets Function in Presidential and Parliamentary Regimes?
      8. 10.7 What Are the Purpose and Function of Bureaucracies?
      9. Summary
      10. Key Terms
      11. Review Questions
      12. Suggested Readings
    3. 11 Courts and Law
      1. Introduction
      2. 11.1 What Is the Judiciary?
      3. 11.2 How Does the Judiciary Take Action?
      4. 11.3 Types of Legal Systems around the World
      5. 11.4 Criminal versus Civil Laws
      6. 11.5 Due Process and Judicial Fairness
      7. 11.6 Judicial Review versus Executive Sovereignty
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
    4. 12 The Media
      1. Introduction
      2. 12.1 The Media as a Political Institution: Why Does It Matter?
      3. 12.2 Types of Media and the Changing Media Landscape
      4. 12.3 How Do Media and Elections Interact?
      5. 12.4 The Internet and Social Media
      6. 12.5 Declining Global Trust in the Media
      7. Summary
      8. Key Terms
      9. Review Questions
      10. Suggested Readings
  6. States and International Relations
    1. 13 Governing Regimes
      1. Introduction
      2. 13.1 Contemporary Government Regimes: Power, Legitimacy, and Authority
      3. 13.2 Categorizing Contemporary Regimes
      4. 13.3 Recent Trends: Illiberal Representative Regimes
      5. Summary
      6. Key Terms
      7. Review Questions
      8. Suggested Readings
    2. 14 International Relations
      1. Introduction
      2. 14.1 What Is Power, and How Do We Measure It?
      3. 14.2 Understanding the Different Types of Actors in the International System
      4. 14.3 Sovereignty and Anarchy
      5. 14.4 Using Levels of Analysis to Understand Conflict
      6. 14.5 The Realist Worldview
      7. 14.6 The Liberal and Social Worldview
      8. 14.7 Critical Worldviews
      9. Summary
      10. Key Terms
      11. Review Questions
      12. Suggested Readings
    3. 15 International Law and International Organizations
      1. Introduction
      2. 15.1 The Problem of Global Governance
      3. 15.2 International Law
      4. 15.3 The United Nations and Global Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)
      5. 15.4 How Do Regional IGOs Contribute to Global Governance?
      6. 15.5 Non-state Actors: Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)
      7. 15.6 Non-state Actors beyond NGOs
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
    4. 16 International Political Economy
      1. Introduction
      2. 16.1 The Origins of International Political Economy
      3. 16.2 The Advent of the Liberal Economy
      4. 16.3 The Bretton Woods Institutions
      5. 16.4 The Post–Cold War Period and Modernization Theory
      6. 16.5 From the 1990s to the 2020s: Current Issues in IPE
      7. 16.6 Considering Poverty, Inequality, and the Environmental Crisis
      8. Summary
      9. Key Terms
      10. Review Questions
      11. Suggested Readings
  7. References
  8. Index

3.1 The Classical Origins of Western Political Ideologies

Ancient Greek political ideologies emphasized the importance of consolidating political power in the hands of a virtuous ruler or group of rulers while also looking to design second-best models of government, usually involving a mixed system of government.

3.2 The Laws of Nature and the Social Contract

Hobbes and Locke developed the idea of the state of nature, wherein individuals are thought of as interacting in the absence of a ruling government. Hobbes and Locke both argued that governments should be judged according to what individuals in a state of nature would have freely consented for government to be. Hobbes conceived of the state of nature as one in which an unlimited ruler would be needed. In contrast, because Locke saw individuals as possessing inherent natural rights and interacting with others according to a rationally discernible set of moral rules known as the natural law, he argued that individuals in a state of nature would construct a government to enhance the protection of individual rights and the enforcement of that law. For Locke, individual rights included the right to private property and the free exchange of goods and services. Adam Smith applied Locke’s ideas on property rights and free markets to defend global free trade. Rousseau added to the social contract tradition the idea of government based on the general will.

3.3 The Development of Varieties of Liberalism

Classical liberals defend individual rights, limited government, and free trade. They favor capitalism, an economic system based on the freedom of owners to deploy their assets in whatever way they deem most profitable and the freedom of those without substantial assets to contract to sell their labor for wages. John Stuart Mill argued for enlarging the boundaries of personal freedom to include all endeavors that do not directly harm other individuals. In response to the Great Depression, a number of leaders advocated for including in the liberal tradition a more robust role for governmental regulation of the economy. Writers such as Hayek dissented, arguing for reduced government regulation of the economy and against the idea of a government-planned economy.

3.4 Nationalism, Communism, Fascism, and Authoritarianism

Nationalism, or pride in and celebration of a national identity based on shared blood, history, and soil, usually to the exclusion or detriment of other identities, rose to prominence as a political ideology in the 19th century. Marx and Engels argued that nationalism divided workers who should cooperate across national boundaries to respond to and eventually overthrow capitalism, which they argued was both inherently inhumane and inherently fraught with internal tensions that made it vulnerable to—or even destined for—replacement by the coordinated revolutionary actions of the working class. Gramsci, Lenin, and Stalin took Marxist thought in new directions. In part catalyzed by the growth of communism, new European political movements emerged, seeking to resist communist expansion. Fascism, and especially Nazism, argued for a heightened form of nationalism that could respond to the communist challenge, while at the same time advancing beliefs in Aryan racial superiority tied to a hateful form of exclusivism and anti-Semitism. Both the communism of the Soviet Union and its allies and the fascism of the Nazi regime were expressions of extreme authoritarianism known as totalitarianism. More moderate forms of authoritarianism have sought—and in a number of countries, such as Egypt, still seek—to maintain some degree of individual freedom while consolidating political power in individuals and institutions that are not democratically accountable. China has allowed some limited freedoms of property and religion while maintaining otherwise strict communist ideals.

3.5 Contemporary Democratic Liberalism

Democratic liberalism has been the predominant form of contemporary political ideology in the industrialized nations of North America and Europe and nations such as South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand for the past 60 years. This ideology combines democratically accountable government with government protections of individual rights and the promotion of a capitalist economy. Under this broad umbrella, the center left and center right constitute primary subgroups.

3.6 Contemporary Ideologies Further to the Political Left

Since the 1960s, a range of movements on the left of the political spectrum have emerged, forming a loose association of ideas sometimes referred to as the New Left. The New Left includes environmentalism, second- and third-wave feminism, critical race and gender theory, contemporary democratic socialism, globalism, and Indigenist federalism. Repudiating communism and other nondemocratic approaches, these movements seek to make society more progressive. The line between the center left and the New Left is a blurry one, as some New Left movements have become so mainstream among center-left advocates that they now form core elements of center-left ideology.

3.7 Contemporary Ideologies Further to the Political Right

Just as thinkers on the political left began to argue that the center left was insufficiently progressive, the past decade has seen the rise of a New Right that questions whether the center right is sufficiently protective of traditional cultural norms. This movement is associated with conservative populism and has seen electoral success not only in the United States but also in countries such as Hungary and Brazil.

3.8 Political Ideologies That Reject Political Ideology: Scientific Socialism, Burkeanism, and Religious Extremism

Some major political thinkers see themselves as eschewing the very concept of political ideology. Many Marxists have defined their cause as based not on philosophies about government but on the findings of hard social science. Thinkers such as Edmund Burke and Michael Oakeshott repudiate the overly abstract nature of political ideologies. Religious extremists reject the idea that humans can reason to the best form of political regime, asserting that a blueprint for society is readily at hand in the form of literal and inflexible readings of divine revelation.

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