PSC 101 – Introductory
Discussion
Defining “politics” and “government”
• Everyday uses of “politics” and “political”
• Negative stereotypes of politicians
• Relationship between politics and government
---Can one have politics without government?
• ---Can one have government without politics?
(The Progressive Movement 1880s-1920s)
• ---”Playing politics” vs. “getting things done”
• ---”Playing politics” vs. “doing the right thing”
Your textbook’s definitions of politics
and government
• Politics: “individual and collective efforts to
influence the workings of government”
--David Easton’s model of the political system
--Does “politics” exist in nondemocratic
countries? In hierarchical organizations?
--Different definitions of “influence”: persuasion,
coercion, bargaining
• Government: “the institutions that have the
authority and capacity to enforce public policies
(rules) for a specific territory and people”
Where does government get its
authority and capacity?
• Your book’s answer: near-monopoly of force
• Where else does government get its authority
from? (Legitimacy?)
• --the democratic process
--religion?
• --habit?
• --family ties?
• --rationality?
Why is government necessary? (why
is it rational to obey government)
• Theories of political obligation
• Social contract theory: Hobbes, Locke,
Rousseau
We willingly (and rationally) give up some of
our freedoms in order to protect the rest
• If not, we risk the “war of all against all”
• But why? Scarcity (material and moral) is the
key
Why is government necessary cont’d
• 1.) Conflict over scarce resources
• 2.) Conflict over “scarce” or “irreconcilable”
values
• ---Attempts to compromise: Roe v. Wade, civil
unions for gays
• 3.) Even in the absence of overt conflict, there
are “collective goods” to be provided, which are
vulnerable to the ‘free rider’ problem (collective
action problem) – nuclear defense, paved roads
Why govt. is necessary cont’d
• Debates between libertarians and others are
about which things (education, roads, police,
health care) are truly “collective goods” that
the market does not sufficiently provide
• 4.) Even in the absence of “collective action”
problems, we still have “coordination
problems” (ex. Restaurants, Habitat homes,
Katrina, Haiti, oil spill) – someone must be in
charge
How political scientists study politics
and government
• Political scientists do not have a monopoly on the
study of politics!
• How is their approach distinctive?
---Emphasis on causality rather than description
---Emphasis on forming generalizations (theories) that
operate across time and space (Sarah Palin example)
• ---Emphasis on replicability, which includes precision in
concepts and measurement
• ---SOME SAY (not all PSCists agree) that it’s an
emphasis on empirical, rather than normative
questions
Correlation is not causation, but it’s a
good start!
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We can’t do experiments very easily
So we rely on observing correlations
But watch out for
---multivariate explanations
---indirect causation
---and worst of all, spurious correlations!
(ice cream consumption and crime rates,
homeownership and political participation)
Why government is necessary cont’d