POLSC 120 FIRST EXAM REVIEWER

I. Nature of Political Theory

A. Political Concepts
 when you try to explain something, you sacrifice and lose focus on other parts
 awareness of political concepts or how we communicate ideas avoid horrid or double-meaning
statements

1. “the concept” vs “a conception” (Gaus 2000)

 the concept – an idea about something; something that people will agree to a certain extent
 a conception – the interpretation of a concept; each person has his own perspective

2. socio-politically constructed
 feedbacks help in the formulation of a concept
 the challenge in transactions is the interpretation and understanding
 affected by bias and context

3. accumulative and discursive

 when concepts interact, knowledge accumulates
 accumulated knowledge becomes discursive, constantly evolving and developing through
discourse and interaction over time

B. Issues in Political Concepts

1. value-laden, biased, prejudiced
 political theory indicates power relations and meaning which determine which value applies to
different situations
 we see concepts through different paradigms affected by personal inclinations and expectations

2. ideologically controversial
 abstract ideas have so many meanings, thus are called ‘essentially contested concepts’
 these can also be called ‘contingently contested’ because the current situation can affect the
question at hand

3. “the truthfulness question”

 post-modern dilemma
 each has his own personal truth, so it’s not possible to achieve an objective political concept

C. Political Theory
1. Roles of Political Theory
a. initiates the discussion of ideas in order to create a common foundation, not to dictate a
standard
b. communicate political ideas, not to complicate them
c. situate ideas in a given context, not to discriminate and invalidate other ideas without reason
d. indicate power relations and meanings, leading to explication and implication
e. illustrate social and political phenomenon, and appropriate a given worldview

2. combination and relationships of concepts

a. Political Science
  empirical – what is observable

b. Political Philosophy
 ideational – critical evaluation
 ideological – convincing to others
 normative – what is ought to be
 critical clarification of discourse

c. Political Theory
 analytical – analyze empirical and ideational concepts
 has two functions:
o to test and idea, proposition, hypothesis
 ways to test political theory:
1. deductive
2. inductive
3. abductive – combination of deduction and induction

 approaches in testing political theory:

1. operationalize – empirical so not all concepts are immediately operational
2. sensitize – situate idea in a given context or specific lens to provide better meaning

o to justify the validity of a conception

a. not to persuade but to reason
b. to conclude without taking sides
c. to recognize your own bias (self-reflexivity)
d. no best answer so you have to remain skeptical while being adamant or aware that
you can be right or wrong

D. Logical Positivism and Political Interpretivism

 mutually constitutive – when two concepts affect one another equally
 increase in the value of the empirical
 the observable (logical positivism) and the intangible (political interpretivism)
 the fallibility of science and ambiguity of interpretation
 the continuing societal struggles

E. Political Theory Today

1. self-reflexivity
 how you justify your ideas and appropriate contextualization
 know where you are coming from and how will that affect your view
 appropriating a possible bias

2. diversification/fragmentation of political theory

 “if liberalism is truly liberal, it should not be threatened by diversification”

3. anti-foundationalism
 constantly evolving discourses
 ontological question
 o ontology – asking what we can know
o epistemology – how we can know what we know
 we can never really know and discover what is out there
 goes further that what is observable

F. Context and Subjectivity

1. “double-edged sword”
 has multiple subjectivities
 has both relevance and ambiguity

2. value of self-reflexive agency

 to be aware of your personal biases and where you are coming from

3. value of intersectionality
 when context interacts with subjectivity; personal views intersects with context

G. East and West “Divide”

 divide – arbitrary; not necessarily universal
 in order to avoid nihilism, be skeptical

1. “canon” and oppositional knowledge

 in order to understand differences, you need to know the canon first
 in order to critique something, you need to understand it

2. no monopoly of ideas
 both the east and the west can have ideas on the same topic

3. balance and respect

 balance the convergence and respect the divergence

II. Human Nature

A. Human Nature: A General Framework
1. agency and structure
 agency – how much we are able to define ourselves
 structure – how much society structure and affect how we see ourselves (e.g. material,
sexuality, religion)
 dialectical and shape each other

2. nature vs nurture
a. genetic basis – apparently objective but inclined to prejudice; may lead to overgeneralization
b. societal basis – makes human nature more socio-politically adaptable, but may undermine
individual agency
 plasticity – highlights the ability of human nature to change

3. intellect vs instinct
a. rational/deliberative – empowers human reason but also empowers abuse of agency
 b. emotional/instinctual – provides personal sense of belonging/security, but it may also
exacerbate personal prejudices

4. competition vs cooperation
a. individualistic – fight for personal rights, but may become selfish pursuits
b. social – highlights common human goals and fears, but tends to idealize human nature (you
can become more)

B. Natural Law and Natural Rights

1. Natural Law: Framework
 lex naturalis
 morally necessary and supremely appropriate
 provides human benefit
 right to self-preservation

2. Natural Rights: Entitlements

 jus naturale
 given or granted
a. active liberty – form of right that you can actively do based on your options
b. passive duty – duty of society and state (education, public services)

C. Ancient Political Theory

1. conventional: “the stronger party rules”
 whoever has political power defines natural law
 the true interest of the stronger party is the common interest

2. Plato: to satisfy specific human needs

 hierarchical social structure
 NL: stay in your role

3. Aristotle: to pursue one’s ‘telos’

 the state is the highest political association because its telos is for everyone to pursue a just life
(self-sufficiency) and has proper institution to enable the cultivation and development of reason
and social interaction

4. Cicero: systematized the view of natural law as “stoic”

 stoicism – reason is considered above any emotional appeal; principles of non-harm, respect for
property, doing obligations, and generosity

D. Medieval Political Theory

 expounded on interplay of religion and faith

1. human law is considered in the context of being under God’s universality

2. Natural Law is ecclesiastical and civil

 ecclesiastical – produced by Church
 civil – produced by State
  St. Thomas: faith will always be above reason
 complementary scholasticism – when faith and reason intertwine
 Gelasian doctrine – the State and Church are co-equal but separate

3. St. Thomas of Aquinas

a. Definition (to systematize law)
 law is an ordinance of reason
 for the common good
 made by him who cares for the community
 promulgated

b. Function (rules that law should follow)

 preservation – preserve human life
 procreation – promote continuation of human life
 good of humanity – improve means of creating a society that helps each other for the good
of humanity

c. Combining natural reason with Divine revelation

4. Issues
 wise ruler or neutral law
 can laws ever change and when

E. Modern Political Theory

1. Natural freedom
 directive – command from God that states what you may or may not do
 coercive – the State has force to stop you from doing what is beyond of what you can do
through punishment
 freedom to do something and from being oppressed
 with freedom, we may renunciate rights in order for leaders to provide
2. Natural Law: Improvement of sociability
 NL must protect life, property, contracts (Grotius)
 happens with justice and equality (Pufendorf)

3. Role of consent
 “self-preservation”
 interpretative charity – to give up something for something in return (political accountability)

4. Locke’s representative government

a. pursue value of life (moral ground), health, liberty, property (inclusive of ownership of your
person/self)
b. perfect freedom is achieved when there is no subjugation of one will to another (right to
resist/revolt)
c. necessary to address the social inconveniences (man’s lack of judgment and uncontrolled
passion) prior to creating a government
d. why we should prefer representative over absolute government
 argument vs absolute rule
  parental is not equal to political power because dealing with adults requires people in
the age of reason to consent – giving consent creates fiduciary trust
 civil liberty: state provides opportunity to do economic activities, helping you be civil
with other people

F. Radical Political Theory

1. Rousseau’s General Will and Moral Liberty
 GW: things are for your good, but you don’t necessarily want
 ML: freedom from constraint of other rules because you make the rules; must make you freer as
much as it makes others free

2. Formulation of Inalienable, Inviolable, Imprescriptible (Universal) Human Rights

 Inalienable – cannot be taken away from you
 Imprescriptible – there can be no law made to remove these rights from you

3. Wollstonecraft: “give rights, get virtues”

 give women rights, and they will be the same as men
 led to radical feminism

4. Thelwall: equality and equity

 equality – giving the same ideals
 equity – practical; compensation for losses
 we need to compensate for the effects of social inequalities to the people

5. The costs of revolution vs the status quo

 revolution has consequences to social order – chaos

a. “natural” vs political rights

 NR – how the state defines how it is to be human
 PR – rights that the society has agreed upon
b. what one makes of his/her rights
 if everyone is independent and rational, they believe that self-preservation is their priority; self-
defense is different from murder

G. The Individual and the Community

 Individualism – the value of human freedom with reasonable toleration of others being free

1. Independent personal choice, distinct identity, moral universalism, and self-reliance

 moral universalism – if you have a right, everybody must have it as well
 self-reliance
o autonomy – concerned with relative self-interest
o solidarity – communitarian

2. Early Liberal Individualism: Anti-Statist and Economic Freedom

 the state is passive, and the state should not intervene

3. Modern Liberal Individualism: Social Welfare and Value of Individuality

  the state has a role in ensuring our human rights
 pro-active state for human nature to be cultivated
 Individualism will eventually lead to socialism because individuality is not so much about your
own, but how you relate to others
 Equality of Opportunity vs Equality of Outcome
o equality of opportunity: determines who is better and who can do more given equal
opportunities and resources
o equality of outcome: gives everyone what they should have because not everyone can do
equally good; compensating

4. Value of the Community

a. Gemeinschaft vs Gesellschaft
 gemeinschaft: community built through immersion and through time
 gesellschaft: association; artificial in nature and can create a disconnect

b. Onomic Suicide (Durkheim)

 you do not become integrated with your society

c. Issue of Volksgemeinschaft
 means “national community”
 can become fascist, Nazist, and violate others’ rights for community empowerment

5. The Political Individual

 3 things the political individual must consider:
1. political action is not made in a social vacuum
2. political action may be path-dependent (consistency) and are not pre-determined (you
may disregard the image you have formed)
3. political action can shape society (actions create change)

H. Morals, Freedom, and Happiness (The Politics of Virtue)

 talks about the state in relation to human morality

1. Plato: Organic Analogy and the 3 Waves of Reform

 organic analogy: what is just within the state must also reflect what is within the soul
 natural right: freedom of profession
 natural law: to follow harmony and rational subordination above appetite
 3 waves of “reform”:
o women and men must be treated the same, given that they have the same virtues
o abolition of family and property (loyalty to the state)
o appreciate value of reason

2. Aristotle: Organic conception of “polis”

 distributive justice is the combination of reason and ethics
 using reason in order to help others and pursue the common good
 “what one does, one gets”

3. St. Augustine and St. Thomas

  St. Augustine: Politics as Punishment
o it is our formal punishment because of our original sin
o we must maintain order of a state that oppresses us
o human nature is competitive and self-driven
 St. Thomas: Politics as Instrument
o politics is able to help and guide people towards virtue
o human nature is cooperative
o politics cultivates virtue, reason supplements faith

4. Machiavelli: Human Amorality and Power

 humans are not morally neutral
 human nature is to maintain power in order to stay alive
 survival of the state and not of the self

5. Martin Luther and John Calvin

 Martin Luther: Ethics over Politics
o it is not all about maintaining power because faith is even more important
 John Calvin: Complementarity of Grace and Reason
o politics alone will not maintain power and grace alone will not give you salvation because both
are equally important

6. Immanuel Kant: Goodwill through the Categorical Imperative

 what will happen if everyone follows (not follows) a rule?
 we are free, but guided
 never see people as a means to an end, everyone has worth and is not an instrument to achieve
your end

III. Government and State

A. Politics: A Review
1. general framework: a social activity developing from diverse perspectives that typically aims to
resolve conflicts

2. scope of politics
a. art of government
 discussion of formal, legal, and administrative institutions, and discussion of its in-betweens
b. public affairs
 the civil society (privately owned businesses) mediates between public state and private
society (personal)
c. power and resource
 differences and scarcity are where politics lie
 e.g. for Marxists, power lies in resource (economic power play); for feminists, power lies in
gender (sexual power play)

B. Government (“ordered rule”)

1. Old vs new institutionalism
 old institutionalism
o atomistic nature of formal, legal, and administrative institutions
 o society is more important (society-centered)
o descriptive concerns
 new institutionalism
o institutionally situated actors
o how informal agencies affect political arena (informal politics)
2. The necessity of government
 social contract vs anarchism
o anarchists believe that a government will only create oppression
 there is an increase in the need of a government because modern society is larger in size, has
less homogeneity, and has different values compared to traditional society
3. Types/forms of government
a. liberal democracies
 pluralism: power is often dispersed (electorate)
 representation: government represents public interest
 constitutionalism: presence of checks and balance to an arbitrary rule

1. republican (power of electorate)/constitutional monarchy (constitutional)

2. presidential (separation of powers)/parliamentary
3. majoritarian (winner-takes-all party politics)/coalitional (proportional voting system)

b. communist democracies
 anti-capitalist
 state-interventionist
 has commonality of being against the socio-economic elite

1. classical Marxist
 transition towards communism
 values government as temporary
2. radical feminism
 capitalism is rooted in patriarchy
3. Leninist
 the road towards economism is centralized economic planning
4. Maoist
 the peasantry, and not only the proletariat, is part of the revolution

c. alternatives
 post-communist
 Theocratic democracy (religion state)
 East Asian democracy (developmental state)
o economic growth over civil liberty
o Maslowian democracy: economic needs come first
 military junta/dictatorship

4. Governance
 government in relation to society
 interact in a multi-level approach
 challenges government to have a top-down, bottom-up leadership
  challenges society to contribute

5. Government as a Political System

 the government is a feedback loop mechanism; uses a transactional model
 feedback loop cycle: the society demands (input), the government reacts, it then implements
policies (output), the society reacts
 government officials serve as “gatekeepers” who encourage or stop feedback
 prone to liberal bias (bias to populism or elitism)

C. State
 bind by constitution
 nation: imagined community bounded by values

1. Components/Elements
a. population: political association united by the constitution; multi-culturalist
b. territory: globalization makes porous borders
c. government: has different systems
d. sovereignty: highlights the problem of legitimacy

2. Characteristics
a. highly inclusive and absolute
 not only focuses on the government, but also on other institutions that interact with the
government
 includes different institutions from the bureaucracy up to the family
 the State is supreme and above all institutions because it represents all of them
b. for the “public interest”
c. has universal jurisdiction over citizenship
d. permanent and “impartial
 permanent: you cannot remove a State, unlike the government which is periodic; but states
may fall during civil wars
 impartial: follows an objective constitution; but patronage is still an issue

3. Theories of the State

a. liberal democratic
 value of creating a voluntary state
 highlights social contract, emphasizing on voluntary agreement
 ideally neutral and public

b. pluralist
 classical: dispersal of power
 neo-pluralist: capitalist elite capture; mass-driven

c. neo-liberal (libertarian)
 anti-state interventionist system: when the state gives you too much services, it
disincentivizes you to take responsibility of your own life
 community is important, but we should still do our individual roles
 avoids government overload or totalitarian state
 d. elitist
 classical: emphasizes on the power of the ruling elite; there will always be an elite and
socialism is a myth
 modern: elites are inevitable; not everyone will and can rule
 democratic elitism: we are free to select our leader, but the leaders come from the elite
class
 you cannot have order without subordination

e. Marxist
 classical: coercive class-based state; the state is an instrument for exploitation of the
proletariat; anti-capitalist
 modern: concerned on hegemonic power, exploitation also coms in form of ideas
(ideological exploitation)

f. anarchist
 classical: the state is unnecessary and evil because it deprives liberty
 modern: anarchy is not just a physical state that oppresses, but the state itself is a state of
mind

4. Functions of the State

 provide order and freedom

a. classical liberalism
 minimum state: to pursue order, contracts, and defense or security
 New Right Movement: individuals must observe responsibility in maintaining order,
contracts, and defense, as much as what is expected of the state

b. modern liberalism/socialist
 anti-poverty measures to produce social welfare
 government activism: advocates activity regarding social concerns

c. orthodox communism
 abolition of free market and creation of a centralized planned economy

d. totalitarianism
 abolition of civil society and personal identity

D. Absolute Government Structures

 what makes people obey

1. Absolutism by Monarchy and Divinity

a. No separation of powers and perpetuity of power
 there is only one monarch
 there is no end to power
 doctrine of the Divine right: the monarch is endorsed by the Church
 in order to achieve absolutism, monarchy should not be bridled
 b. Bodin’s mark of sovereignty
 legislative supremacy under “fundamental laws” based on Divinity to maintain consistency
of source of absolute power

c. Filmer’s biblical basis of one rule

 the bible is paternal and patriarchal in order to control passions
 Bousset: the King is the physical manifestation of God

d. Immorality leads to tyranny

 despotism or tyranny is not a result of too much power, but of immorality

e. Critique: Faith vs Trust

 faith: you don’t question even if you feel that something may be wrong; given
 trust: earned

2. Absolutism by Consent and Contract

a. Self-preservation vs faults of man
 creates absolute rule by a voluntary agreement that if we do not have one rule, we will be
subject to the faults of man because we are driven by insatiable desires
 in order to preserve ourselves, we need an absolute ruler

b. “res inter alios acta”

 doctrine that states that one who is not part of a contract or agreement is not bound by that
said agreement
 the ruler is not part, but a product of agreement; an absolute ruler is not concerned on
keeping your liberties because you have already given it up

c. Rights of the Sovereign

 right to avoid rebellion
 given up to the Leviathan

d. Totalitarian vs Authoritarian
 a totalitarian government is ideology-backed
 a totalitarian government uses propaganda or state movements
 a totalitarian government uses brutal force

e. Critique: How is consent given?

 tacit consent: as long as you benefit and you’re not complaining, you have already given
consent; voluntary
 explicit consent: declaring that you give consent; coerced

3. Absolutism by Natural Law

a. Sociability and community
 we socialize and produce reason for the common good

b. Political reciprocity
  reciprocity between the duties of the state and the obligations of the sovereign
 prone to rebellion because one can resist if he feels cheated

c. Reciprocity vs rebellion
 reciprocity: creates a shared sovereignty and a scared relationship
 rebellion: ensures accountability in a state

d. Agreement = decree
 there is an agreement to create a civil society in a form of a decree or constitution which
forms an absolute government
 if ever a decree is destroyed, instead of going back to the faults of man, it goes back to
society which will create another decree

e. Critique: Defining civility

4. Absolutism by Utility
a. General Happiness Principle
 the greater the number of people who are happy, the greater the utility
 utility: the ability of government to provide for the people particularly in the creation of
public interest

b. Jeremy Bentham
 wanted to quantify happiness so he idealized the General Happiness Principle
 practical and is not concerned on how government started
 less focus on origin, more focus on how to govern
 felicific calculus: ideal quantification of happiness by duration, extent, profundity, and
intensity

c. Sainte-Pierre
 “Bentham did not consider religion in quantifying happiness”
 it is important that one is religiously fulfilled in order to achieve maximum utility

d. Public interest
 the public interest should be utility maximization

e. Critique: Subjectivity and impracticability of utility maximization

 Jeremy Bentham: we only pursue things that make ourselves happy; it becomes problematic
because we have different sources of happiness
 John Stuart Mill: it is impractical for the government to pursue the general happiness
principle because happiness is a fleeting experience

IV. Sovereignty
A. Sovereignty
 emphasizes on the capacity of the state to legitimize rule by giving absolute or supreme power
to the state

1. Political and Legal Sovereignty

  highlights “to whom” sovereignty must be given
a. de jure (by the right)
 all sovereignty is given to the constitution or law of the state
b. de facto (in fact, in practice)
 sovereignty is given to whomever has the ability to command or wield power; coercive
c. Politico-legal interdependence
 the law legitimizes force, vice-versa

2. Internal and External Sovereignty

a. Internal Sovereignty
 highlights supreme ruler within a territorial jurisdiction
 can come form monarch (monarchy), prince (principality), people (republic)
 classical: supreme power is indivisible
 modern: shared sovereignty (polycentric)
b. External Sovereignty
 reflects the respect of one state to another
 creates various concerns re: humanitarian intervention, economic interdependence, and
military or security relations

B. The Nation
1. Biological Tendency (Dawkin)
 we all seek a desire to belong
 the concern is security: group provides protection
 Anderson 1999: imagined community provides identity

2. “Nation-building” for State Formation

 the idea of creating a nation-state is desirable because the ideal of a nation is self-determination
 there are no nation-states because there are no homogenous nationalities

3. Nationality vs Citizenship vs Ethnicity

 nationality: political affiliation by cultural identity
o cultural nation: historically embedded; highlights history of the people
o political nation: formed by a social movement for independence; highlights constitution
 citizenship: membership in state; political identity
 ethnicity: all-encompassing term including religion, race, culture, etc.
 citizenship + ethnicity = nationality

4. Stateless Nation
 states and nations are not mutually inclusive
 e.g. Kurds, Welsh, Palestinians (landless)

5. National Consciousness
 may be separatist or preservationist

C. Nation and Globe Relations

1. Cosmopolitanism vs Integral Nationalism
 universalize relationships between nations
  cosmopolitanism: more inclusively pluralist

2. Globalization
 world interconnected borderless social space with wireless fidelity
 information and communication-based globalization

V. Power and Authority