POL 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Socialist Economics, Oligarchy, Participatory Democracy

• School: Stony Brook University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 102
• Professor: ryancotter

Document Summary

Politics - who gets what, when, and how; a process of determining how power and resources are distributed in a society without recourse to violence. Arranges our lives into social order that secures both liberty and security. Power - the ability to get others to do what you want. The way power is managed must be legitimate or there will be violence. Government - a system or organization for exercising authority over a body of people. Authority - the power that people recognize as legitimate. Rules - directives that specify how resources will be distributed or what procedures govern collective activity. Institutions - organizations in which government power is exercised. Economics - the production and distribution of a society"s material resources and services. Politics and economics focus on the distribution of society"s resources. Economics was meant to be private, whereas politics was meant to be public. Public goods - no one can be excluded from receiving these goods.