Transcript NAFTA
Chapter One Review Issues in Comparative Politics Tiananmen Square, Beijing China 1989 What is Politics? • Politics – all human decisions • Political Science – study of these decisions • Decision are public, not private • Decisions are authoritative, done w/ formal power Governments • Governments – legally empowered to make decisions • Night Watchman State – protect property, safety, that’s it • Police State – authoritarian • Welfare State – provide social services, education, safety net, healthcare, retirement • Regulatory State – Rules and regulations • State of Nature – pre-government, free but unsafe Why Governments? • Political cultures grow around values, symbols into a nation-state • Need for security and order – to protect property rights • Promote economic growth and efficiency • To provide public goods – goods that people can’t provide easily on their own in a private market e.g. police, fire department, military • To protect against externalities or market failures such as pollution • To promote social justice – tax and welfare policies • To protect a society’s weakest members When Does Government Become the Problem? • Critics: libertarians who want very little government and anarchists or communitarians who want NO government • Argue government harms community, violates rights, inefficient economically, promotes private gain through rent – seeking • Rent seeking: seeking benefits for individuals or groups using government policies e.g. taxation • Government merely caters to vested interests • Voluntary associations and private markets would do better Political Systems • An authoritative systems with interdependent parts and boundaries that make decisions • Political systems contain governments • And also contain political parties, interest groups, mass media, think tanks (private research institutions), universities, etc. • State – a political system w/ sovereignty • Sovereignty – independent legal authority over a territory/group of people • Nation-state – state with contiguous territory and common national identity • 196 in the world at last count Building Community • State and nation are used interchangeably, unfortunately • Nation = self-identification among a people, culture, language, may cross borders • States = may contain single national identity or may have more than one • Ethnicity = identification based on racial, cultural or historical characteristics – based on subjective belief • Language – 5000 exist, but only 8 truly international, English considered most international, source of conflict • Religion – big source of conflict, Christianity most widespread, Islam most rapidly growing • Religious fundamentalism – use of religion to ward off modern world Cumulative and CrossCutting Cleavages • Political cleavages – systematic use of linguistic, religious, cultural divides affect political allegiances and policies • Cumulative – pits the same people against each other on many issues (Northern Ireland, Lebanon) • Cross-cutting – group that agree on one issue, but disagree on another (The Netherlands) Fostering Development • • • • • • • Gross National Product – total economic output for a nation Gross Domestic Product – total economic output for a nation w/in its borders Per capita GDP/GNP – economic output per person Used to compare rich versus poor countries Measure industrialization, income, education, life expectancy, birth rates, access to health care in addition to GNP/GDP Income inequality can lead to political instability Population growth, economic development and environmental problems also impact political systems Securing Democracy Human Rights, and Civil Liberties • Democracy – system where citizens enjoy basic civil/political rights – “rule by the people” • Elections, free political parties, free mass media, representative assemblies • Authoritarian – lack basic elements of democracy • Oligarchy – “rule by the few” • Totalitarian – rights severely restricted, government intrusive • Nations becoming more free through democratization • Tyranny of the majority – use of democratic processes to suppress minorities