POLS 1150 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Public Choice, Absolute Monarchy, Liberal Democracy
17 Oct 2016
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Politics: decision making by public authorities that result in laws, policies, rules. Consists of: government, society, ideas, beliefs, values, power and conflict. Natural tendency of humans to come together to make groups (thomas hobbes) Purpose of politics: organize people and groups, allow for distribution of benefits, wealth, and public goods, collective survival. Normative (analytical): politics empirical discipline rather than a science; argues politics cannot be broken down into parts but seen comprehensively, critical/rational debate about human life/goals, justifies status quo or present case for reform. Empirical: based not on concepts and theory but on what can be observed/experimented (based on factual/observable data), hypothesis must be testable, independent/dependent variables. Public choice theory- (rational choice), individuals as rational self-interested actors seeking to maximize position in society, explains how different actors seek to improve position within an institutional setting, bargaining/ trading. Research example: mayhew (1974, 2000), if legislators have the single goal of re- election they should: advertise, claim credit, position taking.
